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something was poking her cheek. Some kind of
material? Carpet? Oh baby, she was in worse shape than she’d
thought if she’d fallen asleep on the floor.
    Turning to her other
side, away from the bright light, she tried to force her eyes open,
but they felt glued shut. And what was that earthy smell?
Apparently she needed to have Claudia call the carpet cleaners
in.
    Slowly she focused on
what looked like long, wheat-colored...grass? She blinked several
times, then rolled onto her back. More grass rustled beneath her,
tangled in her short hair and stuck up a foot or more out of the
ground in all directions. She turned her head, still unable to
comprehend what she was seeing, and the sun hit her full in the
face.
    Wincing, she lifted an
arm to block the rays. What was going on? Why was she lying on the
ground? She hurriedly brushed at what felt like a bug crawling on
her face and, grimacing, quickly sat up, speared her fingers into
her hair and felt for more bugs.
    She glanced around, her
eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Richard, Jessica and Jeremy
lay sprawled on the ground nearby. She shook her head to try and
clear it. Why was her entire family lying in a field?
“Richard?”
    Richard groaned, turned
over, then lay still.
    Panic built inside her,
but she pushed it down. It wouldn’t do any good to panic. She
needed to stay in control and figure out what was going on.
    She glanced around but
didn’t recognize the place. They seemed to be lying in a huge field
out in the middle of nowhere, not a building in sight.
    Again, she fought the
panic pushing at her. How had they arrived there? The last thing
she remembered was listening to Jeremy’s presentation in the back
yard and the moon...the moon had...done something.
    Fear
tightened her chest. Melissa lifted her gaze, squinted against the
harsh glare of the sun and searched the heavens. No moon in sight.
She rubbed her eyes, glad to block out her surroundings, and took a
deep breath. She could control the fear. She wouldn’t give in to
panic. Richard would have a logical explanation for everything. She
dropped her hands onto her lap. “ Richard .” She hissed his
name.
    He moaned, but didn’t
wake.
    Breathe. She needed to
breathe.
    Melissa crawled across the grass and shook him. She would not
panic. There was a reason they were in this field. Richard knew
what it was and would tell her. She shook him again, harder. He
still didn’t wake. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a huge breath
of air. Perhaps panic had its place after all. “ Richard !”
    * * *
    Richard jackknifed into
a sitting position. “What? What’s wrong?” Wild-eyed, he glanced
around, unable to comprehend where he was. He seemed to be in a
field.
    Confused, he focused on
Melissa, who looked crazed, her makeup smeared, hair and grass
sticking out in all directions around her head. He could see the
kids on the ground not far behind her.
    He blinked, then rubbed
both hands over his face. Was he dreaming? “What’s going on? Where
are we?”
    At his questions,
Melissa looked like she might cry. She shook her head.
    Richard looked at the
kids again, lying lifeless. Adrenaline kicked him hard in the gut
and he scrambled across the grass and shook them.
    Jeremy mumbled, and
Jessica stretched and yawned. Relief rushed through him, leaving
him shaky. For a moment he’d thought they were dead. That Melissa
was upset because they were dead. He blew out a breath and willed
his heart to decelerate. What a way to wake up in the morning.
    The kids sat up,
looking startled as they took in their surroundings.
    Jeremy glanced up.
“What’s going on?”
    “I
don’t know yet.” Richard stood, surveyed the area and his fingers
clenched. What was going on?
    Jessica whimpered.
“Dad?”
    “It’s okay, pumpkin.
Just sit there for a minute while I figure this out.”
    Melissa gazed up at
him. “Richard. How did we get here?” She sounded calm, but like she
was barely holding onto her sanity.
    Richard