Summary

In "Otherworldly Birds," Jane develops into a rhythm of life on the farm where she shares the land liberally with tenants, and also visits town often, enjoying her time at the movie theater and different restaurants. Over time she notices the same man frequently eating at the same restaurants as she does, and one day he introduces himself as Gordon Ray and invites her to dinner later that night. Jane tells Gordon that she may or may not show up and, even though Jane spies that restaurant from a store across the street, watching Gordon patiently waiting, she ultimately decides to not show up, and visits Dr. Thompson's house instead. Dr. Thompson shares his early childhood fascination with birds, and they go and walk around the doctor's growing flock of peacocks.

The untitled epilogue covers many of the later decades of...