All through class I was filled with love for my sister.

I was going to take care of her.

I was going to fix this.

I was going to get Dad.

I’d find Bart at lunch. I’d find him. And we’d go to Bryce. And if he couldn’t go, I could ask Carlene now. Carlene was my friend. Bart and Carlene. One of them would come with me and we’d get Dad. And Dad would come. And he’d help Mom. And everything would be okay. I’d be okay. Berk would be okay. Maybe we’d even have a circus.

In English we were talking about similes and I wrote down, “Berkeley is like the sun, warm and bright.” It was dumb but it was how I felt.

In math, I drew a picture of a part dragon, part dog. I knew she’d like it. I even shaded the dog’s face with a pink pen I found in my backpack.

When the bell rang after math, I ran to take her my drawing and drop off more scrap paper that I got from math. I wanted to tell her I loved her and that I had a plan. And even if the plan didn’t work, school was going to be out in two weeks. Two more horrible weeks and then we’d ride bikes to the rec center every day and I’d go down the waterslide and I’d take her to the park and we’d read books and play on the tramp.

I ran to tell her all that and when I opened the door to the storage closet, saying BERK!

I froze.

Like a bad dream, my little sister was gone.