Sam knew something was wrong before he even opened the door. It was too quiet. In fact, the whole section was quiet. Sam could hear the hum of his family’s cooker and the drip of the neighbor’s bathroom leak that came back twice as bad every time they fixed it.

He was almost afraid to open the door, but putting it off wouldn’t make things any better. He lifted the screen and found all his family crowded into the open space—Not just Mom and Dad and Kali, but also Grandma, both his uncles, both his aunts, and all four of his cousins.

All of them stood around the edges of the room. Some stared at a projection that hung in the center of the room. It looked like official correspondence from someone’s messaging system.

Everyone else stared at their own feet. No on...

Please subscribe to keep reading.