Learning that he does not have long to live and will need to figure out how to provide for his developmentally disabled adult son, a widower signs up as a census taker for a mysterious government bureau and leaves town with his son on a cross-country journey. Learning that he does not have long to live, a widower needs to figure out how to provide for his developmentally disabled adult son. Taking a job as a census taker, the two leave on a cross-country journey through towns named only by ascending letters of the alphabet. They meet the townspeople, some of whom welcome them into their homes, while others who bear the physical brand of past censuses on their ribs are wary of their presence. As they approach “غ،” ٰوم فٍ َuٍٱٰ كنََُُْٰ ٰوم uِٱُِْم نُ ٰوم كمٱَuٱ، فلَ لمكىلم وwُ ٰ ُٱف” هلُُ-ق”م ٰ ُوىٱ ٱ.َُ

Motivated by a desire to see the country, a widower with little time left to live signs up as a census taker for a mysterious governmental bureau and, adult son with Down syndrome in tow, leaves town, encountering a wide range of human experience while conducting his enigmatic tally.