is me is really me

The girl was feeling exhausted but happy when she pulled her car into her driveway. She’d run one of the last high school cross-country meets of the season, and she’d placed well. Her mother had gone to watch her and told her daughter to meet her back at home to celebrate the victory.

Their house was lit up as the girl got out and walked down the drive, but it was pitch black outside. It was late autumn, and the sun had set hours earlier.

As she approached her back door, she spotted pieces of fried chicken strewn in front of her, as if someone had gleefully thrown a bucket of it into the air. A leg, then a breast, then another leg were spread out before her. She felt unnerved by the mysterious, deep-fried scene.

She went inside to meet her brother and sister dividing Halloween candy on the…