He was very drowsy, and it took him a moment to get his bearings. Then it came back to him: the mirror box. During the night he had put the haunted box in his closet so that the awful specter would be out of sight. But he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. As a result, he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. He toyed with the idea of skipping school. After all, he could use the excuse that his mother was in the hospital. It was seven A.M. Isaac dressed and went downstairs. Unbelievably, Grandpa was already in the kitchen, sitting at the table. His hair was still unkempt, but at least his shirt was buttoned the right way. Isaac sighed as he fried a couple of eggs and then put them on plates for the two of them. It was hard enough dealing with his own problems; being responsible for Grandpa was an added burden. “How … is she doing?” Grandpa asked suddenly, startling Isaac. So Grandpa wasn’t lost in his own world, as he usually was. “Well, it’s hard to tell how she—”
