Isa is the 9-year-old daughter of two white American expatriates living in Zambia. Her parents, Sibilla and the Colonel, have thrown yet another party, at which they will get too drunk and the Colonel will have to be dragged to bed. Isa wanders through the party, first showing the other children her doll, then telling them about Greek mythology, and then staring at herself in the mirror. Bored, she follows the boys out to her guava tree, where she finds the gardener’s dog, Cassava, licking a stillborn puppy. The boys flee. The gardener’s daughter, Chanda, emerges from the trees to tell Isa that the puppy is dead and kick it away. Chanda then leads Isa to the servant’s quarters. Chanda and Isa used to play together when they were younger, but they were prohibited to do so by their parents. In the house, Isa finds that it’s more than Chanda and her father, Ba Simon, living there: about six other people live there as well. Isa goes up to an older woman, who says the word, “muzungu”, to her, causing her to break into tears. Isa retreats back to the dwindling party. Everyone leaves and Sibilla commands Ba Simon to bring the Colonel to bed. As Ba Simon hoists his boss up to his shoulders, Isa asks him what “muzungu” means; he replies that it means “ghost” and then they laugh together.