Accepting Visitors

Paige

I curled my knees into my chest and stared out through the narrow windows at the yard. Now that I knew it was there, I could just make out the shine of afternoon sun on the duck pond, hidden amongst the trees. My days had begun passing in a cycle of sleeping, staring out the window, and trudging down to the kitchen at mealtimes to eat some of the best food I’d ever had in my life. It was dead boring, but after the last few months, I wouldn’t mind never being excited again.

Someone knocked on the door, and my heart stuttered. He almost never visited in the middle of the day.

God, what was I thinking? Tom was just the latest bastard. He’d made that clear over the last few days. Sure, he slept on my couch at night, but other than that, I barely saw him outside of the kitchen. Not that I wanted to see him, anyway. It was just a big change from the constant contact of Cairo.

And anyway, Tom didn’t knock like that.

“Mom?” I called.

The door opened, and Sera Bianchi stepped in wearing