Steven Allaback's Short Story 'Plovers'

In the short story “Plovers”, we see Steven Allaback using narrative gaps to make us ponder on the characters’ history. We don’t know the couple’s names or how they met, but the author does reveal a few important details such as where the characters were raised, how long they’ve been together, and their favorite hobby, which is bird watching. Still, the author leaves us wondering about their past as there is hardly any information about their close relatives especially since the story takes place during Christmas, which is the time many people visit close relatives. The only instance a relative is mentioned in the story is when the couple exchanged her mother’s phrase from 35 years ago: “Don’t go under the pier”. This phrase makes the story