Seventeen-year-old high school student Teo, who lives only with his mother, spends his summer vacation with his grandparents in a mountain village. Since childhood, he feels lonely, unbalanced. He yearns for love and meets Ester, who has a four-year-old child, Charlotte. Ester is not indifferent to Theo. They meet behind the village by the river Bystřina and spend a lot of time together. Teo starts photographing and painting Ester. He meets the Tramp, a strange lonely man who also paints, and Teo firmly decides to become a painter. At the end of the vacation, something happens and Teo returns to town sad and disappointed. He rejects his mother's suggestion that he go abroad to study economics as soon as possible.
He finally fulfills his dream of becoming a painter. He meets Horalka, who is older than him. He realizes that he is not only looking for a girlfriend and lover in his partners, but also a mother. They will overcome a long painful journey with Horalka. After years, Teo gets closer to his grandfather and finally finds the roots of his childhood. He tries to find Esther's now grown daughter Charlotte to help her. He is convinced that family is the basis of happiness in life. A romantic story is primarily about searching and finding the meaning of life, love in a family, its essence and cohesion.