The narrator arrives at a fishing village and describes in detail what he sees, including the house that is his final destination. After several small squalls, the sun is bathing the rocks and plants in light, making the rainwater left on them shine. On the ocean, the narrator can see more rainclouds and imagines he can make out the faraway coast of Ireland. Gulls fly overhead, swim in the harbor, and gather in groups on the rocks above it. The harbor itself is small and connected to the ocean by a narrow channel. Around its edges are the few colorful houses that make up the village, and in it some small boys are fishing for trout.
The narrator is standing at the end of a road, which he has traveled 2,500 miles to reach. He has stopped in front of the shanty he is visiting, and, looking at it, almost turns around and leaves, but does not do so. Instead, he walks down to the harbor, joins the young boys who are fishing there, including a boy, John, whose name he knows, and watches as they attempt to reel in trout, although when he attempts to cast a line he is unable to do so successfully. While they fish, he talks with the boys about the Midwest, their schools, and whether they like their teachers. Walking back up from the harbor with the boys, he hears from one of them about a tame seagull his family kept, which died the previous week. When they reach the top of the path, they encounter John’s grandfather and his dog, who have just come out of the house. The grandfather seems to know the narrator and invites him to stay for supper.
Inside the house, John’s grandmother greets them, looking at the narrator with “mild surprise” that turns to “open hostility” and then “self-control.” They eat dinner, at which the adults are silent, “reserved and shy,” and John talks about school, fishing, and a brief sojourn in Toronto. After dinner, the grandparents and John gather together and sing folk songs, including a mournful song about a woman named “Jenny.” While they sing, the narrator feels “alien,” out of place, not knowing the music or the family’s routines.
When the singing is over, John starts his homework and the old woman knits. The narrator and the old man go into the parlor, where the narrator notes decorations including photographs of the old couple and their five daughters, who he knows have red hair despite the black-and-white of the photographs. The grandfather and the narrator play checkers and drink rum together. The grandfather tells the narrator about John, his visit to his mother, Jennifer, and her husband in Toronto, and the couple’s deep love for John. He shows the narrator a newspaper clipping describing Jennifer and her husband’s deaths in a car crash.
Following the revelation of Jennifer’s death, the narrator goes to bed, where he wanders down the hall to the door of John’s room. There he remembers Jennifer and his relationship with her, imagines taking John away with him to the Midwest, and ultimately decides that he cannot understand John or his experiences as well as John’s adoptive family can. John is finally identified as the narrator’s son, the product of his relationship with Jennifer 11 years ago, when he was a graduate student studying local folklore.
In the morning, the narrator explains to the grandparents that he will be leaving that day, emphasizing the fact that he will not be taking John with him. John offers him a beautiful stone, which the narrator accepts before bidding the grandparents goodbye and leaving. On an airplane back to the Midwest, he is seated next to a heavy-equipment salesman working in Newfoundland, who, when they land, is greeted by his wife and two children. The narrator watches as the children, running to their father, demand, “Daddy, Daddy, what did you bring me?”
