Two Weeks

By Lisa Sinnock

This first day home alone proved to pass by quickly.  There were chores to do, horses to look after, and, of course, tidying of the tornado carnage left by her mother.  But at dinner time she began to feel the quiet.  It pressed in on her.  She felt eyes watching her.  After she locked up the horses and all the doors that afforded entry to her house, she settled to the task of dinner preparations.   The scent of a chicken casserole made her mouth water.  With the table set, she pushed her long red curls behind one hear and stood back to take in the full effect of one place setting.  But as she stepped back, she bumped into someone who should not have been there.