Summary

In Mark Slouka’s short story “Crossing” we follow an American man and his son on a camping trip in the wild. The man is divorced or separated from the boy’s mother, and now he wants to take his young son to a specific place where he, the man, used to come with his own father many years ago. He wants to be friends with his son and have a good relationship with him, even if their family has been broken apart.

To get to the campsite, they need to cross a river. Already on the way out, the father thinks that the river looks a lot bigger than he remembered, but he pushes aside his concern. He manages to cross successfully with his son on his back. He generally takes good care of the boy and his needs on the trip. They put up their tent for the night inside an ol...