A family in turmoil today will be a quiet dayIn Amy Hempel's story, "Today Will Be a Quiet Day", a father takes a day off to spend time with her two children at a place called "Petaluma". The title suggests that today was a day of calm and relaxation, but in reality the title should be “A Family in Turmoil.” Throughout the trip, the children argue, complain, and bicker, which seems to suggest that the day is rather depressing and rather humiliating for the father (Baker 170). The father's good intentions to spend quality time with family failed. When I first read the story, I felt that their relationships were a bit detached and never really came together. Suffering from the death of a close friend, the boy tries to ignore his feelings and jokes about his sister. His friend was a mentally ill person who threw himself off a building. Being very young and unable to cope with this tragedy, the boy jokes with his sister about the bridge collapsing. “The mention of the suicide and the collapse of the bridge set a depressing tone for the rest of the story” (Baker 170). Arguments over Raisinettes force the father to resolve the issue by saying, "You'll both ruin your lunch." As the day progresses, their arguments become more serious and worry the father who seeks to better understand his children. In complete agreement with Justin Oeltzes' article, "A Sad Story", I also believe that this dark foreshadowing of the time to come is an indication of the author's direct intention to write a sad story. At lunch, the children are boisterous and need to be calmed down. The father said, “Maybe we could try to be a little quiet today.” » The girl replies: “You look like your tombstone. Do you remember what you wanted her to say? His brother joins in, saying, “Today will be a quiet day. Because there are never any around us. (Hempel 1204). Shortly after finishing their meal, the girl asks about her dog. “Has anyone thought to feed him?” she asks (Hempel 1205). The boy stages death again by saying that he forgot to feed the dog, then he reminds him of his old dog. He was told the dog had been taken to a sheep farm where, in reality, the dog had been put to sleep. Naturally the girl started crying.