For Morteza’s grandfather, Kay Kay was a village whose noble heritage was rooted in the legend of Kai-Kavus, a mythical king from the Shahnameh. Outsiders who come for trekking on the weekends admire Kay Kay for its beautiful setting among the mountains of North Khorasan. But for the young shepherd Morteza, Kay Kay is a drab and neglected village in the middle of nowhere. The salt he feeds his sheep twice a day reminds him of the snow that imprisons Kay Kay all winter long. Like Kay Kay itself, Morteza feels imprisoned by village life. He enjoys the liveliness of the weddings of his friends who have moved to town, and he thinks of abandoning his sheep in favor of a job as a construction worker. While Morteza is trying to decide whether to move permanently to Tehran, Kay Kay’s village elders are debating whether a new road will save their dying village.