Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions of loss, abandonment, and cruelty toward animals.

Squirrel, an elderly dog, is lying in front of the fireplace in the bed that her owner, Susan, bought her. Grateful for the warmth of Susan’s house, Squirrel reminisces about her past, when she spent many nights under the stars. She remembers a dog named Moon and how she searched for another dog named Bone.

She thinks about different dogs’ lives: Some have pampered lives and are well-fed, while others struggle to survive or sustain harm from humans. Squirrel has experienced all these things in her life.

Squirrel recounts her birth at a countryside estate owned by the Merrion family. The Merrion parents have three children, two boys and a girl, and Squirrel recalls the gentle boy Matthias. The Merrions live at the house only sporadically and don’t have any pets, though many animals and plants flourish on their rural land.

Mother, a stray dog, finds an abandoned tool shed on the Merrion property and decides that it’s a safe and warm place to have her puppies. Though cats live in the shed too, they keep their distance from Mother.