Aline is a waitress in a club in the city Valencia. She is divorced and has a little son, Marcel.

Marcel is eager for his mother's attention and tenderness, but all he ever gets from her are screams and disregard. Her lover Bruno, jazz musician, decides to take a chance in Berlin and Aline doesn't want to be left behind. She takes Marcel to her small hometown in Spain planning to leave him with her father Pascual who lives alone in an old house on his little store's income. Pascual has not seen Aline for six years and he misses his wife, who died shortly after his daughter left home. When Aline leaves Marcel at his place, he thinks the situation will be temporary, but it turns out to be forever. Marcel feels frightened because his grandfather is a stranger to him, but eventually a special atmosphere arises between them and Pascual's loneliness disappears.

At the age of eighteen, Marcel works at the store. Loneliness has returned to Pascual's life. All his friends and relatives have disappeared and his grandchild has already a life on his own with girlfriend. He notices that something strange is happening to him. His memory fails, but embarrassed to tell Marcel. Then Pascual gets worse: he suffers paranoia, wets himself, forgets everything and often gets lost. Finally, Marcel takes his grandfather to the doctor. He is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Marcel understands that his dreams fly away.