All the Birds in the Sky

by Charlie Jane Anders

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|width = 24em |border = 1px |align = right |bgcolor = #c6dbf7 |fontsize = 80% |quote = A tiny bird landed near Patricia. "Hello," he chirped. "Hello, hello."

Patricia shook her head, she couldn't make a sound. But she was past that now. "Hello," she said. And thank all the birds in the sky, she sounded like just another bird gossiping.

|salign = right |source = — All the Birds in the Sky, page 99 }} All the Birds in the Sky is set in the near-future and is about Patricia and Laurence, a witch and a techno-geek. Patricia discovers, when she is six, that she has magical abilities, like talking to birds – but she has no control over it and cannot summon it at will. Laurence, from a young age, invents gadgets, makes a two-second time machine out of a watch, and later builds a supercomputer in his bedroom. Patricia and Laurence both attend the same junior high school where they discover each other after being ostracized by other children for being too strange.

Their time at school, however, does not last long and they soon become separated. Patricia runs away after being accused of witchcraft, and with the help of a bird, becomes one and flies away; she is intercepted by a magician who enrolls her in a school for witches. Laurence is sent to a military reform school by his parents for his non-conforming behavior.

Ten years later, the adult Patricia and Laurence bump into each other again at a party. Patricia is now a witch who can control and use her magical abilities, and has joined a witch's cabal. Laurence had escaped the reform school and now is part of a think tank of like-minded geeks building a wormhole generator. Patricia and Laurence keep in touch, but their divergent philosophies strain their relationship.

All of this happens against the backdrop of a deteriorating world, which is beset by superstorms, earthquakes and wars that destroy cities and destabilize countries. It is the beginning of the Unraveling. This leads to a showdown between science and magic, which jeopardizes Patricia and Laurence's relationship. The story ends with the pair reconciling their differences and combining science and magic to stop the Unraveling.