Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls

For maybe the first time in my whole life, I’m doing something really reckless. Beer. The nice kid is going to drink beer. Maybe the nice kid will get drunk. Maybe the nice kid will make out with somebody. Who knows what the nice kid might do on a warm, dark summer night? Tomorrow will be the last day of Nora’s junior year. Nora heads for the party in the park, laughing and chatting with her friends, eager to leave her usual quiet, careful self behind. Other kids are drinking beer, flirting, pairing off, dancing. Even the hostile presence of a jealous ex-boyfriend can’t spoil the fun. In a few hours, though, Mister Death will make his move. Nora hasn’t yet seen his shadow, but we know he’s getting ready. He’s the man who isn’t there, the man no one notices, and he has a rifle. And he’s going into the dark woods to use it. Nora and her classmates and their town will find out about him soon enough.