Thomas Hatfield is a forty-eight year old who works as a talent agent for actors in New York City. He starts to worry about his health, so he goes to see a doctor, who advises him to take a month off work and go somewhere relaxing. Hatfield has two sisters, Marjorie and Eleanor, who live on a farm in Iowa, so he decides to go visit them. While there, he is supposed to rest and should only have one drink a day. Marjorie and Eleanor live together, along with Marjorie's husband Henry. They live about four miles away from the town of Meredith, where a psychiatric hospital was recently built. After staying with his sisters for a few weeks, Hatfield already notices some changes in his sleeping routine and habits. One Sunday afternoon, while the family is getting ready for lunch, they see a woman through the window, coming up to the door. The family suspects that it is someone who's escaped from the hospital. Marjorie answers the door and finds out the woman is looking for a ride to Illinois. Marjorie says she'll call her neighbors to see if anyone is going that way, and leaves the woman at the door. Seeing the woman on the front porch, Hatfield decides to go keep her company, despite warnings from the others. He invites the woman to sit on the grass with him, where they chat about Illinois, Chicago, and cities in general. Hatfield talks about how he feels like he became a part of the city when living and working there. He notices that all the woman wants is to be in Illinois, and nothing more. They see a car pull up, and the woman thinks it must be her ride to Illinois, but two men from the hospital get out to take her back. Hatfield goes back inside and gets a large drink, and he resolves to go back home to the city.