But how do you know? Are you like God who knows everything?

JW44:

WELL, I’M NOT GOD, BUT THANK YOU. IT’S HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT I JUST KNOW. I KNOW THAT YOU WEAR A PINK COAT AND HAVE A PURPLE BACKPACK WITH WHITE POLKA DOTS. I KNOW YOU HAVE BLOND HAIR AND BLUE EYES. AND I KNOW THAT YOU’RE VERY PRETTY. A LOT PRETTIER THAN THOSE TWO GIRLS YOU HANG OUT WITH.

Corareef12:

Well, I don’t really hang out with them anymore and everyone else thinks Jordyn and Violet are the pretty ones.

JW44:

NO WAY. BESIDES, YOU HAVE A MUCH BETTER PERSONALITY.

Corareef12:

I wish they were my friends again.

JW44:

ARE YOU SURE? I THINK THEY MAKE YOU SAD.

Corareef12:

It’s lonely at school.

JW44:

WELL, I’M YOUR FRIEND, TOO. REMEMBER THAT. MAYBE WE COULD MEET SOMEDAY. IN PERSON. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Corareef12:

Are you really Wither? I feel like maybe you’re just pranking me.

JW44:

YES. I WOULDN’T LIE TO YOU, CORA. I CARE ABOUT YOU TOO MUCH.

Corareef12:

I don’t know what to believe anymore.

JW44:

I’LL PROVE IT TO YOU.

Corareef12:

How?

JW44:

COME TO THE TRAIN YARD. WE’LL MEET IN PERSON. YOU’LL SEE…

JW44:

CORA?

JW44:

WHERE’D YOU GO?

Thomas Petit Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Thomas Petit

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Thomas’s first thought is the attic. He places a step stool beneath the hatchway in the ceiling and pulls on the cord that unfolds the stairs. He threads his arms through the straps of the book bag and, with it resting on his back, clutches the wooden rungs just above his head and makes his way upward.

By the time his head pokes through the narrow opening in the ceiling he knows the attic won’t work. The wide-planked wooden floor is covered in a thick layer of dust. He hasn’t been up here in about five years, when he and Tess cleaned it out.

If Thomas stows the backpack up here he will disturb the nearly half-decade worth of dust. His footprints will give him away and he doesn’t have a good enough explanation as to why he would venture up the wobbly steps. He slowly makes his way back down the rungs, fearful that a misstep could result in a broken leg and he’d end up in the hospital in a bed right next to Tess. Then what would happen to Jordyn?