8
The next morning, as soon as I woke up, I fed Mom more medicine.
Someone rang the doorbell. Finally, someone was here.
Was it Dad coming back?
Probably not. Dad always used the code to come right in; he wouldn’t ring the doorbell.
It might be a bad person.
Mom had said that children shouldn’t easily open the door to strangers; it was very dangerous.
“Who is it?” I asked from behind the door.
“Lily, it’s me, Ms. Celeste.”
I was so scared, I immediately pushed against the door. “You can’t come in! Go away!”
Ms. Celeste was even worse than a bad person.
Even though she looked a little like Mom, when she came a few days ago, she made Mom cry for a very long time.
That was the second morning after Dad left. Someone rang the doorbell.
Mom opened the door, and this Ms. Celeste stood outside. She said her name was
Celeste.
She looked Mom up and down and smiled. “You really do look a bit like me.”
Mom’s face looked terrible then; I had never seen Mom like that.
But I didn’t think she looked that much like Mom.
My mom’s eyes were gentler and more beautiful. Even Leo admitted my mom was prettier than his mom.
Anyway, no matter how much someone resembled Mom, I could recognize my mom at a
glance.
