Every Time My Daughter Came Home Unresponsive, My Husband Told Me Not to Worry. The Recording in Her Backpack Revealed Why.

I didn’t.

I went home, where Harper and Grandma were turning an empty cereal box into a castle.

Harper showed me a drawbridge made of string and a paper clip.

“It’s a secret castle,” she announced.

“Only people we invite can come inside.” I asked who was invited.

She listed Grandma, me, her teacher, and a friend from school.

Then she added the mail carrier because he always waved.

My mother pretended to take notes for the castle’s guest list.