When the Stauntons sell their home later that year, it is autumn and Abigail is heartbroken. Though Margaret has begun her junior year at the University of Chicago, she assures Abigail that distance will never be a problem. “They’ve invented email, and you can send me messages through a giant mess of wires.”
Abigail locks herself in her room, refusing to watch them carry box after box into their moving trucks. She hasn"t smiled in days. On the last night that the Stauntons stay in their own home, it’s as empty as Abigail’s heart. Hollowed out yet marked forever by the traces of what was once there. Even the Kool-Aid stain on Margaret’s carpet taunts Abigail as if it’s shouting, “I’ll always be here to remind you of the family you no longer have.”
Abigail stays with Margaret and her paren
