Main character Felicity narrates as her mother drives their van along a dark road. They are moving to Midnight Gulch, Tennessee. Felicity’s younger sister, Frannie Jo, sleeps in the back seat with their dog, Biscuit. Mama explains how Midnight Gulch used to be a town where everyone was magic. They could do things like “catch stars in Mason jars [...] sing up thunderstorms and [...] bake magic into a pie” (2). However, the magic is gone now. Mama grew up in Midnight Gulch, and the magic was already gone then. Mama left because she wanted to find magic elsewhere. Felicity asks if Mama ever found it; Mama says Felicity and Frannie Jo are all the magic she needs. Mama has a sad demeanor, but as they talk about magic and get closer to the town, Felicity feels her heart beating yes, yes, yes.

Felicity can see words—in the stars, in the lines on the road, and even the painted-over words of the welcome sign as they arrive at Midnight Gulch. The sign for Midnight Gulch used to refer to the place as magical, but now it just says, “a proper place to call home” (5). Felicity describes herself as a word collector.