Page 213 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

As she brought up Roger’s number and pressed Call, Ash
rose, muttering, and walked to their bedroom. He slammed
the door behind him. Next to Elgin, Kai finally seemed at a
loss for nuggets of wisdom. Elgin and Alice stared at Greta
while Kai looked at them all one by one.
Nate burst through the front door and was instantly
silenced by the funereal atmosphere. “What? What’s wrong?”
He noticed everyone’s eyes on Greta and waited too, the

Scrabble box under one arm.
The call went straight to voice mail. She disconnected
and redialed, her heartbeat thick and heavy in her chest. The
same. She chucked the phone back on the cushion. Alice rose
from the table and sat beside her. “You okay?” Kai started in
again about war.
Greta nodded at Alice. Her solar plexus was wound into

a tight knot. Her limbs felt disconnected from each other—a
mismatched collection of flesh, bone, blood.
“Maybe he’ll call back,” Alice said.
Greta nodded, staring at Elgin’s new plants. Nate came
and sat on her other side.
“I’ll play with you guys,” Alice said.
Nate set up the game board, something for his hands to
do. Greta stared at the tiles in front of her: cat, mat, pan, man.
Back to first grade for her, her brain incapable of handling

two-syllable words. Alice filled Nate in on what had happened,
her voice hushed for once, and then arranged the word
axoneme on the game board. Greta managed at before she
wandered to the bedroom, snatching the phone on her way.

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