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MAIREAD CASE

41

Today, there is a war.

The fighting happens far from where Tiny and Izzy live, so bombs explode inside their heads instead of in the streets. In their streets, everything is the same. Their lights go on at dusk every night like always, and the candy selection at the drugstore is the same. They can still buy dried apricots and pistachios and rugs, if they had the money and wanted to. At the gas station is a big, stay-fresh barrel of Lemonheads that has existed since Tiny and Izzy were tall enough to see over the counter. It’s still there. Still available to them.

Inside Tiny’s head, her house is bombed almost every night. The office where her dad works is hit first, and then the whole house curls mad red around it. The fact that Tiny’s brain does this—her brain hits him first—scares her more than anything. She can see his face. She is horrified that her brain does that, but it isn’t a thought she remembers starting. Izzy says it’s because Tiny is the helper. Next, she would help him.