CATHERINE
I stared at the package on my table like it might grow legs and walk away. It hadn’t been there last night. I would’ve seen it. I always saw everything. But this… this simple, unassuming brown box had appeared sometime between my morning coffee and brushing Ellie’s hair into a tight braid. No doorbell, no knock, no shadow across the porch and worst of all, no sender.
I inhaled slowly, keeping my breath shallow as my hesitant fingers brushed over the rough cardboard like it might bite me. I reached for a pen from the counter, using it to slice through the tape, half-expecting it to be some kind of sick prank with fingers and blood with a note like in the movies.
Lucky me. Nothing of that sort happened. The only thing inside was a single sheet of paper. No glitter. No blood. Jus
