George Washington Crosby has Parkinson’s and kidney cancer and is eight days from death. As he sits in a hospital bed in his living room, he begins hallucinating: He imagines that the house, which he built with his own hands, is collapsing on him. He thinks that the floor below him collapses and he falls to the basement, and he watches as the two floors above him cave in and land on top of him. He looks around his house and sees evidence of his career as a math teacher and of his post-retirement occupation as a clock repairer. He fixes clocks to make extra money and he has earned enough to help his wife after his passing. Still hallucinating, George imagines that the sky and stars fall on him as well.

George then loses himself in memories from his past. He remembers his father, Howard Aaron Crosby, who was a traveling salesman in Maine. Howard had a wagon that he filled with everyday supplies and sold these to families in the area. Howard was also a tinker; he fixed objects for people and also did various odd jobs, sometimes for money.