Home Depot kids’ shovel in hand, the girl pushes further into the soil, messy blonde braids bouncing back and forth, back and forth, like a wild set of swings. She eyes the potted geranium beside her, scrunches her freckled nose, takes two more even scoops, and gently places the flower into the soil. No, still too shallow. First water, then a few more scoops with the shovel. Yes, that’s what Miss Thomas told her.

Her shovel hits something hard—a rock? She uses her gloved hand to move it out of the way but it doesn’t budge. The stone is smooth, white. She digs around it. Here and there are bumps, protrusions. And then, in front of her is a… No, it’s just some old dog bones. The neighbor’s kid’s prank. Only thing is, she doesn’t have a dog. And the neighbors don’t have kids. No, she’s definitely seen this exact thing in her anatomy picture book. It’s a human skull.
“Found the dead body we’ve been hiding?” the girl hears a few feet to the right.
The shovel falls from the girl’s hand and she stumbles over her Converse-clad feet, her face inches away from the skull’s empty eye sockets. She thinks she hears the bony chattering of teeth.
“W-w-w-what?”
“I said, what would you like for dinner?” Mom is standing in the doorway, a pink shower turban wrapped firmly around her head.
“Omelette and chicken,” the girl blurts out randomly.
Mom raises her perfectly plucked eyebrows. As she retreats back into the kitchen, the door creaks on its hinges.