In a flashback set nineteen years earlier, Nora Seed sits in the Hazeldene School library in Bedford, playing chess with the librarian, Mrs Elm. As Mrs Elm opens with a knight, she reassures Nora about exams and emphasizes the excitement of having an entire life of possibilities ahead. Nora makes cautious moves and listens, half-heartedly agreeing.

Nora contrasts Mrs Elm’s warmth with her mother’s critical perfectionism, recalling how her mother once taped down a protruding ear. The library feels like a refuge; since her brother left, the world outside—glimpsed through a rain-spattered window where a younger boy runs past—feels less safe.

Their talk turns playful and curious. Nora notes that cold and wet don’t always align, citing Antarctica as a desert, and she and Mrs Elm riff on escape—astronauts, distant planets, and acid rain on Venus. Mrs Elm praises Nora’s sharp mind and insists she could become anything.

Nora admits her father thinks she has thrown everything away after quitting swimming. Mrs Elm counters that life is bigger than speed in a pool, suggesting paths like glaciology she has even researched. Then the phone rings. Mrs Elm answers, confirms Nora is present, and her face falls; she utters, “Oh no. Oh my God,” signaling distressing news that abruptly ends the idyll.