He smoothed it carefully.
“This is good.”
Elise shrugged.
“My teacher says it’s ugly.”
His expression changed.
“She said that?”
Elise nodded.
He looked closer.
A small figure stood behind the yellow door.
Another figure stood outside the house.
Very tall.
No face.
“Who is this?”
Elise immediately reached for the paper.
“Nobody.”
Her father held it gently.
“Someone from a story?”
“Yes.”
“What story?”
She looked toward the hallway.
He noticed.
Her mother had died two years earlier.
Since then, Elise lived with her father and his brother Paul, who rented the basement apartment.
Paul picked her up from school when her father worked late.
He bought ice cream.
Helped with homework.
Everyone called him the fun uncle.
That evening Paul entered the kitchen.
“Cool drawing.”
Elise froze.
