Monday's Not Coming

After her fall out of Monday’s bathroom window, Claudia had a fever. Ma took the day off work, left Claudia alone at home, and went to Mrs. Charles’s house to check on Monday. Daddy went with her. Sirens started wailing. Many police cars rushed toward Ed Borough, toward Monday’s house. Claudia ran out of the house and all the way to Monday’s to see what was happening. 

A police officer stumbled out of Monday’s house and vomited. People whispered that they found dead children inside, two of them in the freezer. Claudia remembered the strangely loud hum of the freezer when she was trapped under Monday’s bed. She was about to faint when Daddy caught her and took her away in his arms.

Michael takes Claudia home, where she tells her mother everything. Ma’s reaction is strange. She says she thought Claudia was getting better. 

“You’re right, Claudia,” her mother tells her. “You were right all along. We should have believed you the first time you brought it up” (374). She reveals that Monday died two years ago, but sometimes Claudia has episodes in which she thinks Monday hasn’t been found yet. 

Claudia’s bubble bursts completely. Her entire reality crashes around her.