A suicidal man forces his bartender to carry out his death wish through a life-defining conversation.

For 20 years, Rikard Viking Flinga was in Texas' harshest prisons, convicted of murder. Rikard Viking Flinga is a Swedish citizen but has never been to Sweden. But in early March 2000, he was transferred there to start a new life.

Store security guard Pietro spends his days catching shoplifters, his weekends visiting his children who are in custody of his ex-wife, and his nights thinking about new ways to flirt with the store's makeup consultant. His malaise psychosomatically manifests itself in nosebleeds, outbursts of anger, visions, etc. One day, he sees a young Gypsy girl steal something from the store and lets it slide: he can't explain why, but she caught his eye. Pietro and Pabe – that's her name – warily start to hang out, knowing each other more and more, until something begins to blossom in them. Could their shared dream for a new, more compassionate life finally be at their fingertips?

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.