Lucy is determined to meet all the people in her apartment block, interested in their names which seem to come from around the world.

But the first person she meets is Matthew, an autistic boy upstairs from her, and his mother, Marie.

Matthew loves to plunge his hands into long hair, and, getting to know Lucy's friend, Theo, he starts to respond to the music of her grandfather's African drum.

Lucy is also trying to make a very well-behaved dog more dogish, and succeeds in getting him to be more naughty, but also knows Matthew's changed her life for ever.

One day, as an adult, she will work with autistic children...