John Borne, about 13 years old, lives with his grandparents in Minnesota; his parents died in a plane crash when John was four. Two weeks prior to the story’s opening, John’s grandfather learns that nothing more can be done for his cancer, news which John does not take well. Having lived most of his life on his grandparents’ farm and hunting for food, John knows when creatures have the “look of death” (6), but he can’t find anything about his grandfather’s appearance or manner that suggests he’ll die soon. John does not remember his parents, so he is unable to compare losing them to the impending loss of his grandfather.

Deer-hunting season begins in a week, and usually, this is an exciting time that John and his grandfather spend together. However, John must hunt alone this year because his grandfather does not feel well enough to go. John despises this change because it feels “like admitting that death was coming” (8). Unable to calmly sit at the breakfast table and cope with how everything’s different, John heads out to the barn to do his chores.