Her daughter was torn from her arms by the shift in the crowd. She watched, the scene slowing down, the noise dying out, fingers grasping, as Everly’s face was forced—shoved into the side of a table that hadn’t fully collapsed.

The only sound was the impact, a single, hard knock. The dull echo and the rattling.

Her eyes went first to the slash of red, the gap between nostril and teeth, where the upper lip had split. Then to Everly’s eyes, which pointed in slightly different directions, unfocused. Gone.

She reached for Everly and the movement of the crowd didn’t let her make contact. People moved in, stepping on her, on Everly’s body, and Love Lost fought, fierce, desperate, and animal.

A scream tore from her lips, a multi-note sound. Anger, desperation, despair, grief.

Love Lost leaned over the counter, hands at her temple, as the screaming on the television stopped, replaced by a jingle, jarring voices. Bugs danced on the screen, turning around to wiggle their rear ends, showing off the symbols stamped on their shells.

“Everlyn,” she said.

Her hands moved at her temple, and the scene distorted with the movements.

“Everlyn!” she raised her voice. The shout echoed through the apartment.

She heard the tromp of running feet. The sound echoed, became a part of the background noise.

“Yes Mom?” the voice asked.

“Turn it down. That’s loud enough to bother the neighbors. And turn it off, if you’re not watching.”

“I was going to watch.”

“You were in your room.”

“I wanted to find someone to watch it with me.”

Love Lost looked over as two stuffed toys were placed on the counter’s edge. Ugly things, with twisted faces. One of them looked like a ballsack with arms, legs, and a bulldog face. Ugly toys were apparently the in thing. The other was alright. A princess doll with red hair.

“See?” Everlyn moved the toys, animating them with wiggles and moving a finger up to raise the princess’s arm.

“I see. Now turn it down.”

“Okay.”

The toys were left where they were. A moment later, the volume of the children’s voices singing the repetitive song started dropping. The noise of the lingering echoes remained.

“Quieter,” Love Lost said. Her fingers moved at her temples, drawing her eyes into slits, as she stared down at the sink.

The sound of the television dropped again. The two toys were whisked away from the edge of the counter.

“Thank you,” Love Lost said, raising her voice to be heard as the footsteps retreated at a run. She drew in a deep breath and sighed, aggrieved.

The peace lasted about five seconds. Something crashed, a loud sound that cascaded, as if everything had fallen down.

“Sorry!” Everlyn called out, from the other end of the house, her voice high. “I’ll clean it up!”