Chapter 4

I turned toward the voice and saw my mom standing with the other parents waiting for their kids.

"What brings you here?" I asked.

She studied my face for a moment, making sure I wasn't upset, then whispered, "I came to take you home."

"Oh." I tried to walk as normally as I could, not wanting Mom to notice that my knee was injured.

I realized that this young body of mine couldn't handle pain as well as my previous one. I had only knelt for two hours yesterday, but after resting all day today, my knee hadn't recovered yet.