More from the Carter family
If you’re the grown-up — this part’s for you. If you’re the reader — the story bits are all yours.
There’s more of this family than fits in one workshop. Here’s where they go next.
The Mission Call — Chapter One
A first chapter, by B. A. Lumin
Renee is at a food-court table with a smoothie whose ice has given up, a table of friends planning a summer she’s only half inside, and a private marker on one week of her own calendar.
No problem — ask a grown-up to sign up for you and they can pass it along. Here’s a bit of the story while you’re here:
The ice in Renee Carter’s smoothie had given up, melted to tired pebbles that bumped her straw when she stirred the pink slush. Condensation slid down the cup and pooled into a ring that stuck to her forearm when she leaned in. The air conditioning found her knees anyway, a steady gust crawling under the denim hem of her shorts that raised goosebumps. Somewhere close, fries smelled amazing—hot oil, salt, a ketchup tang that pricked the back of her throat—and a toddler shriek-laughed two tables over, the sound ricocheting off tile and metal chairs.
“Renee. Hello?” Fingers snapped in front of her face—nails tipped in glittery blue, flicking once, twice.
She looked up. Light caught the rhinestones on Kaylee’s bracelets and scattered across the tabletop. “What?”
Renee’s story keeps going after this one, and so does Candi’s, and so does Scott’s. This list hears first each time.