The Barren Grounds

Morgan, a child in foster care, wakes up from a dream where she was in a blizzard. She tries to sneak out of the house early so she can walk to school by herself and not with her foster brother, Eli. However, when her foster father, James, wakes up and ruins her plan, Morgan goes back to sleep. When she goes to breakfast, she finds that James has arranged her breakfast so that it resembles a happy face. Morgan gets angry, saying she’s not a kid and they shouldn’t treat her like one because they aren’t a family. She turns her breakfast into an angry face and refuses to eat it. Then Morgan grabs Eli and they leave for school.

Morgan and Eli walk to school and have a conversation for the first time. Eli asks Morgan why she is so angry all the time. Morgan gets defensive and says she isn’t. Morgan and Eli talk about Morgan’s history in foster care: how she has been in seven homes and has run away from all of them. Katie and James’s home is Eli’s first, but Morgan doesn’t learn why.