A young boy auditions for a position in a choir academy; he is turned down. He returns home with his mother and father where the father is met with the news that his father has just died, and he must leave immediately for the funeral. Upon his arrival at his parents' home, he finds he is too late for the funeral. Later that evening, over coffee, he tries to reconcile himself with his sense of loss in a brief talk with his mother. This narrative framework serves as the jumping-off point for numerous digressions and reminiscences utilizing both "found" and originally photographed imagery..