by Sally J. Pla
And just as we were getting into the airport cab, Gram handed me a FedEx envelope.
“It was delivered to the hospital, care of your father,” she said. “It looks like it’s from that wildlife refuge. Maybe your friend Rodney—did you leave something behind at that visitor center?”
I put the envelope in my backpack and kind of forgot, in all the airport hustle, and also because I’m really bad at opening envelopes, so I avoid them. But now, here in the plane, I take it out.
Inside the FedEx envelope is a smaller, dark green envelope marked To Charlie.
On the back is an imprint of a golden feather. I run my finger across it.
“Come on!” Davis says. “I’m dying!”
I hand it to her. Really. I cannot open envelopes. I always end up ripping in half whatever’s inside.
Davis expertly nudges her forefinger under the flap and takes out a single typed sheet. She hands it to me, hovering. Joel and Jake hang over the top of our seats so they can see what’s going on.
Davis’s long brown hair tickles my arm; I flick it away. We read silently together.
Dear Charlie,
Thank you for your most interesting letter—on the back of your exquisitely rendered Carolina parakeet sketch, no less—that you left in the box by one of my regular campsites. And thank you for your thoughtfulness in returning my old green journal! I never imagined I’d see it again, this long-lost souvenir of my youth. Astounding, how you found it—and then, found me. Many have stumbled where you have succeeded. You must be a truly exceptional and persistent young man.
Your father’s injuries and the sense of peril you write about saddens me. I can only tell you what I think you already know: life is hard. There’s no one right way through, but I feel certain you will find your own path. You are clearly a keen observer. If you can observe bird behavior, you can observe human behavior, and learn from it. Keep at that journal. Keep trying. There’s a popular saying that “doing something that scares one a little, each and every day, helps one grow as a person.” But I think you know that already. You have taken many difficult new paths, faced many scary things. I salute your bravery.
The Carolina parakeet! A once extinct bird, yes. As you gathered, there have been amazing advances in genomic research—and a top secret experiment is underway. You must tell NO ONE. These wonderful birds have a foothold solely in this one particular microenvironment, thanks to a tremendous amount of work by the research departments of several museums, as well as my own private fieldwork. We’ve made a tenuous but important start toward renewal.
It is so easy, cowardly easy, in this world, to destroy things. And it takes such courage to create, to build, to renew, to embrace life. Doesn’t it? Look at the courage you have shown, Charlie. Your letter said you don’t understand people, but it’s obvious you manage to see clear to the core truths. You have heart. When you see trouble, you want to help, even if you’re not sure how. I have never met you, yet I can tell this about you. You are a creator, not a detractor. Also, I am impressed with your artwork. Send me more. Let’s keep in touch.
—T. Shaw
My mouth is stretched in a smile that won’t stop. It won’t leave my face. I am smiling so hard, I don’t even notice the takeoff.
Once we’re cruising, I look out the plane window at what’s down below. I see green circles, rectangles, brown squares—a constant flow of geometrical shapes. It’s like we’ve turned Audubon’s wilderness into a modern green and brown quilt.
Then we pass threads of blue in the quilt—small rivers, and bigger rivers, and before I know it, mountains.
Bird’s-eye views or close-up human views: the world is confusing and surprising both ways. But I guess that has to be okay.
The plane rumbles and bumps, suddenly, with turbulence.
On second thought, maybe things are better close-up.
Davis is reading a book about growing up in Afghanistan.
The twins are kicking my seat from behind me. But when I tell them to please cut it out, they do.
My stomach flips, but in a different way. I think maybe this is a good flip.
The flight attendant comes by. She hands us each a small, cold, plastic-wrapped pellet.
“Hellooooo, mystery snack!” says Davis.
We unwrap them, and I think:
Whatever this thing turns out to be, I’m going to take a bite.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I was growing up, my school would go on frequent hikes along Connecticut’s Mill River with a very special local naturalist and educator, Mrs. Joy Shaw. I lived for these hikes. Mrs. Shaw, over many decades, now, has opened up the outdoors to innumerable school kids. I’m deeply grateful that I got to be one of them. I want to publicly thank her.
Many early readers and writer-friends have traveled along with Charlie and me. They include, but certainly are not limited to, David Applegate, Dare DeLano, Paula Fitzgerald, Rachel Fritts, Terri Fritts, Anne Hamilton, Kristi Herro, Judy Illes, and Peter Mashman (who wrote the first book review, back when the book was titled “Chicken Nuggets Across America”). Also, Judy McSweeney, Noa Nimrodi, Gigi Orlowski, Linda Rosenberg, Beth Rowedder (and all friends at Lake Country School), Ona Russell, Merriam Saunders, Debbie Schneider, Sarah Sleeper, Lisa Venditelli-Karmel, and Nancy Webb. Many thanks to the SCBWI-San Diego chapter. Many friends not named, but all so dear, know they have my love and gratitude.
Without the gift of a three-week writer’s residency at Hedgebrook and the encouragement of the incredible women writers I met there, I might not have had enough faith in myself to finish this book. Deep thanks to all my Hedgebrook sisters, especially executive director Amy Wheeler. Hedgebrook is a truly transformative place.
Taylor Martindale Kean, my agent and champion at Full Circle Literary, is grace and intelligence personified. I’m grateful as well to the wonderful Stefanie Von Borstel for her excellent counsel. At HarperCollins, deep thanks to Rosemary Brosnan, Jessica MacLeish, and to Annie Berger, who first championed Charlie, and whose keen eye and warm heart made this a deeper, richer work. I’m honored beyond words to be able to work with each of them. Thanks as well to all the professionals whose commitment and expertise have made this a much better book, including designer Heather Daugherty, cover artist Julie McLaughlin, production editor Alexei Esikoff, publicist Olivia Russo, marketing director Kim VandeWater, and copy editor Veronica Ambrose.
Last but not least, thanks to all the members of my crazy, wonderful, talented, neuro-diverse, and just-plain-diverse family: Zoë, Sasha, and Todd Blank; Christophe, Catherine, Olivia, Charlotte, and William Pla; Michel et Marie-Louise Pla; and David, Ben, and Will Saxl. Above all, my parents, Carol and Albert Blank, and my beautiful sister, Cynthia Saxl. Leo, most loyal. And most dear: my husband, Frédéric, and my three sons, Alec, Nate, and Andrew. Because those boys started this journey, and they are the core reason, in my heart, for everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Stephanie Sundell
SALLY J. PLA has traveled on family road trips to most everywhere in this story. She has English degrees from Colgate and Penn State and has worked as a business journalist and in public education. She has three sons, a husband, and an enormous, fluffy dog and lives near lots of lemon trees in Southern California. The Someday Birds is her first novel. You can visit her online at www.sallyjpla.com.
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CREDITS
COVER ART & HAND LETTERING © 2017 BY JULIE McLAUGHLIN
COVER DESIGN BY HEATHER DAUGHERTY
COPYRIGHT
THE SOMEDAY BIRDS Copyright © 2017 by Sally J. Pla. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information stor
age and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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ISBN 978-0-06-244576-6
EPub Edition © January 2017 ISBN 9780062445780
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FIRST EDITION
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