Bob

Livy tries to remember details from the trip to her grandmother’s home in Australia five years ago. Gran Nicholas has set out three items from the trip in hopes of triggering Livy’s memory, but none do. Livy lives in Massachusetts, and she and her mother have come to visit Gran so that Gran can meet Livy’s baby sister, Beth Ann. Livy’s father has stayed in Massachusetts.

As she walks around the house, Livy remembers the chickens Gran keeps and the carpeted stairs. She also has a vague memory of the bedroom upstairs where she slept. When she enters the bedroom, Livy is drawn to the closet. Opening it, she finds a “small zombie wearing a chicken suit” (11). The “zombie” speaks, acknowledging Livy’s return.

Bob narrates the chapter, detailing how he has passed the five years since Livy left him in the closet instructing him to await her return. The list includes things such as “playing chess against a Lego pirate monkey” (13) and crying. He explains that Livy told him she would return soon and is angry that it has taken her five years to do so. Bob recalls how Livy “found [him] and saved [him]” (18), made the chicken suit he is wearing, and promised to help him return to his home. Livy does not remember any of this. Still, Bob is hopeful that she will now fulfill her promise.

Livy asks Bob about the chicken suit he wears, surprised to learn that she made it for him. She is confused as to why the suit is “half on, half off” (22) of his body. Bob explains that he attempted to remove it but stopped when one of his feet got caught, fearful his foot might become detached. Livy asks his name, but Bob wants her to remember it on her own instead.

Livy is called to lunch and promises to return to the closet soon. She thinks of the drought that has plagued Gran’s town while Gran discusses how they might spend their time when Livy’s mother is off visiting friends. Beth Ann cries, and Livy invents an excuse to return to the bedroom involving wanting to read. Her mother follows her to show Livy the books that were hers when she was a child.

Once her mother has left the room, Livy returns to Bob, asking about his friends and family. She wants to know how he knows he is a zombie, and Bob explains that Livy is the one who told him that this is what he is. Lily is confused as to how her five-year-old self would have known this. They decided to look up “zombie” in the dictionary.

Bob is shocked when the dictionary reveals that a zombie is “a dead body brought back to life” (35). He and Livy examine Bob’s body, comparing it to the dictionary definition of “dead.” Both are certain he is not dead. After some pleading by Livy, Bob reveals his name. They contemplate what he might be if he is not a zombie.

Livy’s mother knocks on the door, asking Livy to take a walk with her. Bob hides in the closet before she enters, but some of his feathers fall off. Livy’s mother asks about them, and Livy says they must be remnants of an art project she undertook on the previous visit. Bob falls asleep in the closet while Livy and her mother are outside.

Bob wakes at night and briefly panics, fearing Livy has left him again. He finds her asleep in the bed, some food on the floor, and a note in which Livy promises to discover what exactly he is.

In bed, Livy is kept awake by the sound of Bob eating and crinkling a potato chip bag. She thinks about how she might go about discovering who Bob is and how she might return him to his home. She feels they must somehow sneak outside to the chicken coop but is skeptical that Bob will be able to blend in with the chickens. Bob assures her that the chicken suit will indeed allow him to do so.

In the morning, Livy’s mother enters to inform Livy that breakfast is ready, and Livy worries about her mother’s departure to stay with her friends. Livy suffers from insomnia when she sleeps apart from her parents but tries to remain optimistic that this time will be different.

Once her mother has left for some shopping and Gran is off visiting her neighbor, Livy and Bob sneak outside. Bob walks like a chicken in the manner that Livy instructed him to five years ago. Livy admits that it is indeed a chicken-like walk. Just then, a man and boy approach, asking after Gran. Livy hopes that Bob does indeed resemble a chicken, grateful for the hood that covers his head and face. Livy learns the man is Gran’s neighbor and that the boy is named Danny. The neighbor gives Livy an envelope to give to Gran but then changes his mind and takes it back. As they leave, Danny comments that Bob is a “nice chicken” (59).

Inside the chicken coop, Livy instructs Bob to search for anything that is familiar to him. The coop is familiar to Bob, and he explains that he entered it because it was warm. He recalls that five-year-old Livy was wet when they met at that time.

Bob begins to tell Livy about their meeting in the chicken coop. Livy had been asleep, wet, and wearing orange pajamas. Bob’s memories are interrupted by the return of Livy’s mother.

Bob waits, as instructed, in the chicken coop, listening to the sounds of Livy and her family feeding the pigs. Wanting to be outside, Bob sneaks out of the chicken coop and hides alongside the well.

He is surprised to find Danny there, reading a book. Danny is crying and tells Bob that his grandfather is going to lose his farm due to the drought. Bob is pleased that Danny has mistaken him for a chicken. Suddenly, rain clouds appear and Livy and her family cheer. Danny joins them and Bob sneaks back to the house, per Livy’s hand motioning.

Bob finds the rain to be strange, but as he is contemplating it, the rain abruptly stops.

Livy narrates, asking Bob to come out of the closet to where he has retreated after the rain. He finally concedes, now wearing an old tutu of Livy’s because his chicken suit is wet.

He asks Livy to play chess, and Livy is surprised to learn it was she who taught Bob how to play. Bob, however, has only the white pieces, and Livy runs downstairs to retrieve the black ones.

Downstairs, Gran reads the letter that the neighbor attempted to drop off earlier. She explains to Livy that she does not know where the white chess pieces have gone. Bob and Livy play until Livy’s mother calls her to leave for a trip to town. Bob insists Livy picket the black pawn with a chip in it, which was what “Old Livy” used to do upon leaving Bob.

The town is small—only one street long, with dead grass on one side and shops on the other. Livy asks her mother for clothing but suddenly cannot remember what it is she wants exactly. At the candy store, the salesclerk directs Livy to the licorice, which she recalls being Livy’s favorite. This confuses Livy because she dislikes licorice, but she takes some anyway.

At the restaurant, the waitress remembers Livy, explaining she still has the drawing that Livy made. Livy does not remember making a drawing. The waitress and her daughter, Sarah, show Livy the drawing. Sarah’s mother mentions the letter Gran received from the bank, but Gran does not wish to talk about it.

Left alone with Sara, Livy studies the drawing. She learns Sarah is Danny’s sister and recognizes Bob in the drawing disguised as a chicken. Livy wonders if she told Sarah of Bob, but Sarah seems to have no knowledge of him. Livy suddenly remembers that it was clothing for Bob that she meant to buy. She asks her mother if she can return to the clothing store, but Sarah’s mother loans her a sweatshirt belonging to Sarah instead.

The group chats and laughs during dinner and then leaves the restaurant. Livy’s mother asks her if she would still like to go to the clothing store, but Livy once again has no memory of wanting any clothing. She removes the chess piece from her pocket, and this causes her to immediately recall Bob.