Fred, a twenty-something slacker, finds himself at a place where nothing has gone as planned. Forced out of his mother's home, he finds himself relegated to the guest bedroom of his successful, older brother. Over the blistering summer in North Carolina, he finds his only friend in Donnie, a surprisingly ambitious buffoon, who stands as his own biggest obstacle. Still clinging to aspirations of a career as a fiction writer, Fred finds his progress halted amid a new relationship with Mary, an impulsive, young woman. All who pass through Fred's life - from an old man with a fleeting mind to a young child ripe with innocence - stand as a reflection upon his own state of compromise and tolerance of a life he never wanted. Through his journey, he comes to the realization of the man he's supposed to be and all that he must endure along the way.