The Atheist's Daughter Read Free

shine. It will tell you what you need to know.”
    “What if we have to go?”
    “I’ve made some inquiries, just in case. Another business, I think, possibly in Winterhaven. Do you remember Winterhaven?”
    Miss Sweet shook her head.
    “No surprise,” Mrs. Norton said. “It’s a little nothing of a town. Still, it’s one of my favorites.
    “People die so easily there.”
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    From Kristin’s Diary
     
    In a few weeks, I’ll graduate from high school. The USPS guy just delivered my blue cap and gown in a tear-away envelope. Welcome to the world of biodegradable clothing, guaranteed to dissolve in fifty short years. 
    Let’s hear one last cheer for the Wildcats. Go, Wildcats, go!
    Free at last, free at last.
    Finally.
    One school year and a full-fledged psychotic trauma later than everyone else. Everybody says I’m well-adjusted now, Dr. Ron, just like you promised Mom. Sure, things were tough when I was admitted to Kendall, my two best friends at the time, Jessica and Audrey, never talked to me again, but I got better.
    Right?
    Of course, I did. I’ve been cured. The Psych Patrol did its job.
    But can I tell you a secret, Doc? Just between you and me and the black-lined pages in this book? The first day home, I quit taking the pills you prescribed. They fuzzed my brain up really badly, they made me feel slow, they made me feel stupid, and they didn’t help.
    AT ALL.
    Good thing you explained what the pills were supposed to do. It’s easy to know how to act when someone’s given you the script.
    Every morning, I flush the circular white pill down the toilet bowl. Every night, just before bedtime, I flush the rectangular pink one away, too. It’s a waste, sure, but I don’t have any choice. I tried to tell Mom I didn’t want to take them, didn’t really need them, and she freaked. You think I’m nuts, you should have seen how she acted.
    I caught her once, counting the pills in each of my bottles, just to make sure I was still on my medication. She was mortified when I came up behind her. She pretended she was checking to see if the pharmacy had filled the order correctly.
    ‘Cause the six dollar a month prescription fee starts to add up over a lifetime.
    I don’t want you to think I’m bitter about our time together. After all, it’s not like I wasted eleven months of my childhood behind locked doors, barred windows, and an electrified fence.
    Well, no, now that I think about it, it’s exactly like that. But I did get something positive from the experience.
    I started keeping this diary….
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    Winterhaven
     
    “Sixty-two, sixty-six,” the clerk said.
    Kristin’s mother nodded, a worried wrinkle creasing her brow. Unsnapping the latch on her wallet, Becky Faraday tugged a credit card from the plastic sleeve holding it.
    A year ago, what was it Mom said?
    “No more plastic. We’ll keep one card for emergencies but that’s it. We’re done being held hostage by the MasterCard Mafia.”
    Kristin shook her head. Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in .
    She left the store, the door’s electronic sensor offering a single beep of protest. The empty sidewalk stretched past her, long and wide, curving at the corner of the Mall.
    Winterhaven Mall was dying, it was that simple. New, it had boasted of twenty-four stores, a movie theater and a fast food restaurant. Now, only five shops still survived. Judging by the face of the clothing store’s sad-eyed owner, the Mall could expect one more vacancy in the near future.
    By Christmas , only the check-cashing store will still be open, she thought . Not that I care.
    In six months, I’ll be gone from here, too. When I need to go shopping, it’ll be in Ashfork .
    Ashfork’s three-story Parkway Mall was newer, better, nicer in every way than anything Winterhaven had to offer. In some ways, it was a reflection of the city around it.
    Ashfork was growing and expanding, happily