The narrator adopts a cat after its family was killed in an airplane explosion which happened in the Tehran sky. The narrator recalls having seen it online after watching footage online of the airplane explosion, after which the narrator saw a rehome request for the cat as a result of the incident happening. After some coordinating with the petsitter, the narrator agrees to rehome the cat, hoping that it can ameliorate the tragic grief of the times. The petsitter recalls how ominous the cat’s behavior was on the day of the airplane explosion. The narrator then thinks about the disappearance of their poet father along with the other poets he knew. In the last few days, the petsitter has felt strange, as if unable to discern the world or the distinction between himself and the cat. He can’t even explain the incident to the cat. It takes weeks for the narrator and petsitter to finalize the adoption.

Meanwhile, the narrator and their roommate hardly spoke. The roommate is working on her dissertation on a poet. Together, they meet the cat at their nearby airport. As she drives the car to take them all home, the roommate wonders if the world is a book and everyone is simply a separate chapter of it. The narrator and the roommate talk about the meaning of a life that will inevitably vanish. The roommate thinks something sinister is going to happen.

After a few months, the cat’s fur grows back. The narrator spends lots of time with her and gets to know her. The narrator thinks that the cat might have anticipated the airplane explosion, whereas the roommate thinks the cat is simply a normal one. Life in Chicago proceeds as normal through the humid summer. The narrator thinks about their father some more, what he would have thought about Tehran’s wartime or Chicago’s ghostly neighborhoods. Both the narrator and their roommate begin to feel homesick even though they hardly leave the house. They long for Tehran. Eventually, they bring some traditions into their home, such as a Tirgan celebration in July, for the two of them and the cat to enjoy.

One morning, the narrator takes a bath to cool down from the summer heat. The cat is perched at the edge of the tub with them. The roommate cries out about another airplane, to which the narrator wraps a towel around themselves to see what’s on her laptop. Together, they watch a tragedy unfold on the computer screen. They sob and mourn their ancestors.

After a few weeks, the narrator takes a walk around a lake with the cat in a backpack. The roommate calls them to tell them that an explosion happened in Beirut. On their phone screen, the narrator watches video footage of explosions in Beirut. The narrator sings the song of their ancestors, asking whose death should be mourned.