An unforgettable story of grief and the support of community as a young girl faced with aching
loss begins to understand that what we love will always be with us. Ayla and her best friend
Kiri have always been tree people. They each have their own special tree and neighbors and
family know that they are most likely to be found within the branches. But after an accident on
their street Kiri has gone somewhere so far away that Ayla can only wait and wait in her birch
longing to be able to talk with Kiri again. Then a mysterious old-fashioned telephone appears
one morning nestled in the limbs of Ayla's birch tree. Where did it come from? she wonders.
And why are people showing up to use this phone to call their loved ones? Especially loved ones
who have passed on. All Ayla wants is for Kiri to come home. Until that day comes she will
keep Kiri's things safe. She'll keep her nightmares to herself. And she will not make a call on
that telephone.
