Klara moves to a small town with his mother after the parents divorced. She feels alienated unable to make friends. Most of the girls in her class likes to ride and to get closer to them, Klara lies about being an experienced rider.

Stig is a man in his forties. Probably middle-class, works full-time, gets a decent paycheck and drives a nice new car from a well-known Japanese brand. He is married and dresses well without being a snob. He is a normal Swedish man who performs what most people would consider totally irrational actions. Why?

It is New Year's Eve, 1959, and night shift at the telegraph station in Trångsele. The characters long for something missing in their lives and share that in common.