Salvatore is almost 20. He loves the sea and has a boat with which he takes tourists around his Sicilian island of Ventonene. His is an untroubled, free life. In the winter, however, when there are no more tourists, he has to work construction on the mainland. According to Salvatore, his life is like a mattress – with a summer and a winter side. One day he meets Martina, a tourist from Genoa come to scuba dive. They fall in love and Salvatore’s passion for her is total and profound. She becomes the centre of all his thoughts, and these feelings spark in him the desire to take his life in a new direction. Full of plans and love, Salvatore experiences a brief moment of complete satisfaction and happiness, until Martina disappears from his life.