One day, a young woman with a child gets off a passenger train that has made an unscheduled stop at a small railway station called Tishina in the middle of the steppe. No one is there to meet her. She has been put off the train because her child is ill. The stationmaster, Ospanov, realizing that the newcomer is going through a difficult time, takes her into his apartment and offers her his help. Olga gradually gets used to the dull life of the station and its people. The child recovers. But Olga does not leave. Instead, she stays at the station...