Leo read it seven times. Then he climbed back up to his perch and sat there until the stars came out. He didn’t cry. He just watched the empty house, waiting for a light that never turned on.
“This time’s different,” she said, but her voice wavered. the missing -2014-
The house was empty. No porch chairs, no curtain flicker, no Mira. The For Sale sign was gone. In its place, a single sheet of notebook paper taped to the front door, weighed down by a flat gray stone. Leo read it seven times
She did. He coughed. She called him a disaster. He decided he wanted to be a disaster forever. He just watched the empty house, waiting for
Leo nearly fell out of the tree. He waved back, stiff as a flagpole. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “You gonna watch me all summer, or are you gonna come down?”
“Good,” she said. “Then you won’t be boring.”