`Cold Springs' by Rick Riordan; `Unpaid Dues' by Barbara Seranella;.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: John Orr

Katherine's just 16, in San Francisco, has some issues with her parents, but is babysitting sweet little Mallory, who calls her "Kaferine." Mallory is watching a movie she doesn't like, which Katherine picked.

Katherine doesn't know it, but the heroin she's just injected is too much for her.

She could hear her own breathing, felt the breath being reflected back on her face, as if she were against a window.

She remembered crawling into her parents' bed when she was small, her head next to Daddy's, listening to him while he slept. She tried to align her breathing to his, but his breaths were too deep. She couldn't hold that much air in her lungs without bursting. ... She had felt a failure, not being able to match her father's rhythm. ...

"The Little Mermaid" was playing, somewhere far away. Her mother and father needed her to stay in bed a little longer. It was too early to get up …