Provoked by a mysterious ache in the bottom of her foot, Kaleena Madruga begins to investigate the sources of pain in her life. In a series of lyrical essays, she picks her way through dead-end waitressing jobs, a cheating husband, the potential of motherhood, encounters with lobsters, and a trip to the hospital with someone else's grandmother - all in her quest to face the truth of the question: Does It Hurt?