Chapter 1 - THE PASTEL THREADS
The carpet on the staircase was plush, thick, and cream-colored.
It absorbed the sound of heavy footsteps, but it could not quiet the tiny gasp of a three-year-old child losing her balance.
Madison sat on the fifth step, her small pastel rainbow tulle dress spreading around her like a broken fan.
Her blonde curls trembled with each hitch of her tiny chest.
Standing two steps above her, Evelyn smoothed the front of her tailored grey silk blouse.
Her short white hair was immaculately styled, not a single strand displaced by the sudden movement.
Her hands rested lightly on the polished mahogany banister, her silver rings gleaming under the warm overhead sconces.
"Grandma pushed me," Madison whimpered, her tiny voice barely louder than the hum of the air conditioner.
Evelyn did not bend down. She did not reach out her hand.
She merely looked down her nose, her eyes cold beneath her painted eyebrows.
"She wouldn't listen," Evelyn said quietly, her voice smooth, even, and devoid of warmth.
Across the foyer, the sharp, rhythmic clack-thump of metal against hard oak echoed from the kitchen door.
Clara moved as fast as her body allowed, her green knit sweater catching on the doorframe as she rushed into the hallway.
Her left pants leg was slightly wider than her right, hiding the matte-grey titanium tube of her prosthetic leg.
"Madison!" Clara cried out, dropping to her knees at the bottom of the stairs.
May you like
The metallic joint locked with a dull click as she reached upward, her arms opening wide.
"Baby, look at me. What happened?"
