: A little boy asks his grandfather to tell what is most important in life. Grandfather shows him a flower growing from dead sand and explains that the main thing is to be able to break through the road to life through death.

Little Athos is "bored of living in the world."

His father is at war, his mother works all day on the collective farm, on a dairy farm. Athos has to stay at home with Grandfather Titus. Day and night, Titus sleeps in the oven and, even when he eats porridge, is dozing.

In the morning, the grandfather promised Athos not to sleep, but in Titus, from old age, his eyes were watery and closed themselves. Athos looked at his grandfather and saw that his hands were large, their skin was like bark on a tree, and under it were thick black veins. It can be seen, "these hands plowed a lot of land."

Grandfather Tit did not fulfill his promises - he soon fell asleep again. Afoni's mother put him on the stove and went to work. The boy was completely bored. He walked around the empty hut, and then woke up his grandfather and demanded to tell everything that he knew. Titus said that he thought a lot in his youth, but he forgot everything from old age, and again fell asleep. Afonya sat next to her grandfather in a warm stove and also fell asleep.

When Afonya woke up, he began to slow down his grandfather, but the walking clock ticked loudly and cradled the old man.Then the boy got down from the stove and stopped the walkers. From the sudden silence, Titus woke up, and Athos demanded to tell him “about everything”, otherwise his grandfather would soon die, and there would be nobody to tell.

Grandfather got down from the stove, took his grandson by the hand and led him to a pasture where grass and flowers grew. There Titus showed Athos a flower that grew not from fertile land, but from fine white sand, and explained that this was the “main thing”. Sand is a dead stone crumb, but a living flower managed to grow out of it.

This flower is the holiest worker, he works life from death.

This flower "turns the loose bulk earth into a living body," the rest of the plants do the same - grass, rye, and people help them grow. This yellow flower is a medicinal one, it heals wounds, therefore it is taken in a pharmacy for wounded soldiers.

Afonya thought about the flowers born of dead sand, and decided to “make life out of death” too. He let his grandfather go home to sleep, promising to find out from the flowers, “how they live from the dust,” and tell Titus that after death he would be reborn from the dust and live on.

Grandfather smiled and left, and Afonya gathered up an armful of yellow flowers and took him to the pharmacy so that his father would not get sick at the front. For the flowers, the boy was given an iron scallop, and he gave it to his beloved grandfather - let him comb his beard.

Titus asked if Athos told the flowers his secret. The boy admitted that they did not tell. Even the grandfather, who has lived so long, and he does not know this secret, but the flowers are silent, they have to get to know everything.

Tit gently stroked his grandson on the head, looked at him “like a flower growing on the ground”, hid the scallop in his bosom and fell asleep.