At the Hotel Balzaar, Martas mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform and instructs her to roam as she will, but quietly - invisibly - like a mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angels wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all while dreaming of the return of her soldier father. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story - in fact, seven stories in all. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her fathers disappearance lie in the countesss tales?