Jamie and Maddy just stared. "Dad would never do that," Jamie said. "Not in a million years. I mean, he'll swear when he's really pissed off or upset, but he never even spanked me when I was a kid."

"You know," Maddy began. "The thing that took me...it left me alone for a while. I don't know for how long, and I don't know what day it was on, but it did disappear for a while."