Jacob set the e-reader aside when he heard the voice coming from down the hall. Creeping out of bed, he walked to the doorway of his daughter’s bedroom and listened, hardly believing his ears.

“She’s not there! No… No he is not… there.” The child was emphatic, as she lay in bed talking in her sleep.

“Cold… you’re so cocoa, I mean cold.”

“Getting warmer. The kit… kit… kitchen.”

“In the cupboard! Check all of them…all of them.”

“All of them… all of them… all off…” Her voice trailed off.

Jacob whispered to his wife Sarah, “This happened last night too?”

Sarah seemed to nod as they both looked over their sleeping Emily for a while. They both listened for more of her nocturnal monologue until she eventually rolled over to face the wall. Both parents slipped outside of her bedroom, but before Jacob could even close the door he had questions.

In hushed astonishment, “How can she do that?”

“It’s amazing -two nights in a row. We need a doctor. What we need to do is record her,” whispered Sarah.

“What if she’s... I don’t know… possessed?”

Sarah laughed almost too loudly, “Possessed? Like by a demon?”

“How else can you explain it?” he asked.

“I don’t know Jake. Since when does an atheist believe in demonic possession?”asked the puzzled Sarah.

They continued to exchange theories as the late night routine continued with the glowing television lighting the bedroom.

“You know, how wonderful it was to hear her voice,” Jacob paused and thought, “It was all sort of eerie though too. She said the same kind of things last night?”

“Yes. Although not as frantic as she seemed tonight. She kept repeating ‘check the cupboard. Check the corner cupboard’. It was spooky.”

Jacob finished the evening routine by brushing his teeth, going to Emily’s door and opening it, although wider than usual. He returned to bed finding Sarah already on her side facing away from him, either asleep or well on her way. He clicked off the television and settled under the covers with the e-reader.

__________________________________________________________________________

The smell of fresh coffee from the pre-set coffee maker filled the air before the piercing sound of the alarm did. Jacob, as always, turned it off. The small house was filling with the predawn light of morning as he left the bed. He passed Emily’s door and glanced in on his still sleeping daughter, before walking into the kitchen and to the coffee that summoned him. He lifted the kitchen window about an inch or so and felt the humidity of early September pour in. He listened closely for the distant sound of the oceans his coffee cooled. He could hear the faint sound of the Atlantic waves washing ashore from several blocks away, as the smell of the salt air mixed with the smell of coffee. He inhaled and exhaled while looking down into the dark mug, contemplating the day ahead and then looked up and out of the window surveying the slightly sloped, unkempt backyard and the large shed, with it's doors wide open. The bow of a worn ragged sailboat, too large for the structure, protruded outward.

Satisfied that the sea was still nearby, he closed the window and took a few steps into the living room flicking on the television for the top of the hour local news.

"A tragic gruesome discovery last night in St. Johns County, the body of a six year old boy, who had been missing for several hours was recovered last night, from a nearby vacant house. The boy's body was apparently found stuffed in a kitchen cabinet... We take you live now to St. Augustine, where Andrea Berry is on the scene awaiting a press conference from the Sheriff. Andrea, what can you tell us about..."

Jacob's heart pounded and an icy chill ran through his spine as he heard the news anchors worlds repeat over and over in his still fogged morning mind, "stuffed in a kitchen cabinet."

He rose quickly and walked to Em's room to find her standing beside the bed putting on the shirt he had laid out for her the night before. Her back was towards him as she correctly slid the plain gray tee over her slender shoulders.

"Good job Em," he said to encourage her, causing her to turn and smile at him.

He watched as she pulled her blue elastic shorts on over her underwear before walking over to him. Her shorts were correct, although twisted and he adjusted them for her.

Jacob would cherish so many simple and present moments like this with her. He was always worried about future for Emily. Being twelve years old, she was still his girl, but soon enough, getting ready for school would require more garments. It had a taken years of physical therapy just to get this far. Would she be able to someday put on her own bra? And just how would she handle other feminine complexities? A twisted waistband this morning could only mean that it was a good morning in the Phillips household.

"Good morning," he proclaimed tugging her shorts into place.

His girl let out a low long moan.

"Pancakes today, Em?" he asked.

The girl smiled, showing her awkward diastematic teeth as she almost always did at the sound of the word: pancakes.

He turned her to the mirror above her dresser and ran a red plastic comb through her short black pixie cut hair, parting it for her.

"So pretty Em," he said before letting her go off into the living room.

She picked up the remote to turn the channel to her cartoons. He stopped her as he headed to the kitchen.

"No. No. Em, we will watch the news this morning. No cartoons now, Ok?"

She looked at him with disappointed eyes. This was not part of the morning routine and routine was something that Emily needed most. But she put down the remote and stared at the television. The voices from the screen still telling the unfolding tragic tale of little Daniel Watkins, with the voice of the sheriff giving scant details at a press conference as he fielded questions from the press as best he could.

As the press conference broke up, the news station switched locations, showing an over grown dirt lane with the eerie sight of an old dilapidated mobile home surrounded by brush.

The broadcast went on, "We take you now to the scene of this most disturbing crime with..."

Jacob watched Emily as she stared blankly at the screen without emotion. She would do this whenever the adult programming was on. Even as the station showed a photograph of little Daniel in his soccer uniform, his daughter seened unaffected by the images.

"Em. Go ahead. You can turn the channel now." he instructed her.

She smiled before flipping the station to PBS cartoons. All a part of Emily's morning routine.

He sat the Talking-Tablet next to her plate of pancakes on the kitchen table before calling out to her, "Breakfast is served angel."

She moved to the table where he was waiting for her and as she sat he placed a large cloth bib around her neck. She was feeding herself neatly and making use of a fork. This had not always been the case. Em being able to feed herself took years of both therapy and patience. Everything with Em took patience. The bib was likely not even necessary anymore, but one never knew when an accident could occur. As she ate, Jacob switched the TV back to the news coverage and Emily offered her disapproval with a loud groan through her mouth, filled with pancakes and syrup. The photo of little Daniel's photo was again on the screen.

"I know, I know, just for a second... Do you know that boy on the TV?"

She tapped the large button on the the touch screen of the Talking-Tablet.

"No."

"Ever seen him before Em?"

"No." the electronic voice stated.

The scene of the crime appeared on the television screen.

"That house Em... look at that house, have you ever seen that house before?"

Again, she poked at the device and it gave another cold electronic "No."

The Talking-Tablet device, filled with so many options and possibilities. Someone non-verbal with pretty normal cognitive function could tap out complete sentences if they needed to. So far, with several years of use, Em could communicate simple yes or no answers. She could ask for food or drink, to watch TV, or to go outside. Food was expanding into different types and it wasn't uncommon for the girl to randomly ask for ice cream at 9 a.m.

Jacob turned the channel back to her station and let her finish eating as the cartoons played on. He saw no reaction from her when the boy's face appeared on the TV. The girl was a constantly changing mysterious puzzle. Observing her facial expressions, her eye contact and body language would sometimes offer clues into Emily's world, but not always.

He had no reason do disbelieve her with her Talking-Tablet voice. He had every reason to believe that he did not know, even after twelve years, what she actually comprehended. Talking-Tablet voice aside, he knew what he had heard from her real voice the night before. Even though he had never even heard her voice before last night.

Was it a shear coincidence? A sleeping Emily, frantic about searching kitchen cabinets. While miles away a small boy is located, dead, inside a cabinet.

He turned to her as she finished her plate and loudly proclaimed, "It's a motorcycle day Em!"

Emily dropped her fork with a loud clank onto the plate and screeched loudly, happily flapping her arms with excitement. Despite the cruelty of the world unfolding just outside their door, his girl seemed happy and together and the weather was right for the motorcycle. It was a very good morning.

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Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Shallow Harbor