Minka is outgoing, cheerful, and dreams of more than life in her quiet village, while her sister Lizzie is shy, sensitive, and loves their safe and predicable life, but everything changes Minka meets a boy who gives her a plum to eat. He tells her she should come away with him, into the darkness, into the forest, and Minka falls under his spell, the spell of a zdusze or goblin. Lizzie must find the strength to embark on a dangerous mission to save her sister with the help of her neighbor, Jacob.