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She could feel a tiny tremble in the child’s body, and if she listened very, very carefully, she could hear the unasked questions in Izzy’s in-drawn breaths

“Your daddy will be back soon, Izzy,” she said softly, praying it was true “He loves you very much ”

Izzy didn’t move, didn’t respond

“Soet confusedjust like kids do And your dad’s confused right now He doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere, but if we’re patient, and we give hiure it out It’s hard to be patient, though, isn’t it? Especially when the waiting hurts ”

Annie’s voice faded She closed her eyes and leaned back in the rocker, listening to the rhyth echo of rain on the porch roof

“He loves you, Izzy,” she said at last, perhaps more to herself than to the silent child “I know he loves you ”

It took her afro-png-png

She wasthe tin roof overhead

Annie smiled

Izzy was trying to find her way back

Izzy felt the screaain It ay down deep inside her, in that dark place where the nightmares lived Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her mommy, and she remembered what she’d heard You can’t follow mecan’t follow mecan’t follow me

What if that were true? What if she disappeared into the fog and still couldn’t find hercry escaped her lips

She was scared It was one of those nights when nothing good happened in her sleep and she woke up with tears on her cheeks She kept drea about that doctor, the one with the pointy nose and the thick glasses who told her that she had to talk or else she wouldn’t get over her rown-up words that she hardly understood The last thing she’d ever said was to hiet over my mommy

Her whole body was shaking

She didn’t want to screaain