Shannon stars as Peggy, a forty-something administrative assistant whose social and love life are slim to nil. Her most intimate bond is with her dog, Pencil. One morning Pencil refuses to come in after being let out to do his business, and a half-awake Peggy lets him stay outside overnight. The next morning she finds him in the yard of her neighbor Al (John C. Reilly) whimpering in pain. She takes him to a vet but it is too late; Pencil dies of toxic poisoning.