Double Vision by Colby Marshall Page B

mean she had to be.
    â€œMay I be excused?” she asked.
    â€œMolly, everyone’s not finished yet,” Liam said.
    Molly let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair. She needed to think harder. She
could
help Dr. Ramey. She sat in silence and watched her stepdad and mother eat. When they’d finally cleared their plates, she tried again.
    â€œMay I be excused now?” Molly asked.
    â€œYes, you may, but go upstairs and take your bath, put on your pj’s, and brush your teeth. I’ll be up to tuck you in in about an hour and a half. You can play until then.”
    Molly hopped out of her chair and skipped up the stairs to her room. She closed her door behind her. Then she flopped onto her hot-pink comforter. Finally, some time to think.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    M olly pulled the plug up for her bathwater to run out, and she watched the clear soapy liquid swirl toward the drain. Games. Three plays to make in the rock-paper-scissors game. You could make a three-point shot in basketball. Three strikes and a batter was out in baseball. Three bases to touch before running home. Hockey had three twenty-minute time periods. Three strikes in a row in bowling was called a turkey.
    She reached for her fluffy pink towel, dried off, then wrapped it around her chest like a dress. Once she was in her bedroom, she pulled on a lavender nightgown with a screen-printed version of Daisy Duck’s face on the front, complete with giant pink hair bow. She left the towel on the floor and crawled onto her bed. She pulled back the covers but lay on top of them, still determined to help Dr. Ramey.
    She grabbed her pale pink Koosh ball off her nightstand. As she thought, she tossed it up in the air, caught it, and tossed it again. Atoms contained three particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. The Roman Catholics believed there were three realms in the afterlife: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. On some telephone keypads, the number three key was also associated with the letters D, E, and F. Three notes to form a triad, the basic structure of a musical chord. Three was the number of wishes granted in most stories involving genies, wizards, or sorcerers. Three primary colors made all others.
    Her door opened, and she looked up, still tossing her Koosh ball into the air and catching it when it came back down.
    â€œTime for little princesses to be in bed,” Liam said, catching the Koosh ball in his palm. He set it down on the nightstand, “Yep, in bed . . . with their tootsies under the covers!” Liam smiled just before he dove for Molly’s feet.
    She squealed and shoved her feet under the sheets, then yanked the blankets up to her chin. She’d made it before he tickled her toes.
    â€œShucks!” he laughed, shaking his head and snapping the fingers on his right hand once. “Missed getting the feets
again!
”
    Molly giggled.
    â€œNext time,” he said, leaning down and smoothing her hair back from her face.
    Molly narrowed her eyes playfully. “You
hope
!”
    Liam chuckled. “Confident, are we? We’ll just see tomorrow,” he said, giving her a playful punch in the arm. “You brush your teeth?”
    â€œMm-hm,” she said, then gave him the toothiest grin she could manage.
    â€œSparkly as ever. Wash your face?”
    Molly nodded twice.
    â€œSay your prayers?” Liam asked.
    â€œNot yet,” she answered.
    â€œWell, come on. I’ll help.”
    â€œWhere’s Mommy?” she asked.
    Liam frowned. “In bed, puddin’. She’s had a hard few days. She needs her rest. Now how about those prayers?”
    Molly crawled out, but just before she took her feet out from under the covers, she shot Liam a look. “Are my feet safe from the tickle troll?”
    Liam drew an X over his chest. “Cross my heart.”
    She knelt beside her bed, and Liam crouched and dropped onto both knees next to her. People