raised by wolves

November 2042 - Cynthia and Robert Kim are 46, Julie is 9 (Grayson Wheeler is 16).

Cynthia never thought she would be just another suburban mom. She was an actress and then a best-selling novelist. But her last TV role was over a decade ago, and its been years since she published a book. She met with her editor last month to discuss a new book, but she hasn't had any time to write. School has started, and her days are full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, driving the carpool, and helping with homework. Even when Julie is at school, Cynthia can't focus on her writing. She hasn't seen Grayson in months, but she still can't stop thinking about him.

The last time she saw him, she had asked him to meet her at the Providence train station. "We have to stop," she had said. "I have a husband and children."

"So it's over? You're breaking up with me?"

"We're not a couple, Grayson. You're a kid. You're in high school. It's been a great summer, Grayson, but we can't see each other anymore."

After that, she didn't seen him for months, until one night in November, when he shows up at her front door.

"Grayson, what are you doing here?" She ushers him further out on the porch away from the door. "You can't be here. My husband and daughter are home."

"I had to see you." She reaches up and brushes some hair out of her face. "I've missed you."

"What the hell is going on?"

Cynthia and Grayson fly apart as Robert comes out onto the porch, but they aren't fast enough to keep him from seeing them.

Robert isn't a fighter or a yeller; when he's really angry, he simmers. "Grayson, just go."

"I knew there was something going on with you, but this? How long have you been sleeping with that kid?"

"I ended it months ago," Cynthia says. "I didn't know he was going to come here tonight."

"So you did sleep with him. You cheated on me with a high school kid! He's younger than our son."

She doesn't know what to say. In the silence one sound stands out like a shotgun - the sound of Julie's feet running down the stairs.

"I'll go talk to her," Robert says.

"No, I should," Cynthia says.

"Fine." He heads towards the stairs. "I'm going to sleep in Justin's room tonight."

She goes downstairs to Julie's room. She knows she should say something, explain to her daughter what's going on, but she doesn't know what to say.

"Julie," she whispers.

But the only response is Julie's steady breathing. She can't already be asleep, but apparently Julie doesn't want to talk.

She tries to sleep, but she can't. Finally she gives up on sleep and goes upstairs.

"What are you doing up?" she asks Robert.

"I'm just having a nightcap. Do you want one?"

"Just tell me this," he says. "What was wrong with the way things were? What was so wrong with our life?"

"Nothing," Cynthia says. "Nothing. I just can't do it anymore, Robert."

*****

One afternoon when Julie comes home from school, it's her father who greets her at the door.

"Your mother moved out," he says. "You'll still see her. She's living in an apartment in downtown Providence."

"Okay," says Julie.

She doesn't say anything else to her father about it, but as he's reheating dinner he overhears her on the phone with her brother.

"Mom's gone. She moved out... Dad told me, she wasn't here when I got home from school... Can you come over for dinner tonight?... Oh, okay... Okay, I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."

"Is Mom dating someone?" Julie asks.

"I don't know sweetie. You'd have to ask her."

"But she left us because of her boyfriend, right?"

He doesn't know how to answer that. How do you explain to your nine-year-old daughter that her mother had an affair with a sixteen-year-old kid? "We'll be okay," he says. "Just you and me."

"Okay."