Carla and her husband own a riding school in rural Canada. They also own a beloved goat which has gone missing. To earn some extra money, Carla helps clean the house of her elderly neighbor Sylvia, whose husband is very ill. Carla’s husband is extremely temperamental, and Carla often tries shock-factor acts to cheer him up and appease him. One that always works is a story she makes up about how Sylvia's husband makes sexual passes at her.  When Sylvia’s husband dies, Carla and her husband discover that he was a poet and had won a large monetary prize. Carla’s husband wants to sue Sylvia for her late husband’s behavior towards Carla. Carla becomes extremely distressed, since she completely made up said behavior. After Sylvia returns from a vacation in Greece, Carla comes over to visit. It is clear that Sylvia has a small crush on Carla. Carla is distressed that her husband wants her to carry out their plot against Sylvia and she begins to cry. She tells Sylvia that she is unhappy with her husband and wants to leave. Sylvia makes arrangements to put Carla on a bus to Toronto, where Sylvia's friend lives. While on the bus, Carla starts to panic. She jumps off and calls her husband to come get her. Later that night, the husband goes over to Sylvia’s to make her apologize and to tell her not to come near his wife again. While he’s there, a shape appears out of the foggy yard and scares them both. It turns out to be the missing goat. Because of their shared fear, the animosity dissipates between the husband and Sylvia, and the husband leaves. When Carla checks the mailbox that week, she finds a note from Sylvia. The note describes the goat incident, of which Carla’s husband has told her nothing. Carla never checks, but she wonders if her husband has killed the goat and left its remains in the woods behind Sylvia's house.