A man named Sam Silvers lives in an apartment above a bar run by Evil Ed, which he frequents for beers. One night, he meets a mysterious man called Derrick Thorn, and in a drunken stupor tells him about his problems paying child support for his ex-wife Victoria. Derrick gives him his card, and the next day Sam goes to pick up his son Danny to take him to the zoo. At the penguin exhibit, Derrick Thorn appears out of nowhere and asks Sam if he remembers their deal. Freaked out, Sam leaves, returns Danny, and goes back to his apartment to drink. The next day, Victoria calls Sam in a panic and tells him that Danny is missing. The two frantically call the police and go through questioning, but nothing comes of it until Sam finds a note from Derrick Thorn telling him that he’s taken care of the child support problem. Frantic, Sam calls Derrick, who tells him to meet him at the zoo that night. Sam brings a gun to their meeting at the penguin exhibit, where he finds Derrick and Danny. He tells Derrick that their deal, which he still can’t remember, is off and he takes Danny home with him.  The memory at the zoo becomes a blur, and no one else seems to recall that it ever happened at all. Sam begins drinking again until he ends up in the hospital, where Evil Ed takes him to AA meetings until he starts to recover. At one of the meetings, a man tells him about pookas, mischievous spirits that attach themselves to alcoholics. At a Christmas celebration, Sam finds out that Victoria is dating a new man named Gunther, and they get into a fight. He starts drinking again and Derrick appears during a news story about the zoo penguins being released back into the wild. He says that since Sam has fulfilled his end of the deal by releasing the penguins, he will fulfill his by ending the child support problem once and for all. Thinking that he means he killed Danny, Sam strangles Derrick until he pops and disappears in a wash of blood. In the fridge, he finds a six pack of beers and Gunther’s head. He pours the beers down the sink, gets rid of Gunther’s head, and decides never to drink again. Sam thinks Derrick is still watching him, waiting for him to take another drink, but resolves to stay sober for good.