In the village of Medela, the village elder Fritz Schmal is buried with great sympathy. Beforehand, Till goes with his father to his property to check on the stork on its new nest. When they join the funeral procession afterwards, the stork has just returned from Africa and joins her husband on the nest. So it comes as Grandad Schmal had predicted. The following flashback shows how it all began.
The story of a 14-year-old boy's problems. Unable to overcome his parents' divorce, Steffen mutates into a "failure" and has to repeat year 7 at school. His mother and teachers are helpless and disappointed in the boy. He remains withdrawn from them and builds his own world by escaping to an old tower where he secretly writes poetry. Franziska, one of Steffen's classmates, is very fond of him and stands up for him; she fights for Steffen's fair treatment. Then the friendship between the two young people is put to the test by the boy's mistrust.
11-year-old René loves his Punch and Judy puppets and dreams of becoming a kindergarten teacher - a dream for which he is often ridiculed and even his father shows little understanding. Deeply hurt, he withdraws and finds solace in the children's home, where he plays stories to the young children with his puppets.
