A mother sees smoke in the air when she wakes.  Over breakfast, her daughter, Anika, asks where her father is. The mother says he went to work early. The mother has a complicated relationship with Anika—she views her as a burden or annoyance, while feeling guilty for being a "bad mother." 

Anika runs a high fever, so after putting her back to bed, the mother mulls over a fight she had with the father the night before, after which he took some belongings and left. He still hasn't returned. She wonders where he is.

A man knocks on her door and informs her that the hillside near her house is burning, and that all residents must leave as a precaution. She begins to pack. Anika interrupts to tell her that she threw up. The mother feeds her medicine, bathes her, and puts her in the parents' bed. She tears up, from an impulse of tenderness.  The man knocks on her door again, tells her the fire has gotten worse, and she should leave in five minutes. Anika's fever is worse. Plus, she now has a rash. The mother debates whether or not to bring Anika's bridal jewelry, so it doesn't melt in the fire. She thinks about the intimate, thrilling ritual of Indian marriages, including her own. She also finds old letters from her husband in the attic.

She decides to take photographs and the bridal jewelry. Anika is running a fever of 104 and is hallucinating. When Anika calls her "mama" during her pleas, the mother tells her not to.  Standing on the deck before leaving, they watch the flames course closer and closer towards them. Anika is no longer moving or responding to words. The mother lifts her head manually and tells her to look at the beautiful fire.