Flora is a circus elephant who has grown too old to perform her tricks. Seventeen-year-old Dawn, daughter of the circus owner, Henry, is deeply attached to Flora. Dawn discovers an elephant refuge, located only three hundred miles from the circus. But the director of this refuge informs Henry that the cost of feeding and caring for an elephant forces them to require a two hundred thousand dollar adoption fee. Henry has no choice but to have Flora euthanize. Dawn tells Henry she can't be there when it happens, so Henry puts her on a train to her aunt's, where she'll stay for a week. But Dawn has no intention of going away. She gets off the train and returns to the circus. She and her seventeen year old friend, Sebastian, who also works at the circus, sneak Flora away at night. A thickly wooded forest separates the circus from the town where the elephant refuge is located. They're well prepared for the journey. Sebastian has made a big backpack for Flora to carry their supplies. They have enough food to last the length of the trip. They enter the woods and the journey begins.