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An oval-shaped flower bed is filled with colorful leaves and flowers of red, blue, and yellow hues. The summer breeze moves them, creating a colorful pattern on the ground. Pebbles, snail shells, and raindrops are highlighted with sunlight and color. The meandering movements of the people in the garden are irregular, compared to the zig-zag flight of butterflies. Four couples pass by the flower bed: a middle-aged couple and their children, an elderly man with his younger companion, two elderly women, and a younger couple.
The first set of human characters enters the scene. A man, Simon, walks slightly in front of a woman, Eleanor, and their children, Caroline and Hubert. Simon is engrossed in his own thoughts, while Eleanor keeps an eye on their children.
Simon, the narrator reveals, ponders an episode in his life from fifteen years earlier. He was in a relationship with another woman, Lily, and wanted to marry her. He remembers details of her rejection, concluding that it was for the best. He asks Eleanor if she reminisces about her own past, and she tells him that people reminisce all the time. She recalls an episode in her own life. An old woman once kissed her neck as she painted, and the kiss became a precious memory. At the end of their conversation, she calls to the children, and the four walk on and out of the narrative.
Once again, the narrator draws attention to the oval flower bed, focusing on a snail. The snail’s movement is contrasted with that of a green insect, as purposeful rather than indecisive. The snail faces multiple obstacles on its way to an unnamed destination, and it continues its journey.
Two new characters enter the scene. They are two men, one elderly and the other young, displaying contrasting traits and qualities. The younger man, William, is silent, although he tries to speak. The elderly man is animated and eccentric in both his movements and speech. He reports that the spirits of the dead are talking to him, suggesting a connection with the devastations of World War I. His words are mostly cryptic, and he speaks of how the spirits have revealed details about heaven. He talks about performing a séance using a machine that will help establish communication between himself and the spirits. During the conversation, he rushes toward a woman he perceives to be a widow, only to be stopped by his younger attendant. The younger man distracts him, drawing his attention toward a flower. The flower seems to trigger memories or a fantasy in the elderly man, and he stoops to “listen” to what it says. The younger man displays no emotions, although his “stoical patience” grows deeper.
Two elderly women enter the scene, curious about the man’s strange behavior. The men exit the scene, and the two women approach the flowerbed. The narrator reports only an outline of their conversation, fragments consisting of a few words and phrases alone. One of the women becomes distracted by the flowers. Her expressions are like those of someone who has just woken up from deep sleep, and she stops listening to the other woman entirely. She suggests that they find a seat to have tea.
The narrator returns to descriptions of the snail, which still contemplates ways to reach its unknown destination. Keeping its weight and the leaf’s fragile structure in mind, it decides to go under the leaf. Just as it moves under the leaf, a young man and woman, Trissie, pass by. The couple seems unenthusiastic and hold an awkward, perhaps tense, conversation with long pauses. The man has placed his hand on top of Trissie’s hand, and their exchanges seem weighted with meaning. Eventually, the man pulls Trissie away from that section of the garden, looking for a place to have tea, although Trissie wants to linger over some of the sights.
The story concludes with a final description of the garden and its occupants on a hot summer day. Despite the heat, the people in the garden lie on the ground speaking to each other, surrounded by the noise of the city adjacent to the garden.
