CHAPTER 1
Farrah
AGE FOUR
Istand as still as I can. I don’t even blink.
The blue butterfly floats in the wind. It flaps its wings until it lands on my outstretched hand.
My grin stretches across my face.
Finally!
I’ve been waiting forever for this guy to land. He’s so beautiful with the summer sun shining down on his soft wings.
Daddy told me to stay at the pond today while he works. Normally, I stay home with Grammy, but she had to go to the doctor. She’s been coughing a lot.
I’m kinda getting hungry. I hope Daddy remembers to bring me a snack today. Last time I had to go with him, he forgot me, and I had to walk all the way back to Grammy’s by myself.
I look around the field. There’s a house on the hill. It’s really big. Way bigger than Grammy’s house. Daddy told me to stay put, but maybe there’s someone in the house to give me a snack.
I don’t know who lives there.
Maybe it’s Daddy’s boss. Daddy says he’s a meanie, ’cept he used a word I’m not ’post to say.
I bite my lip. I’m also really thirsty. The sun’s been super hot today.
I start walking to the house. Maybe there’s a hose outside. I could get a drink and come back to the pond. No one would know I was gone.
My dress swishes, tickling my knees. I twirl to make the skirt fly up around my legs. Daddy says I march to my own drum, but I don’t have a drum, so I don’t know what he’s talking about. I like to dance all the time. Maybe that’s what he means.
I do a little wiggle, singing my favorite song, even though I don’t know all the words.
It takes forever to walk all the way to the house. My legs are tired once I get there, but I see a hose outside. I race over to turn it on. I let the hot water run out first before drinking lots.
The front of my dress gets a little wet, but I don’t mind. It feels good after my long walk.
I turn the water off and look around the yard. There’s a dirty truck parked to the side of the two-story house. The porch looks like I could fall through it if I step wrong, and I start to get nervous that I shouldn’t be here.
Maybe I should go back to the pond. Daddy will prolly bring me lunch soon.
“Where the hell did you come from?”
The voice scares a cry out of me. A teenage boy stands at the railing, looking down at me with a side eye. He’s kinda skinny like me, but he’s super tall. His dark hair is shaggy, like he tried to cut it himself. Grammy made my hair look like that once.
“Who are you?”
“F-F-Farrah.”
“Where did you come from?”
I point down at the pond.
“Why are you on our property?”
“M-m-my daddy works h-h-h-ere.” My stutter is getting worse the longer this boy stares at me. Daddy thinks it’s funny. He always stutters back at me and then laughs. I laugh too, but I don’t really get why it’s funny. “C-c-c-c-can I have a-a-a-a snack?”
The boy’s eyes go wide. He looks me over for a minute. “When’s the last time you ate?”
