A glimpse into the memory of Lorenzo Montalban, whose distant childhood is like the fragments of a feverish mirage. His Chilean village, now sinking under years of drifting desert sand, was once a beloved home. One threatening morning, however, he had to leave. Now, when he closes his eyes, he can still see the splinters of what he left behind: his lonely school sweltering under the desert sun; the harsh schoolmaster's strap; the pigeon hunter Jan Michael; Fernando, the boy in the tunnels.