While in the process of bringing his wife, Sandra, back to the living, Arthur journals about moments from his past that changed him.

During the journal writing, he rediscovers how, as an orphan, his ability to animate objects and people may have destroyed the lives of the few who grew close to him. The old stuffed teddy bear that helped him assemble puzzles when he was a child might have been too much of a secret for is adoptive mother to keep. His friend, Quincy, who had abilities like his, might have been scared away by Arthur’s abilities. And his grade-school teacher is still harboring a secret about his biological father that she can only hope to be true.

In the meantime, a mysterious smell envelopes the community–a stench so heinous it can be fatal. As the number of deaths from the stench mount, Arthur must decide who to animate back to life and who remains dead.