From birth to young adulthood, the Indian boy affects beyond his own recognition the lives of others in a multitude of encounters. He is guided by the many characters he meets on a self-imposed journey across the Western United States. He seeks comfort, but his own life is on a tumultuous path destined for more unwanted hardship. He is nurtured by an Indian storyteller and a young girl who brightens his life, but the sweetness is fleeting. He is encouraged by a Mexican merchant and counseled by a dying classmate. He finds sanctuary in the fruit trees, but it is lost. He travels to places of wonder. He sees the worst among us. Forced to wander, he lives a vagabond life always in search of the special one and finding only solitude.