The movie plays in the besieged Sarajevo at 1992. During a bombardment, the parents of the ten-year-old protagonist are killed and he looses his ability to speak. A lady neighbour takes care of him when he has to leave his destroyed home. His new situation soon teaches him the harshness of adult life and his neighbour tries to equip him with values and to protect him. When the militant situation becomes worse, the son of the neighbour is killed by a sniper. In her suffering, the mother rejects his protégé. The boy is able to leave the besieged city and meets the woman after fifteen years again.