A young orphaned girl wakes up on a summer morning, where she looks outside her window to see the large thicket of trees and the garden. She lives in a small home with her grandfather. The girl thinks of her night and about the frightening thing she heard outside her window. She thinks the sound came from a strange creature who lives in the thicket. This sound causes her to stay up, wondering what it is.

She gets ready for the day and smells the breakfast her grandfather is cooking downstairs. The girl, Lily, greets her grandfather and eats her food. Lily thinks about how she has never been to school because the home she currently lives in is far from other homes and schools. Instead, Lily's grandfather homeschools her. After they eat, Lily and her grandfather read from the Biblical book of Revelations together.

Soon, their housekeeper, Mrs. Biggs, arrives and begins cleaning the home. Mrs. Biggs and Lily's grandfather talk about an African American prisoner who has recently escaped the prison nearby. The housekeeper asks if they are afraid, but the grandfather explains that they are very poor and that the prisoner wouldn't want to steal anything from them. Lily finds this story frightening and debates whether or not to tell her grandfather about the rustling she heard the previous night. Mrs. Biggs asks Lily's grandfather if he is accustomed to living so far from civilization and he talks about how he's always lived like this so it doesn't bother him.

During dinner, Lily's grandfather sits quietly and doesn't say much. Lily believes this to be a sign that he is growing older. The two of them had worked on their chores throughout the afternoon.

As night falls, Lily returns to her bed, somewhat paranoid about the prisoner and the strange noises she heard outside her window. She believes her grandfather to be very old and not strong, but decides that he wouldn't understand her fear. As she drifts to sleep, she suddenly wakes up and hears the sounds again. Lily feels that the sounds are coming from the escaped prisoner.

The sounds she hears are footsteps, scratching of the screens on the doors and windows, and wire scraping. Lily, afraid but also very curious, walks to her window in her nightgown and looks for the prisoner. The prisoner is standing near the porch in casual clothing. He doesn't see Lily watching him as he walks through the grass. Soon it is midnight and the man sits on the porch. Lily, still watching, accidentally knocks a pillow onto the floor and fears that the prisoner will hear her, but he doesn't. Instead, the prisoner stands up and walks away.

Lily returns to sleep and when she wakes up, she runs downstairs before her grandfather does. She notices the screen door has a large gash in it. However, when her grandfather goes downstairs, he doesn't see the gash.