Summary

Chapter 1: In early spring, one of Elisabeth's friends finds a snail in the woods and takes it to her bedside in the studio where she is convalescing. The friend places the snail in a pot of violets at Elisabeth's bedside. Elisabeth is recovering from an illness caused by a mysterious viral pathogen that has caused severe neurological symptoms and has proved to be very difficult to both diagnose and treat. Elisabeth's body can barely function, and she is confined to her bed, hardly able to move.

Chapter 2: Elisabeth watches the snail move around the pot of violets and eventually notices that it has taken bites out of various papers by her bed. She feeds it some dead flowers from a nearby vase and the sound of it eating gives her a significant feeling of companionship.

Chapter 3: Elisabeth observes the snail as...