The narrative uses the characters to examine how the past and deep-seated mistrust can shape our present actions, and what it takes to break those patterns.

A woman who works in her family's small flower shop in the Malasaña neighborhood. Despite her name (which means "desert"), she loves flowers and represents the "cactus"—guarded, perhaps prickly, but resilient.

The novel is a tribute to those who are different and "improbable". It explores how two seemingly incompatible people—a "cactus" and a "balloon"—can manage to close the gap between them without destroying one another.