Sheika is a bold and inquisitive girl from Bamenda City in Cameroon. One day, her parents send her to visit their native village, Kuokum, to meet her grandma and cousins for the first time. While excited at all the new things she might learn, Sheika worries about whether these rural family members who are so different from her will like her.
In the village, Sheika is teased by her cousins for knowing so little about the culture from which she comes. When her cousin Menkong tells her that Mbesa people just like them live on the Moon, Sheika thinks it's just another taunt. But Grandma knows better.
As the children gather round the boiling pot of meat and egusi in the fireplace, Grandma tells the story of Nkuombi, their ancestor who traveled to the Moon and studied her, long before the spaceship Apollo 11. Indeed, Grandma explains, lots of Mbesa people live on the Moon, and the Moon cooks for all of her children. What the Moon cooks determines how she will appear in the sky. If she arrives early at sunset and shaped like a tiny crescent, this means she has cooked pumpkin leaves. They take almost no time to get ready. If the moon arrives a little late, and is shaped like a semicircle, this means she has cooked cocoyams, because they take so much time to get ready!
After learning all about the Moon and her phases, Sheika and her family take their dinner outside, sharing their meal together, and with the Moon-folk who look down from the sky.