In first-person perspective, an unnamed narrator describes the magical moment he saw a blue butterfly lion in the wild.

The narrative flashes back to the narrator at age 10. While at boarding school in Wiltshire, England, the boy is miserable—tortured by teachers and peers. He decides to run away the following Sunday.

On Sunday, he departs on foot for the train station. His destination: London. Running through the rain, he hides behind a brick wall with a massive lion statue as a car passes. He decides the road is unsafe, and that he will cut through the countryside to the train station.

An illustration depicts a young boy in a long coat running beside a brick wall.

The boy is spotted by a tiny, old woman and her large dog Jack. The woman speculates aloud that the boy must be lost in the rain. As Jack growls, the old woman says the boy is on private property. She knows the boy has run away from the school and cannot blame him. She invites the boy inside for tea.

The boy follows the old woman into her massive house, which is covered in vines. They sit in the kitchen, and the woman offers tea and scones to the runaway boy.