A middle-aged mother and her thirty-five-year-old son Lansing rent a little cottage on the beach, where they like to sit on the porch that looks out over the ocean. It is a secluded area that the mother picked because Lansing, who is blind, does not like crowds. As they sit there, they see a young woman and her baby sitting on the beach down below. One of the lifeguards becomes interested in them, especially the woman. The mother describes the situation to Lansing. After a few days, the mother grows to resent the young woman and her child, recalling that when she had been young and alone with a child after her husband left her, it had been difficult to find someone on account of Lansing's blindness. Lansing, on the other hand, enjoys the little romance that unfolds before them. One night, the mother says she will go for a walk, but goes inside the house instead and watches her son. He stands, knocking his dinner tray to the floor, and leans over the railing. After a petty argument, the mother cleans up the tray. After a few days, the young couple on the beach grow more and more intimate. They go for a walk down the beach. Lansing tells his mother that he would have liked to try to do something with his life, despite his blindness. The mother says that she devoted her life to caring for him, but Lansing thinks that this wasn't the best decision, since it limited them both. He also says that the mother never really had any real affection for him. On the beach below, the woman and lifeguard are returning from their walk and they begin to kiss. The baby picks up seashells and heads towards the ocean. A large wave catches him and drags him into the water. Hearing a scream, Lansing asks what's happening. The mother, feeling a strange excitement, tries to misdirect him, but Lansing realizes that something is wrong. He jumps up and runs down to the beach. The lifeguard and the baby's mother realize what's going on, and the lifeguard dives in. Lansing yells on the beach, asking where they baby is and hoping it isn't too late.