A young boy of about thirteen is taken to a sanatorium situated in a remote area alongside a Norwegian fjord. He is not quite certain why he is there, after all he has only some small lumps on his neck and a mark on his arm. He finds himself in the company of other boys who all have similar ailments in various stages of development. They try to make him feel welcome, but he angrily rejects their approaches, believing he isn't one of them and shouldn't be there at all. He plots his escape, building a raft out of driftwood.—Bernardo74