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laughter.
    “Seize the woman, make her pencil thin, and slip her between the bars.”
    A flattened out young lady stood next to Brandy, her amazed expression frozen onto her face
.
    “Oh, yes, blow her up into normal weight.”
    And the woman suddenly puffed up into her normal shape
.
    “You can’t put her in here with me,” complained Brandy. “I have hardly any room as it is.”
    “You must share,” said the witch
.
    “No, I refuse,” he said
.
    The witch put her hands on her hips and walked over to the cage
.
    “I have nowhere else to put her. My other cage is in use. I have several large cats that I’m keeping for the circus.”
    “You’ll have to tell the circus to come and pick up the cats.”
    “Can’t. I need the money they pay for the storage.”
    “Why, you selfish witch. What about my comfort? You’ve already stolen my shoes and shirt,”
    The witch picked the shoes up and pushed them between the bars
.
    “I don’t want them back now. You ruined them. They were perfectly waxed and soled when I came. Now look at them.”
    “A little spit will do the trick,” said the witch. “And as for the soles, they were almost worn down when you got here.”
    Brandy grabbed the arm of the woman and pushed her toward the bars
.
    “I want her out.”
    The witch shrugged
.
    “I have no place else to put her; either it’s here or the furnace.”
    The woman glanced over toward the furnace and saw that it was red hot. She took several steps away from the bars and batted at Brandy’s hand when he tried to stop her
.
    “Okay, okay,” he said
.
    “Wasn’t that nice of Brandy, Stephen?”
    Stephen shrugged.
    “Sometimes we have to make room for others, Stephen, and it means sometimes we must change our plans.”
    “We’re not going to the shore this weekend, are we, Daddy?”
    “Aunt Rosemary is visiting this weekend.”
    “On Mom’s birthday. Doesn’t she know this is a special weekend?”
    “Aunt Rosemary doesn’t get much time off from her job, and this is the only weekend she can get away. She wants to visit her favorite nephew.”
    “I’m her only nephew.”
    “That makes you her favorite.”
    “Is Robin coming too?”
    “No, Aunt Rosemary wants to have some special time with you and is afraid Robin would be a distraction.”
    “But I like Robin better than Aunt Rosemary.”
    “It’s better not to mention that, Stephen.”
    “I want to find out how it felt when the witch took out Robin’s juice to make putty.”
    “Shush! That’s a secret. Robin can’t talk about that. Never ask her that question.”
    “Did you lie about making the putty out of nerves?”
    “Maybe.”
    Stephen pulled his covers up to his chin.
    “I still want to visit Mommy at the shore. Aunt Rosemary can come if she wants.”
    “I’m sure she will join us. Your mother and Aunt Rosemary were sisters, after all.”
    “Aunt Rosemary made Mom sad.”
    “What makes you think that?”
    Stephen pushed the blankets away from his body. He felt a warm flush rapidly drive through his flesh making his skin prickle from the heat.
    “When Aunt Rosemary visited, Mom hardly ever smiled, and when Aunt Rosemary left Mom would quietly sniffle like she was holding back tears.”
    “Could be your mom felt sorry for her sister. Here Mom had you, a healthy, active little boy, and Aunt Rosemary has Robin.”
    Stephen’s held tilted to the side.
    “You think Mom felt sorry for Aunt Rosemary?”
    “Sometimes adults feel guilty when their own lives seem to be going so well and a close friend or relative is suffering a loss.”
    “If things were going so well, why did Mom go away? “
    “Sometimes we don’t get to choose when we leave.”
    “But I heard Grandma tell you that Mom was selfish to leave me now.”
    “I don’t know when you heard that, Stephen, but Mom did not purposefully leave you.”
    “Then why isn’t she here now?”
    Jacob pulled his son close and kissed his mussed hair.
    “She must have been in a lot of