Bloomsbury Publishing

Chapter One: Ice Planet

Chapter Two: Nasty Men

Chapter Three: Alien Eyes

Chapter Four: A Nice Trophy

Chapter Five: Green Slime

Chapter Six: A Storm Coming

Chapter Seven: Real Danger

Chapter Eight: Big Momma

cell had been used to house old furniture in need of repair and was cluttered, but dry and relatively clean. Rather than make him wait while they emptied it completely, they'd left a few pieces behind. A cracked washtub, a rickety table, and my old bed with the broken leg weren't much, but they were more than most prisoners had.

When she sees me she mouths, “

Time off can feel impossible and is a luxury that many cannot afford. But can you find ten minutes to give yourself and start from there? Can you gift yourself thirty minutes of quiet time, to turn away from the world and tune into yourself to see what happens, without scrolling on your phone?

the hydrangea her father had planted, that was to bloom pink or blue depending on the soil. It did not prove to Ruma that her father had loved her mother, or even that he missed her. And yet he had put it there, honored her before turning to another woman

“I don’t understand,” my father said.

“Neither do I,” I replied. “You haven’t wanted a picture of anything in years.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is.”

I do not speak. I can see the temper rising in him. It is like watching a storm come, when there is no shelter.

Always before, her hurts had been small, and there had been someone to offer her comfort. Now there was only this room, the bare walls and single chair, the closet of her grief.

His trust was a part of him, as much as his hands or his miraculous feet. And despite my hurt, I would not wish to see it gone, to see him as uneasy and fearful as the rest of us, for any price.

He was spring, golden and bright.