Elizabeth, a young student, waits for her teacher, Miss Cox, to grade an assignment she missed while sick. Elizabeth's story is about immigrants arriving in Boston. She thinks about her descriptions of the sunset, setting, and characters are very beautiful. Elizabeth thinks about how strong Miss Cox is--she's stronger than the other male teachers in the STEM fields. Elizabeth is glad that Miss Cox is her English teacher because her past English teacher, Miss Foster, was very strict and made their assignments very difficult.

Miss Cox finishes grading the second paper and tells Elizabeth some pointers. Elizabeth is struck by how Miss Cox calls her "dear." Miss Cox tells Elizabeth that she has a divine fire and should become a writer someday. Her wonderful paper earns her an A on the assignment and Elizabeth heads back to her homeroom classroom with Miss Perry, who is also her Greek teacher.

Elizabeth thinks about how she hates Miss Perry and her Greek class. Her second class is with Miss Pratt in a study class. Miss Pratt often smiled at her, but Elizabeth felt that her smile was not genuine. Elizabeth reads her Greek book and watches the courtyard outside. Miss Pratt gets mad at her for not working and Elizabeth thinks about her teacher speaking to a future great author--an author that is one with Shakespeare, Keats, Bronte, and Thackeray.

Elizabeth asks Miss Pratt to go to the library to work on a history assignment as a way to get away from the class. She thinks about how she's read most of the poetry and fiction books and goes to that section to continue her reading. Elizabeth thinks of what Miss Cox told her earlier and her "divine fire." At the end of the school day, Elizabeth passes by Miss Cox's room and then goes to meet up with her friends Eileen and Ruth.

Eileen is the cousin of a famous poet and Ruth's poems are about to be published for a forth time. They plan to be famous writers someday. The three decide to get fudge sundaes, but Elizabeth plans to use her money to buy Miss Cox flowers soon. They tease her and say she has a crush on Miss Cox and Elizabeth tells her friends about what Miss Cox said about her future as an author. As they sit by the river, Eileen and Ruth congratulate her and watch the sun set.

Elizabeth thinks about how her math and Greek teachers are not very kind to her, but that she finds respite in the poetry she writes. The three talk about poetry and the stars and eventually depart to head home. Elizabeth goes home and tells her mother about Miss Cox and the divine fire. Her mother tells her that she has to get through school and her math classes before she can become a great writer. Elizabeth goes to the back porch and watches the sky and thinks about the great writers of the past and how she wants to be a writer in her future.