- Our friendly narrator describes the road that winds around the local wood and into Treegap and the little house outside of the wood that has a "touch-me-not appearance" (1.2).
- There's no direct path through the wood, which seems pretty important.
- The area belongs to the family who lives in the house and their young daughter, Winnie Foster.
- Winnie and her family aren't that intrigued by the woods. Actually, no one is all that taken with it. Go figure.
- The narrator actually suggests that this lack of intrigue is kind of important. Looking so ordinary protects what's at the heart of the wood: a mysterious area with a clearing, a tree, and a little bit of running water. It all looks almost forgettably normal, but not so fast. The spring is anything but forgettable.