Her emergency was now. The babysitter, Kevin, was face-down in his phone, earbuds in, oblivious to the quiet apocalypse unfolding in the kitchen.
"Did you just—" Kevin started.
Kevin stared. Alysha licked her fingers, one by one, then padded back to the living room, leaving a single, perfect crumb on the carpet as her signature. naughty alysha
Naughty Alysha didn't break rules. She proved they were just suggestions for lesser criminals. Her emergency was now
Naughty Alysha knew the exact weight of a cookie on her palm. She knew the precise decibel of a floorboard’s groan. And she knew, with the cold certainty of a seven-year-old mastermind, that the “emergency only” chocolate stash in Mom’s top drawer was not, in fact, for emergencies. Her emergency was now. The babysitter