One evening, they uprooted Magnolia’s garden stakes, carefully rearranging them into ugly shapes across her lawn—angles forming crude symbols visible from the street. Magnolia discovered the spectacle at twilight, pausing only briefly before straightening each stake with steady hands. She hummed as she worked, curdling the boys’ laughter into unease.
The boys pushed boundaries further. One day, she found them teasing a boy younger than them. At first, it seemed the boy was laughing and giggling along with them, and she turned away, planning to tackle the many tasks in her home that needed attention.