The story is about Ester, a nine-year-old girl, who has to conquer her fear of unfamiliar surroundings. Together with her father she moves into a new neighborhood where she is being ignored by the other children living there. One day when her father has to work, he tells her to go and play at Ms. Richmond's. Outside the children from the neighborhood warn Ester for Ms. Richmond. The story goes that Ms. Richmond used to have lots of children, but that they were all eaten by her toilet. A bit disturbed, Ester visits Ms. Richmond. During her visit she learns that Ms. Richmond and her toilet are quite different from what she imagined them to be. With this visit she conquers her fear, gains her confidence, and earns respect from the children in the neighborhood.

On New Year's Eve, three friends drive into a tunnel quarreling. They ignore road works, roll the car and crash. In the last split second, their lives flash before their eyes. Flashbacks unravel how the men met and what preceded the quarrel. The reconstruction leads to Duco, a psychiatrist who is hiding his homosexuality from his parents. He falls in love with the homeless Reinier, and takes him in. Their love-hate relationship is disrupted when Reinier takes into his house Jeroen who has attempted suicide. Jeroen cleverly digs into the pasts of the men, fathoms their strange relationship and feeds the repressed tension. He uses the situation to his own ends.