My mother often told me, “Don’t sit on Grandpa’s lap.” I never understood why. One day, I didn’t listen to her and sat down anyway. Grandpa smiled, leaned close to my ear, and whispered, “Can you come sleep beside me tonight?”

“Yes. Tonight.”

Then, in a much quieter voice, she said:

“I knew this day was coming.”

After hearing those words, I couldn’t relax for the rest of the evening. At around eleven o’clock, the doorbell rang.

It was Grandpa. Mom opened the door but didn’t invite him inside.

“Dad, why are you here?”

“To get Lily.”

Mom’s face changed.

“No.”

Grandpa looked at her for a long moment.

“Sarah, you can’t protect her from everything forever.”

“She’s a child.”

“That’s exactly why I want her there tonight.”

I was standing near the stairs, listening to every word. Then Mom suddenly began to cry.

“But what if tomorrow…”

Grandpa interrupted her.

“Don’t talk about tomorrow.”

A cold feeling went through me.

What was going to happen tomorrow?

About half an hour later, Mom suddenly came upstairs to my room.

“Get dressed.”

“Where are we going?”

She remained silent for a moment.

“To Grandpa’s house.”

When we arrived, I was expecting almost anything.

But Grandpa didn’t take us to his bedroom.

Instead, he led us to the small enclosed porch at the back of the house.

Two mattresses had been placed on the floor.

One was large.

The other was small.

Near the window stood an old telescope.