The scene opens with the protagonist, Mark, arriving at a train station with a camera, a bag, and his dog, Beau. Mark hides Beau in a duffel bag. Mark, who plans on running away to the mountains, buys two bus tickets, deceiving the ticket salesman by claiming his dad is in the bathroom. After the ticket purchase, Mark sneaks onto the train platform with the train ticket he bought online using his mom’s credit card. He tosses the bus tickets and his red hat in the garbage and takes his grandfather’s watch out of his pocket, smashing it on the ground. Though he repeats to himself, “I don’t need anybody” (7), his emotions betray fear and sadness. He hops on the train and, as it leaves the station, composes a haiku poem in his notebook.

Mark’s best friend, Jessica Rodriguez (or Jessie), receives a panicked phone call from Mark’s mother, asking if Mark is with her. Mark’s mother calls the police next, and they listen with increasing solemnity as she describes Mark’s unique situation—referring to cancer—and the note he left behind.