Shawn has cerebral palsy: highly intelligent, he has no control whatsoever over his body or its functions. His eyes wander or settle without control. His mouth, tongue, swallowing muscles all have a life of their own. No act of will by Shawn can affect anything he does or anything that happens to him. Yet Shawn's mental life is full of dreams and hopes and love and appreciation of all that is around him - music he happens to hear, things and people that happen to cross his line of vision.

Then Shawn begins to fear that his father - from despair at Shawn's condition and believing that Shawn has no life, and never can have, is no more than a vegetable, and never will be - is planning the unthinkable - to put him out of his misery - to kill him . . .