Set just after the Great Depression, a young girl recounts the time that she accompanied her mother to a dance. She reflects on why she was chosen to go with her mother: her father never liked to dance and also needed to stay home to care for her siblings. The girl thinks about the beauty of her mother's dress, and how she then saw an older woman at the party with a orange dress even more beautiful and vibrant than her mother's. She reflects that she later found out this woman was a well-known town prostitute. The girl's mother urges the girl to grab her coat so they can leave. On her way to grab her coat, she runs into some Air Force men and a girl named Peggy on the stairs. She watches the men comfort Peggy, and marvels at the kindness of the men. She recalls their voices and imagines that they are telling her that she is worthy of love instead of Peggy.