A month after the human exodus back to Earth, much of Mars is completely abandoned, and empty human cities litter the planet’s surface. A man named Walter Gripp wanders the streets of one city while his eyes glow “with a dark, quiet look of loneliness” (194). His work as a prospector kept him away from the cities, and news of the Great War on Earth, and a week before he arrived deserted city. At first, he entertained himself luxuries, but very soon a loneliness strikes him. For years he has longed to marry “a quiet and intelligent woman” (194).

When a phone rings, Gripp becomes aware that he is not the only survivor on Mars. Unable to reach the phone before the caller hangs up, Gripp obsessively calls every woman in the phone book, desperate to believe that the caller was a potential partner. Eventually he reaches the caller, a woman named Genevieve Selsor who has a voice “so kind and sweet and fine” (200). Gripp sets off in quick pursuit of Genevieve, driving hundreds of miles before he finds her.

However, Genevieve does not match Gripp’s expectations. He considers her overweight and small-minded in her interests and grows annoyed with her almost immediately.