Swamplandia

Content Warning: The source text and this guide depict and discuss the sexual assault of a minor. The source text contains outdated terminology for Indigenous Americans.

Ava is lying on the ground and feels pressure on top of her. The Bird Man undoes her overalls, and she is dimly aware that she is being sexually assaulted. The pain becomes worse and worse, and when he finishes, the two get up and walk away. The Bird Man wants Ava to continue to accompany him, but thinking about a dog she once saw return to its abusive owner, she throws her red alligator at the Bird Man and runs away. She makes her way through the mangroves, wondering how she is going to find her way home. She hopes that Whip Jeters might be looking for her, but she is doubtful. She realizes that she probably doomed her red alligator to its death. She is incredibly thirsty, but waits until the next day to begin drinking the brackish water around her. She wills herself to produce a solution and remembers that the waters flow in a southwesterly direction from the great lake Okeechobee, and uses her shoelace to determine the direction home.