Mom slammed her phone on the ground.
Sarah jumped in fright.
Mom looked guilty.
“Sarah, I’m sorry, I scared you. I was just
mad! Amy hurt you, and now she won’t
apologize. I won’t let her get away with this!”
Sarah hugged Mom, a smug expression on
her face.
Mom was destined to be disappointed. A
dead person can’t apologize.
Mom didn’t see me until the early hours, she
began to get worried.
Perhaps she remembered what Mr. Peterson.
く
had said that afternoon, she called him and
drove to the wilderness.
“I’ll see what Amy’s up to!”
Chapter Two
The sky was pitch black.
A few of the security guards led the way with
flashlights, their faces pale and bodies
shaking.
Seeing my corpse the day before clearly
messed them up.
Mom trailed behind, stony–faced.
A guard suddenly yelped, breaking the
silence.
L
“Mrs. Thompson… Mrs. Thompson, the body…
it’s gone!”
Mom stopped and slowly walked toward the
coffin, a sardonic smile on her face.
“Amy’s not dead. Where’s the body? I’m
curious, Mr. Peterson, how did Amy convince you all to play along with this?”
“What did she give you to drag me out here?”
“I’m here. Where is she? Mr. Peterson, tell
Amy to get out here right now!”
Mr. Peterson stared at the overturned coffin
lid and the empty coffin, speechless.
“How could this be? I put the lid back on this
く
afternoon, so that we could prep the body
and call the funeral home.”
The other guards chimed in.
“That’s right, Mrs. Thompson. We wouldn’t lie
to you. We saw Miss Amy’s body in there this
afternoon.”
“I saw her. The clothes were the same ones
from last week.”
“Maybe someone found the body and called
the cops? How else would it just disappear?”
Mom cut them off.
“Enough!
“If you want a career change, acting might be
<
a good option for you. You’re trying to tell me
that my alive and well daughter is dead?”
“Called the cops? Why wasn’t it on the news
if someone found the body?”
“If you’re going to help Amy pull a prank, at
least make it believable! That’s the best you
could come up with?”
“Do your jobs or get out!”
One of the guards started to speak, but
someone grabbed his arm, signaling him to
shut up.
Mr. Peterson opened his mouth, but seeing
Mom’s anger, he said nothing.
Nobody wanted to lose their job for me.
<
I couldn’t hear them.
I stared at the blood behind the coffin. In the
moonlight, I could see pieces of my fingers
and bones in the grass.
Even in death, I couldn’t protect my own
body.
Mom glared at the blood–stained coffin and
scoffed.
“Amy, hide if you want, but I don’t care. You
killed my son, so I could care less if you were
alive or dead.”
“My only regret is bringing you into this
world!”
wich cho badn’t brought ma into thi
<
I wish she hadn’t brought me into this world.
I wouldn’t have suffered.
