Her eyes snapped open and the mattress squeaked as she sat up in bed. Disoriented, she glanced at her bedside clock. Nearly two in the afternoon. What was that noise? The light beyond her curtains was still bright, but her bedroom was sheltered in its own darkness. Then she heard the rattling sound again. She jumped up and grabbed the baseball bat from under her bed. With the bat raised to strike, Diana crept silently toward the living room. Everything was just as she left it. The day bright, the windows open to let in the half-light of the rainy day. “If I was a burglar, you’d be dead.” She squeaked and spun around. It was her brother. He stood in the entrance between her kitchen and living room, drinking a bottle of mineral water. Diana clenched her teeth hard. “What are you doing here, Jason?” “Setting you straight.” Jason drank deeply from the green glass bottle, then dropped it with a thud on the kitchen counter.
