Amanda didn’t tell anyone about the skeleton, even her father. But she didn’t go back to the house for a long time after, either. Her seven weeks of quarantine ended, along with her father’s and mother’s. On the evening before the interview, her father asked her to walk with him in the woods.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow, Amanda?”
“A little. What will they do?”
“I don’t know exactly. This is my first interview since my family moved to the safety net when I was twelve.”
“What did they do then?”
“They asked me questions about how I liked the city, what I missed most about the country, and my intentions. It went easier for me than for my brother.”
“Uncle Tony?”
“Yes. He was labeled as a potential terrorist.”
“Why?”
“He told them the truth. He was older than me and he’d seen more. He had suspicions that innocent people were being imprisoned as terrorists. And back then, Tony didn’t know how to keep quiet.”
“What did they do?”
“Sent him away to an asylum for awhile to be ‘educated’. Brainwashed is more like it if you ask me. And once a year he has to be interviewed, even now.”
The two sat together for a few moments, listening to the frogs. Finally, Amanda spoke up, “You don’t think they’ll send Mom away, do you?”
“I don’t know, Amanda. I’m hoping they’ll just give her some medicine to see if that helps. Or maybe she’ll have a good day tomorrow.”
“And how about you?”
“I know what to say to them. Don’t you worry about your Dad.”
“And me?”
“I wouldn’t tell them about the house if I were you. Or what I’ve told you about the water and the terrorists. Just stick to stuff a normal sixteen year old would care about.”
Amanda rolled her eyes back and stuck out her tongue. “Are you saying I’m not normal?”
Her father laughed and ran his fingers through her reddish-brown hair. It had gotten long since they’d lived outside the city. “Would any daughter of mine be just normal?”
Amanda laughed and kissed her father on the cheek, “I love you Dad.”
The two of them sat for a long time, watching the fireflies and listening to song of the forest.