A woman named Virginia is picked up from the airport by her husband Philip, who escorts her back to their New England home. Virginia is unhappy to return to the cold and gloomy weather of New England after spending two months in the tropics. Phillip is ecstatic to see his wife, whom he missed greatly. Virginia, however, tries to hide her disappointment at returning home. She is struck by the formality of the furniture, the heaviness of the material and the excessive amount of stuff that they have in their home after living more frugally in the tropics. Phillip comments on a cut that Virginia has on her hand, which she neglected to write him about. She tells him she cut it on a wire fence while she was on a picnic. She has a flashback to the picnic when she sustained the injury. She had been with a man named Willy. She does not elaborate on her experience to her husband. Virginia begins to feel claustrophobic in her home and tries to convince herself that she is happy to be home while her husband makes her a drink. Virginia reflects on her first trip to the tropics as a young girl, and her arrival on her most recent trip. She thinks about how the place calls to her and feels like home. Mr. Huntington, Dr. Cadieux, and Willy Saunders, whom she knew from her last trip, had greeted her when she arrived in the tropics. Willy said, “Welcome home!” just as Phillip had done on her arrival back to New England. Willy asked to hear everything since her last trip and all three men listened eagerly as she told them about her life. Back in the present, Phillip gives Virginia her drink and asks her to tell him everything. Virginia is not sure what to tell her husband and he becomes distracted letting the dog out.