Today's uplifting story will be a quiet day Some readers see death, but when I read the story "Today will be a quiet day" by Amy Hempel, I find it to be a short story lighthearted, first-hand story from people facing transition. Even its placement in the index under the heading "Childhood and Adolescence" (Barnet) implies that the story is not about death at all. A newly formed family of one man, one boy and one girl must face the consequences of divorce and explore the complexities of life together. The story gives us a sublime yet acute insight into the transition and adjustments these three people make in this story. The children's transition is marked by a rivalry, which emerges early in the story and is represented through delightful jokes and retorts. Children's jokes relieve the stress created by the small, unknown steps they are taking to establish a new type of relationship with their father in their mother's absence. At no point do the children's harmless antics towards each other escalate, as indicated by critic Tara Baker when she explains that their arguments become deeper than the usual childhood arguments. Baker seems to believe that the children's digs at each other are fueled by the difficult situations they have faced lately (170). Brian Motzenbecker supports my idea that the parents are divorced, but finds symbolism in what the children discuss and the father's "jokes". " (174). I can suggest to the contrary that these stories within history are significant but not at all symbolic. The rapid succession of jumps from one topic to another suggests to me that the need for uninterrupted conversation is necessary. It prevents everyone from t ... middle of the paper ...... simultaneously happily because the father is able to encapsulate the events of the entire day in his statement The natural resilience shown by his children is admirable and probably has a lot to do with the way he and his mother raised them. They show a kind of restrained and civil frustration. They avoid expressing their emotions too much throughout the story. Their lives continue and, at this point, I'm sure the children know that their father will "be fine too." Work cited Baker, Tara. "Is Today Really Peaceful?" Ed. Connie Bellamy: Gann Designs, 1997. Hemple, Amy. "Harper's Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Silvano Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Motzenbecker, Brian. "Is that spelled disaster?" Hymn to friendship. Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach: Gann drawings, 1997.