She just needed to recharge before the next shift. But as the morning turned into afternoon, Sarah didn’t wake up. The house remained silent.
At first, Maddie was happy about the “vacation” from preschool. She crawled onto the big bed, snuggled up next to her mother, and fell into a nap to the steady ticking of the wall clock. When she woke up a few hours later, she tried to gently shake her mom’s shoulder. When there was no reaction, the little girl hopped down and headed to the kitchen.
Showing a surprising amount of independence, she pulled a hot dog from the fridge and popped it in the microwave. After her makeshift lunch, she went back to the living room to play with her toys. The TV hummed quietly in the background, playing the cartoons she liked.
Meanwhile, her mother lay perfectly still. As the sun began to set and the shadows lengthened, Maddie decided it was time for bed. The next morning, nothing had changed. Her mother was still unresponsive. The food in the house was running low; only a stale heel of bread remained in the breadbox.
Maddie wasn’t allowed to touch the stove, so she couldn’t make anything else. Her stomach began to ache with hunger, but her mom wouldn’t get up. The girl tried everything: she shook Sarah’s shoulders, called her name loudly, and even splashed a little water on her pale face. Nothing worked.
Crying quietly from frustration and fear, the exhausted girl curled up next to her mother again. She tucked her knees to her chest and fell into a fitful sleep, hoping everything would be back to normal tomorrow. She woke up to bright sunlight streaming through the curtains and a loud growl in her empty stomach. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Maddie looked at her mother, and then she noticed something else.
The air in the bedroom had become heavy and sweet—a strange, cloying scent. It wasn’t her mom’s usual floral perfume. It was something Maddie had never smelled before. Reaching out with a trembling hand, she touched her mother’s wrist and immediately pulled back. Sarah’s skin was ice-cold.
