Clock Dance

Eleven-year-old Willa Drake and her best friend, Sonya Bailey, are selling candy bars door-to-door for their school orchestra. Sonya insists Willa do the talking, even though she doesn’t want to.

Willa comes home to find her mother is gone and has taken the car. Willa’s father suggests grilled cheese for dinner, his go-to when left alone with the girls. It’s clear he’s upset. Willa joins her six-year-old sister, Elaine, who explains that their mother got angry with their father and left. Willa and Elaine are used to their mother blowing up and leaving. As far as Willa can tell, her mother gets angry at her father for being too mild-mannered. After dinner, Willa and Elaine clear the table and leave the dishes by the sink.

Willa and Elaine share a room. At bedtime, Willa reads Elaine a story, which their mother usually does. Willa overhears her dad on the phone, asking a coworker for a ride to work. She realizes her mother won’t be home with the car by the morning—the first time she’s been gone overnight. 

When her dad wakes her the next morning, the house sounds empty. Willa’s father’s ride comes early, so Willa must get herself and Elaine ready for school.