Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
Grief After the Accident
A married couple loses their eight-year-old son in a boating accident. Their grief establishes the emotional foundation of the story.
Key Events
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Future Setting Established — The story is set in the year 2008.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Family Introduced — A married couple is introduced as parents of an eight-year-old son.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Boating Accident — The couple's eight-year-old son dies in a boating accident.
Location: Boating area
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Parents Grieve — The married couple becomes distraught after losing their son.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Unexpected Sighting — The mother suddenly sees another child who looks identical to her dead son.
Location: Unspecified setting
The Impossible Sighting
The mother sees a child who looks identical to her dead son. This startling sight transforms private grief into a mystery.
Key Events
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Unexpected Sighting — The mother suddenly sees another child who looks identical to her dead son.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Resembling Child Observed — The child's identical appearance makes the mother's loss newly mysterious.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Investigation Begins — The mother begins investigating the child and her own pregnancy history.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Clinic Connection Recalled — The investigation focuses on the fertility clinic that assisted with her pregnancy.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Clinic Records Examined — The mother searches the fertility clinic for an explanation of the identical child.
Location: Fertility clinic
Secrets Of Baby 2000
The mother investigates the fertility clinic that assisted with her pregnancy. She discovers that her child was cloned in an experiment called Baby 2000.
Key Events
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Clinic Records Examined — The mother searches the fertility clinic for an explanation of the identical child.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Experiment Discovered — The mother discovers that the clinic cloned her child in an experiment.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Baby 2000 Named — The cloning experiment is identified as Baby 2000.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Cloning Implication Understood — The discovery explains why another child looks identical to the deceased son.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Genetic Material Remains — The mother learns that the clinic still has the genes needed to develop another child.
Location: Fertility clinic
Genes Of The Lost Child
The clinic still possesses the genes needed to develop another child. The discovery turns the past loss into a possible future choice.
Key Events
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Genetic Material Remains — The mother learns that the clinic still has the genes needed to develop another child.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Second Child Possibility — The remaining genes create the possibility of producing another identical child.
Location: Fertility clinic
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Loss Meets Possibility — The couple's grief is placed beside the possibility of having an identical child.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Ethical Question Raised — The discovery forces the couple to consider whether cloning should replace their lost child.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Identity Question Emerges — The identical appearance raises questions about the meaning of having another child.
Location: Unspecified setting
The Impossible Decision
The couple confronts whether they want another child identical to the one they lost. The story closes on the emotional and ethical weight of that decision.
Key Events
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Identity Question Emerges — The identical appearance raises questions about the meaning of having another child.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Couple Faces Decision — The married couple must decide whether they want another identical child.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Emotional Consequences Considered — The couple confronts the emotional consequences of their possible choice.
Location: Unspecified setting
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Unresolved Choice — The story culminates in the couple facing the question of whether to have another identical child.
Location: Unspecified setting
