The film takes place in the summer of 1941, after the events of ''A Christmas Story'', which took place in December 1940. It has several plot lines, one each for Ralphie, his father, and his mother, followed by one involving him and his dad on a fishing trip. His quest for most of the film is to find a top tough enough to knock that of a bullying's out of a chalk circle in a game of "Kill". Meanwhile, his dad has a series of skirmishes with his hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpuses, and all forty-three Bloodhounds named Big Red. He calls in Barkley, the family dog, to distract the Bumpuses' hounds when he comes home from work. When he gets out of the car, he accidentally steps in dog feces. Ralphie's mom would like to finally get something other than a Ronald Colman gravy boat on dish night at the local cinema. Scut, the main bully, is demoted, with a new head bully ruling over him.