"Janus" opens with the line: "The bowl was perfect." In the second paragraph, Beattie introduces the protagonist of the story, Andrea, a successful real-estate agent and owner of the bowl described in the first paragraph. The story is told completely from Andrea's point of view with little dialogue or action.

When she shows homes to a prospective buyer, Andrea places the bowl in a prominent place. She believes that the bowl is particularly "wonderful" because "it was both noticeable and subtle." The bowl is cream colored with a glowing glaze. Scattered across its surface are small flecks of color.

Andrea reports, "There were a few bits of color in it—tiny geometric flashes—and some of these were tinged with flecks of silver. They were as mysterious as cells seen under a microscope; it was difficult not to study them, because they shimmered, flashing...