Wedding photograph
The night before her parents' death, Melanie is in their room rummaging through her mother's possessions. Her look falls onto the wedding photograph with the entire family. Most of the family is smiling in usual wedding cheer, but there is one person out of place. It is her uncle Philip who looks grim and like he doesn't want to be there. Later on in the novel, Melanie discovers this same photograph in her uncle's bedroom. This wedding photograph foreshadows Melanie's leaving her home with her siblings to live with Uncle Philip and in the second instance her leaving uncle Philip's home.
Melanie's mother's veil hanging on the apple tree
On the night when Melanie decides to take a nightly stroll in her mother's wedding dress and destroys it climbing the apple tree back into the house, the veil from the dress is left ominously hanging on one of the branches out of hand's reach. The veil is still there when Melanie and her brother and sister are leaving their home and everything they knew behind.
Melanie's plush toy
Melanie's plush bear toy is the symbol of her innocence. It is symbol of her childhood and memories with her parents that she has to leave behind. While struggling to adjust to the new life, Melanie seeks comfort in it and when she is finally feeling at home at her uncle's earning her stay, the toy loses this comforting purpose.
