Hello, Universe

Chet continues searching the woods for snakes with no success. He’s about to give up when he hears a noise. Creeping into the undergrowth, he sees Valencia advancing with a bowl in her hands. Chet has always been suspicious of the deaf girl. He makes loud animal sounds to get her attention, but she doesn’t react.

Chet begins to think she might be performing some strange ritual alone in the woods: “Perhaps she’d cut the ears off rabbits and she wanted to feed them to some secret Bigfoot-like beast that lived in the forest. She was evil, clearly. There was something strange about a girl who couldn’t hear” (134). Chet concludes that Valencia may be a witch and is up to no good, so he heads in the opposite direction.

Unaware that Chet has been lurking nearby, Valencia advances deeper into the woods looking for Sacred. When she calls to him, he comes bounding up to greet her and gobbles down his food. After this, Valencia tells Sacred all about her week and prepares to write in her zoological journal. She started keeping a journal when her best friend developed a fear of snakes, and Valencia wanted to give her the facts to diminish her fears. Shortly after that, her friend abandoned her because Valencia couldn’t play games as quickly as hearing girls could. Since then, Valencia has become a loner, but she thinks, “Here I am, sketching in my journal, looking out for squirrels, with a loyal dog at my feet. He doesn’t care if I can’t hear him, and he doesn’t need any how-tos. What more could I ask for?” (145).

Virgil considers what to do about his predicament. He’s afraid to try yelling for help because Chet might come back and put the cover back on the well, sealing Virgil inside forever. Virgil decides to wait a bit. He remembers all his family’s admonitions that he should come out of his shell and make some noise. Finally, in desperation, Virgil shouts at the top of his lungs, and “[his] voice startled him. It didn’t sound like his. It charged through his body. Down to his toes. Who knew he could be this loud? If only his parents could hear him now” (150).

Valencia busies herself by writing notes about the squirrels in the woods. She finds them interesting and wonders if other rodents are as fascinating. Noticing the time, she starts back for her appointment with Kaori. As she retraces her path, she notices the cover has been taken off the old well. She also finds a pile of rocks lying nearby and assumes somebody had been throwing stones to the bottom. Fearing that some wild creature might accidentally fall into the well, Valencia replaces the cover. She can’t shake a strange feeling after she puts the cover back but dismisses it and goes on her way.

The minute the well cover blots out all light, Virgil has a full-blown panic attack. He struggles to regain control. Assuming that Chet replaced the cover, Virgil believes the bully wants to kill him. As his fear rises again, Virgil tries to imagine himself someplace else. Someplace safe. He can’t shake the feeling that he hears something inside the well. It’s the sound of giant wings. It must be Pah, who has come to devour him. 

Knowing that Virgil is always punctual, Kaori grows worried when he misses his noon appointment with her. She tries calling and texting him but gets no answer. After waiting forty minutes, Kaori decides to consult her magic crystals. She actually bought them at a garage sale, and they’re meant to fill decorative vases, but Kaori believes they hold the secrets of the universe. After studying the crystals, Kaori is certain that something unforeseen has prevented Virgil from keeping his appointment.

When Valencia knocks at Kaori’s door, she isn’t sure what to expect. Gen looks harmless when she answers, so Valencia relaxes a little. She’s pleasantly surprised that neither Gen nor Kaori reacts fearfully to her deafness. Still slightly wary of the psychic, Valencia gives the false name of “Just Renee” rather than her own. Valencia notices that Kaori is worried about something. Kaori explains that her last appointment didn’t show up. She describes Virgil and asks if Valencia has seen him. Although he seems vaguely familiar to Valencia, she says she didn’t pass him on the way to Kaori’s house.

Virgil is still trapped at the bottom of the well, conjuring terrifying images of Pah in his imagination. He hears a voice telling him to open his eyes. The voice seems to be coming from everywhere. It identifies itself as Ruby San Salvador. This is a character from one of Lola’s folk tales about a girl who didn’t know her destiny. Ruby announces that she’s fulfilling her destiny now by helping people. When Virgil protests that his situation is hopeless, Ruby declares, “Nothing is ever hopeless” (184).