The book starts with Brás at the bar, looking at Genarinho's dead body. He looks more tired than anything—thinking about how we forget the important parts of our lives, but remember the trivial.
Brás' parents are good people who love their son. But they forget about his birthday, with his mother calling him about his father's big day, forgetting about her son's own. Good people can make mistakes, sometimes.
Brás reminisces with Jorge about their trip to Sao Paulo, talking about how they felt they were on top of the world. It dies down with Brás saying he wanted to write about life, but now, he writes about death.
Genarinho was an amicable man, and enjoyed talking with Brás, until Joca crashed the conversation. Based on how his sister is likely neglectful of Joca, Joca has gone to jail, and Joca's girlfriend, Tuca, has had a teen pregnancy and is pregnant once more, there was always more to him he never revealed. Joca shoots him, and he will now be forgotten. He did not deserve to die how he did.
Olinda takes a liking to Brás. In the timeline where Brás drowned, she would have to deal with the man she liked dying before she really got to know him. This goes for Jorge and Brás' family as well.
Olinda and Brás' break-up:
When Olinda leaves with her things, she misses a bra in the laundry room. Brás notices it, and spends the rest of the day brooding in that room.
Brás muses about how many hurtful words were exchanged during their fight, but the words that affected him the most were "I hate you! You piece of shit!" from Olinda.
When talking to Jorge about the situation, he says how they were together for seven years. He doesn't know where to start over.
He slept on the couch for the majority of his time in his apartment because the bed reminded him of Olinda too much. Well, really, the entire apartment reminded him about her.
And in the timeline where he gets hit by the truck, he never got to pursue his newfound love with Ana. Ana would live on without knowing him. Brás died happy.
Benedito was a forgetful man, sometimes neglectful of his children, but he loved them with all his heart. The very same heart stopped beating as Brás' son was born.
Brás ignored his mother's phone call while attending to his delivering wife. He missed the opportunity to talk to his father one last time.
Ana cheerfully tells Brás about how the pain and contractions have stopped. He cannot tell Ana about his father's death, as she might start contracting again.
When the girl who Brás met at a ceremony shows up, she attempts to talk to him about his father's death. Brás bluntly tells her there's nothing to discuss. When she calls him out on it, he snaps, "He's DEAD!" and walks off. Then the girl admits how her mother has Alzheimer's and will likely die soon. She can't even recognize her mother anymore when she looks at her.
In the timeline where Brás has a heart attack from grief, he seems shocked at first, clutching his chest. And then, when he realizes what's happening, he just seems tired.
Ana would likely have to raise Miguel on her own, which would be tremendously difficult—though she might have support from Aurora. And Aurora would have lost another one dear to her, and all of Brás' adoring fans would learn that their beloved author passed away.
Brás' sister is at school after visiting the ranch, chatting with a friend. A teacher beckons to her that she has to leave, with his sister sporting a worried look. She walks out and sees her mother, driven to tears. Her little miracle was brutally electrocuted while attempting to retrieve his kite from a wire. He was eleven.
The airplane fiasco:
Ana is giving a tour of a historical sight, when everyone walks to a balcony, leaving her confused. She joins them and sees a long line of smoke from the airplane crash. She's driven to tears.
Brás is tasked with writing obituaries for the victims of the flight.
One man lost his wife and daughter who were coming to visit him.
One woman hadn't talked to her son in five years, and would now never do so again.
One man lost his daughter.
A couple is seen at the start of the chapter happily discussing their honeymoon to Paris. They were on the flight.
Jorge is not heard from for a month, until he calls out of the blue. Brás angrily asks what happened to him, and Jorge responds about how, after almost boarding the flight and subsequently dying, "flipped out" and realized nothing in his life... really mattered. He ends the call telling Brás to do something meaningful with his life.
The man we see in the bar at the start of the chapter shows up once more at the end. It's never explicitly said what happened—but we can assume his dear friend was on the flight. The man commits suicide.
Brás notes how weird it is being famous, with everyone thinking they're his friends. He's smiling and says how he enjoys the attention, but the tone of the narration implies he's a little sick of everyone pretending to know him. And, well, his only true friend has gone missing.
Brás had been looking for Jorge for years. His extroverted, spotlight-loving friend, has hidden himself away from everyone.
Ana remarks that Jorge probably doesn't care anymore. When Brás asks if he's supposed to forget about him, Ana counters that no one has heard of him in years, with the only trace of his existence being a postcard he wrote. She then holds Brás' hand and tells him that he's given up.
The hotel owner's niece recounts what Jorge had been doing during the years he was away. He'd been living fine and all in his new town, but one day, he lost his job, refusing a new one from the niece's uncle. The hotel owner soon kicked him out. And warm, caring Jorge was now treated like an outcast by the townsfolk.
In the timeline where Jorge stabs Brás to death, Ana will likely hear of it. Her dear husband died from the man she told him not to go after. And Brás' fans will also have to deal with the loss of their beloved author, this time much sooner.
In the timeline where Brás died from a tumor while away from home, Ana learns the news through a phone call. She is horrified at first, thinking something happened to Miguel. Her face softens and is horrified all over again when she learns the victim is not her son, but her husband.
Miguel is bullied by the kids in his school because his father is not at home often. The narration notes he misses his father, some days more than others.
Ana loves her son dearly. But she gets annoyed at Brás not being at home, and when Miguel wants to stay up watching a movie (The Lion King, no less, where the father dies), she snaps at him to go to bed.
After his father's death, Miguel is reading the last letter he sent. The kids in his classroom don't really seem to understand, but the teacher is standing nearby with a heartbroken expression on her face.
Miguel likely doesn't understand what happened to his father too well, only knowing he'll never see him again. He comforts a devastated Ana on the couch by hugging her.
Benedito's final letter to Bras, congratulating him on becoming a father and acknowledging that Bras no longer needs Benedito. Doubles as Heartwarming Moments.
An older Miguel is the one who shows him this. He then leaves, cheerfully saying farewell. He was never told of his father's decision to not go with another treatment.
