Obvious or not, I have to get rid of this soup. I’m either going to blow it up in the microwave or make it so hot that I drop the bowl. I can’t eat it.

I pick up the bowl and carefully carry it over to the counter, saying, ‘You know I think your hair is shinier, Mum.’ She only gets up off her seat and comes with me, watching as I open the microwave door and put the bowl inside.

‘You’ve left the spoon in, Lance.’ Mum reaches in and takes it. ‘No metal in the microwave, remember, you might blow up the house.’

‘Oh god, I’m such an idiot.’ That’s plan A out the window. ‘Sorry, Mum, it’s been a mental day.’

‘It’s OK, my love, it will all feel better after food and sleep.’

I close the microwave door, set the power to full, and hit the start button. Mum always says I should set the timer, but I like living on the edge and just seeing how it goes.

146 As the microwave whirrs, the bowl beginning to spin slowly inside, I wonder whether I’m going to have to just make a run for it. I could go to Kat’s. It’s only a few minutes down the road – I might be able to make it. But the bug-eyes at Crater Lake were all strong and fast, and I don’t know what my mum is capable of, physically. She might be on me before I reach the front door. Or I could hit her over the head with the bowl, but I know I won’t be able to bring myself to do that. There might be an alien inside, but it’s still my mum’s body. I can’t hurt her. So, dropping the soup it is. It’s obvious, but I’ll have to make a big show of being gutted and hope she buys it.

Something splatters onto my foot. I look down to see a blob of red liquid soaking into my sock, and I think for a moment that I must be bleeding. But then I turn to look at Mum and I see that the red splatter is coming from the spoon she’s still holding. Tomato soup is dripping onto the floor.

‘Mum,’ I say. ‘You’re getting soup everywhere.’

She doesn’t answer. Doesn’t move. Just stands there, frozen, holding the dripping spoon, staring at the bowl in the microwave turning in the yellow light.