Set in the picturesque but harsh landscape of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas mountains, the story follows , a wise and contemplative old man, and his devoted wife. Unlike many traditional narratives of the era, the couple lives in a state of profound harmony and mutual respect.

The story typically depicts a morning in the life of an old man and woman living together in a small apartment. They perform the same rituals: waking up, preparing coffee, reading the newspaper. However, a minor incident—a forgotten word, a misplaced object, or a sudden silence—unravels the surface calm. The wife realizes her husband is forgetting things (a sign of dementia or Alzheimer's). The narrative ends not with a dramatic rupture, but with the couple quietly continuing their routine, acknowledging the deterioration without speaking about it directly. The "once upon a time" thus becomes ironic: their happiness exists only in the past tense.