When the narrator returns home from work, he finds that his parents have gone to their offices and that he has not been able to go out with his friends. He tells his mother that he wishes he could have a date with one of her friends, but she refuses to allow him to do so. He asks his mother to open the door to his room so that he can see her. She refuses, saying that she is in bed and that she was always there. The narrator asks her to knock on her door, and she does so. When she opens the door, he realizes that she has been in bed for a long time. He tries to talk to her, asking her to listen to him, but her response is always negative. He complains that she does not respond to him properly. When he asks her why she has not responded to his questions, she tells him that he is looking at something she did not want him to see. He says that he does not want to see such a thing, and when she asks him why he came to her room, he tells her that he had a short shift that day. He wants to ask her to come into his room and play with him. She tells him to come in, and he says he has a bad feeling that he will not be able to play with her because she is not in love. He reads in a magazine about a way to win a girl's heart in the summer. He wonders if there is someone he would like to see in love, and wonders if she is like a grown-up. He also reads that a girl in love could use a small object like a vibrator to win her heart. He feels that he should help her, but he is not sure what to do. He worries that if she rejects him, she will be upset. She says that she will come home late that night, so he should relax and position himself according to his own desires.