The narrative shifts forward in time to the present day as Quinn, the boy’s father, arrives at Ona’s house to fill her bird feeders and take care of her yard—just as his son did before he died. Quinn fulfills his late son’s obligations to Ona but does not have the heart to tell Ona the truth about the boy’s death, so he lies and claims that his son can’t come to visit today. Ona is suspicious of Quinn and watches him through the window. She then invites him inside for cookies and notices that Quinn is wearing a jacket that is almost identical to his son’s.

The narrative reveals that when Quinn’s son died, his ex-wife, Belle, let Quinn look around their son’s room, but he was not allowed to touch anything. Quinn noticed that the boy had 10 iterations of everything he collected, so Quinn grabbed one of his son’s 10 diaries when he left. In that diary, Quinn read that Ona was an inspiring woman who was capable of magic and had amazing life stories to tell. Now, however, all Quinn sees is a sour elderly woman. Quinn asks her to perform a magic trick with her cards, but Ona charges him $5 for the privilege. When he pays her, she asks for another $5 to “see the show,” and Quinn calls her an extortionist and leaves. Ona angrily tells Quinn not to return without his son.

The narrative shifts to Quinn’s son’s record of Ona’s life, which includes a question about what she considers to be the best inventions of the 20th century. Ona insists that while many were great, the washing machine for laundry is the best one.

Quinn takes the bus to Belle’s house and finds her unkempt in the midst of her grief as she sells various belongings. He sees that she is selling an amplifier for his guitar. Because he got this item when he was a child, he now takes it with him, not wanting to part with something of such sentimental value. When Quinn offers to give Belle her child-support payment, she refuses, reminding him that there is no longer a child to pay for. However, he insists, feeling guilty and sympathetic of her grief. The narrative reveals that Quinn was absent for several years of their son’s life and missed his final two custody visits with the boy. Quinn knows that Belle is unlikely to forgive him for that lapse.

Despite the awkward tension between them, Quinn follows Belle inside and has some water. He admits that he couldn’t tell Ona about their son’s death, and he complains that the old woman is difficult to deal with. Belle insists that Quinn continue to fulfill their son’s commitments to Ona; she says that their son would have followed through with his commitment, and she tells Quinn that he cannot help her with her grief.

The chapter ends with a list from the boy’s diary, in which he names 10 birds in ascending order of beak size and also notes the highest-flying birds.

The narrative shifts to the recent past to describe the first time the boy came to Ona’s house. On that first visit, he was dropped off by his Boy Scout leader. Ona looked at the boy and was alarmed by his restrained demeanor, which made her think of the Lithuanian word brolis, or “brother.” The boy started asking Ona questions and then got to work carefully filling her bird feeders and taking out her garbage. Ona was pleased with his work and asked for him to return the following weekend.

On the boy’s second visit, he came inside for animal crackers after finishing his work, and Ona told him the story of how she ran away to join the Midway (circus) when she was 14. It was there that she met someone named Viktor and learned to perform card tricks. The boy marveled at her tricks but didn’t understand how they were done. As Ona watched him, he reminds her of the children she knew when she was young. The boy told Ona about various Guinness records, including the longest coin spin and tallest house of cards.

The following weekend, the boy did his work and then watched Ona perform more card tricks. She told him the story of how she and her parents came to America while Lithuania was under Russian rule and how her parents built an apartment block from the ground up. Within that apartment lived her family and a tutor named Maud-Lucy, who taught Ona English. The boy and Ona also discussed birds, and Ona admitted that she could no longer hear the song of the high-pitched singers. Suddenly, it occurred to the boy that Ona might be the oldest person alive and might qualify for a record herself.

In the present, Quinn is at a bar for his weekly gig with his bandmates, who all come to play as a way to escape their ordinary lives. One of Quinn’s bandmates notices that he looks tired, but Quinn denies it. Between sets, Belle calls, having discovered that Quinn took their son’s diary. Quinn apologizes and promises to return it, but Belle is enraged and filled with grief. She accuses him of not being around enough to be allowed to do such a thing. She accuses Quinn of “stealing” their son’s last words and says that the boy died on a May morning while riding his bike before dawn. Quinn feels a strong obligation to help Belle feel better, so he tries to tell her that he felt their son’s presence at Ona’s house. He invites Belle to come with him to visit Ona and feel it herself. Belle rejects Quinn again, but she does calm down enough to allow Quinn to end the conversation and play his set.

The narrative shifts into the recent past. On the boy’s fourth visit, he told Ona about Madame Calment, the oldest woman to ever live; she had reached the age of 122. Ona did not believe it at first, but when the boy suggested that she break that record, the possibility began to build in her mind. The boy told Ona that the oldest man and woman at the moment were each about 10 years older than Ona herself. Ona immediately started to view them as competitors. He also explained how one enters the Guinness Records. Hearing the boy’s enthusiasm, Ona also started to feel a sense of excitement, and she was also grateful for her long life. When the boy brought a recorder and told Ona that he wanted to interview her for a school project on the life stories of the elderly, Ona reluctantly agreed to participate.

In the present, Quinn goes to work a shift at a bandmate’s mailing facility and then spontaneously decides to go to Ona’s house. She eyes him suspiciously, but he hands her $5 and tells her that he wants to see magic. As she invites him inside, he can sense anger in her eyes, and she reveals that she found out through the newspaper that his son has died. Ona wonders why nobody told her, and she also wonders how he died. Quinn explains that his son had long QT syndrome and that his heart malfunctioned. Wanting to change the subject, Quinn urges Ona to begin her trick. After a card trick, he requests a disappearing act, so Ona picks up the newspaper clipping of the boy’s death, scrunches it up, and makes it disappear.

Ona feels a sense of sympathy for Quinn and reveals that her own two sons died as well. When Quinn admits to being an absent father, Ona puts her hand on his chest and reveals the newspaper clipping, along with Quinn’s $5. He takes the clipping but leaves the money and then offers to help Ona with various chores. After that day, he comes back every Saturday, and Ona eventually gives him permission to call her by her first name. After Quinn finishes his chores each week, she shows him a magic trick.

The narrative shifts back to the recent past. The boy returned the following week with sad news for Ona; he said that there were far more contenders for the record than he originally believed. It turned out that thousands of people around the world had surpassed the age of 100, but Ona just considered this an extra challenge. She showed the boy some more magic tricks and told him a secret that only her parents and her tutor, Maud-Lucy, ever knew.

She also told the boy that when she was 14 and working at the Midway, she fell in love with someone named Viktor and became pregnant. When her father performed a C-section on her, she learned that he had been a doctor in Lithuania. Ona’s son was adopted by Maud-Lucy, who left with him and never returned. Later, her son became a heart surgeon, and although he and Ona kept in touch for some years, the relationship eventually dwindled.

When Ona related these events to the young boy, the boy began recording, pausing the recording whenever he spoke or asked a question. Ona told the boy about giving birth, about how she used to look in her youth, and about the day when Maud-Lucy left with her son. She also told the boy about her reluctance to kiss the baby goodbye.

The narrative continues in the recent past, describing Ona’s interactions with the boy. One day, the boy brought over a list of the most likely ways for people to die; the list included cave diving and walking into doorways, so he warned Ona to avoid those things. Ona learned that some people her age were still able to drive and to read without glasses, and she admitted that she wouldn’t mind driving again. Although she had failed her last road test, she believed that she was discriminated against, and she wanted to try again. The boy quizzed Ona as she drove to the supermarket and back without much issue, but she realized that she had to study more.

On the boy’s next visit, Ona knew the answer to almost every question, and slowly, people on the list for oldest person in the world started to die. It occurred to Ona that she had never expected to live this long, especially following the death of Louise.

The chapter ends with the boy’s list of 10 personal records, one of which includes Quinn, whom he considered to be the hardest-working guitar player.

The narrative continues in the recent past. On the following Saturday, Ona waited for the boy to arrive and strained to hear the bird calls in her yard. The boy arrived with news that she would have to produce legal documents, such as a birth certificate, in order to qualify for the age record. Ona admitted that she no longer had one and likely had no way to get one. She told the worried boy not to fret and that they would think of something. Following this conversation, the boy recorded up to “Part Ten” of his interview. He never returned after that.