MITSY, seventeen, lives in a ramshackle house in a small town, with her grandmother, BRIDE, who has raised her since she was four. Bride spends her days scrounging in the local dump and her nights entertaining men in her bedroom.

Mitsy is accepted as a student at the local college, studying hair design. Her harsh-tongued grandmother is secretly proud of her. She wants Mitsy to elevate her life. She has no idea that Mitsy secretly plans to move to Alberta to live with her real mother, GWENNIE, after graduating.

Mitsy has a crush on smooth talking DUFFY, who convinces her to adopt his old ratty mutt. Mitsy hopes the pathetic dog is a quick answer to her lonely prayers. She looks for stability in her new responsibility as a dog owner.

But when Gwennie shows up unexpectedly and stirs up trouble, Mitsy’s world starts to unravel. She must decide whether the woman who raised her is her enemy, or her strongest ally.