The book opens with the couple, Mrs. Burridge and her husband Frank, doing their daily activities. Mrs. Burridge has attained 51 years and considers herself an older woman who must ensure her husband is comfortable. Frank and his wife live alone because their children are now grown-ups and have left to live their separate lives. Therefore, the couple must fend for themselves and look for something that keeps them busy.
Despite the couple living happily together for many years, Burridge is concerned because she realizes that Frank is no longer romantic and his ability to protect her has been declining for some time. Mrs. Burridge knows they are aging, but that does not mean their romance should also die.
One thing that worries Mrs. Burridge is the possibility of the reoccurrence of the apocalyptic scenario that can cause them to leave their house. As she canes her tomatoes, she looks outside to see if a cloud of smoke is coming from the horizon, which signifies bad luck. If the apocalyptic occurs, all her efforts to cane tomatoes will be useless because they will have to run for their safety, leaving everything behind.
When Mrs. Burridge goes upstairs to make a grocery list, she starts daydreaming about what will happen in the worst-case scenario of the apocalypse. She sees three farmers coming for Frank and taking him away to safety, and she will never have the opportunity to see him. Mrs. Burridge thinks about how she will carry a few essentials that will sustain her for some time. She also has a shotgun she hid from to protect herself in case she is attacked. In her daydream, Mrs. Burridge also sees herself letting all their cattle run and fight for their safety. After that, she sets on a journey, not knowing its destination but hoping to be safe. She does not know where Frank has been taken all this time, and she thinks they will never meet. Soon, Mrs. Burridge comes from her dream to reality, and she continues to make the grocery list that she went to write upstairs.
