A grandmother grows tomatoes in her garden, which are so tasty the entire desert town thinks she uses black magic or witchcraft on them. She tends to her garden more than her own daughter, who periodically visits. Generally, she does not think highly of her descendants, one of which is a silly man who has married a "jackalope" wife. When her tomatoes start to disappear, she investigates the source, as she knows it isn't any of the human locals and is wary of local spirits. She forces herself to stay awake until she catches the culprit, a human-mockingbird hybrid, with whom she becomes acquaintances, and invites them in for a tomato sandwich. The grandmother learns that the human-mockingbird has been forced to steal her tomatoes by a mysterious "he," so she travels out into the country, discovers his lair, frees a dragon, and confronts the "cold-king" in his great hall. She is forced to shapeshift into a jackrabbit to fight despite her weakened, older body, but then summons the dragon she freed, who kills the king and eats him. His cursed minions, who include the human-mockingbird, are freed. A part of the king in the form of a hare tries to escape, but his coyote minion eats him. The grandmother returns home, and decides to reconnect with her descendants and teach her granddaughter her ways.