Along a lonely beach on a summer colony off the Long Island coast, a man walks slowly, reliving a summer, the summer of Laura, when he was 19. Richie has a friend on the island, Gene, who is gregarious and mischievous. Like the more sensitive Richie, he too, was 19. During that summer of awakening he loses his youthful desires and develops his manhood. On the way to the movies, Richie literally bumps into Laura, an older woman who lives nearby. She asks him if he'll help her with some chores the following day. He is totally flustered, but agrees. Richie goes to her house and after knocking on the door, and getting no response, enters. On the floor he finds a crumpled telegram which reads, "Your husband, Bob Hayes, has been killed in action." Laura appears, lonely and vulnerable. She moves toward him in a gesture of human contact. They slowly begin to dance.