In Chap­ter Twen­ty-Eight of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the pro­tag­o­nist wakes up to the com­fort­ing aro­ma of cof­fee, find­ing her moth­er stand­ing at her bed­side with two mugs in hand. Despite the ear­ly hour, the mood is light as they share qui­et moments while chat­ting about col­lege choic­es, par­tic­u­lar­ly New York Uni­ver­si­ty, which the pro­tag­o­nist is eager to attend against her father’s expec­ta­tions. The con­ver­sa­tion reveals a mix of humor and seri­ous­ness, high­light­ing a moth­er-daugh­ter bond where the moth­er sens­es her daugh­ter’s true aspi­ra­tions.

As they pre­pare for the day, the pro­tag­o­nist hur­ried­ly dress­es and joins her sib­lings, Camp­bell and Juniper, at break­fast. Their play­ful ban­ter indi­cates a sense of nor­mal­cy, yet the pro­tag­o­nist feels a dis­con­nec­tion, as if wak­ing in an alter­nate real­i­ty. Her moth­er’s sud­den deci­sion to embark on a spon­ta­neous trip to New York City sur­pris­es the girls, espe­cial­ly since skip­ping school is high­ly unusu­al. The moth­er shares her inten­tion to let her daugh­ter expe­ri­ence the city first­hand, rein­forc­ing the idea that she will indeed end up there if accept­ed into NYU.

On the jour­ney, the fam­i­ly engages in nos­tal­gic con­ver­sa­tions about “Apple Days,” cher­ished child­hood mem­o­ries filled with apple pick­ing and bak­ing, evok­ing a sense of long­ing for sim­pler times. The pro­tag­o­nist reflects on changes in their lives, par­tic­u­lar­ly in rela­tion to their father, whose absence has altered their fam­i­ly dynam­ics.

As they arrive in New York City, the excite­ment builds. They make stops at icon­ic loca­tions, includ­ing a taxi ride, NYU, and the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art, while sam­pling clas­sic street food. These moments become a blend of cliché and per­fec­tion as the pro­tag­o­nist con­nects with her fam­i­ly again. How­ev­er, she also grap­ples with the loom­ing idea of leav­ing them as she con­tem­plates her future at col­lege.

While shar­ing an apple in Cen­tral Park, the pro­tag­o­nist faces a small set­back when the apple turns out to be bruised, a metaphor for her mixed feel­ings about leav­ing home. The peace of the park con­trasts with her anx­i­eties, ampli­fied when she notices three crows perched on a branch — a nos­tal­gic sym­bol from her past. The chap­ter bril­liant­ly cap­tures the jux­ta­po­si­tion of fam­i­ly bonds, impend­ing change, and the bit­ter­sweet nature of grow­ing up.