Up All Night
Chapter One
"Counting the hours," my dad wrote in his last email. "Exactly forty-six more and I'm out of this godforsaken place. Phase Two begins! Love you all." All meaning Mom, my eleven-year-old brother, Neddy, and me, Lara.
"Hey Mom," I said. "An email from Dad."
"Is everything all right?" Mom said, hurrying over from whatever she was doing, the laundry maybe—laundry, I remembered at that moment, that I'd promised to take care of before school. For some reason, Mom just couldn't get used to these emails coming in real time from a war zone, got alarmed whenever one turned up in the in-box. She leaned over my shoulder for a closer look at the screen, a bottle of spot remover in her hand. I was aware of her eyes tracking the words, could feel her concentration, so intense.
"What's the time difference again?" Mom said.
"Thirteen hours?" I said. "Or maybe with turning back the clocks it's—"
"Why can't you guys get this?" said Neddy, doing his homework at the kitchen table. He glanced at his watch. "It's eight thirty-five a.m. over there, a.m. ... read full excerpt from: Up All Night ebook
