Black Hole

Streaming through the windows, headlights flash as they pull into the driveway. I become suddenly alert, glancing at the clock. It’s 12:45. She told me she would be home by 12:15. We had both agreed there would be no exceptions. Why was she home so late? Nervousness passes through my body as I contemplate getting off the couch. Trying not to act paranoid, which I am, I stay seated and change the channel with the clicker. A door slams shut outside. Finding an action movie, I act engrossed in whatever I’m watching. The colors all seem to blend together because my mind is on my daughter. The side-gate clangs shut, she’s coming in through the back. She isn’t trying to sneak; she always comes this way, right? The back door slowly slides open and shut as she enters the house.
She makes a straight line for the bathroom, where she spends the next five minutes fiddling about. I admit it; I’m a paranoid mom. But, she’s not doing well in school. She has her same attention thing...