Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

  David Heiller “I want Emlee.” My daughter, Malika, lay in the strange bed in the strange house of my sister, in the strange state of Texas. It was the first night of our vacation. “You want what?” I asked with a smile. “I want Emlee,” the two-year-old repeated. I walked out of the room, Emily’s room, where Malika had staked her claim for a week. Emily sat in the kitchen with the rest of the family. “Guess who Mollie wants to see?” I said, looking at my niece. Emily laughed and walked past me to her room—no, to their room. Malika and Emily Emily and Mollie took to each other right away on our vacation last week. The first night, after saying goodnight to “Emlee,” Malika woke up several times. Emily held her for a few minutes, and told her, “You know, if you want, you can just come over to my bed, you don’t have to cry.” Some 12-year-old girls would have called to their mother for help, or at least complained in the morning. Emily didn’t complain. “Oh, she ...