Maria, a seven year old girl who lives on the island of Ustica, has forgotten her mother’s birthday, and only remembers it when she sees her brothers presenting her with two bunches of wild flowers.
To make amends, she immediately sets off to buy some irises she had spotted in the market down at the port that morning. Luckily the flower-seller still has some left, but Maria only has enough money for one iris.
So she sets out to raise some money, which takes her all over the island and all afternoon.
Not to be beaten, she decides to go and look for her father, knowing that he will give her the cash she needs for a whole bunch. But the tiny island seems so huge, and Maria has a hard job finding him. She meets all kinds of people on the way who put her on different tracks, but in the end she gets more flowers than she bargained for.