The Cold Room Made Her Sleep Harder Than Ever

Joy woke up in the daylight feeling better rested than she had in weeks, swaddled under a mound of blankets. She kicked off her blankets and jumped up to look into the bedroom's open doorway. Dad's bed was empty. His blankets on the floor. Where the hell is he? And then she heard a chopping sound outside, an axe splitting wood. Joy ran outside, barefoot, ignoring her cold toes and the prickling and poking against her bare soles. She hopped the rest of the distance to find dad in the shadow of the outhouse. The axe raised high above his head. He arched his swing and cleaved the wood chunk in half. Then he laughed