During WW2 in neutral Sweden, young sailor Bo, son of a railway stationmaster, comes home from the Navy and reminisces a childhood accident. At age twelve, he ran away in a steam locomotive together with a blind 10-year-old girl. The engine derailed, and the little girl got killed. Feelings of guilt haunt Bo even in his courtship with Eva, a beautiful local girl. In Stockholm, Bo sees a nightmare about plotting to kill his roommate Göran together with Göran's flirtatious girlfriend Susanne. In a third act, Eva and Bo are married and living on a remote island off Stockholm. When it's time to give birth, Bo has to row the stormy seas and fears again that he will cause another death.