The Someday Birds

Charlie and his family have been spending a lot of time at the hospital. The place used to bother Charlie, but it doesn’t anymore (6). When he and his family arrive, the twins beg Gram to go to the cafeteria. Charlie hates the cafeteria food. He has particular tastes and thinks chicken nuggets are the safest food wherever he is.

Before visiting Dad, Gram lets Charlie visit the gift shop. Charlie loves the shop because they have life-like bird sculptures carved by Charlie’s favorite ornithologist Dr. Tiberius Shaw. Someday, Charlie wants to read all his books. He also loves John James Audubon and has one of his books. Charlie used to tell people bird facts when he met them, but he has since learned that people don’t want to hear these facts.

At the gift shop, Ellie the clerk takes down the sculptures so Charlie can study them closely. Charlie feels calmer. He likes studying birds because they feel easier to understand than people. Meanwhile, Gram and Ellie whisper about Ludmila, the mysterious pink-haired woman who’s been visiting Dad’s room. Ludmila also has a tattoo on her hand that says Amar.

Charlie’s family arrives in Dad’s room. Since his injury, Dad hasn’t been able to speak or write. Davis and the twins rush in to say hi, but Charlie stays by the door, feeling itchy and nervous.

Dad has the drawing of the red-tailed hawk Charlie drew for him on his wall. He and Dad used to take walks in the canyon and look for birds together. Charlie prefers to be indoors but liked these outings with Dad. On one walk, Dad told Charlie about flockers and loners, or birds who stay in flocks or live alone. Dad then suggested they make a list of all the birds they’d want to see someday. They included a bald eagle, a great horned owl, a trumpeter swan, a sandhill crane, a turkey vulture, an emu, a passenger pigeon, and a Carolina parakeet. Charlie wrote this Someday Birds List in his Bird Book.

Gram returns from talking to the doctor and tells Charlie and his siblings that Dad must go to Virginia to see new neurology experts (23). The children are upset, but Gram insists this is best for Dad.

Gram goes to Virginia with Dad and arranges for a friend, Mrs. Bertolo, to stay with Charlie and his siblings. As soon as Gram leaves, Davis invites over her boyfriend Jonathan Dylan Daniels. She, Jonathan, and the twins spend all their time playing video games, eating junk food, and making a mess. They soon learn that Mrs. Bertolo broke her hip and can’t watch them. Gram has no one else to call. Their mom died in a car accident when they were little. She was from Mexico and didn’t have any family or friends nearby who they could call now.

Upset, Charlie calls Gram. Gram demands to speak to Davis about a last resort babysitter (32).

An hour after talking to Gram, Ludmila shows up in her tiny car. Charlie feels like a bird in a cage.

Ludmila comes to the door in a funny outfit. Charlie doesn’t understand why people wear such uncomfortable clothes. He prefers clothes without tags or buttons. Inside, Ludmila tells the kids that Gram begged for her help because it was an emergency. She then tells Jonathan to leave. Afterwards, Charlie shows her to Dad’s office where Gram made up the pull-out couch for Mrs. Bertolo (39). Davis gets upset, as she doesn’t trust Ludmila and doesn’t like people in Dad’s space. She and Charlie watch as Ludmila studies Dad’s shelves and photos. Charlie wonders if Davis is right and Ludmila is up to something bad (40).

Charlie works on a new sketch, washes his hands, and goes to bed. He hopes that keeping his routine will help Dad get better (41).

Davis wakes Charlie up in the middle of the night. She insists that Ludmila is untrustworthy and that they must go to Virginia to find Dad and Gram themselves. She downloaded Dad’s files from his computer onto a flash drive, just in case Ludmila was trying to snoop. Jonathan is going to drive them cross-country, and everyone’s in the car waiting for him. Charlie feels nervous but packs his things and joins the others in the car.

Charlie falls asleep in the car. When he wakes up, the space feels too loud and cramped. They stop for gas, and Charlie notices how mean Jonathan is to him. He silently lists all of the unkind names people call him for being different.

They continue driving until they reach Las Vegas. Everyone starts laughing and pointing when they see a woman jumping over a man who’s vomiting. Distracted by the scene, Jonathan crashes into a truck.

The car spins around and flies up onto the curb. Charlie feels sick and can’t see his siblings’ faces. The EMTs arrive and make sure everyone is okay before helping them out of the car. Everyone is unharmed except Jonathan, who broke his arm. The police demand to know where their parents are. Charlie gives them his home phone number.

Jonathan goes to a clinic and gets a cast on his arm. Afterwards, he blames Davis for what happened, insisting they shouldn’t have brought the boys (58). Then Charlie notices the twins are missing.

Charlie wanders around looking for the twins. He gets distracted when he notices a shop called Twa Corbies Curiosities, meaning “two crows” (60). He thinks about all the stories he’s heard about ravens and crows. Inside, he finds Tiberius Shaw’s personal green notebook and buys it for one dollar. The clerk also tells him he saw the twins but kicked them out for ruining his display. Outside, Charlie clutches Shaw’s journal, thrilled with his find. He peeks inside and reads a few passages.

Charlie runs around calling for the twins. He finds them sitting on the side of the street with Davis, who’s crying because she broke up with Jonathan (68). The twins also have a three-legged dog they found and want to take with them. The dog gets excited seeing Charlie, and the twins say he’s smiling at him. Charlie sits down quietly near Davis.

Finally, Ludmila arrives and collects the children. She spoke to Gram, and they’re all driving to Virginia together. Charlie is devastated. He wanted to go home. Now he has no choice but to drive through the night in her tiny dirty car.