The farmers in the village of Fanoosak maintained a cohesive bond against the drifters, who lived in a nearby swampy island. In 1941, the Soviet Union invaded the Caspian Sea region and struck an immense fear on the villagers. The short-lived occupation left a trail of heartbreaks and devastation behind. A group of women and children sought refuge in the island and paid a big price for it.
The household of Mr. Chaloosi, Toutak, Sara, and their son Mazdak, escaped the invasion but not the trauma all around them. They adopted Parastoo, an orphan girl, on the first day of invasion. They also adopted Dara, an orphan boy, a few years later. Unfortunately, both Toutak and Sara perished in tragic ways.
The arrival of an aloof stranger, Sleepy Moe, to the village after the departure of the Russians didn't raise any body's suspicion. It never crossed their mind that a man's nervous breakdown over losing his wife and infant son could take him to dark places.
Mash Safar, the successful grocer of the village, who had a reputation of being stoic, stingy, and grouchy refused to let the incursion inconvenience him. However, the unexpected death of his wife unraveled him and brought his dubious past to the surface. It turned out that Sleepy Moe was his brother and Dara was his nephew. In a shrewd kind of way, he changed his newphew's name to deprive his brother from ever getting to know his son. He also put up a wall of denial to hide the true identity of his brother from the villagers.
In a strange and twisted way, Sleepy Moe found the body of Toutak in the island and made Sara's killer pay for his crime. What comes around goes around because Parastoo was the one who reunited him with his son. The villagers kindly looked after Sleepy Moe for over a decade. They also shetered his son.