Against the stark beauty of a balmy winter in rural Texas, a little girl's family envelops her in magic while she naively plays with fire. The narrator escapes into Lou Belle's consciousness, a magical place filled with family lore and ritual orchestrated by her father, a loving but mysteriously tormented man (Tom Lagleder). Lou Belle's innocent happiness is contrasted with her disgruntled next door neighbor Janice (Carolyn Banks), a restless retiree pining for her past snowy holidays up north. Janice tries to escape her own humdrum existence by reaching out to the strange little girl across the fence. The story rolls out over an indulgent wash of childhood nostalgia and slowly builds to a dazzling climax as the family's unsettling rituals are revealed.
