The narrator—Gordon Lachance, who goes by Gordie in the story—writes that he was 12 years old when he saw a dead human body. He still has dreams about the body. He notes that the most important things are also the hardest things to say. 

Gordie has a treehouse where he plays cards, smokes cigarettes, and looks at magazines with several friends. He’s in the treehouse with Teddy DuChamp and Chris Chambers. Teddy is nearsighted and has long hair that covers his ears because his father burned them on a woodstove after Teddy broke a plate. After disfiguring his son, Teddy’s father called the hospital and, when the orderlies arrived to retrieve Teddy, explained that German snipers were everywhere. Police arrested him.

Vern Tessio arrives and asks if they can go camping that night. Gordie says that he can. In April, Gordie’s brother Dennis was killed in a car accident at Basic Training at Fort Benning. Gordie’s parents loved Dennis and are now indifferent to Gordie. Vern asks if they want to see a dead body.