Chapter 1: S'mores and scary stories
Monday The kids were gathered around the campfire, roasting marshmallows. Eight warm little bodies formed a loose circle ringing the crackling fire, all holding their sticks above the flames, bobbing...
View ArticleChapter 2: Destruction, distraction, deflection
Tuesday Myra and Alex fed the kids bacon and toast with homemade apple jam from the nearby orchard. They passed a couple hours playing around at wiffle ball. Once everyone had digested their food, they...
View ArticleChapter 3: Show and tell
There was even less cleanup tonight than last night. With the kids asleep, Myra put away the cards and games that had been played and scattered about that evening. She had Alex in the kitchen...
View ArticleChapter 4: Wild run
Wednesday Myra rolled out of bed, quietly pulled on sweatpants as the girls slept, and slipped outside. This early morning air was her favorite, invigorating and crisp. Just breathing it purified her...
View ArticleChapter 5: Island excursion
The children awoke to a hot breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausages. They gobbled down the food as they chattered to one another, energetic and gregarious with their mouths full and their bodies...
View ArticleChapter 6: Capsized
Myra accompanied everyone else back to shore. She hadn’t even packed towels because they’d been short on space and the coolers trumped towels, but now she regretted it. Her punishment was being forced...
View ArticleChapter 7: Perspectives
They ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Alex kept angling to engage Myra and she kept ignoring him. She tried to get Percy to tell another story, but he was bent over his plate, intent on...
View ArticleChapter 8: Confrontation
She’d been waiting on the dock for nearly ten minutes when Alex finally arrived. She lifted her feet out of the warm water and stood, knowing she was forming wet footprints on the dock but unable to...
View ArticleChapter 9: Thunderstorm
Thursday Myra was already mostly awake when the cabin door cracked open and gray morning light poured in through the gap. She squinted against the brightness, seeing little except a slice of a tall...
View ArticleChapter 10: Doubt
Everyone sat around the dining table. Myra shuffled the two decks together and then dealt out all the cards, ten each, plus an extra eleventh to Grace, Cassie, Percy, and Luke. Grace went first. She...
View ArticleChapter 11: Injury and espionage
Once that round of cards ended, they didn’t play another. The more perceptive children were uneasy, and the less perceptive ones were bored. Percy volunteered to sort the cards back into two...
View ArticleChapter 12: Muses and musing
When the fifteen minutes were up, Myra released her hold on Joey’s head.“Are the bad guys done talking?” he asked.“Almost,” she said. “They just need to exchange the key that will decrypt their secret...
View ArticleChapter 13: Role models
Later, Zoey got Myra’s attention to show off her new horses. Zoey was beaming with pride as she presented her new drawing to Myra. It was painted entirely with purple watercolors, but color aside, it...
View ArticleChapter 14: Mudslinging
Joey oozed over the mud in slow motion. He headed toward Percy, who was sitting on the ground, gathering handfuls of mud into sticky mounds.Alex was leading a group of kids in what looked like a puddle...
View ArticleChapter 15: Attract / Attack
After a few minutes she heard the creak of footsteps on the dock’s old wooden boards and felt the tremor of Alex’s walk in the soles of her feet as he came closer. She’d summoned him, but now that he...
View ArticleChapter 16: Hot and cold
Friday Sunlight streamed in through the wall-to-wall windows. The bright rays highlighted the dust motes wafting through the air and made the entire room glow. Myra sighed as she stretched her arms...
View ArticleChapter 17: A stone's throw
Another new sound bubbled up, increasing as they traveled forward, a tinkling murmur like a fairy language. As they rounded another curve they came upon the source: the small stream that looped...
View ArticleChapter 18: Land, sea, air
Myra saw the clearing coming up, but it was subtle. She knew to watch for an absence instead of a presence, so she spotted the treehouse before everyone else did. When they got a bit farther up and...
View ArticleChapter 19: Mending and messengers
“Ohhh…owww,” Percy groaned in a low, strangled burble from underneath Cassie.Myra arrived at their side and crouched next to them.“Cassie?” she murmured, laying her hand on the girl’s back. “How are...
View ArticleChapter 20: Bugging
For a time, the kids enjoyed their unusual whole-group afternoon foray into the boys’ cabin. But eventually they grew antsy. Wriggling on the bed, Aldo said, “Myra, could we go swimming?”Cheers of...
View ArticleChapter 21: Stargazing
The kids emerged from the water like wet dogs, energetic and soaked, with sand coating their wet feet and scraps of weeds pasted onto their damp skin to form spidery green tattoos. They took hot...
View ArticleChapter 22: Altered states
Myra hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she stirred awake when Alex traced his fingertips along her hairline. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” he whispered. “Hey,” she mumbled. “What time is it?” “I know, I...
View ArticleChapter 23: Hidden talents
Saturday Myra awoke in a state of lethargic contentment. The sun was pouring in and she felt like a sunbathing cat, fur hot to the touch and closed eyes seeing blood-orange light. She rolled over on...
View ArticleChapter 24: Departure
Joey’s parents arrived first. They pulled up in a navy blue SUV. Joey’s dad, tall with the shaggy hair and easy smile of a man half his age, crouched and held out his arms. Joey ran straight into...
View ArticleChapter 25: Out for blood
Alex turned to Myra. With the smile of conversation still playing across his face, he asked, “How’s Grace’s sunburn?” Myra froze. Alex kept smiling. “What?” he said, except he wasn’t asking a...
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