ACE
I closed Alice’s bedroom door quietly and stood there for a moment, my hand still resting on the handle.
She had fallen asleep faster than I expected. Her knee was cleaned, bandaged, kissed. She had cried herself out against my chest, fingers fisted in my shirt like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go. I had stayed until her breathing evened out, until the tension finally left her small body.
Only then did I leave.
Now the house felt wrong. Too quiet. Too heavy.
I walked down the hall toward my room, my thoughts tangled and sharp, refusing to settle. The image replayed again and again, unwanted and vivid. Alice on the ground. Her scraped knee. Lily holding her, pale and shaking.
And the gate.
I shut my door behind me and ran a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly. I
