Maintain vigilance around the house.
As a result, I did. Perhaps I didn't require the instructions. There was something about the empty house next door that made it difficult to look away. What other residence was there to keep an eye on?
My folks complained for hours, asking different questions than the cops.
I am OK.
I'm fine...
I'm fine...
The ambulance departed, and the squad vehicles drew away, leaving just the awful silence and sawed-off ends of the fence where Nia had fallen.
The silence permeated everything, or perhaps it was the low hanging fog. I never intended for silence to be disturbing. After being around people for too long, quiet was what you needed, a thing that swallowed up the night in a sleepy rural town.
In bed, the shock had worn off, as if it wasn't c
