Based on a story by renowned sci-fi writer Frederick Pohl. Twelve-year-old Jonathan Bender is mercilessly and cruelly dominated by his callous parents. After Mom wins the lottery in spite of her stupidity, they are assailed by money-seekers, including a very dubious old acquaintance who is now the miraculously clever inventor - he baldly claims - of pills that will transform anyone into an unthinkably powerful intellect. When Dad throws him out, scattering the pills on the floor, little Jonathan is assigned the task of cleaning up.