Frank, out of work, lives in a basement apartment with Mara, a fortuneteller, or as he likes to say, a misfortuneteller. Mara's problem is that she is too good and too honest; not only can she actually know someone's future, but she always tells them the truth no matter how grim. Her clients invariably leave extremely upset and without paying. Their only income comes from the sale of the lucky charms Mara fashions with feathers plucked from the tail of their pet hen, McNugget. Mara and Frank quarrel and Mara storms out. Now Frank has nothing. In desperation, he tries to kill himself by sticking his head in the gas oven and striking a match, but only manages to singe himself in the explosion. Dazed and covered in soot, he looks up to find McNugget speaking to him.