so the MRI shows everything is normal. When it came back as a tumor, I couldn’t pray anymore.
Part of me knew I was being childish. Bad things happen to people sometimes. And everyone dies sooner or later. But things like this shouldn’t happen to six-year-olds. They just shouldn’t. It felt like God had tossed my family aside, like he didn’t care what happened to us.
I got up, walked into the kitchenette, and leaned against the counter. I needed to call Madison and tell her what had happened. As I turned sideways for privacy I noticed a compound bow leaning against the wall. A Conquest Four. It was bigger and newer than mine but basically the same type. A quiver full of arrows sat on the counter. Steve must use them to practice with.
I touched the bow, running my fingers down the cable. It reminded me of my story for Jeremy and that I still needed to figure a way to get the two of us out of the underworld. Braided hair hadn’t worked—did they have rope lying around the underworld? How should we escape?
Before my mind could move on to the next thought, a feeling of icy darkness swept around me. I struggled to breathe. It was as if the Grim Reaper himself stood directly behind me. I could feel him leaning over my shoulder, could hear his hollow, grating breath near my ear. “You can’t escape,” he said. “You’ll never find a way.”
I gasped and spun around. “Stop it!” I yelled. But there was nothing there.
For someone who’d always put a lot of stock in my sanity, this wasn’t a pleasant experience. I put one hand across my eyes. “It’s no wonder I can’t sleep anymore.”
That’s when I noticed the typing had stopped. I looked over and saw Mr. Blasingame staring at me. I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m just working on some lines for an audition.”
“Oh.” He nodded and for the first time admiration crept into his voice. “You’re really good.”
“Thanks.”
He went back to his computer, and I leaned against the counter, trying to slow my heart rate. It felt like my insides had crashed through a window. I wondered what would happen if Jeremy didn’t recover from his cancer. Would I walk around forever with shards of glass cutting into my thoughts?
I pulled my phone from my pocket with still trembling hands. It had a message from Madison. I’d missed her call during my brief but eventful stint as an actress. I listened to it, mostly because I wanted to put off telling her I’d been caught.
On the message she said, “So do we look alike? Apparently the security people here think we do because when they came looking for a girl who’d sneaked onto the lot wearing a baseball cap and carrying a snake, they singled me out.” Which, I suddenly realized, was the reason the security guard knew I was lying when I told them I’d come here alone. They’d already caught Madison.
I could hear her disgruntled sigh on her message. “And don’t you dare tell me it was my fault for not looking like I belonged. I sat there with the rest of crew eating doughnuts. In fact I’m pretty sure I gained five pounds fitting in. But they caught me.” She sounded ashamed to admit this, and I wasn’t sure whether it was because she hadn’t been stealthy enough to avoid detection or whether the humiliation of being caught doing something wrong was just too much for her. Probably the latter.
“The security guards kept asking me what I’d done with the snake,” she continued. “I told them I had no idea what they were talking about. Which became a lot less believable when they escorted me to your van and saw the cages of rabbits and doves.
“Anyway, they made me leave and said they’d call the police if I came back. So I just returned the doves and bunnies to the pet store.” There was a pause, and I wondered if she’d ended her message but then she added, “I hope you’re having better luck. Give me a call when you can.”
I guess it had been too much to hope that she was somewhere
Part of me knew I was being childish. Bad things happen to people sometimes. And everyone dies sooner or later. But things like this shouldn’t happen to six-year-olds. They just shouldn’t. It felt like God had tossed my family aside, like he didn’t care what happened to us.
I got up, walked into the kitchenette, and leaned against the counter. I needed to call Madison and tell her what had happened. As I turned sideways for privacy I noticed a compound bow leaning against the wall. A Conquest Four. It was bigger and newer than mine but basically the same type. A quiver full of arrows sat on the counter. Steve must use them to practice with.
I touched the bow, running my fingers down the cable. It reminded me of my story for Jeremy and that I still needed to figure a way to get the two of us out of the underworld. Braided hair hadn’t worked—did they have rope lying around the underworld? How should we escape?
Before my mind could move on to the next thought, a feeling of icy darkness swept around me. I struggled to breathe. It was as if the Grim Reaper himself stood directly behind me. I could feel him leaning over my shoulder, could hear his hollow, grating breath near my ear. “You can’t escape,” he said. “You’ll never find a way.”
I gasped and spun around. “Stop it!” I yelled. But there was nothing there.
For someone who’d always put a lot of stock in my sanity, this wasn’t a pleasant experience. I put one hand across my eyes. “It’s no wonder I can’t sleep anymore.”
That’s when I noticed the typing had stopped. I looked over and saw Mr. Blasingame staring at me. I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m just working on some lines for an audition.”
“Oh.” He nodded and for the first time admiration crept into his voice. “You’re really good.”
“Thanks.”
He went back to his computer, and I leaned against the counter, trying to slow my heart rate. It felt like my insides had crashed through a window. I wondered what would happen if Jeremy didn’t recover from his cancer. Would I walk around forever with shards of glass cutting into my thoughts?
I pulled my phone from my pocket with still trembling hands. It had a message from Madison. I’d missed her call during my brief but eventful stint as an actress. I listened to it, mostly because I wanted to put off telling her I’d been caught.
On the message she said, “So do we look alike? Apparently the security people here think we do because when they came looking for a girl who’d sneaked onto the lot wearing a baseball cap and carrying a snake, they singled me out.” Which, I suddenly realized, was the reason the security guard knew I was lying when I told them I’d come here alone. They’d already caught Madison.
I could hear her disgruntled sigh on her message. “And don’t you dare tell me it was my fault for not looking like I belonged. I sat there with the rest of crew eating doughnuts. In fact I’m pretty sure I gained five pounds fitting in. But they caught me.” She sounded ashamed to admit this, and I wasn’t sure whether it was because she hadn’t been stealthy enough to avoid detection or whether the humiliation of being caught doing something wrong was just too much for her. Probably the latter.
“The security guards kept asking me what I’d done with the snake,” she continued. “I told them I had no idea what they were talking about. Which became a lot less believable when they escorted me to your van and saw the cages of rabbits and doves.
“Anyway, they made me leave and said they’d call the police if I came back. So I just returned the doves and bunnies to the pet store.” There was a pause, and I wondered if she’d ended her message but then she added, “I hope you’re having better luck. Give me a call when you can.”
I guess it had been too much to hope that she was somewhere
Similar Books
