Page 64 of Falling Like Leaves
“That’s way too easy! I’ll add it to the family-friendly list, but we’re supposed to be starting with the challenging ones so we can get them out of the way before we get too tired to think.” I type his riddle into the document. “Try something less obvious, like ‘I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?’?”
“Doesn’teveryoneget shorter when they get older?”
I frown. “It’s a candle, not a person.”
“Ah, yeah, okay. Maybe we can put a hint with it, like something about being in a jack-o’-lantern.”
I make a note. “I’ll consider it, but then it’ll probably have to go on the easy list.”
“All right, let’s see. ‘I’m the color of shit, and I fall from trees. What am I?’?” Cooper says, grinning at me.
“A stick?” I guess. “A twig? A branch? An acorn?”
“A brown leaf, Ellis,” he says.
“Wow. You actually really suck at this,” I tell him with a laugh.
“It’s a perfectly good riddle. Not my fault you couldn’t solve it.” He rests his forehead on his arms and talks into his comforter when he says, “Okay, how about ‘I have two legs but can’t walk. I have a mouth but can’t talk. The sun doesn’t bother me, but I wear a hat. I scare birds, but I’m not a cat.’?”
I slap his shoulder. “That’s a good one!”
He looks up and flashes his dimple at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I force myself to look at the computer and type his scarecrow riddle. “What about ‘What asks but never answers?’?”
He draws his eyebrows together. “I have no idea.”
“An owl.”
“That better be going on the challenging list,” he says. “Are you actually expecting people to find an owl?”
“They don’t have to find alivingowl. They can get creative. I know for a fact there’s a taxidermy owl in the hardware store and a painting of one in the arts-and-crafts store.”
“Oh, you’re right.” He grins. “Okay, cool. We definitely have to people-watch on Saturday. Everyone’s frustration will be entertaining.”
“You’re heartless,” I joke. But really, my stomach is doing somersaults because we’re making plans to hang out on Saturday.
An hour and a half later, my eyelids are heavy, but there’s still so much to do.
“I’m going to go grab some snacks to keep us awake,” Cooper says.
“Yeah, okay,” I say. “That’s probably a good idea.”
He slides off the bed and leaves the room, and I lay my head on the blanket and rest my eyes.
Just for a second. Just until he gets back.
An unfamiliar alarm stirs me from my heavy sleep. I groan as I pat the area around me, looking for the source of the wretched sound so I can throw it against the wall.
But my hand lands on something soft. A shirt. A back. A person. My eyes shoot open.
Outside, pale morning sunlight tints the sky a muted orangish-pink, andI’m still in Cooper’s bed.
My mom is going to kill me. Like, actually murder me.
Where the hell is my phone?
“What are you doing?” Cooper rasps.
