When Declan loses his dog and best friend, Ralphie, his life starts to unravel.

The husband was stern, solemn and never could understand why anyone should laugh. The wife didn't have much sense, perhaps, but she was full of life and laughter. Why they should have married was a mystery; that there should have come a matrimonial shipwreck was hardly a surprise.

A mating ritual between two birds, reinterpreted by a maiden with insomnia, a hypnotist and a man plagued by apocalyptic visions.

Trapped in a lonely existence, reclusive widower Roy passes the days by cold-calling strangers from the phone book, looking for brief moments of companionship. But when he accidentally calls adult hotline worker Cara, an unlikely friendship is born that will help them both rediscover the joy of life.