Gabelkin and Nikita, two little boys from a northern Russian village, never meet, and their lives appear to move in opposite directions. Gabelkin lives with his alcoholic mother, while Nikita is one of the many at a local orphanage. Gabelkin's teacher struggles with the fact that she can't have any children of her own. She'd like to adopt him, but can't, and does all she can to help. Nikita believes his mother is a woman from a photograph he found on the street.