Vera is gently watering her small plot of vegetables when a group of raggedly dressed children enter the village. Vera asks one of the boys how they have done. One of them, Paul, replies that it gets harder every day and shows her a poor collection of foraged vegetables and fruit. Vera tries to cheer him up and shows him the small crop of cabbages she has been tending which appear to be doing quite well. Paul looks up to the sun as it beats down.