One by One

by Freida McFadden

Heat causes molecules to disperse, so each breath takes in less oxygen.

I look out the window of the minivan. The path ahead of us is littered with branches and rocks and God knows what else. Why oh why did we have to take the road less traveled? What a mistake. Stupid Robert Frost.

Belladonna berries look very much like blueberries. They’re shiny black, about half an inch in size, and they’re sweet. The berries are highly toxic. They cause delirium and hallucinations, and they disrupt the body’s ability to regulate its sweating, heart rate, and breathing. Eventually, seizures and cardiovascular failure will occur. Early humans made poisonous arrows using belladonna. In an adult, fifteen to twenty berries are enough to kill you. A child could die from two or three.

Thanks to my mom, I know everything there is to know about poison berries.

Noah has his phone in his hand. My eyes light up when I notice he has a single bar. But then he shakes his head. “No service,” he says.

“That’s why mosquitoes bite you so often,” Warner says. “Mosquitoes love type O blood.”

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should live another day I pray the Lord to guide my way. Amen.

“The night Michelle disappeared,” Noah says, “Warner saw him go into the forest with Michelle.”