While preparing dinner for her family, Christine dwells on a biopsy appointment she has scheduled for the next morning to examine a lump that has recently developed under her arm. Her husband, Al, enters the kitchen to confirm the time of her appointment and tells her that he’s also informed their two children that she’ll be getting some tests done, despite her efforts to keep the hospital visits hidden from them. Christine’s thoughts wander to her daughter Hannah’s past obsession with the story of the princess and the pea, in which a lump—a small pea buried under several thick mattresses—keeps the princess from falling asleep at night. Her train of thought then shifts to her son, Jamie, and how she and Al have compromised on the natural, eco-friendly, sustainable way of life they once upheld.
Meanwhile, Al gives the children a bath, causing Hannah and Jamie to splash each other and fight over bath toys. Back in the kitchen, the screaming and crying irritates Christine as she anxiously recalls her previous appointment for an ultrasound on the lump. She spots a mouse running through the kitchen and sets up some mousetraps, before calling the rest of the family to dinner. While Al sorts through the basket of clean laundry for the children’s pajamas, Christine grumbles to herself about her laid-back, easygoing husband, whose absentmindedness leaves much of the household chores and organizing to her. Despite her mounting concern about the biopsy, she prepares the next day’s lunches and dinner for her family, in case she cannot be home in time.
After dinner, Jamie nonchalantly announces that he needs to make a diorama for a school project. While explaining the assignment, he reveals that it is due the next day, prompting Christine to compare him to his similarly dreamy and forgetful father. However, Christine’s love for her son overcomes her annoyance, and she helps him assemble materials from around the house and get to work on the project. When his bedtime arrives, Jamie is still working steadily, not wanting to feel embarrassed next to other students with completed dioramas—students who likely started the project long before he did.
After Jamie goes to bed, Christine impulsively takes over and continues working late into the night, intending to surprise Jamie with a finished diorama in the morning. As she works, she frets anxiously about the next morning’s appointment. She glances at her sleeping children while collecting materials from their rooms, taking pride in their health and development in contrast to the tumor she imagines growing in her body.
Early the next morning, Christine wakes up well ahead of her scheduled train into the city, still feeling unsatisfied with the diorama. She wanders out into the garden and allows the surroundings to calm her, before gathering some branches and moss for the finishing touches on Jamie’s project. The memory of Al fishing out Hannah’s pajamas from the clean laundry the previous night comforts her as she waits for the train. Just before heading out, Christine retrieves and unsets all of the mousetraps she placed around the house.
