Excerpt: Two

Mom is sitting in front of her desk.
I stare. My mind automatically races through the possibilities: She ran past me down the stairs to her room. No…I would’ve seen her. She came down here some other way. How, through the air vents?? I only thought she was upstairs in the office, when she was here the whole time. But I saw her up there! I helped her with her project! Was I talking to a hallucination??
Mom turns in her chair. “Hello!” she says cheerily.
My mouth has stopped working. I continue staring. Ok, focus. Calm down. Mom couldn’t have…like…transported. There must be a logical reason for this.