The Skeleton Tree

In the present day, sitting on the point, Chris continues hopefully waiting for rescue boats. He misses the raven but knows why he left. He imagines that the raven was plotting against Frank the day it landed in the skeleton tree weeks ago.

In a flashback, Frank tells Chris that they need to climb the massive, snow-peaked mountain that they can see from the point. Chris tells Frank that he was a Cub Scout and then recalls a horrible memory when he and his out-of-shape friend Alan were left behind on a hike, abandoned and scared. Although he could keep going, he stayed to help Alan. When he finally caught up with his dad and Uncle Jack, his father was disappointed and embarrassed of him, calling him a “crybaby son” rather praising him for integrity because he stayed to help a friend. Chris refuses to tell this to Frank and simply says he doesn’t want to climb the mountain.

At night he hears the scratching and the voice whispering, “lousy birds.” Frank hears it too, and the voice says, “I hate you,” and then, “No one’s coming” (96). They rush outside to find the raven repeating, “I hate you.” Chris feeds it fish and lures it close enough to pet.

The boys go fishing. Chris is lost in thought when a bear wanders up to the creek. He wants to run, but Frank holds his ground, claiming that they must prove to the bear that this is their territory. After a standoff, the bear leaves. Frank enjoys the encounter, but Chris is terrified. The bear soon returns and, looking at Frank, Chris sees only his adventure-loving Uncle Jack in the grin on his face.

That night, Frank cries for hours before Chris is brave enough to ask if he’s okay. Chris asks about his mother, and Frank says she has an alcohol addiction. Frank asks about Chris’s dad. Chris tells of a man who was fun years ago but gave up fun to spend his life working: “He had become boring, that was the thing” (107).

In the morning, the raven returns and Chris lets it into the cabin, where it plays with a whistle and then says, “lousy birds” again. Frank leaves, and the bird stays with Chris, who names the bird Thursday. Chris takes pride and comfort in having befriended the raven, and soon it’s his constant companion.

Later, Chris asks whether Frank ever had a pet, and Frank says he had a dog named Ghost. Surprised, Chris says he had a hamster named Ghost and that his dad named it.

They’ve been at the cabin three weeks when the wind switches to the south and they know winter is coming. A storm kicks up, and Frank drags Chris to the beach to see what’s washing up. They rush back when the rain becomes too heavy, and they find the raven eating their drying fish.

In the present, still seated on the point, Chris hears a noise and imagines that rescue has arrived. However, the sea is empty. He misses the raven, and his thoughts turn to the book they’d found in the cabin and its plot.

In a flashback, Frank attacks the raven for eating their fish supply and rips apart much of the cabin trying to kill it. Again, Chris marvels at how dangerous Frank’s anger is to their survival. The raven escapes, and they realize that it was eating maggots out of the fish, not the fish itself. Their winter supply is infested, and they must discard it.

For several days, Thursday stays away. When Chris goes for a walk, Frank remains to try to make a fire. On the beach, Chris finds a lighter, and soon the raven is playing along, pulling out lighters for Chris. He takes them to the cabin, but finds Frank gone and the cabin trashed from his fit of rage at having failed to start a fire.

The raven uses bits of glass on the cabin floor to create a prism that shines light under the bed. Then he pulls out a missing piece of the radio and gives it to Chris. Frank doesn’t return, and Chris’s mind wanders. After a long time, Frank returns, opens the door, and says the exact thing Chris’s father used to say upon entering the house, “Greetings, earthlings” (128). He whistles a song Chris knows and then says it was a song his mom sang as a child.

In the morning, they dump out a purse that washed ashore and find the remnants of a Japanese girl’s life. The little trinkets make Chris sad as he thinks about the tsunami and the owner of the purse. Frank wants the purse back, but Chris refuses, and they fight. The raven attacks Frank, and Chris must defend him. He takes the purse to bury it, looking at three worry dolls from the purse and thinking about his worry dolls back home that his mother gave him after the funeral. Chris buries the purse, holding a funeral for a girl he never met. Back at the cabin, he finds Frank reading the book.