Kékeli keeps a diary in a little datebook. It tells of his daily life in an African village on stilts, where he lives with his family.
Like most children his age, he goes to school, clowns around, and can't stand his kid sister. And then there's beautiful Amivi and the wondrous "little world" Kékeli dreams of showing her: the sun setting on the lake right in front of his house, a small slice of heaven that nature offers up every night.
One day, a strange stink begins to waft off the lake, and the village dwellers fall ill one after another. What is going on? What's happened to Kékeli's wondrous little world?