Content Warning: This section mentions death by suicide, bullying, and gang violence.

The novel reminds the reader of Touching Spirit Bear, its themes, and its main events, along with Cole’s inner conflict and what awaits him when he leaves the island. Cole is asked to burn down the cabin he painstakingly built for himself to allow nature to heal and return to what it was before. Garvey is Cole’s parole officer. He has guided him along this journey and advocated for Cole’s potential as a human being, and hopes that Cole will remember everything he experienced and learned on the Alaskan island he was banished to a year before. He reminds Cole about his place in the Circle that encompasses all of nature and life itself, stressing this connection heavily. After Cole became involved in theft, his classmate Peter reported him, and Cole violently attacked Peter in response. Peter was left with a permanent disability that causes him to stutter and often lose his footing. After Cole lived on the island for several months alone, Cole learned that Peter attempted suicide. He suggested Peter come to the island.