A black zoology professor, Dr. Rosalie Taylor, is about to hear the news of her husband's death. Seeking to comfort her, an ancient earth spirit, Massassi, inadvertently dislodges the lock that confines Rosalie's spirit to her body. Rosalie discovers that, under certain circumstances, her spirit can escape her body and fly into the night sky, leaving behind the grief and guilt that have taken over Rosalie's life. Upon her spirit's return, Rosalie relives the experience which gives her short-lived exhilaration and pleasure. But her spirit also brings back events from her past, ugly memories that Rosalie suppressed and hid from her husband and children. So with increasing confusion and pain, Rosalie makes funeral arrangements, comforts her snooping college-aged children, hosts her dysfunctional in-laws and plans nightly escapes. Massassi sees danger. Rosalie could die if her spirit stays away too long. She sends three spirits to serve as Rosalie's guardians. Their orders are to keep Rosalie safe, keep her spirit from escaping and make her happy. The guardians believe that her happiness is unobtainable but they devote themselves to these tasks.