Claudio, a poor 9 years old boy who lives alone with his mother, loves to draw. His father left some years ago and Claudio nurtures the idea that drawing a colored portrait of his father will make him come home. But Claudio doesn't have any colored pencils. When he eventually obtains 3 magical colored pencils, his mother allows him to use only one color per day. Thereafter each color will have an influence on Claudio.