At school for his birthday, Omri receives from his good friend Patrick a small plastic replica of a person—this one is an Indigenous American, referred to in the text as an “Indian”—and he is a bit disappointed. He already has four cookie tins full of tiny plastic people spread all over his house and yard, and the two boys have grown tired of them. Neither kid has any other Indians, nor any cowboys, so they are hard to play with, which is why Patrick gives the Indian to Omri. Omri politely keeps quiet and pockets the figurine.

At home, Omri gets presents from his family, including the skateboard he wanted, along with a helmet from his oldest brother, Adiel. The middle brother, Gillon, whose allowance was canceled due to “a very unfortunate accident involving their father’s bicycle” (2), gives Omri a small cupboard that he found in the alley among the trash bins. It is a bathroom medicine cabinet made of white metal with a mirror on the door and one shelf inside.

Omri loves it because he loves cupboards: He enjoys placing things inside them and, later, opening the cabinets to find the objects right where he put them.