She lunged at the girl and grabbed her hands tightly. “Naughty Megan! Playing with matches is very bad! You must never ever do that!” she scolded, putting her face just inches from Megan’s.
Megan tried her best to look scared and contrite but inside she was just hoping the whole world would shift back to normal any second. Her mother’s scolding was cut short when Sue began crying loudly. Mommy gave Megan a stern look and told her, “Don’t touch anything. Mommy will be right back.”
Her mother took the matches and hurried back upstairs to see why Sue was wailing, leaving Megan alone once more. She was disappointed that the world hadn’t changed again, but relieved that at least things wouldn’t get worse. Perhaps they would still be able to find a way to set things right yet.
The smoke had cleared from the trash bin and Megan leant over it to see what was left of the book. There appeared to be nothing but watery ashes left in the bin. Megan smiled with satisfaction for a moment, but then the smile faltered. She squinted down into the bin. Was that something pink in there? Why would there be something pink in all those blackened ashes?
Megan turned the bin over, dumping the contents onto the kitchen floor. Dropping the bin she knelt by the pile of burnt paper on the floor. Sure enough there was something pink sticking out of the blackness. She brushed aside some ashes and instantly jumped back, not believing what she saw. There was a new book amidst the destruction. It was a bright pink and glossy new looking picture book with rounded corners and thick pages like a toddler book. Despite the cartoon images of bunnies on the cover the title still said Catcher in the Rye.