Annie runs barefoot through her neighborhood daily, discovering that running is the rhythm at the center of her identity.

Annie grows increasingly convinced that her mother's constant exhaustion and nausea are signs of a serious illness.

Annie learns her mother is not dying but pregnant, and begins imagining the new life growing inside her.

Annie's mother reveals that Grandfather was once a champion runner who stopped competing when he was young.

Annie's art teacher gives each student an apple and assigns them to draw it every day for 100 days.

Annie accompanies her parents to hear the unborn baby's heartbeat, which beats fast and steady, like running.

Annie presses her hand to her mother's stomach and feels the unborn baby kick for the first time.

Annie and Max have a heated argument about the purpose of competitive running, and Max storms off angrily.

Annie and her parents tour the birthing center where her mother has chosen to deliver the baby.

The girls' track coach confronts Annie a second time, suggesting that Annie refuses to join the team out of fear.

Max trips over his new shoes and loses his race; Ms. Cobber tells Annie her mother has gone into labor.

The baby is born but does not breathe, leaving Annie and her father waiting in terrified silence.

The baby finally cries and is revealed to be a boy; Annie calls her grandfather to share the news.

Annie's grandfather gifts Max his old running shoes and shares the secret that one should run for pleasure.

Annie completes her 100th apple drawing, and instead of a shriveled apple, she draws a single seed.

Pool 1 follows the central arc of Annie's life through a year of profound transformation. Annie is a barefoot runner who discovers her mother is pregnant after initially fearing she is dying of a mysterious illness. The apple drawing assignment and hearing the baby's heartbeat mark key milestones in her growing understanding of life's rhythms and cycles. Her escalating tension with Max over competitive running mirrors her own struggle to understand who she is and what she values. The dramatic birth of her baby brother Joey—a terrifying moment that resolves into overwhelming joy—transforms Annie's view of herself and her place in the family. The story concludes with the completion of her apple drawings, the final one being a seed, a symbol of renewal and the endless cycle of life.

The essential story of Annie's journey from worry to wonder.

Annie's mother tells her that Annie was already running inside the womb before she was even born.

Max shares his dream of opening a camp for boys like him and reminds Annie of her forgotten childhood wish.

Annie writes a class assignment about fearing death and loving running and drawing, while her classmates write about ice cream.

Annie and her father look through fetal development books together, marveling at how the baby grows fingers, toes, and teeth.

Annie's grandfather panics when he cannot remember the fried chicken recipe he used to make every single week.

Annie decides to save her lawn-mowing earnings for art supplies while Max saves his money for running shoes.

Annie's mother shows the family a sonogram of the baby, which Annie finds disturbing because it resembles a skeleton.

Annie and her grandfather flip through old family photographs together, and Annie watches him age from page to page.

While drawing her 45th apple in her grandfather's room, Annie learns he never regretted giving up competitive running.

Annie's grandfather eats part of her class apple; Annie realizes she can now draw the apple from memory.

Annie's teacher displays the students' apple drawings in the classroom, and Annie instantly recognizes her own work as distinctly hers.

Annie watches from a distance as the track coach unsuccessfully tries to convince Max to accept a pair of used running shoes.

After debating whether to go, Annie decides to attend Max's track race to support him.

Annie convinces a reluctant Max to leave his house and come meet her newborn baby brother.

A classmate asks Annie if she has romantic feelings for Max; Annie says she is simply not ready to think of him that way.

Pool 2 explores the supporting events and smaller discoveries that enrich Annie's coming-of-age year. She learns early on that running is literally in her blood and grapples with questions about identity raised by Max's sense of purpose and her grandfather's deteriorating memory. Mundane moments—saving up money, looking through photo albums, and struggling with a school assignment—reveal how Annie's inner world is shaped by the people closest to her. The apple drawing project becomes a lens for her self-discovery, and by the midpoint of the story she can recognize her own unique artistic voice. As the birth of her brother approaches, Annie navigates friendship, creative growth, and emotional expectations. The pool ends with Annie fully arrived in her new life, choosing to embrace her relationships on her own terms.

The quieter moments that shape Annie's understanding of life and identity.

Annie's grandfather describes his own failing memory as having brains like scrambled eggs, worrying Annie deeply.

Annie learns about footnotes in school and becomes so captivated that she begins using them throughout all her writing.

The girls' track coach refuses to accept Annie's no; Annie grows frustrated and lies that she will come to practice.

Annie and Max silently race each other to their usual resting bench; after narrowly winning, Annie punches him.

Feeling guilty about punching Max, Annie anonymously places her savings in an envelope and leaves it in his locker.

After watching birthing videos, Annie has a nightmare about losing the baby and watching it melt behind a radiator.

Annie's grandfather becomes terrified by an old photograph he doesn't recognize; Annie comforts him by pretending to confront the photo.

Max joins Annie on a run wearing brand-new running shoes and tells her she had better come watch him race.

Annie presents her grandfather with a collection of twenty drawings she has made of his face and profile.

Annie's grandfather presents her with sealed letters written on each of her birthdays, to be opened only after he dies.

Annie and her parents rush to the birthing center as her mother goes into active labor.

The midwife grows concerned about the baby's heart rate and makes the pushing suddenly more urgent.

While her parents sleep, Annie holds her newborn baby brother and is astonished that they are allowed to take him home.

Annie finds a gift of colored pencils in her school locker; on their next run, Max pretends to know nothing about it.

Annie's grandfather traces the outline of the final apple seed drawing using baby Joey's tiny finger.

Pool 3 highlights the moments where Annie's world shifts beneath her feet and she is forced to grow. From the earliest signs of her grandfather's confusion to the lies she tells a coach to protect her sense of self, Annie is constantly navigating new emotional territory. A physical fight with Max, a disturbing nightmare about the baby, and a heartbreaking scene with her grandfather expose the depth of her fears about loss, identity, and growing up. The anonymous gifts exchanged between Annie and Max reveal that their friendship not only survives its tensions but quietly deepens. The climax of the birth—from a terrifying silence to the first cry—marks the full arrival of everything Annie has been preparing for, and the final image of her grandfather tracing a seed with baby Joey's finger brings the cycle of life to its most moving expression.