In Paraguay, after the end of the Stroessner government, a young man sees a woman's picture in the paper, a woman he knows well. Na Meli was just another beggar in their little neighborhood of cardboard shacks by the river. She offers to write the young man a letter, but he refuses because he thinks she's crazy. She walks away and tosses his dead brother's name behind her, which catches him off guard. Like many people in the neighborhood, his curiosity about Na Meli wears him down, though they are all too poor to pay five hundred guaranies for her letters. Na Meli writes the young man a short note from his mother with nothing particularly intense. Na Meli begins to make a living off of her letters during the San Juan fairs and carnivals, selling letters to young girls. Eventually, her fame grows, so much so that people begin to come to her at all times during the year. She invests in her business, buying a turban, envelopes, paper, and a crystal ball. Her letters aren't always fun—sometimes she is visited by 'bad spirits'—but she gives them a voice and writes intense letters of the torture and pain they endured. She writes a letter for the young man from his brother, who was killed by the government for being a political agitator. The year before she dies, the young man notices that her health is declining. He guesses that it is due to the higher volume of 'bad' letters from tortured souls, perhaps because of the uproar arising from the files that were found detailing the arrest, torture, and death of the prisoners taken by the former dictatorial government. He wants to tell Na Meli that she doesn't need to write these letters, that they could potentially be dangerous for her, that powerful figures might come after her. But he knows she wouldn't be deterred. When Na Meli dies, it is sensational news that makes the front covers of the papers. Some officials come by to check out her place and try to find something to convict her for, but nothing turns up. The young man burns his brother's letter, and eventually, his mother's letter is lost too, but he doesn't need the 'souvenirs' to move on with his life.