Still, hiding things inside a home with four people? Not likely.

  That night, as Dhanya chatted with Franklin about her next music test, a soft clicking sound crept through the phone. Silence gripped her chest. She froze mid-sentence.

  A little phone sat in Papa's study, added on after the house was built.

  Fleeing the moment, Franklin heard her whisper sharply before the line went dead.

  A silence settled around her as she stayed still in the dim room, heart thudding loud. Maybe nobody answered at all. Perhaps it was just Shwetha joking again - then again, could have been Papa on the line.

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  Quiet steps carried her down the hall. A sliver of light spilled through the cracked study door. Inside, Papa sat still at his desk - no call, just silence. His eyes locked on an old picture of his dad. What he felt showed only in shadows across his face.

  "Dhanya?" he called out, without turning around. "Why are you wandering in the dark? Go study."

  Back she stepped, yet the dread held its ground. Those faraway phone talks acted like a link, though it was built from something fragile as glass.