- Someone named Bernard says that he sees a ring hanging above him, quivering in a "loop of light" (1b.1).
- A girl named Susan then observes that she sees "a slab of pale yellow" spreading out to meet "a purple stripe" (1b.2). Okay, then… They sound like they're staring at a blacklight poster at 3 a.m.
- Now we're joined by Rhoda, who observes that she hears a sound. Actually, it appears to be a series of sounds—cheeping and chirping, to be exact.
- Neville (how many characters does this book have? Oh yeah, six main ones.) then says that he sees a "globe" (1b.4).
- Another new character, Jinny, says she sees a "crimson tassel" (1b.5).
- And then there's a dude named Louis, who says he hears something stamping. He says, "A great beast's foot is chained" (1b.6). (We're a half a page into this book, btw.)
- After the characters introduce themselves with these fairly abstract observations, they proceed to marvel at their physical surroundings as they appear during the sunrise and the sensations they are experiencing.
- Ah, it's a sunrise. A sunrise at Burning Man?
- Louis gets back on his riff about the beast stamping, specifying this time that the beast is an elephant and, apparently, is on the beach.
- Next, the characters turn their attention to a house nearby, which is also waking up. Someone in the scullery is washing a mackerel, smoke is rising from the roof, and a flock of birds get scared away when the scullery door is unbarred (except one, which remains to sing by the bedroom alone).
- Ok, we're not at Burning Man. Could have fooled us, what with all the trippy colors and phantom sounds.
- The children then observe more activities taking place at daybreak at the house. For example, there is someone named Mrs. Constable who is pulling up her "thick black stockings" (1b.24). More sensations; Neville hears a bee buzzing, and Jinny feels both hot and cold (apparently she's going in and out of shade and sunlight).
- Suddenly, Louis finds himself alone, and in his inner monologue, likens himself to a plant. He says his "roots go down to the depths of the world" and his eyes are "green leaves, unseeing" (1b.35).
- Are you sure this book doesn't take place at Burning Man? Louis sounds like he's wearing a whole lot of body paint.
- While his imagination is running wild as he hides in the greenery, Louis watches Bernard, Neville, Jinny, and Susan (but not Rhoda) running around catching butterflies in nets. Suddenly, "she" (who?) spies him and kisses him. Louis is not happy, lamenting internally: "She has kissed me. All is shattered" (1b.36).
- Suddenly, we're privy again to Jinny's thoughts. It seems she was the "she" who kissed Louis; she spied him in the bushes after initially thinking he was a bird.
- Jinny sounds like she's wearing furry pajama pants and a raccoon tail. We're going to write The Waves II: Burning Man Boogaloo.
- Uh oh, now there's drama. Susan saw the kiss go down, and she seems about as thrilled as Louis, probably less so—she's having a hard time keeping her temper. She immediately resolves to escape to the beech wood to deal with her feelings, where she claims she will eat, drink, and die. Well then.
- Bernard sees Susan rush by on her way to the beech wood and notes that she seems on the verge of crying. He tells Neville he will follow her to be there for her "when she bursts out in a rage and thinks, 'I am alone'"(1b.39).
- And that is what he does, following and watching as she falls down on the ground (Bernard thinks she tripped, but we know Susan intended to throw herself down). Susan explains to Bernard why she is upset and repeats her intention to die in the wake of her discovery. Bernard tries to get her to think about something other than the kiss.
- However, Susan will not be deterred, emphasizing her single-mindedness when she has fixated on something. She says that she is tied down, while Bernard can "wander" and "slip away" (1b.45).
- Nonetheless, Bernard insists that they explore the nearby estate, which we learn is called Elvedon.
- As they go, he notes a stable boy and a garden where some ladies walk and clip roses at noon. They come to a wall, and Bernard invites Susan to peek over. On the other side, they see a lady sitting between two long windows and writing, as well as some gardeners.
- As they peer at the lady, Susan remarks that if they died there, no one would bury them. Gee, she wasn't kidding about being single-minded—she is obsessed with death.
- The gardeners apparently spot Susan and Bernard, causing Bernard to exclaim that they are about to be shot. They run until Bernard believes they are safe.
- Meanwhile, Susan seems disenchanted with Bernard, saying he has "escaped" her (1b.52), trailing away and "making phrases" (1b.52). I guess she doesn't appreciate the wild stories he's telling. They return to the house, where they come across Rhoda rocking petals in a bowl of water, pretending they are ships.
- Meanwhile, back inside Rhoda's mind, we learn that she is enjoying her game. She remarks that the others have gone inside, and that Miss Hudson is laying out their copybooks in the schoolroom, so she doesn't have much time left alone.
- Oh. These kids are… kids. They're imagining stuff, not hallucinating. Phew.
- Neville is now wondering where Bernard got off to with his knife, which they had been using to make boats until Susan came running by. He's not happy that Bernard has left him in a lurch. The bell rings, and he announces that they all must drop their toys and go in.
- Now we're in the schoolroom, where Louis is inwardly refusing to conjugate a verb until Bernard does it (apparently, Louis is self-conscious about being Australian and speaking with an accent).
- Louis gives us a rundown on the origins of his classmates. According to him, Susan's father is a clergyman, Rhoda "has no father," Neville and Bernard are the children of gentlemen, and Jinny lives with her grandmother in London.
- He compares himself favorably to them. He's neat 'n' tidy and claims that "I know more than they will ever know" (1b.55). He notes that Susan, Neville, Bernard, and Jinny laugh at his neatness and his accent.
- Susan, Bernard, Jinny, and Neville reflect on words as Bernard does his conjugation.
- The class then moves on to math, a subject that Rhoda apparently hates. Miss Hudson puts a problem on the blackboard, and all the children solve it and are allowed to leave—except Rhoda, who says that she has no answer, and the figures mean nothing to her. The clock ticks on.
- Louis watches Rhoda from outside, where the children are picking herbs and crawling around in the bushes. Meanwhile, Bernard is telling stories and inciting the others to pretend they are in a jungle. Through the leaves, they see Miss Curry and Miss Hudson pass.
- Jinny reflects that Miss Curry will soon blow her whistle and they will have to go inside, which leads her into thoughts about the future. She thinks about when she and the other kids will part ways and go off to boarding school (apparently, she, Rhoda, and Susan are bound for a school on the East Coast). She compares someone's face to an apple tree (er, is that a compliment?), but it's not clear whose face is apple tree-esque.
- Bernard notes that Miss Curry has blown her whistle, and his make-believe jungle world is slipping away. Miss Curry is about to take them for a walk, as Miss Hudson sits at her desk doing accounting.
- The kids offer their respective reactions to the walk. Jinny finds it dull. Susan notes that Louis is picked to be in front because he walks briskly and isn't a "wool-gatherer" (1b.66).
- Meanwhile, Neville says he has been left behind because he is perceived as too delicate for that kind of exercise. He uses the solitude to "coast" around the house (1b.67). Strangely, he says he might go stand in the stairway, precisely in the place where, the night before, he accidentally overheard someone talking about a man who was found with his throat cut. Neville seems to have had trouble moving on from that moment. Wow, these little kids are pretty obsessed with death.
- Suddenly, we are back in Susan's mind (are you dizzy yet?), and the kids are taking their tea. She notes that she saw Florrie and Ernest (we're not sure who they are, but they were dealing with the wash—perhaps they are servants?) kissing in the kitchen garden. Susan watches them now at teatime, perceiving a connection between them as she imagines "hot steam" hissing up as they touch (1b.69). This prompts Susan to reflect that she isn't afraid of heat or of cold.
- Susan watches the others as they finish up their meals. Bernard is molding his bread into pellets and calling them "people" (1b.69). Jinny plays her hands over the table as though they are dancers.
- We're back in Louis's mind as the kids get up from their meal and gather around the harmonium. Miss Curry plays, and they sing together a prayer to God to keep them safe as they sleep. Louis notes that they are clasping hands and "afraid of much" (1b.70). He claims he is afraid of his accent, and Rhoda is afraid of figures – yet, they are "resolute to conquer" (1b.70).
- Bernard notes that they then go upstairs to get ready for bed, and soon it is his turn to take a bath with the assistance of Mrs. Constable. After his bath, he dries off and heads to bed.
- Rhoda takes off her shirt and dress, and in so doing, claims to "put off" her "hopeless desire to be Susan, to be Jinny" (1b.73).
- She gets into bed and starts to have a dream about her aunt coming to get her. She wants to be woken up (guess she doesn't like her aunts). She likens being lost in the dream to being lost in the ocean.