It is 1907 and Abel and his wife, Amanda, are mice celebrating one year of marriage with a picnic in the woods. After a delicious meal and a game of croquet, Amanda retires to rest under the shade of a fern while Abel goes exploring. He returns and presents Amanda with a daisy to use as a parasol. A sudden storm approaches with fierce wind and pounding rain. The couple races to find shelter in a nearby cave already inhabited by other creatures, who welcome them to safety.

Abel and Amanda huddle inside the cave along with several mice, toads, and an anxious weasel as the fearsome storm blows outside. A gust of wind blows Amanda’s scarf out of the cave, and Abel jumps to catch it despite Amanda’s protests. Abel captures the scarf, but the wind batters his tiny body and he becomes disoriented in the gale. Seeing a board with a protruding nail, Abel grabs it and holds on for dear life. As the stream rises, the board becomes a boat on the flooding creek, carrying Abel helplessly through the woods, and he compares the situation to “one’s very worst dreams” (10).