Ben, a middle schooler, lives in a town that has an annual tradition of releasing paper lanterns into a local river to celebrate the fall equinox. Each year, he and his five friends ride their bikes along the river to watch the lanterns floating downstream. This year, they have resolved not to turn back for home at the point where they usually do—at a huge rock shaped like a weathered face. Instead, they have made a pact to follow the lanterns until they discover where the lanterns end up. Their pact has two rules: “No one turns for home” (2), and “No one looks back” (3).

On the night of the lantern festival, the boys hurry together to the river, carrying their lanterns through the night. In the graphic novel, this scene is portrayed in a two-page spread using dark blue to indicate shadowy objects—like trees and the night sky—and light blue to indicate illuminated objects like clouds, stars, and the lanterns themselves. The illustrations foreground the boys’ happy, excited faces. After the lanterns are released, two panels offer close-up views of the lanterns bobbing away down the river. As the boys begin their ride to follow the lanterns, three panels encapsulate aspects of their route: The river flowing through rolling hills and pines, and the boys riding along the river through a heavily forested section of the route, approaching the large rock that is shaped like a head.