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Her foot slipped wildly as the tree suddenly shifted She cried out as her ankle was caught between the ground and the trunk Gingerly, she tried to pull her foot free, but it edged in tight She sat up and pushed at the solid weight with all her ht

It didn’t budge

Maggie shivered helplessly She couldn’t stopshe could do toAt least it didn’t really hurt She was cold all over, al at all anymore For the millionth time, she wished her dad was there to fix it He always fixed everything

Sinking back to the ground, she pressed her cheek to the grass and shut her eyes, wishing and wishing her dad would find her

Blinking, Jason lifted his head and peeled a woodchip off his cheek He was on the ground, Ben huddled close behind him, and—

Maggie

Squeezing his eyes shut, he braced as the grief scoured hi wound He had nothing He was nothing This was it The world had becoet out

He’d failed It was his job to keep his baby girl safe

Jason prayed he’d wake up and this terrible nightie would be there in the door of the tent, tickling his foot and telling him he was a lazybones

That he would never see her again was i The planet still spun on its axis—itclouds, the weather finally clearing as the afternoon brightened

How?

Hoas the world still turning? Hoas he not dead too? He should be Maggie was everything How could he still breathe, heart still beat? He should be dead

Again and again in his ie’s throat Did she knoas happening? Howbefore…

No No, no, no