Nine year old Gloria receives a cardboard city from her dad. Soon the city comes alive in her imagination. In this happy world she experiences crazy adventures, but it also confronts her with the harsh reality of life. This short film mixes animation techniques with real footage to show the workings of imagination - or at least what adults remember or imagine is going on in children's heads. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that imagination is partly a way of escaping the drama that is unfolding in the little girl's life: the illness and death of a parent.