All that mattered, in that instant, was that my child was hurt, and I did not yet know how badly, or how, and every cell in my body reoriented itself around the single task of finding out and making it right.

It is one of the oldest and most involuntary things a body can do, that reorientation, and I felt it happen in the hallway that night with a force that frightened me.

Chapter 9 — I Fell Near the Creek

My son was a mess.

His sneakers were caked in mud, thick and drying.

His clothes were filthy, streaked with dirt and grass.

One sleeve of his jacket was torn at the shoulder, hanging loose.