Like most narratives, this text immediately introduces the setting, characters, and conflict. Based on details in the first four paragraphs, what connects all three of these elements?

I don't have access to the story your question refers to, but I can still help you to answer it for yourself.

Explanation:

The setting, characters, and conflict are essential elements that make a story meaningful.  

Inevitably one is connected to the other so that the story can unfold. Even to these elements we could also add the plot and the resolution.

The characters are the protagonists of a story. It is on them that the story that will be told will be based. The setting is the location, in time and space where everything will take place. Plot is the story proper, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The conflict is what makes the story interesting. A story in which nothing happened would not attract the attention of readers.  And finally, resolution is the way in which the previous point is resolved.