Twenty-five-year-old Alice Wein has been writing the same short story for over five years. She remembers sitting under the table as a child and watching her parents and older brother, Peter, and she thinks that her observant personality is what makes her a writer.

The narrative flashes back to Alice’s childhood. A quiet child, she doesn’t make friends easily, and learning to read offers her the chance to discover new worlds beyond her Oregon hometown. When Alice is nine, an author visits her school, helping her to realize for the first time that writers are real people and that she could become one.

After the author’s visit, Alice tells Peter she wants to be a writer, too, saying that she wants to make her own worlds. She trusts Peter more than anyone, but Peter’s response is disappointing. In a rush to get ready for a swim meet, he says only, “You get the world they give you, Alice” (8). Alice, however, does not accept this answer; she believes that books prove otherwise.

Alice decides to train herself to write. She thinks of writers as magicians, and she wants to learn their tricks. She gradually cultivates a personal writing practice.