“Mom-Mom,” Emma whispered, “I love you.”
A big tear dripped out of Mom-Mom’s eye and rolled over her rosy cheek, so that Emma knew Mom-Mom heard her.
What was the matter?
Emma thought out loud, “It must be what they see on the phone and the TV!”
Emma then looked into Mom-Mom’s phone and saw a black cloud with gray eyes, sharp gray teeth and blurted, “It’s you, you’re the Shadow Man. What have you done to my grownups?”
The Shadow Man grinned out at Emma with gloomshine teeth all jagged and stained with sooty grease.
The Shadow Man said nothing, but looked hard at Emma like he was a bad-thinking something.
Then the wind moaned outside, and Chandler groaned from behind her, “Oh, you done it now, hear the clouds howl?”
Emma’s eyes flashed with fire and she hugged her Mom-Mom, kissed the tear from her cheek and something grew inside of her.
Her hair bounced as she spoke, her shoulders propelling it in a whirl as she snarled at the Shadow on the phone, “Oh, steal my grownups?!”
Her mouth than narrowed in ferocious determination and Emma scolded, “I don’t think so!”
