Poet is writing the story of these people as well as their friends and enemies. He will tell what went right and what went wrong. The story spans sixty years, as 113 people touch the world and are in turn touched by it. As the Specials gather for a funeral, Poet remembers how they all grew up together and understood each other intimately. He predicts that their kind will never bee seen again once the last is dead.
Poet promises to tell the beginning and end of the story.
And everything in between. Because someone should know the truth. Dr. William Welles writes in his diary. He writes of Matthew Bright after witnessing him flying across the room. Matthew first flew while trying to jump as far as possible from the school swingset.