Emily
Webb, who dies in childbirth, is only a teenager herself when she passes away. Despite the other
deceased characters' advice, she decides to revisit one day in her small-town life.
On her twelfth birthday, Emily observes the town before the recent changes: there are
many horses and no cars. She recognizes people she knew, such as Constable Warren, whom she
knows has since passed away. The constable speaks with her father, just returned from a city
visit, about once having saved a man who might have frozen outside in the winter, but he
downplays Mr. Webb's suggestion that it was heroic.
Emily's parents' age
makes an impression. She remarks on their youthful appearance. She sees her mother in the
kitchen of their home and chats with her over breakfast. Her efforts to speak about events since
that day are futile.
Emily finds the whole experience unbearable and goes
back to the afterlife setting. Realizing how much daily life occupies people, Emily is saddened
by the waste of precious time. She asks rhetorically, "Do any human beings ever realize
life while they live it?"
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