The school called. “Your daughter hasn’t been pick…

while I stood by the counter with coffee I couldn’t taste.

She looked normal.

Small.

Entirely real.

That was the problem.

There is no clean ethical version of what I did next. There is only the necessary one.

I took her to a pharmacy under the pretense of an adventure and bought a home DNA kit.

I also bought crayons and a coloring book because if I had to continue reading …