Steve makes mattresses in a long, low, windowless factory. He can find no satisfaction anywhere. Indeed, as Mason suggests, apparently happy people often have hidden demons. It can only take him. Like most of these stories, this one simply stops, with little or no resolution.
Life goes on.
If the men are good ol' boys stumbling into the future, usually with the aid of alcohol, the women also have troubles. At least the women often try to improve themselves physically and intellectually. They may be single mothers, unfaithful and rebellious wives, or spinsters with secret passions and poignant memories of meaningful indiscretions, but they seem to adjust better than their men. Mason, however, does not intend to paint a bleak picture of despair. Reading her stories is a joy.