Debbie is a ten-year-old girl who is awake well past her bedtime. Her parents have gone out for the evening. While looking out of the window, she hears loud noises coming from the attic and is paralyzed with fear. Debbie is not a brave girl - her father wishes she was a boy, so she in turn wants to please him by doing something brave. In her mind, the bravest thing to do would be to confront whatever was making that noise and prove that it was nothing. Steeling herself, she climbs the attic stairs slowly, and discovers with relief that it is only a pigeon trapped in the attic. Filled with childish love, she wants to keep it forever and teach it not to fear her. Debbie runs down to the kitchen and fetches milk and crusts of bread to feed it, but then she sees the light of her parents' approaching car and runs to bed. Convinced that she is asleep, her parents turn in for the night. Debbie dreams of her cruel father shooting the pigeon because he cannot understand the importance of the creature. She runs swiftly to the attic, determined to make the bird escape. The window is open, but the pigeon is unable to understand Debbie's shouted exhortations. She picks up a belt and strikes it, determined to scare it out of the window. It retreats onto a pile of boxes that come crashing down when Debbie strikes again - the ceramic within spills out and the shards slit the bird's throat. Overcome with terror and guilt, she runs to her parents. Her mother comforts her, but her pitiless father demands to know what happened in the attic. When he hears her response, he commands her to get over it - but she screams that she never will.