On the day Jose's village is hit by Hurricane Mitch, his father, older brother and sister are away. Only Jose, aged fourteen, his tiny brother and sisters, and his mother are at home when the 'monster swallows the sun and steals the daylight.' There is no way of knowing whether the rest of his family is alive. Because of the storms, a hill turns to mud, slides down and buries the village. In a few harsh moments, Jose is transformed from a young boy frightened of the storm, to someone who must deal with the deaths of half his village, the urgent need to move from bewilderment and despair in the immediate aftermath to a rescue operation. A powerful story in the convincing voice of a young teenager, it tells of the strength of children forced to take on the burdens of the adult world in times of natural disasters and war.