THE GIRL IS IN her room working with her three shadow girls, when her father enters at 1 a.m.

Hello, child, he says, adjusting his tie. Are you well?

She wants to say No. She wants to say No, I am not, I am very unwell because, you see, my mouth has become an independent organism. But she keeps her lips closed. She nods to him. And then he nods to her.

As you are entering this last quarter of your fifth year, it is time to introduce a conflict to the plot, her father says. Tonight we’ll hear The Mystery of the Archivist’s Daughter.

When she is ten, she will participate in her first ice-sculpting exhibition. It will be held at the local cold space, where Ice Sculptors from across the country have come to evaluate amateur work. She will wait for her father all evening, and even as she is receiving the praise of the professionals and getting her ribbon for first place, her father will not be there. Just as the local cold space guardians are telling her to leave, her father will arrive. She will grab his hand in hers and lead him swiftly to the dome, and he will quicken his pace as they navigate the labyrinths of sculptures. But already she will be anticipating the worst. And when they arrive, the worst will be realized, as they meet only a dark blue ribbon in the center of a puddle.