Maud Martha Brown is seven years old at the start of the novel. She likes candy, books, music, sunsets from her porch, and dandelions. Unlike other flowers, dandelions are demure in their prettiness and everydayness, and Maud is comforted by the beauty of such a common flower. Above all else, Maud desires to be cherished like her sister Helen.

The novel jumps to a scene of children rushing to school as the morning bell is about to ring. The children are described in colorful detail as “bits of blue, white, yellow, green, purple, brown, black” running through a setting of gray, decaying buildings and “little plots of dirt and scanty grass” (5). The streets and playground quickly empty as the students rush to class before the morning bell.

Time and setting shift again, as this chapter opens with Maud waking from a dream. She reflects on the details of the dream, the vivid colors, and the question of whether the gorilla in the dream escapes. She gets out of bed to visit the bathroom and catches a glimpse of her parents snuggled close together.