Seventeen-year-old Drew Person falls in love with Cindy Glover, a teenage mountaineer in a racially segregated south, he is met with unexpected resistance, which forces him to arrange a secret meeting place by an outback pond. He is soon betrayed by flocks of ducks scrambling over spilled grains. Noise of the disturbance travels far, echoed by wailing birds and barking dogs. Bono comes to investigate the commotion. The following week, Drew receives a letter from the “Omega Man” warning him to stay out of the wood because danger awaits the uninitiated. “The wood watcher is watching you. I am the wood’s guardian and protector. My grandfather did before I was born, so did my father before me. It’s my time to watch, and I alone hold the key to the wood's secrets. It’s not a place for love story—not on my watch. And beware of judgment night.”