Flora's worst fears come true. Her mother, Phyllis, is relentless: she has decided the squirrel must go, and she persuades Flora's gentle father to carry Ulysses away in a sack and abandon him. Flora is indignant and furious — she cannot believe the adults she should trust are turning against her hero. A showdown between mother and daughter now feels inevitable. But Ulysses is not so easily got rid of. He escapes, and a wild chase begins. The pursuit is frantic and perilous, full of near-misses and collisions, as the little squirrel flies for his life. At one point the chase spills into a crowded diner, where hysteria breaks out: customers scream, plates crash, and the squirrel swoops overhead in a flying rampage that leaves havoc everywhere. Through all the chaos, one strange detail stands out. Phyllis is sentimental about hardly anything — except a treasured shepherdess lamp, which she seems to love more than her own daughter's happiness. As the catastrophe unfolds, the gap between what Phyllis values and what truly matters grows painfully clear. Watching her mother cling to a lamp while plotting against a living creature, Flora sees her family more honestly than ever before.