The Family Across the Street by Nicole Trope

38

Gladys

Gladys waits, hating the heat and the sun and this day more with each passing minute. ‘Where are you?’ she mutters, peering down the street. ‘Where are you?’ She looks at her watch and sees that Logan has only been inside the house for a minute or so. The heat is oppressive and the cicadas are maddening whenever she tunes in to them. She looks at her phone again, waiting, hoping – for what, she’s not sure.