In Chap­ter Ten of *If These Wings Could Fly*, the pro­tag­o­nist is sur­round­ed by an over­whelm­ing pres­ence of crows in Auburn, which seem to mul­ti­ply each day, adding an unset­tling yet fas­ci­nat­ing dimen­sion to her rou­tine. While the towns­peo­ple express annoy­ance at the birds, she finds com­fort in their pres­ence, as it par­al­lels her own expe­ri­ences and obser­va­tions of life in Auburn. The chap­ter nos­tal­gi­cal­ly reflects on her child­hood, espe­cial­ly with her late Grand­pa, who pro­vid­ed a sanc­tu­ary from her father’s anger. Fol­low­ing his death, there was a stark shift in her fam­i­ly’s dynam­ics, espe­cial­ly with her grand­moth­er Nana, who has also faced declines in health since los­ing Grand­pa.

The pro­tag­o­nist often vis­its Nana in an assist­ed liv­ing apart­ment in Lin­coln, yet she lies to her moth­er about her where­abouts, rein­forc­ing a secre­tive dis­tress in her fam­i­ly life. The vis­its to Nana are inti­mate but tinged with sad­ness, as they both under­stand the unspo­ken chal­lenges they face. Their con­ver­sa­tions reveal warmth and con­nec­tion amidst the back­drop of fam­i­ly strug­gles; Nana’s mem­o­ry remains strong, but each vis­it brings a reminder of the fam­i­ly frac­tures caused by grief and unre­solved issues root­ed in their past.

As Leighton takes care of Nana dur­ing her vis­it, she reflects on the com­fort­ing and famil­iar sen­sa­tions of her grandmother’s apart­ment, even as they dis­cuss their fam­i­ly trou­bles. The chap­ter con­cludes with Leighton return­ing to Auburn, still seek­ing a sign of reas­sur­ance from Grand­pa that every­thing will be okay, but instead, she is greet­ed only by the crows, sym­bol­iz­ing the weight of her unre­solved fears and the ongo­ing tur­bu­lence in her life. The crows embody a haunt­ing pres­ence, mir­ror­ing the emo­tion­al tur­moil she car­ries in her heart.