was well acquainted with. When an idea took hold of her, she couldn’t escape it. When a good idea came, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She had spent the better part of the past few days monitoring the news and refining her drones.
But it has been my choice not to go apologize.
Inventing was easier than apologizing. It least it was easier to invent excuses.
Kari heard footsteps but was too lazy to expand the energy to give the appearance that she hadn’t slept on the floor. She rolled over just in time to see her mom open the door quietly. Her mom frowned when she saw her lying on the floor, but her face eased a little when she saw that Kari was awake.
“Good morning, Mom,” Kari said, trying to make her voice sound as if she had been awake for a few hours.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” her mom said. “I came in to check on you before I headed back to work this morning, but you were so asleep I couldn’t even wake you up to talk.”
Why did you want to talk? The look of concern was gone, but Kari could tell that her mom was under even more stress than she had been in the past few months.
“What’s wrong?” Kari asked. She had rarely seen her mom get flustered about anything. She instantly thought of her dad, who had been away this week on business. No, she wouldn’t have gone to work if there were something wrong with Dad.
“You haven’t seen the news?”
“What news?” Kari asked, holding back the reflex to go online and find the answer. She was sure it had something to do with the Middle States issue. Her mom breathed in deeply, as if she were thinking of a nice way to say something. I’m not a little girl anymore, Mom.
“The United States has rejected the Middle States’ Declaration of Independence.” Her mom looked as if the words were hard to speak.
Kari let the words sink in for a minute. This is big . The initial declaration had been delivered to the US Congress on Saturday, but that was mostly a symbolic move. Everyone knew it had been coming, even if Thomas wanted to deny it. What was important was how the United States responded. If they accepted the declaration, there would be two peaceful, separate nations. If they contested it, which was expected, they would likely spend months in negotiations and voting before anything happened. If they rejected it, then most people expected war. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened while I’ve been alive.
“Yeah . . .” Her mom seemed not to know what else to say. “It’s going to be busy at work for the next bit while we sort this thing out.”
Kari nodded while still absorbing the full gravity of the situation. She could only imagine the number of calls her mom was getting right now from people wondering how this would affect their Social Security checks—the checks they relied on to survive. Kari understood the stress.
“Sorry you had to come home to check on me, Mom. I’m fine. I just couldn’t fall asleep easily last night.” She attempted to sound as lighthearted as she could. Her mom needed that.
“Thanks, honey. I’ll probably be home late. I don’t think we’ll be able to do dinner or anything tonight.” She frowned at that. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Mom. The Middle States going crazy is kind of a much bigger deal.” Kari realized that it must be Thursday already if her mom were canceling their plans for the night.
It’s been almost a week?
Kari listened to her mom leave, and then she lay on the floor for a moment. The Middle States will secede. Will this be one of those moments I’ll tell kids about in the future? Most people had doubted there would be war, believing the world was too civilized for that now. There weren’t wars anymore; they were too expensive. At least, that had been the popular opinion before today. Kari didn’t see this conflict ending without a little bit of combat.
It hadn’t felt real until now. The Middle State Declaration of
But it has been my choice not to go apologize.
Inventing was easier than apologizing. It least it was easier to invent excuses.
Kari heard footsteps but was too lazy to expand the energy to give the appearance that she hadn’t slept on the floor. She rolled over just in time to see her mom open the door quietly. Her mom frowned when she saw her lying on the floor, but her face eased a little when she saw that Kari was awake.
“Good morning, Mom,” Kari said, trying to make her voice sound as if she had been awake for a few hours.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” her mom said. “I came in to check on you before I headed back to work this morning, but you were so asleep I couldn’t even wake you up to talk.”
Why did you want to talk? The look of concern was gone, but Kari could tell that her mom was under even more stress than she had been in the past few months.
“What’s wrong?” Kari asked. She had rarely seen her mom get flustered about anything. She instantly thought of her dad, who had been away this week on business. No, she wouldn’t have gone to work if there were something wrong with Dad.
“You haven’t seen the news?”
“What news?” Kari asked, holding back the reflex to go online and find the answer. She was sure it had something to do with the Middle States issue. Her mom breathed in deeply, as if she were thinking of a nice way to say something. I’m not a little girl anymore, Mom.
“The United States has rejected the Middle States’ Declaration of Independence.” Her mom looked as if the words were hard to speak.
Kari let the words sink in for a minute. This is big . The initial declaration had been delivered to the US Congress on Saturday, but that was mostly a symbolic move. Everyone knew it had been coming, even if Thomas wanted to deny it. What was important was how the United States responded. If they accepted the declaration, there would be two peaceful, separate nations. If they contested it, which was expected, they would likely spend months in negotiations and voting before anything happened. If they rejected it, then most people expected war. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened while I’ve been alive.
“Yeah . . .” Her mom seemed not to know what else to say. “It’s going to be busy at work for the next bit while we sort this thing out.”
Kari nodded while still absorbing the full gravity of the situation. She could only imagine the number of calls her mom was getting right now from people wondering how this would affect their Social Security checks—the checks they relied on to survive. Kari understood the stress.
“Sorry you had to come home to check on me, Mom. I’m fine. I just couldn’t fall asleep easily last night.” She attempted to sound as lighthearted as she could. Her mom needed that.
“Thanks, honey. I’ll probably be home late. I don’t think we’ll be able to do dinner or anything tonight.” She frowned at that. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Mom. The Middle States going crazy is kind of a much bigger deal.” Kari realized that it must be Thursday already if her mom were canceling their plans for the night.
It’s been almost a week?
Kari listened to her mom leave, and then she lay on the floor for a moment. The Middle States will secede. Will this be one of those moments I’ll tell kids about in the future? Most people had doubted there would be war, believing the world was too civilized for that now. There weren’t wars anymore; they were too expensive. At least, that had been the popular opinion before today. Kari didn’t see this conflict ending without a little bit of combat.
It hadn’t felt real until now. The Middle State Declaration of
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