“Shelly!” Rhea Schroeder screamed.
Shelly’s eyes widened at the sound of her mother’s voice. She grabbed at her shorn hair with an expression of pure fear.
“Now!” Julia cried. “We can’t let them catch us!”
Shelly lurched up and started running in the direction of the sinkhole and beyond, to the police station far away. Legs and arms fully pumping, Julia joined. They ran together in the summer heat while bewildered adults gave chase.
Julia looked behind. Saw her dad back there. Half clad in silly boxer briefs and nothing else, he was faster than the rest, overtaking them one by one. The adults wore concerned expressions. Love and fear and disappointment blended, like it always did with them. She heard the insect heat-song, felt the sticky grass, the burn in her chest, saw the alien-seeming buildings beyond the park. It was hard to keep up with Shelly. Her face clenched tight, her eyes nearly closed, she looked possessed.
Once they got out of the park, they’d take side roads and cut through yards to avoid detection. Julia imagined arriving at the police department, panting and sweating. They’d try to find the right person to talk to. But they’d choose wrong and Shelly’s mom and dad would wind up in jail for child abuse instead of at some nice therapist’s office. Her family would get broken apart and no one would be able to pay the mortgage on 118 Maple Street. Or maybe she and Shelly would get caught before they ever made it to the cops. Dragged into the back of some Maple Street parent’s car and afterward, Shelly would get a beating so bad it killed her spirit.
Doubt crept: What if they needed the adults and not the police? What if this plan was dumb?
Rhea screamed again, angrier this time. “Shelly! Come back here NOW!”
Like a spooked horse, Shelly pulled ahead of Julia, running blind and straight for the slab—the shortest distance between the park and the road. She pounded wood. It cracked with every step and she didn’t stop. She didn’t seem to know she was running on it.
Julia stopped short, afraid the added weight would bring them both down. In the cab of the excavator was Larry, watching out the window. He’d probably gotten scared and hidden there. Now he poked his hands out and squinted, that perspective game kids play, as if trying somehow to catch her.
Shelly’s steps made hollow bangs! The rivets sang, loud and dissonant. The entire slab groaned toward the mouth of the hole like a board game folding in half.
“Shelly!” Julia shouted. But she didn’t seem to hear. She was stuck in the fold the wood made, unable to climb high enough to get out. She flailed, an animal trapped in a snare.
Cold settled over Julia. She pictured herself flying through the air and rescuing Shelly. She willed the wood to hold, as if life were wishes.
The folded wood cradled Shelly as she struggled to stand. She didn’t look for Julia or shout for help. She didn’t seem to know where she was or what was happening. She pushed hard with her hands, unfolding the board, but it was too heavy. She let go and it all slammed back.
Oh, God, no, Julia thought.
CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCK!
The entire slab collapsed. It was there, and then it wasn’t.
Julia looked over, just as Arlo arrived at her side, the first adult to reach them. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her back. Together, they saw.
Shelly Schroeder fell. For a moment, it seemed as if the broken slab would hold her. A magic, midair cradle. But no. She plunged through the center, even as she reached for its muddy, useless edges. Down, down, down, into the murk.
BRICK
July 11–July 25
Map of Maple Street as of July 15, 2027
*116 Wilde Family
*118 Schroeder Family
INDEX OF MAPLE STREET’S PERMANENT RESIDENTS AS OF JULY 15, 2027
100 VACANT
102 VACANT
104 The Singhs-Kaurs—Sai （47）， Nikita （36）， Pranav （16）， Michelle （14）， Sam （13）， Sarah （9）， John （7）
106 VACANT
108 VACANT
110 The Hestias—Rich （51）， Cat （48）， Helen （17）， Lainee （14）
112 VACANT
114 The Walshes—Sally （49）， Margie （46）， Charlie （13）
116 The Wildes—Arlo （39）， Gertie （31）， Julia （12）， Larry （8）
118 The Schroeders—Fritz （62）， Rhea （53）， FJ （19）， Ella （9）
120 The Benchleys—Robert （78）， Kate （74）， Peter （39）
122 The Cheons—Christina （44）， Michael （42）， Madison （10）
124 The Harrisons—Timothy （46）， Jane （45）， Adam （16）， Dave （14）