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"Put them on," I hear Dax say

I realize he means the spectacles and I shove thelow, but only barely After a few aching h that I can discern the shapes of trees and rocks, and a great yellow orb on the horizon, peeking bethat looks like two round next to me, his hands clasped over his face

"What the Tartarus is that?" I say, pointing at the orb without actually looking at it

"Sunrise" Dax pushes up to his feet He’s wearing his own pair of dark lenses

I hear a foreign noise from somewhere in the near distance I blink several times andfrom the trees in front of us The silhouette steps forward "Welcome to Olympus Hills, my lords I’m certain you will love it here," a voice says in a tone so … perky … it hurts ht still burns behind my lids

And huht

DAPHNE

This place is heaven, I admit to myself as I pull open the drapes in thethe incredible view of the lake Seeing it in the daylight, I knohy the real estate around here is so coveted Jogging trails, trees, bushes, and flowers of alet over how lush everything is I knew that Ellis was in the middle of the desert, but I never realized exactly what that

Moh she probably wouldn’t be able to get over the fact that the long lake isto Marta’s brochure I can’t really tell, except for the odd figure-eight shape, that it isn’t naturally occurring I snap a picture of the lake through the ithwith a

I text the picture to Jonathan and CeCe with the note:

Arrived just fine This place is gorgeous! (Please show my mom)

Mom doesn’t have a cell phone She says she doesn’t see the point since everyone she knows lives within walking distance But h pics, sheto visit when she sees how beautiful this place is

"Daphne, is that you, love?" I hear Joe’s groggy voice froht from thehits Joe’s face where he’s splayed out on the family room couch He cracks open one eye, then the other He blinks a couple of tio away"

I sigh and shake his booted foot, which dangles over the side of the couch "Get up, Joe Marta’s itinerary says that you have an interview today And I’m headed out So if you don’t wake up now, nobody will be here to act as your walking snooze button"