Anna and Francesca are both fourteen years old and live in a working-class neighborhood of Piombino. Face to them, off the shores, they can see the Elba Island with its gorgeous beaches whereas behind them stands the steel plant, which shrinks the lives of the district dwellers. Alessio, Anna's big brother, is a worker there and wants happiness on the spot, unlike his father who has left the plant and who seems none the less for it. Elena, Alessio's great love, seemed to have escaped immurement thanks to her studies but she has become an executive at the personnel department of the factory where stuff cut is decided. All the same, Anna and Francesca are on holiday and are determined to take advantage of this interlude of freedom.