The biannual moving made homeschooling far more practical, though he did regularly sign up for other classes. Have you thought about the classes you want to try?” What if he returned and they didn’t remember him? “I think I’d rather go somewhere new, like we always do.” “We could always move back there in the fall,” Mr. After all, he’d only known Darren for a few months-not nearly long enough for a lasting friendship to form. Isaac could expect a few more, maybe even a couple of emails. He wasn’t allowed to use social media-too many pictures-but Darren, one of his friends in Arizona, had sent him a text. I killed it.” Actually, Isaac had put it outside, but he knew his father would feel more comfortable thinking the tiny invader had died.

He edged away from the infestation in the closet. “Mmhmm.” Isaac swallowed the last of his cookie and reached for another. Read pointed to the impossible-to-miss closet, already full of boxes, clothes, and other more secret items. The room was a tiny bit bigger, but Isaac preferred small spaces. Isaac’s mouth was full, so he nodded his response. “I think it’s bigger than your last room.” “It’s nice.” Isaac took a cookie, still warm and soft. Read, tall and thin, with an angular face softened by his kind eyes and somewhat fluffy mess of light brown hair, knocked on Isaac’s door before entering with a plate of peanut butter cookies. There was no point in buying a house to make their own, though not when the Reads would have to pack up and move again in another six months. In many ways, the rented house wasn’t much different from a hotel. Mildly pretty but uninteresting pictures, the type found in hotel rooms across the country, decorated the walls. Generic furniture flattened the beige carpet underneath. The Reads’ new one-story house resembled their old one.

The entire process took less than an hour-a record for him. As he put his belongings away, he took care not to rip any of the cardboard boxes, which he would be using again soon enough. Isaac Read had long ago mastered the art of unpacking.

Monster, Human, Other by Laurel Gale