"CAW CAW CAW CAW!"

"It's okay, Mr. Crow," I said softly. I finished bandaging the bird and set it down gently in its cage.

"CAWW CAWWWW" It struggled to flutter its broken wing. "Dad, do you think it will heal?"

Dad didn't answer. He turned the page of the magazine he was reading.

"Dad? What do you think?"

He picked up a pencil and circled a sentence on the page.

"Dad?"

"Did you say something, Laura?" My father glanced up and squinted at me through his thick, black-framed glasses.

"Do you think the wing will heal?" I asked again.

"What wing?" Dad returned to the magazine and started scribbling notes in the margin.

I caught the surprise on my friend Ellen's face. She hadn't seen Dad's new faraway personality.

Far away.

That was the best way to describe my father these days. Even when we were in the same room together, he seemed to be someplace else.

Lucky, the big stray cat I'd found in the woods, bumped past me, nearly knocking over the birdcage. He began licking Dad's hand with his long tongue.

Dad jerked his hand away. "Please take the cat out. I'm trying to concentrate." He circled more sentences, pressing so hard, the pencil point broke with a sharp snap.

"Where am I supposed to put him?" I sighed. I can't use the shed anymore since you're working in there."

Dad stared at the crow and Lucky, as if seeing them for the first time. "Why can't I live in a house, Laura? Why do I have to live in a zoo?"

"You're a vet!" I cried. "You're supposed to love animals-remember?"

Ellen forced a laugh. But I could see she was really embarrassed. She had never seen Dad and me yelling at each other. She hadn't seen Dad since...since he changed.

I had stopped inviting my friends over because I never knew what Dad was going to say or do. But Ellen was my best friend, and I missed hanging out with her. So I asked her to come over today. But maybe it was a big mistake.

I picked up the cage in one hand and Lucky in the other. I took them both down the hall to my room and shut the door.

I swung my camera around my neck. "Come on, Ellen," I said. "Let's get to the woods."

Our house sits on the edge of a quiet country road. Our back lawn is deep and lush and ends at the woods. So I've always considered the woods and the little streams that flow through it part of my backyard.

That's where I feel the happiest. It's so beautiful in the woods, so peaceful and filled with life.

In the mornings before I go to school, I stand in the center of our lawn and stare out at tall, leafy trees that seem to stretch on forever. Then I breathe in the morning scent of fresh pine. I love that smell.

I checked out my camera, making sure I had put in a new film cartridge.

Ellen brushed back her straight, black hair. She loves her hair. She's always pushing it back, pulling it to the side, sweeping her hands through it.

I'm totally jealous of her hair. Mine is long, and red-brown. It's totally unmanageable.

Ellen's eyes flashed. "Are we going into the woods because of your science project? Or because you want to see that boy you met there last week?"

I let out a groan. "Because of my project," I said. "Life isn't only about boys, you know."

"Well, you're the one who was talking about him all morning. 'I wonder if I'll see him again. I wonder where he lives. I wonder if he has a girlfriend...'" She laughed.

"Okay. Okay." I had to admit it. I had been thinking about Joe a lot since I ran into him by Luker Pond.

"It's just that boys don't usually notice me," I said. "And he seemed so nice. And when I told him about my science project, he seemed really interested."