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watch the cookies rise. Or whatever they were supposed to do.

Spread out? Cook. That’s what she would watch them do.

When they were done, Emily couldn’t believe how they

turned out. The sticky blobs had turned into perfectly formed

circles with golden edges and squishy centers. She left them

on top the stove to cool while she waited for Dani to get home.

She couldn’t wait to show her the cookies. She was so

proud that she might as well have invented something life

changing, not baked something for the first time in her life.

When Emily heard Dani come in, she rushed back to the

kitchen, eager to show Dani what she’d done if Dani’s nose

couldn’t help her uncover the evidence for herself.

“Dani, I…” Emily stopped dead in the kitchen doorway

when she saw the look on Dani’s face.

It wasn’t exactly her expression that caught Emily off guard.

It was the lack of expression. She looked like she had the night

before. Shut down. Emily couldn’t think of another word for

the blankness on a face which had once been so full of life. It

was like Dani had packed her bags and checked out of her own

body.

It scared Emily so much that she forgot all about the

cookies. “Is something wrong?” Of course, something was

wrong. That was a stupid question. She’d heard once that good

conversations were all about making the most of the questions

one asked. She just didn’t know how to put that into practice.

“Do you have another headache?”

Dani nodded. “Something like that.” She walked over to the

stove and stared at the cookies. Emily had cleaned up the

kitchen, putting everything away. She’d washed the six

hundred odd dishes she’d dirtied, so the cookies were the only