Eighteen-year-old Rick's wishes seem modest: an apprenticeship with a gardener, a nice girl, perhaps one of his comic strips being printed in a magazine – but in the provinces near Berlin, the chances of achieving these goals are as likely as hitting six numbers in the lottery. But suddenly, Rick really seems to have hit the jackpot: the longed-for apprenticeship (which is even in the big, wonderful Berlin to boot) and Marilyn, the beautiful greengrocer. Everything would be perfect, if it were not for the circumstances that led to it all: a dubious organisation and their henchmen, a gang of bedraggled youths, who pin Rick's happiness on one dreadful condition. When Rick finds himself on a rollercoaster ride between despair and hope, cowardice and bravery, he retreats into the world of his comics. Everything is simpler there: The hero, Cherryman, is hunting down the jelly- fish-man Mister White to finish him off once and for all. With Cherryman's help, Rick manages to get reality under his control. Initially at least. But ultimately, reality turns out to be stronger.