“I found myself standing outside Mallory’s bedroom. The last door on the upstairs hallway. I’d seen those forensic crime shows on television. I know what dead people look like. In the beginning I’d imagined Mallory, pale, lying in long grass, her eyes closed. Just her face because I didn’t want to see beyond it. But I couldn’t do it any more. Mum kept telling me she was still alive somewhere. And one day she’d come home and we’d be a happy family again but that was one big fat stupid lie. Mum could tell it to herself but I’d stopped believing it ages ago.”
Playing second fiddle to a ‘missing, presumed dead’ sister is soul-sucking for fifteen year old Ryan. There’s no way he can ever compare with a perfect girl who’s captured forever in one moment of time.
But as Ryan tries to move on with his life he begins to appreciate just how difficult growing up can be for a fifteen year old boy who just wants to hang out with his mates, and take his date to the school dance.
And now there’s a stranger watching him. Will his family ever be whole again? Or did Mallory light the fuse that will blow it apart forever ...
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