According to Tuscan folklore the evening of August 10th is the night of San Lorenzo, where each shooting star is believed to grant ist spectator one wish. During this night of the year 1944 a small group of villagers from San Martino decide to leave their village. There are rumours that the Germans plan to blow up their village when the American troops arrive. Most of the villagers trust the anouncement of the Germans that although the village is mined they will be save as long as they stay inside the San Martino`s cathedral. Skeptical to this promise the group leave in search for Italian partisans or the advancing American troops. When they return they discover that everybody they left behind became the victims of a German retaliation strike.