Daddo and Mommy are sle eping under the umbrella Lois brought to our house. She brought things like blankets
and pillows too.
She was pr epared for her plan.
The sun is high up, but it’s windy and Lois said the lake is like a “big air conditioner.” She said it cools the whole
state.
Up the beach I can see big sand cliffs.
Daddo said it’s like California and Mommy said it’s better than that and then Daddo said maybe Lois was right
that we all needed to get far away and then they all asked me if I thought Other Mommy was close.
I told them I didn’t know.
Me and Lois stand where the water touches the tips of our shoes. The lake is loud. And it’s big. And everything is
so pretty, it feels like the opposite of Other Mommy in the dark second pantry.
You’ll hear some things tonight that will change your understanding of the world, Lois says. And while it isn’t
fair, or natural, it’s likely necessary. Do you understand what I’m saying?
You guys want Other Mommy to go away.
Yes. That’s it exactly. We want Other Mommy to go away. But not just for a little while. We want it gone forever.
Okay?
Okay.
Do you think that is possible? I think it’s probably helpful if you think that’s possible.
I don’t know.
I get it, she says. What’s unfair is that people are supposed to learn the secrets of life gradually. They aren’t
supposed to be told a hundred truths at once. But if you think of it like a ritual, I think that will help. When your
parents wake up, I’ll get a fire going. You see nobody’s up and down this beach, we’re alone. And I think we
should do what we came to do right away. I think all this will make Other Mommy less interested in you.
Okay.
You sound sad about that. Are you?
I thought Other Mommy was my friend.
I see.
The water goes a little farther and curls around the tip of my shoe.
Your parents have been through a lot, Lois says. And what they’re experiencing is just as unnatural as what you
are and what you will.
They’ve been so worried about you and your house. It’s a really big thing, what they’re dealing with. One day
you’ll be an adult, too, and you’ll look back on these days and you’ll see what your parents did for you and how
they behaved when they had to, and I imagine you’ll love them de eply for it.
I look back and see Mommy and Daddo sle eping beneath the white umbrella. They’re sle eping like people do who
are so tired all the noise in the world won’t wake them.
Can I ask some questions? Lois says.
Yeah.
Okay. When Other Mommy first came to you... were you scared?
No.
Did you tell Other Mommy anything personal about yourself? Things you like? How you feel about things?
Yeah.
I’d rather talk about the sand. The sand is so pretty. So cool.
And did Other Mommy tell you anything about... Other Mommy?
What do you mean?
I don’t know exactly. Do you know as much about her as she does about you?
I don’t think so.
What do you know about her?
That she comes from som eplace other than the closet. And that her face changes. And that she wants to get into my
heart.
Lois looks like what I said makes her feel sickly.
Has she ever told you what she would do if you said yes to that? Lois asks.
Yeah.
And? What was it exactly?
She said she would come back to life. Carnation.
Reincarnation?
Yeah. I ke ep forgetting. That’s it. And one time she told me that when I say yes, it’ll be as easy for her as slipping
into a dress.
She said that? Those exact words?
Yeah.
And how did that make you feel, Bela?
I don’t want to tell her that I liked it when Other Mommy said that.
I don’t know. I thought it sounded pretty.
Okay, Lois says. I think, for now, let’s just be happy to be far away.
And when your parents wake up, we’ll do some more heavy talking. All right?
Yeah.
All right.
We watch the water together and we both look up the beach, way far away, because we both heard a sound like a
dog, and there’s something on all fours way far away up the sand and it looks like it’s crawling toward us, a dog, I
think, and the wind comes in strong and the clouds pass in front of the sun and I think I can see the color of the dog
for a second, and for a second it looks like the dog has dark fur.
Me and Lois watch the dog for a while and it ke eps looking like it’s crawling up the sand toward us, the big skinny
dog, but it doesn’t get any closer and it seems like no matter how long we watch it, it ke eps crawling but doesn’t
get any closer.
Then Mommy wakes up.
And she calls for me.
And I go to her and Daddo beneath the umbrella and I see Lois is still looking up the beach.
What happened? Mommy asks. Did something happen?
Nothing happened, I say.
She looks to the water.
Well, holy shit, Mommy says. That’s the first time in a long time I’ve not woken up in the middle of something
horrible.
She wipes sand from her shirtsleeves.
She looks at me and I can tell she’s thinking something big with a lot of feelings.
But I guess we’re still in the middle of it, she says.