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Back The Wilderwomen Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. BEFORE
  4. AFTER
  5. ONE THOUGHTS ON SUN HATS
  6. TWO TIME FOR CAKE
  7. THREE TWELVE MONTHS
  8. FOUR PSYCHIC KARAOKE
  9. FIVE A SECOND SLEEPING BAG
  10. SIX SIX MONTHS
  11. SEVEN THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE PANCAKE
  12. EIGHT SIX MONTHS
  13. NINE FOLLOW THE MUSIC
  14. TEN THE STARS ARE BRIGHTER IN THE DESERT
  15. ELEVEN SIX MONTHS
  16. TWELVE EVERY STAR HAS A SONG
  17. THIRTEEN PSYCHIC KARAOKE
  18. FOURTEEN ONE MONTH
  19. FIFTEEN A WELL-TRAVELED HAT
  20. SIXTEEN JOEL VS. THE VOLCANO
  21. SEVENTEEN TWO WEEKS
  22. EIGHTEEN HOUSE OF MEMORIES
  23. NINETEEN IF TREES COULD TALK
  24. TWENTY THREE DAYS
  25. TWENTY-ONE SEARCH PARTY
  26. TWENTY-TWO NOT THE SAME ZADIE
  27. TWENTY-THREE WAVES OF SMOKE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR THE DAY OF
  29. TWENTY-FIVE THE SKY IS FULL OF BIRDS
  30. TWENTY-SIX NEST
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. EPILOGUE
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT A SONG ABOUT A BIRD
  34. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  35. Also by Ruth Emmie Lang
  36. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  37. Newsletter Sign-up

The wind picked up and with it, Nora’s arms. She stretched them out to her sides in a T formation, her cardigan billowing beneath them like a sail. Nora had asked Zadie once where she would go if she woke up one day and could fly. “Anywhere in the world,” she’d added. Zadie couldn’t recall what she’d said exactly, but she remembered her mother’s response: “Can I fly there with you?”

“Mom! Stop!” Zadie grabbed Nora’s shoulder and twisted her around. Her mother’s face, one she knew almost as well as her own, was barely recognizable. “Mom? What are you doing? What’s happening?” Zadie realized that she was trembling.

Nora looked directly at her daughter in a way that frightened Zadie, like she was looking into what she thought was a mirror but was really two-way glass. Without a word, Nora stepped past her in the direction of their house. Zadie tailed her mother all the way home, tears silently running down her cheeks and collecting in the corners of her mouth. When they got close, Zadie hurried ahead and opened the door. Nora wafted into the house along with the cool night air, and once inside, settled herself on the couch in front of the TV, which was in the middle of a Law & Order episode. Almost a minute later, Nora finally spoke. “Shoot. I’ve seen this one already. I think I remember it being pretty good, though.” She turned to Zadie, who was standing in the kitchen, watching her. “Hey, hon. Do you want to snuggle with me? We can watch something you want to watch. I promise I won’t say anything snarky.”

Zadie didn’t know what to say. Either her mom had no memory of what had just happened or she was messing with her. All she knew was that she needed to get as far away from her as possible.

“Zadie? You feeling okay?”

“I have homework to do,” she finally blurted and hurried down the hall toward her bedroom. She had already finished all her homework in study hall earlier that day. She just wanted to put on her headphones and try not to think about what she had just witnessed. On her way, she stopped in front of Finn’s room and peered through the crack in the door at her sleeping sister. She decided not to tell Finn about that night. She was probably just sleepwalking, Zadie told herself, although in her heart she wasn’t sure if she believed it.

FOUR PSYCHIC KARAOKE

(PART 1)