Summary

Jim is a privileged British boy living in Shanghai with his mother and father right before Japan invades Shanghai in World War II. The threat of war is always on his parents’ minds.

At a Christmas party Jim and his parents attend, he escapes to the terrace. There, he encounters Mr. Maxted, the father of Jim’s closest friend, Patrick. Jim recalls fun times he’s had with Patrick and Mr. Maxted, who has a better sense of humor than Jim’s own father. From there, Jim continues to an abandoned field until he comes across the Hungjao military airfield and flies his model airplane. He continues walking through the field to the fuselage of a Japanese fighter plane he’s visited before. He sits in it and excitedly pretends to work the controls. He then launches his own airplane far away and runs after...