Free Crooked Hills by Cullen Bunn Page B

never slept that late! Usually, I liked to rise early and squeeze as much out of school-free days as I could.
    Thinking of the dream, I shuddered. Despite the warm morning light, I felt cold and shivery, like I’d been walking barefoot through snow on a wintery day. I had heard people usually forget their dreams pretty quickly. I wished that was the case! I had a feeling I’d remember the awful dream about Maddie Someday for as long as I lived.
    I touched my fingers to my throat, half expecting to find a ruined mess of chewed, bloody flesh. For a second, I could have sworn I felt slobber from the dog’s jaws on my skin. No, I realized, not slobber, but my own clammy sweat.
    All I wanted to do was throw the covers over my head, bundle up, and nap for another couple of hours—without nightmares, of course. I still felt pretty groggy. But I couldn’t stay in bed all day, not if Marty and I were going to talk to Lisa.
    I jumped up and straightened the covers quickly. Compared to Alex’s perfectly made bed, mine looked pretty messy, but I didn’t think anyone would notice. I ducked my head into Marty’s room (his door was open) and saw he was already up and about. His bed hadn’t been made at all, so I felt a little better about my rush job.
    A quick shower helped wake me up a little, and I spent a few minutes putting aloe lotion on my itching legs. I’d gotten a bit of sun the day before, and my nose and cheeks were bright red. With my luck, my skin would probably peel. I dressed quickly—this time wearing jeans instead of shorts.
    Climbing the stairs, I heard a peculiar noise—clickity-click-clickety-clickity—from down the hall. I didn’t see anyone around, so I traced the sound to Mom’s room. The door stood open just a crack, so I knocked lightly and stuck my head in.
    Mom lay on her belly in bed, her legs kicking slowly up and down behind her. Her laptop computer lay in front of her, and she typed happily away. Dressed in jeans and a baggy tee-shirt, she looked like a kid doing homework. Looking up, she smiled and said, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”
    “Morning.”
    “You must have had a late night.” She smirked at me. “You never sleep in.”
    “Huh?” Did she know about me sneaking out with Marty? How could she? I decided to play dumb. “Uh, not really. I... I guess I was still just really tired from the trip.”
    “Hey, it’s your vacation.” She sat up. “You get to spend it however you want.”
    I wondered if that included sneaking out late at night to hunt down a dog with human eyes.
    “If you want to sleep late,” she said, “I’m not going to blame you. That’s what vacations are for.”
    “Where is everyone?” I asked.
    “Alex went into town with Mary and Shorty. Marty should be around here somewhere. He said he didn’t want to go without you, but he didn’t want to wake you, either.”
    I felt a stab of disappointment. I would have liked to get a look at town, too. But I guessed that’s what I got for oversleeping.
    “What are you doing?” Craning my neck, I glanced at the laptop screen. “This is your vacation, too, remember? That looks like work to me.”
    “Not really,” she answered. “This is a lot more fun.”
    “So what is it?”
    She smiled and blushed. Mom blushing! I never thought I would see the day. Now she really did look like a kid.
    “If you must know, Mr. Nosy, I’m writing a book—a novel.”
    “Really?” I asked. “What’s it about?”
    “It’s a love story,” she said. “You wouldn’t like it.”
    She was right. I was more into robots, rocket launchers, and radioactive mutants than romance. Still, it was exciting seeing Mom doing something like that. Imagine, in all my years I never knew my mom was a writer at heart.
    I could tell she was eager to get back to her book. She kept glancing at the laptop screen and fidgeting with the keyboard keys without even knowing it.
    “Well, I’ll let you get back to work,” I said. “I’m going to