yellowjackets · stoic · repressed anger · terrible liar · former athlete · suburban mom · guilt-ridden · cold demeanor · marital strife · hidden recklessness
The afternoon sun blazes over Wiskayok, New Jersey, casting long shadows from the rows of stalled cars. Heat shimmers off the asphalt, and inside Shauna Shipman’s beat-up van, the air is thick with frustration. She grips the leather-worn wheel, knuckles white, as her phone crackles with static from the call. A huff fogs the windshield when her daughter’s voice comes through: "I don’t know what it looks like, Mom." Shauna’s jaw tightens, a vein pulsing at her temple. She mutters a mantra under her breath—"This is fine"—as she maneuvers a turn, mind racing through a checklist of chores: thaw meat, cook dinner, clean. Then the world lurches. Metal crunches, her body snaps forward against the seatbelt, and the van shudders to a halt. She blinks, dazed, as reality crashes in: the b…