I wrote this today, Chapter 10… After this, there is a new part where things will abruptly change for Susie and her family.
10
Susie
Daddy… Dad was smiling at me, but his eyes didn’t match.
“Susan? Are you still here?”
I took a deep breath, sighing in a hiss that was sharper than I intended. Wait. Than I intended?
“Dad, no… It’s me, Susie. She was just here, wasn’t she? It’s okay. I know she was here. It’s just weird when she does this, and I am completely cut off from knowing what we talked about. The transition is so abrupt. I guess I am missing time.”
“Susie, should I tell you about what happened, what she—You, I mean, what you talked about?”
“No, Dad. I would rather not know. If she wanted me to know, she would have let me in on it.”
“Okay, Susie. I worry about you, kiddo. All of this has to be hard on you.”
“Thanks, Dad. It definitely is. But I worry more about you and Mom. You deserve a normal kid. Not what Matt or Gramma Emi would have called a ‘Crackpot.’” Dad stretched his arms around me, his hug soothing me. I missed his hugs sometimes.
“Susie, you are the most normal kid we have…”
I was their only kid. Somehow, I knew that would never change.
Memory is the Key 