Wanda is less interested in the damage Hurricane Braylen wreaks 50 miles away than in the microscopic organisms Phyllis is teaching her about. One day, Phyllis takes Wanda to a lagoon where herons and swifts rest among mangroves and lily pads. This is one of the research plots where she charts “[t]he great rewilding” (173). When Wanda tries to retrieve a sample, she slips underwater. This time, she opens her eyes and sees “[l]ittle lights, popping into existence” all around her (174). She senses that the sparks wish to communicate with her, but she doesn’t understand them. When she resurfaces, a puzzled Phyllis explains that what they’re seeing is bioluminescence, although she’s never witnessed the phenomenon in that location. When Kirby comes to pick up Wanda, Phyllis once again refuses his offer to pay her for watching his daughter. She examines the water she took from the lagoon and is astonished to find shimmering microorganisms moving in complex patterns.

New Year’s Day comes and goes, and Lucas still hasn’t received any responses to his college applications. He allows himself to daydream that he has been accepted and then feels ashamed of himself for imagining leaving his family and the town that needs him.