In Vienna during the year 1938, an eleven-year-old boy goes to his aunt’s home after school, where he is never called by his own name—instead, everyone calls him “the Guest.” Rosa, the maid, greets the Guest first, tickling and joking with him and challenging him to a race through the apartment. The Guest then greets his Aunt Elsa, who asks him to draw the blinds before getting ready to have tea with him. While waiting for Aunt Elsa, the Guest looks at a photograph of Aunt Elsa’s son on the wall, who his parents simply explained as being “no longer with them.” The Guest then goes to the kitchen, joking with Rosa again and demanding that she give him a cookie.  The Guest’s uncle greets him next as they gather at the table and play Chinese checkers. Rosa brings everyone tea, and the Guest thinks how she is very different now, serious instead of joyful and humorous. The Strasbourg news broadcast suddenly comes on, and Aunt Elsa drops her knife, saying that in two years, “they” will arrive in Austria. The Guest, however, does not understand the news, which is in German. Aunt Elsa changes the subject and asks the Guest how his English is, and he sings them a song.  The Guest continues these visits to his aunt and uncle every Wednesday for the next few months, and his parents never discuss his time spent at Aunt Elsa’s until the summer of 1939. On the last day the Guest visits, Rosa is not there; she has become engaged to a Party Member and quit her job without warning. Aunt Elsa’s son, however, has suddenly returned, and the Guest sees the other boy eating a chocolate bar. Aunt Elsa comments about how the Guest is now going to take a trip to London and asks whether his parents think they are mad. Before leaving, the Guest says goodbye, and all is silent.