In a world where just one wisp can take your breath away from good, Millie takes a big risk by doing what teenagers do best: sneaking out after bedtime.

Jamie is visiting New York City for the first time, and there is something in the air. He hears it in the chorus of humanity and traffic. He smells it in the mingling scents of street vendors, restaurants, and rubbish bins. He can almost feel the excitement. The hope. The desperation. But he senses something else in the air, too. And he is sure it wants to kill him.

The girl in the ratty dress was ruining his birthday party, and Evander had already decided that nothing⁠-not the dank smell of the underground, not the glass skylight that showed a tempting but unreachable summer day, not the jealous looks his so-called friends threw him⁠-was going to ruin this day.... A short story about a boy, a girl, and a wooden bird, all set in a futuristic dystopian world.