We see two stories told over four time lines, which wind down to a devastating ground zero collision, as we watch a double tragedy unfold in a small Oklahoma town. The two stories are told out of normal time sequence, showing us brief glimpses of the beginning, middle and end of the two stories in seemingly random order. One story concerns Ainsley DuPree (Martha Plimpton), who meets and marries her prison pen pal Jack (Kevin Anderson). The other story begins with the discovery of a mute and bloody teenager (Nick Stahl), found wandering and in shock in the middle of the night, and the efforts of the town sheriff (Hal Holbrook) to determine what happened to him. As the film unfolds these tales, the viewer is confronted with questions of the existence and mercy of God and the hopelessness of being alone and adrift in an indifferent world.