Graham Patterson is a middling comedian whose career (and love life) has gone up in smoke. After buying a new car, he embarks on a cross country road trip to see his brother Joel, to try and figure what he should do with himself and his career. Midway, after his car breaks down, he enters a tattoo parlor, mesmerized by the unique beauty of the tattoo work on display. After paging through a catalog of styles, he chooses a very rare tattoo – a bee inside a frog inside a hawk inside a lion – that the tattooist’s Japanese mentor created. It is a tattoo with strange qualities, to the extent that the tattoo will allow the protagonist to explore alternative versions of his own life and ultimately choose his preferred life.