The First Day of Spring

I reasoned, "So that was all it took." "I felt like I had all the power in the world after doing that. One boy with yellow hair, one moment in the morning. In the end, it wasn't that much."

Introducing Chrissie...

Eight-year-old Chrissie has a secret: she recently killed a boy. Her stomach fizzed at the sensation. Her playmates' moms are so scared that they are kept indoors while her playmates cry. Nevertheless, Chrissie is in charge because she can wall-walk better than anyone, understands how to collect free sweets, and enjoys a sense of authority that she doesn't get at home, where food is sparse and attention is even scarcer.

Twenty years on, Chrissie has changed her name and is living in hiding as an adult. As a single mother, her only want is for her daughter to experience the childhood that she was not granted. The scary nature of the threatening phone calls stems from this. The past is coming up with them, people are searching for them, and Chrissie is afraid she may lose her child—the only thing in the world she truly cares about.