Summary

This story takes place one evening on the veranda of a small house in the fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio. The main character of the story, Wing Biddlebaum, is a short, fat, bald, white forty-year old man who lives alone. His only friend is a young reporter, George Willard.

In the beginning of the story, Wing is on his veranda watching a wagon filled with young people returning to town after a day of picking strawberries in the fields. One of the young girls in the wagon calls to Biddlebaum as they pass, taunting him about his baldness. After the wagon has passed, Biddlebaum crosses the field in front of his house to the edge of the road hoping to see his friend, Biddlebaum George, coming to visit him that evening, but the road is empty. Filled with fear, he runs...