MARCH 1, 2022

They sang happy birthday to Jill Key.

She wore a cone-shaped hat as she sat at the table. Her dad, Joseph Key, stood next to her chair as he sang. Her best friend, Darla River, stood next to her.

The birthday girl was dressed in a purple shirt and purple jeans, but she didn't wear her Soynite pendant. If she wore it, people might ask her questions about the object, and lying to innocent humans brought a bad feeling to Jill. She didn't want to lie about where her pendant had come from.

Jill, her dad, and the party guests were in a mansion. They lived in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hawaii was far from Soy, always far from it.

Egypt was far from Soy. Jill and her dad had gone there when she was a baby. That had happened before Jill met Darla for the first time.

Jill sat at a long table. No one else sat.

Underneath Jill's shoes was a black-and-white tiled floor. Jill owned smaller shoes that had been in Egypt, where something bad had happened. Jill and her dad had survived. They had lived long enough to know what it was like to live in the beautiful Hawaii. They lived. They were alive and it mattered.

As the party hat's blue strap touched her skin, Jill grinned as she stared at what was in front of her.

Eleven candles stuck out from the cake.

A small flame burned on each candle, glowing, hot, beautiful.

Technically, Jill was still ten years old. It was the afternoon and she had been born at night. She had been born during a bad night.

Darla and the other humans who had come to celebrate Jill's eleventh birthday didn't know the truth. Darla didn't know her best friend was from another planet, and Joseph stayed as the only party attendee who knew Jill's secret.

The invasion had happened nearly eleven years ago.

After the landing, Jill and her dad had been in a car with a human man. He had helped the six Highs and their Watchers, and Jill didn't know where he was. She didn't know where the other Highs were.

But she did know her hair was long and brown. It was down now, down as a blue party hat touched it. She knew her eyes were brown. She knew people had come to celebrate her eleventh birthday.

Jill knew she was a Pure.

If she lived long enough, she would be like Theo Majestic, a person who had gained every Save. Jill had zero.

The more Saves a Soynite had, the harder it should be for a Freeman to kill them.

Jill hoped she would never see a Freeman again.

Her dad and the other Soynites could fight in the war against Lock Tannis and the other Freemans, but she preferred not to. Jill was no fighter. She knew it.

Jill's dad and the others stopped singing happy birthday.

"Make a wish!" her dad said.

Jill shut her eyes.

I wish Soy gets revived.

The girl opened her brown eyes and blew out the candles. Her dad clapped. The guests clapped.

She hoped she would blow out the candles on her twelfth birthday. So many Soynites weren't able to celebrate their birthdays. Jill wasn't one of them. It was a luxury.

The kid didn't have the Soy Maker, but she didn't forget how powerful it was. It could bring Soy back its trees, its grass, its buildings, and its beauty. The Soy Maker wasn't with her. What Jill had was a blue hat that was conical, pointy, but she might get her hands on the blue Soy Maker. One day.

The grown humans and the human kids in the kitchen didn't know they celebrated the birthday of a girl who would be considered an alien by them if they knew the truth.

Darla's hand came to Jill's shoulder.

"Happy birthday, Jill!" she said.

Darla was already eleven years old. She had turned eleven in February, and the girl was blonde-haired and blue-eyed.

Two kids with blond hair and blue eyes had lived inside a huge spaceship with Jill. She had been called Kara during those days. The flight from Soy to Earth had lasted two months, over sixty days.

"Thanks, Darla," said the birthday girl.

After Jill and the others ate cake, they moved into the living room.

Jill had removed her hat.

Sunlight moved into the space through the windows' glass, and it touched the boxes that contained birthday gifts, gifts for Jill.

The good sun shined. It shone as so many good Soynites remained dead. On Soy, so many people had fallen and hadn't gotten back up. Other people had separated from each other. Some had separated into six pairs. Six Highs. Six Watchers.

Jill Key and Joseph Key had separated from five other pairs. That was the truth.

The young Soynite's dad, Joseph, protected her.

Her biological father was former High Don Ascend, and he didn't protect his daughter. He had never met her. Even though he had been absent during her birth, Jill's biological father was a good man.

After former High Reed Pisces had gone into exile, Theo Majestic had picked Don Ascend to replace him as High.

Now, like her biological father had been, Jill was a High.

Jill sat on the sofa.

As the sun's light touched his brown hair, Jill's dad grabbed an orange box. The orange box wasn't wrapped.

"This present is special," Jill's dad said. He turned his brown eyes to her face. The man placed the gift box beside the girl. "Be careful with it."

Jill took the lid off the box.

An orange kitten sat in it, adorable. The young cat pointed its green eyes at Jill. She smiled.

"It's a kitten!" Darla said.

"A male kitten," Jill's dad said. "You should give the young creature a name, Jill."

Jill grabbed the kitten, then placed him on her lap. A good pet needed a good name, and Jill had learned about a Soynite man who had been good.

"I'm naming him Dexter," Jill said.

Dexter the cat.

Dexter Ascend the man had lived. He had died. Before his death, though, his wife had given birth to Don Ascend. Dexter Ascend was Jill's dead grandfather.

Jill's dad smiled.

"That's a good name," he said. He knew who Dexter Ascend had been.

Dexter the kitten was in the same place as Jill and her dad, and the girl planned on loving the cat forever.

Jill put Dexter back in the box. She stood. The girl hugged her dad, who hugged her back. Then she hugged Darla, who hugged her.

The youngest High sat on the sofa again.

"Thanks, Dad," Jill said.

After Jill opened all her gifts, she and the others went to the backyard.

It was a huge area. Wind made the green grass dance. Trees were in the distance, many of them, and no one rushed past them. It was Jill's birthday. No fighting happened.

Jill hadn't invited Freemans.

People joked. Kids ran. Jill had let her friends come to her birthday party, and her best friend was close to a cute kitten.

"Dexter is a cool cat," Darla said. Darla bent down and stroked the kitten's head. "I already can't wait to see him again the next time I come here."

Dexter purred and rubbed against Jill's pants, letting his orange fur brush against purple fabric.

Good kitty.

Dexter was a great cat.

Animals weren't native to Soy, but they were native to Free. Dangerous animals. Freemans tamed monster-like creatures that were native to their planet, and they forced them to kill people they wanted them to kill.

Dexter was good.

The Freemans were not.

Jill's dad had given her Dexter the kitten. The girl in the purple shirt and purple pants cared about the cat, like how her dad had cared about her for her entire life.

"I love him already," Jill said.

After the birthday party ended, Jill sat at the center of her bed and Dexter sat on her lap.

The sun didn't stop shining, and Jill smiled. When the darkness wasn't around, it became easier to believe all the Freemans would get killed and someone would revive Soy.

The girl wore her pendant now. It was blue with white markings. She stroked Dexter's orange fur as the pendant stayed on her. No one had taken it.

Someone had taken Alice Endman from her parents, Archer and Holly. It had happened in February, one month after her birth.

Jill didn't know where Alice was. She didn't know where her biological parents were.

The Freemans were ruder than was necessary, but Jill hadn't seen a Freeman in a long time.

She hadn't seen another High in a long time. Preteen children had been invited to become Highs, and Don and Camille had wanted their daughter to become a High. Her Watcher, who was also her adoptive dad, had granted the married couple their wish.

Don Ascend was gone, and he didn't live inside a blue palace on Soy anymore. The Freemans had gotten rid of the building. Don had gone missing.

Maybe Jill's mom had found him. Maybe her brother, Jill's uncle, had found his sister and his brother-in-law.

Jill's dad had delivered her, then they had gone to Theo Majestic's location, the area outside a spaceport. Camille Ascend's friends had gone with them for the trip. It had been dangerous. People had gotten killed.

The spaceship had left Soy at night. It had landed on Earth at night.

After the landing, Watchers had been forced to venture in the desert on foot, but Jill's dad had gone into the human helper's car. The human had driven the man and his baby to their destination. Theo Majestic hadn't planned on letting Jill's dad walk with his baby in a desert for longer than necessary.

Cape Majestic.

Lovely Windsore.

Reese Low.

They were Highs. Cape, Lovely, Reese, and the other Highs who weren't Jill, their Watchers had been forced to travel on foot. Those Watchers hadn't carried their charges for the entire length of the journey, Jill believed.

Jill had gotten good treatment. Her dad had gotten good treatment.

The Freemans didn't deserve good treatment, and it would be nice if Jill had the courage to fight and kill them.

"Hello, Jill," Jill's dad said.

He stepped into the bedroom, which was large and lavish, like the home itself.

Jill's dad had been with her for a long time. They had lived in a variety of different places, different homes, and they were still together. They had been together in Egypt. They had been together in South Korea. They were together in Hawaii.

They had been together on Soy.

Jill hadn't even spent twenty-four hours of her life on that planet, but the other five Highs had.

"Hey, Dad," Jill said. "Do you ever think about the Freemans? I do."

"Likewise," the man said. "Those pale antagonists of ours still exist, no doubt. Have no concern. I will protect you. Your beloved cat, Dexter, will do the same."

A noise shot into Jill's ears.

While a chill struck her, she moved Dexter off her lap and got off the bed. Her bare feet touched the carpet. The heart in her chest beat fast. Too fast.

It wasn't fun. The birthday party had been fun, but this was not.

"That sounded like-" Jill started saying.

"Laser gun fire," her dad said, interrupting her. "Head into your closet, arm yourself, then conceal yourself. I'll return for you."

Jill rushed toward her dad. She hugged him. He hugged her back and they separated.

"I love you, Dad," Jill said.

"I love you too," the Watcher said. He pointed at the door to the walk-in closet. "Conceal yourself."

Jill's dad was a Watcher. It was the reason why they had met each other. Joseph Key, a long time ago, the Soynite government had forced him to become a future Watcher. He had become a Watcher, Jill's Watcher, before her mom had given birth to her. The man had been taught how to kill.

The Freemans were dangerous.

Watchers were dangerous.

If a Freeman was outside, the pale enemy would be in trouble.

Jill went to the closet door, then opened it. She approached Dexter, grabbed him, then rushed into the closet. Jill flipped the light switch. As light covered the girl, she put the cat down. Then she shut the door.

Clothes hung, taking in the light. Shoes sat on the carpet, unused but not unloved.

If Freemans killed Jill's dad, and if she became desperate enough, she could throw a shoe at an armed Freeman.

In the square-shaped closet was a Soynite Box. A blue sheet covered it. Jill kneeled near it, moved the sheet aside, then opened the Soynite Box. It was her Soynite Box.

Trembling, the High pulled out her laser pistol.

Its blue metal reflected the closet's bright light. If Jill pulled the weapon's trigger, a laser beam would emerge from it. It would be blue and bring more light into the room, but Jill didn't have to open fire. She didn't have to do it in the present, because she didn't see a Freeman.

Jill had never opened fire on a living being, not even a Freeman.

She held a gun. The gun could save her life. A Freeman would rather take the girl's life than help her survive, so that meant no Freeman was a friend of hers. No Freeman was a friend of her dad's. The Freemans were all had. Jill knew it.

Jill waited.

After laser beam fire sounded, she shook.

When she heard footsteps, she took a shaking breath.

"Jill, it's me!" her dad shouted. "Remain in the closet. I'm coming to you. There's someone I want you to see again."

Who?

After the closet door swung open, Jill looked at the brown-haired man who had spent years taking care of her. Then she looked at the other brown-haired man, who had held her when she was a baby.

If she were still a baby, the nearby clothes wouldn't fit Jill. She wasn't an infant anymore, but the girl saw someone had held her when she was one.

The gun stayed in Jill's hand.

"Are you going to shoot me?" Uncle Cambridge said. He smiled, then moved into the closet.

"Cambridge!" Jill said. She put the Soynite gun back into her Box, then she embraced her uncle, her mom's older brother. Jill closed her eyes. Cambridge hugged her. "Uncle Cambridge."

Jill's smile was a big one.

She had spent too long being away from her mom's brother.

"I missed you, Kara," he said, his Soynite accent thick. "Jill, I mean. Jill."

And Jill had missed Cambridge.

Yes, the girl's name was Jill. Jill Key. Her original name, her Soynite name, was Kara Ascend. Her mom's last name was Ascend, but it had been Downer.

Cambridge Downer was here. He was with Jill and her dad and kitten Dexter.

Jill had known her dad and Cambridge for a longer time than she had known Dexter, but the little cat was with her now. He was with three Soynites.

Dexter had been warm against Jill's skin. The cat felt good. It was good that Jill's uncle had come into her room, but she wished he had come with her biological father and her mom.

During the bad invasion, Uncle Cambridge had been with Jill and her dad on Soy.

Questions came to Jill.

Where was her biological father, Don Ascend? Where was her mom?

Jill and Cambridge stopped hugging each other. The man kissed Jill's cheek. After all, he was her uncle.

The man wore a blue shirt, blue pants, and his Soynite pendant. It rested against his shirt as he stood in front of his niece, who had loved their recent hug.

Jill had reunited with her mom's brother. If she was lucky, she would reunite with Cape Majestic and the other Highs, her co-rulers.

The girl picked up Dexter the cat, then she and her uncle left the walk-in closet.

"What happened outside?" Jill asked.

"Our adversaries happened," her dad said. "Freemans were outside. They were trying to terminate your uncle. I put a halt to that."

"After spending so many years as their prisoner, I finally escaped, Jill," Cambridge said. "I saw your biological father, Don Ascend. Years ago. Me and your mother found him after the invasion. Don was different. He changed. Your father joined Lock Tannis, Jill."

"No," Jill said.

She put Dexter on the floor, then gripped her hair.

"He's being honest," Jill's dad said. "And you have to know this. Your uncle informed me that-"

"Not yet, Joseph," Cambridge said. "I will tell her the truth, but it won't be today."

"What truth?" Jill asked.

Cambridge forced himself to smile. He bent down and petted Dexter, the good kitten who was named after Don Ascend's father.

Jill's biological father had joined Lock Tannis.

His daughter, Jill, had never joined the worst Freeman of all time. Lock Tannis was worse than all the Freeman rulers of the past, and he had made life worse for all Soynites.

Jill hated Lock Tannis. Don didn't.

Lock had gotten most of the Soynite population killed. Innocent people had died. Freemans had killed them, had murdered them. Lock had let it happen. He was a bad man.

Maybe Don would try killing his own daughter, his only child.

Camille, Jill's mom, had joined Lock Tannis.

Jill could put more trust in Uncle Cambridge than she could put in her mom and biological father.

"Eventually, I will tell you the truth, Jill," Cambridge said. "For now, don't worry about it, and don't let it bother you. It can wait."

Jill stared.

"Anyway, you're a High now," Cambridge said. "Your dad told me. I'm going to help you. You're my sister's child. You're my niece, but you're also my High."

He moved onto his knees, bowed his head.

Jill was a High and her uncle knew it. With the number of Highs being six, Jill wasn't the only High in the universe. But she was the closest High to Cambridge. Right now, the only Soynite ruler Cambridge could kneel for was his own niece.

He stood.

"Free has one ruler, but Soy has six," Cambridge said. "You and the other High children are rulers, and Lock Tannis is wrong if he thinks that the six of you won't beat him and his Freemans."

Planet Soy had six rulers. Jill's uncle hadn't lied about that. Or maybe the Freemans had killed the other five Highs and Jill was the last Soynite ruler.

She wouldn't like that.

Jill had seen the other five Highs, but she didn't see any of them now.

The preteen was not with the other Highs. They weren't in her home. Her dad and her uncle and Dexter were in the home.

Freemans weren't invited.

Jill cared about the kids Theo Majestic had turned into Highs. The Freemans didn't.

If the chance came, Jill would invite the other Highs into her home. But it was true the girl hadn't seen another High since the night the spaceship landed on Earth.

Where the Highs were mattered. It did. Jill had to find the other child rulers.

The Freemans had made them leave their homes and their planet. Lock Tannis had made his warriors attack and kill Soynites. They had ruined Soy. They had ruined lives, and they had ruined Jill's life on that planet.

Jill hadn't been able to defend herself as a baby. Her dad had fought for her, and he didn't forget protecting Jill was worth it.

Good.

Joseph Key was good. He was a good dad.

His heart still beat, and his daughter's heart still beat, and they were alive and not traitors. Jill wasn't her mom, Camille. Jill's dad wasn't Don Ascend.

"I ponder on what the other Highs are like," Jill's dad said. "Years ago, I was among them. Cambridge, you will be shocked by the harshness of one of them. Lovely Windsore. That's her name. She is orange-haired, green-eyed, and vicious. I'm not eager to have a reunion with that one. There is even a High who is a Majestic. Cape Majestic. He's blond-haired and blue-eyed. He was more polite than Lovely, but even he harbored no goodwill for her. Lovely should be an adolescent now. Woe to whoever interacts with her on a daily basis. I pity them."

The sun's great light was in the room, but Lovely Windsore wasn't.

"She can't be that bad," Cambridge said.

"Correct," Jill's dad said. "I'm under the belief that the girl has reformed. If Lovely Windsore became more of a ruthless person than she was before, that would be a horrible plight."

"I think Lovely is nice now," Jill said. Dexter tapped his paw against her bare foot. "She has to be."

Like Lovely, Jill's kitten was green-eyed. Maybe Lovely had become as nice as him. That would be good.

The High with green eyes could help Jill and her dad and Cambridge.

Killing all the Freemans wouldn't be easy. It would be hard. Too hard. But it would be less hard if all the six Highs reunited and worked together. There are advantages to having allies. There are advantages to having friends. Jill knew that.

Twenty years ago, people had believed Theo Majestic and the other former Highs would rule for over one hundred more years, but that hadn't happened.

Theo had made a new generation of Soynite Highs. Jill was part of that generation.

No matter what the Soynites had believed, the Freemans had still attacked Soy, and the invasion had changed so much. Yes. It had changed too much.

Jill had no biological father in her life. Her mom wasn't in her life. Jill's uncle had come to her, but his sister had teamed up with her worst enemy. Lock Tannis. He was not Jill's friend. The man was her enemy, and it was Jill's responsibility to help kill him.

The girl's dad would protect her as best he could, but Lock Tannis was the biggest threat to Jill, and he was stronger than all the previous Freeman rulers.

Theo Majestic was stronger than him.

Unless Strife was too close to Theo, he would be able to kill Lock Tannis.

Theo had all the Saves. Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, the power to fly, the power to survive in outer space, and so many more powers belonged to Theo. He could do great things. The man was so much more powerful than Jill, and he inspired her to become as strong as him.

The Highs needed Theo. Jill needed him.

He had never had any children, but Jill would like to meet them if children of Theo Majestic did exist. A child of Don Ascend existed. That child was Jill.

But Cambridge had given information to his niece. Bad information.

Don Ascend worked for Lock Tannis.

Lovely Windsore should be nice now. She had to be.

"True, Jill," Jill's dad said. "Lovely Windsore must be alive."

"Fortunately, we still have time to reunite Jill with the other Highs," Cambridge said. "No one did anything dumb like make Lock Tannis come to Earth, and no one is going to anytime soon. I hope not, at least. We have time. There should be five Highs outside this home, and we have to find them. We need to find them. And we're going to find them. They're not going to stay hidden forever. When all of the six Highs are together again, we can train them, prepare them to fight and kill Lock Tannis."

Jill had held laser guns, but she had never used one to kill a Freeman. She had never used a laser gun to kill anyone.

The girl was not a killer. Her dad was a killer, but she wasn't.

Killer Freemans had murdered good people. Killing a Freeman might make Jill smile after making the death happen, but the young Soynite was not someone who had killed. Maybe she would never kill anyone.

Jill couldn't disappoint her dad. If she didn't try killing a Freeman, maybe the man would see her as a person who had become less important. And she would rather not live in a world where her dad saw her as a less important person.

She would have to kill. The girl would have to take a life. One day.

Jill wasn't prepared to fight and kill Lock Tannis. And she wasn't prepared to fight and kill Freemans.

"His reign will cease," Jill's dad said. "His life will cease. Lock Tannis has been a living man for such a long time, but I doubt he will be alive ten years from now. A great hero will make him perish. That person will end the man that he is. Peace will prevail."

Lock Tannis was dangerous. The other Freemans weren't as dangerous as him, but that didn't mean Jill didn't have to be cautious around them.

"When do you suspect that will be?" Cambridge said. "One month? One year?"

Jill's dad stroked his chin with his fingers. Like Cambridge, he had no beard, no facial hair. Meanwhile, the adorable Dexter had so much fur on his face.

"It's impossible to accurately know, of course," Jill's dad said. "I am aware a few more years of Lock Tannis being alive wouldn't surprise me. It will take time to get all the six Highs together. It will take time for them to be prepared to kill Lock Tannis. In addition to that, almost all the former Highs have joined him. They only add to our plight."

"The former Highs turned bad?" Jill asked.

"Except for Theo Majestic," Cambridge said. Dexter moved in a circle around his feet. "The situation is a terrible one, Jill. I won't lie about that. But Theo might still be alive. He's a Pure. You're a Pure. With the two of you fighting against Lock Tannis, he won't win. Soy is gone, but the Soynites aren't. There's hope. There's still hope."

Theo was the only former High they could trust.

"If Theo had children, I would be even more hopeful," Cambridge said. "I would love to see more Majestics in this universe."

"Perhaps Theo produced children," Jill's dad said. "Lilly spent several periods of time away from the Soynite public. Did Camille tell you Theo and Lilly had children?"

Cambridge shook his head.

"No," he said. "But I don't want to believe Theo lied to us, to all of us. He said he didn't have children."

Soynites could lie.

"There's a possibility he desired to protect them," Jill's dad said. "If Lock Tannis was aware Theo and Lilly reproduced and had children, it would be awful. They would be major targets. I've pondered on the existence of Theo's possible children in the past. For a great reason, he could have lied."

"Maybe, Joseph," Cambridge said. "Maybe."

He approached the window. The sun's warm light touched the man's brown hair and skin as he gazed through Jill's window.

"If Theo and Lilly had children, I wouldn't be surprised," Cambridge said, clasping his hands behind him. "Strange info comes. It comes. It shocks you, it makes you surprised. You can believe you know something, but someone could talk to you and their words change so much. If someone told me Theo has children, I would have to accept it. I've learned about worse. Regardless, Theo having children would be great. I would love to see Majestics fighting the ruler of the Freemans, their father's worst enemy, our worst enemy."

Cambridge turned, then faced Jill.

"In any case, I'm happy I found you again, Jill," Cambridge said. Jill grinned. Her good uncle grinned. "I wish we reunited under better circumstances. Before I saw you again, Freemans were trying to kill me out there. Your dad saved my life. We hugged. Me and your mom hugged years ago. I can only hope that we hug again. I don't want my sister to stab me. Anyway, I'm alive because of a great hero. Your dad is a good man."

"I'm grateful, Cambridge," Jill's dad said. "You can stay here. My daughter deserves to have her uncle in her life."

"Yes," Cambridge said. "And her mother and biological father. But they're not here, and they're not like they were the last time you saw them. My sister changed. Don changed. They're going to help us, though. Eventually. They won't fight for Lock Tannis forever."

Don Ascend and Camille Ascend had joined the Freeman ruler, but they could rejoin the same side as Jill. As long as Jill hated Lock Tannis, she wouldn't plan on doing what her biological parents had done. As long as the girl kept hope in her, she would try convincing her birth parents to fight against Lock and his empire.

"Right," Jill said. "My mom and my biological father are going to change. They're going to be good."

Her dad smiled.

"The three of us are truly hopeful," the Watcher said. "If all the other Soynites are like us, pessimism won't overwhelm any of our people. Cambridge, you're like a brother to me. You are the brother of Jill's mother, and your arrival brought more hope. The three of us will locate the other Highs, then Lock Tannis will fail."

They were all bad, the Freemans. Their ruler was badder. Bad people can die. They can get killed.

Cambridge glanced around the bedroom.

"Jill has a nice room," he said. "Is there space for me? With a home as big as this one, there should be room for me."

Jill's dad pointed a thumb at the hall outside the room.

"Let's go," the man said. "It's evident that we gained two new housemates today. It's splendid."

Jill's dad left the room. Jill herself and Dexter looked at Cambridge, the uncle who had reunited with his sister's child and the Watcher who was also her dad.

"I'll see you around, Dexter," Cambridge said. He made eye contact with Jill. "Everything is going to be okay, Jill. I want you to know that. You have your dad, but now you have your uncle."

"I know," Jill said. She hugged him. He hugged her. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cambridge said. They stopped hugging. "And your mom loves you. We're going to make her choose the right side again."

Right.

The fight Jill's dad had been in had gone unseen. By Jill, at least. The man had rescued his daughter's uncle, and that was the reason why Camille's brother could stand in Jill's room. It was great.

Cambridge left the room.

After moving into the closet, Jill turned off its light. She backed away, closed the door. After closing and locking the bedroom door, the girl smiled.

Her uncle had come to her home, and he lived with her now. Jill had reunited with her mom's brother, and he was hopeful. Like her.

Life had improved.

Jill unbuttoned her purple jeans, unzipped them, took them off. She draped them on her big bed. The girl lifted Dexter off the floor and put him on the bed.

When she was under her comforter, she gazed at the ceiling.

Jill's hope wasn't gone.