Sunrise over San Francisco, The Bereft is breaking up with her girlfriend. Afterward, she cleans house, throwing away painful reminders. Tucked under a night stand is a nameless book. After selling it at a used bookstore, she wanders through her neighborhood, stopping at an antique store window, where she sees a beautiful red Victrola. At the bookstore, The Patron enters and finds The Book, and afterward we see her reading at a café. No sooner has she risen to refill a cup of coffee that the book is stolen by The Hustler. The Hustler peddles his art and 'found' objects on the sidewalks of San Francisco. Despite non-stop charm, he claims no customers, until an agitated man, The Broken, hobbles up on a pair of crutches. Gravitating toward The Book, The Broken buys it for less than The Hustler says it's worth, making his way home. On the way, he runs into his neighbor: the woman with the Victrola. Immediately taken by the phonograph, he accompanies her to their apartment building and goes into his adjoining room. He waits. The sound from the Victrola rising, The Broken experiences a moment of pain and triumph. Trying desperately to recreate the sound on his own piano, he bangs the keys and pops medication in a further attempt to squelch a painful musician's bloc. Having been touched in some way by The Book, each character comes to find that even small points of connection can lead to powerful changes of course.
