As Jane picked up the newspaper that was on her front porch, she heard yelling from across the street. She looked up and saw her friend Linda and ... Zoe? What was Zoe doing over there? By then she should have gotten to school already.
"Zoe!" Linda yelled. "You get back here!" What was Linda so mad about? Jane groaned, wondering what kind of trouble her daughter got into this time. But her thoughts stopped suddenly after she heard what Zoe said.
"Just leave me the fuck alone, Mom!"
Mom? Why did she call Linda "Mom"? What was going on?
After Zoe took off down the street, Linda looked over and saw Jane watching her. Then she crossed the street.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Linda said. "Zoe can be frustrating sometimes." She sighed. "You don't know how good you have it, Jane. Sometimes I wish I had your daughter instead. Stacey is such a great kid."
Jane could only stare at her friend. Stacey was Linda's daughter, not hers. What was happening? It felt like some sort of weird Twilight Zone episode, only it was real, and she was stuck in the middle of it.
