Safe Landing Read Online Free PDF Page A

which appeared to match the lock on the drawer of the bookcase. I poked it through the tiny keyhole and jostled it around. The lock had obviously not been opened for a long time, and I didn’t have the patience or strength to snap it out of its rusted state. Tossing the key onto the shelf, I shambled to my bed and flopped onto it. At least the pain in my skull took my mind off the pain in my foot.

 

    Chapter 4
    The smell of burnt toast woke me from a bizarre series of dreams, including one where an old lady was cooking a bloody toe, and I kept moaning “who’s got my toe”.
    “Breakfast is ready,” Mom called up the stairs. After an entire day of unpacking and a night of restless sleep in my new room, my head ached and my eyes were puffy. The whole look should make for a spectacular entrance at my new school. Mom seemed to think that the sooner we got into a normal routine, the sooner we would feel at home in Pelican’s Bay. She was obviously living in a fantasy world.  
    As I pushed out of bed, something sharp fell on my good foot. I looked down and sat back hard on the bed. The skeleton key glinted up at me from the floor. I stared at it and quickly went through the evening’s events in my head. I’d reached under the desk, picked it up, and after attempting to open the drawer, I’d tossed the key onto the book case and climbed into bed.
    Strange voices and inanimate objects moving across the bedroom, certainly nothing to panic about, I told myself. After all, I was living in Hell House. I picked up the key and placed it back on the bookcase, which grew increasingly unwelcome with each moment.
    The light in the narrow hallway flickered dimly. Tyler and Raymond burst out of the bathroom.
    “You better not have used all the hot water,” I yelled as they raced back to their room. I’d had my alarm set for six o’clock, but I’d hit the snooze button three times. I’d spent the first hour in bed freaking out about everything, the new school, Dad and his girlfriend, Jenny attending the prom with Blake, and the pathetic fact that I was going crazy.  No wonder my dreams were so creepy.
    “Damn it!” I grabbed the sink to keep from slipping on my butt in the pool of water my brothers had left on the floor. The mirror was cloudy with steam. I smeared a hole in the condensation with the palm of my hand. “Lovely.”
    “You’d better hurry, Brazil. You woke up late.” Mom’s voice seeped through the crack in the bathroom door.
    “Thanks, Mom. I never actually learned to tell time.”
    “Breakfast is on the table. Come get some before Darcy steals it.” Something we discovered after Darcy’s legs began to grow like stilts, really tall dogs can reach all areas of a table, counter and kitchen sink. No morsel of food was safe. Or cell phone for that matter.
    My hair would have to go up in a pony-tail so I could take a fast shower. Mascara was a poor camouflage for my tired, red eyes, but I had no time for anything else. I threw on my favorite pair of jeans and a tight purple t-shirt and headed down to the kitchen. I still could not put all my weight on my bandaged foot, which gave me an extra air of grace as I walked downstairs.
    “Does this high school have two stories?” I asked as I entered the kitchen. “Because if it does, I may break my neck before the day is out.”
    “I think it’s only one story. It’s much smaller than your old school.” Mom turned from the stove carrying two plates of scrambled eggs. They looked rubbery and brown. “I’m afraid I haven’t quite mastered this stove yet.”
    “I’ll pass.” I reached for the orange juice.
    “Don’t go to school on an empty stomach, Brazil. You look cute, by the way, with only mascara. A face like yours—”
    “—doesn’t need all that make-up,” I finished the regular chant for her. She was not pleased.
    “I need you to rewrap my foot so it can fit in my shoe.” I dropped an unattractive piece of toast on my plate. “Pass the