Her husband is killed by the Taliban, now Rukhsaar is a widow with a ten-year-old child, Masih, in a land where the colour drains from faces when they hear, "It's a girl."

Reminiscing about her past, Rukhsaar and her son wander the bazaars of Kabul, Afghanistan, looking for a new home and means to survive. She finds employment as a maid, and the measly income pays for a room until her health fails, and she needs an operation to live.

Masih is forced to find work and is challenged by the offerings: prostitution and drugs. He lands a shoe-shining job that doesn't last, returning him to the streets, looking for the means to pay for the rent and his mother's medical needs. He meets a boy, though an addict and a thief, who turns to be Masih's ally.