Harley scrolled on her phone while enjoying large spoonfuls of chocolate berry yogurt. Her parents wouldn’t be home for at least another hour, so that meant she had fifty-nine more minutes to do whatever the hell she wanted. A happy, contented sigh exhaled from her lungs. She tucked her feet into the comfy couch cushions with her yogurt perfectly balanced on the armrest, then dipped in her spoon for another taste.

Thump!

Something collided against the front window. Something small, probably a bird or some other animal drawn in by their reflection—it wouldn’t be the first time. It wasn’t anything to worry about and certainly nothing worth investigating. The stomping footsteps above her had other ideas. She frowned as she heard James coming down the stairs.

“Harley, what was that?” asked James as he jumped off the bottom step and onto the tile. He peeked his head into the living room with the same curious face he always seemed to have.

“I don’t know,” said Harley, annoyed. She swallowed her spoonful of yogurt and refocused on her phone. Her focus didn’t last long. She heard James open the front door.

“Harley! I think a bird flew into the window!” yelled James.

“I’m busy!” Harley yelled back. “Get inside and close the door!”

“I think it’s hurt—come on and help me catch it!” yelled James, his voice trailing off.

Harley cursed under her breath as she got up from the couch and went to the front door. James was chasing a bird toward the woods and he was wearing his brand new shoes.

“James! Get back here!” yelled Harley. “You’re going to get us in trouble!”

Harley quickly put on her own shoes and sprinted out the door after him. She was older, taller, and far faster than James, running across the damp lawn and into the woods, then catching up to him before he went too far. She tucked her long black hair behind her ears and rested her hands on her hips. “Everything’s wet from the rain. Can you please come back to the house?”

“But it can’t fly,” said James, crouching down. “It hopped the whole time I was chasing it. Come on bird, come on. Hop into my hands.” He held his hands open to welcome the nearby bird into his arms.

“It’s not a dog, James. It won’t just come to you,” said Harley, rolling her eyes.

The small bird had a narrow gray beak and its eyes were black but gentle. Its feathers were gray and it had black dots on its belly and wings with black bars. It kept a watchful eye while hopping over the damp leaves and twigs, though it didn’t hop away, it seemed to be circling James.

“See? It only hops,” said James.

Harley crouched down next to her brother and whistled a pleasant note. The bird hopped on top of a dead log, turned its beak side-to-side, and pecked at the wood. James inched himself closer but the bird kept the distance by hopping behind an old tree and out of sight.

“It’s afraid, but it’s fine,” said Harley. She stood back up, looked behind her, and thought about the yogurt waiting for her on the couch. Her free time was rapidly ticking away. “Let’s head home, alright?”

James ignored her, walking around the tree toward the bird.

Then he gasped, “Harley, look.”

It was a hole in the earth, but not an ordinary one. In fact, there was nothing ordinary about it. Approaching it with a morbid curiosity, goosebumps formed on her skin as she neared the edge of the hole; its opening was wide enough for a car to fall in, the dirt on the walls dripping wet, and its depth went straight down like an endless well. Harley leaned over slowly to see if there was a bottom. She saw nothing but shadow and never ending black.

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Snap!

The crack of a twig sent Harley jumping back from the edge.

James giggled excitedly.

“James! Back to the house!” she yelled, practically shrieking.

His giggling didn’t stop.

She clenched her fists and seethed. “I’m not joking!”

Still giggling, James skipped along through the woods toward home and Harley followed him. Out of the trees and onto the lawn, she could see a blue minivan parked in the driveway.

“They’re home!” cheered James as he switched from skipping to running.

Harley pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time.

They’re home already? Why?

The front door of the house was left open, and as she walked toward the front steps, a sparkle from the garden caught her eye. A crystal pendant necklace was laying in the soil. Harley picked it up—it dazzled in the sun.

“Harley, look at these shoes! They’re covered in mud!” Dad scolded as he held up James’ sneakers. “How many times do I have to tell you guys to stay inside when we’re not here?”

“I know, Dad,” said Harley as she shoved the pendant into her pocket. She slipped out of her own muddy shoes and hurried past him into the house. In the kitchen she found her Mom boiling water on the stove and cutting a plate of sweet peppers. Harley grabbed a pepper for herself and munched silently while wondering what happened. Finally curiosity got the best of her.

“Did something bad happen at the doctor?” asked Harley.

“The session ended early today, honey. Did you finish your chores like I asked?” Mom sighed and looked at her sternly. “You know the rules. No chores, no phone.”

Harley slipped away from another lecture and joined her brother Johan on the living room floor. He was busy with a box of crayons and a dinosaur coloring book. She crossed her legs and leaned in close.

“Hey Yoyo, new book?” said Harley.

Johan smiled and hopped in her lap. He pointed to the shiny T-Rex pin attached to his shirt.

“Oh, cool. Dr. Beryl must really like you,” said Harley. “You’re doing a good job coloring that dino too. Hand me the red crayon and I’ll color in the spikes.”

Outside, the sun set in the sky while the evening progressed as it normally did. Harley had to listen to James talk about the injured bird during dinner and everyone including Johan received a stern lecture about sinkholes. Somehow it was her fault that James discovered it. Her parents didn’t seem too concerned about the bird and assured them it would recover fine with some rest. The dinner topic moved onto homework and school and her upcoming swim meet.

After dinner Harley escaped to her room while her brothers did showers and bedtime. On her desk was a mess of school work. She had an algebra quiz tomorrow and a history test on Thursday, but her attention was focused on the crystal pendant necklace she found in the garden. Falling onto her back in bed, she stretched out and held up the pendant to the light. The pendant had a beautiful blue hue and there was a silver chain clasped firmly on it. She rolled over and drew it in her notebook—a six-sided crystalline pendant shaded blue, hexagon shaped with a point at each end. She doodled her name next to the pendant in fancy letters, and then she drew a tiny bird while reflecting on the events in the woods.

By nine Harley had tired of drawing and daydreaming. It was well after dark, and she stared at the ceiling as a light rain pitter-pattered against the roof. Downstairs her parents were talking, and as their tone escalated, she perked up her ears to listen.

“I’m calling Dr. Ebel tomorrow. We’re already at seven sessions with Dr. Beryl and he’s made little to no progress.”

“Helen, he’ll be fine. Remember when Harley was little? She didn’t walk till she was a year and a half, and now look at her.”

“It’s not the same Jim! I hate labels too, but Dr. Ebel said more help is out there if we get him evaluated.”

“He understands perfectly well. If he could just get those gears in his head meshing with his mouth…”

Crack! A boom of thunder shook the house and Harley jolted up. The wind blew leaves against her window as the light rain hastened to a downpour.

“OK. I hear you, Helen. Can we table this for tonight? It’s coming down hard out there and I need to check the sump pump.”

“Fine. I still need to prep for my client meeting tomorrow. I’ll meet you upstairs.”

Crack! The thunder boomed again. Harley laid back down, her covers pulled up to her nose, and she watched her ceiling fan spin slowly round and round. She had her worries and her parents had theirs. She thought of the algebra quiz and the unfinished practice sheet.

I’ll study more in homeroom, she thought. There was no real reason to worry. Worst case she’d copy off Marcie and Mr. Horner wouldn’t even know. Not that she liked to cheat, but there was a certain comfort to having a back-up plan. Thank goodness for good friends.

Eventually her mind drifted away, and she fell asleep to the sound of downpouring rain.