The rain had dried up – every drip, every puddle – but Hillie couldn't go out while her room was a muddle. Mom had been clear, and her dad had agreed, "First, clean up this room!" ... [+]
The liftoff is like an elevator. You know that feeling you get when you're going up? Like your stomach is getting left behind? It feels like that. Remember when we were kids and we were staying at that hotel in New York because Dad was going to his business conference and we rode the elevator? We rode it up and down hundreds of times, and the lobby man glared at us, and we jumped each time it went up to try and make it fall back down a few feet? And the stairs had golden railings with flowers engraved on the ends. Remember that, Emma? That's what this feels like right now. Everything is so lo