The next morning dawned on Embry Hollow, bright and chipper, glistening with dew. At six am, Bella plucked a tulip crimson red as her hair from the patch of colorful flowers spilling out of the mailbox she shared with Agnes. The orange cat meowed softly in greeting. "Good morning, little fella," Bella said, scratching behind its ears. "Did you dream of mice again? Always the same cycle. That fella's probably been dead for quite a while now." She looked through the mail: a flu-shot reminder, a donation solicitation, a letter from her sister with no return address. As she slit the envelope open, her eyes fell upon a single sheet with a medical facility name and a one-word heading: "Emergency."