Incidents Around the House

At breakfast, Bela’s mother rushes her through eating, telling her that she will be late for work. She tells Bela she loves her, then scolds Bela for not responding. Bela asks her where the recycling bin goes when they empty it, worrying about a recurring conversation she has been having with Other Mommy. Other Mommy repeatedly asks Bela “Can I go into your heart?” and refers to reincarnation, which Bela misunderstands as the flowers “carnations.”

Bela’s mother leaves, telling her to be good for her father, who works from home and watches Bela during the summer. Bela reluctantly goes upstairs to her room, knowing that Other Mommy will ask her the question and dreading having to say no to her.

Bela remembers the first time she mentioned Other Mommy to her parents, when she said goodnight to her closet. They teased her about it, and she became embarrassed and stopped talking until they left her room. Afterward, Other Mommy stood up from where she had hidden between Bela’s bed and the wall.

Bela’s father comes upstairs to check on her and asks her why she is standing in the middle of her room. He complains of a smell and goes to flush the toilet, asking her if she’s feeling okay. Bela is worried that he will see Other Mommy, who is hiding in the bathroom. She rushes him downstairs. He tells her that he is worried that she never plays outside anymore. She works a puzzle in the living room and thinks about how she no longer wants to go outside, because Other Mommy watches her from the window. She worries that she will come downstairs and speak to Daddo.

Bela works on her puzzle and Daddo makes calls for work. In between, they chat, and he gives her advice about being brave, including not being afraid of her public speaking projects at school. However, Bela is really frightened because she can hear the ceiling creaking, and she worries Daddo will hear it or see Other Mommy.

Daddo asks Bela to choose a movie to watch when he’s finished with work. He tells her they can’t wait for Mommy to come home, because they don’t know how late she will be. Bela is sad and thinks about how her mother used to spend time at home with them but is now constantly busy.

Bela goes upstairs and sees Other Mommy, who again asks her if she can come into Bela’s heart. She tells Bela that friends help each other. Bela thinks that she hates to see Other Mommy in daylight because she can see the hairs on her arms. Bela says no and runs downstairs to Daddo, demanding to watch a movie.

Bela and Daddo watch three movies in succession, all of them the kind of romantic comedies Mommy hates. Bela thinks that she used to hear Daddo and Mommy watching scary movies in their room and that Other Mommy would stand at the end of her bed and cover her ears so she wouldn’t be scared.

Mommy comes home, seeming to be drunk, and asks Daddo if he wants a drink. He says yes, and she scolds Bela for not being in bed. Bela goes upstairs, wishing that her parents would fall in love again and hold hands. She sees Other Mommy and again replies “No” to the question. She slams the bathroom door and tries to brush her teeth loudly to drown out any reply.

Bela lies in bed and Mommy sits with her. Bela tells Mommy that she smells different, like another person, and her mother is upset, telling her that she shouldn’t say that. Bela pretends to fall asleep, knowing that her parents often talk after she is asleep and tell her things when they think she can’t hear. Crying a little, she says that Daddo is a good man. She gasps suddenly, seeing Other Mommy move in the corner. However, Daddo appears in the doorway, and she plays it off as a shadow, telling him she was frightened over nothing.

They leave, and Other Mommy appears next to Bela’s bed. When Bela screams, her parents run back, and she tells them she almost fell out of her bed. After they leave, she wonders if Other Mommy is her friend. She knows that friends are supposed to help each other, but she is frightened. Other Mommy told her that they would trade places, and Bela would go to where Other Mommy came from. She hears her parents laughing, and then she hears Other Mommy slithering closer again. She decides not to call out so as not to interrupt her parents’ happy moment. She remembers how they used to laugh all the time and wishes that they would stay happy again.

Bela is at the park with her friend Deb. Their mothers are talking on a bench: Mommy is crying, and Carly (Deb’s mother) seems to be comforting her. Deb mentions that the school is going to start checking them for weapons during the new school year. She tells Bela that she would hurt anyone who tried to hurt her friend. Bela latches on to this and begins asking her how she would help if there was a woman in her room who lived in her closet. Deb becomes rattled and hides in the playhouse at the top of the jungle gym. Bela hears her crying and comes close to apologize. When she does so, Deb’s voice asks, “Can I go into your heart?” and Bela sees hairy fingers around the doorway (40). She realizes that the real Deb is below, running to their mothers, and she screams and falls backward off the jungle gym.

Her mother comforts her, and Bela tells her she is scared. This is the first time she’s ever seen Other Mommy outside of the house.

At home, Mommy says that Bela scared her to death, and Daddo suggests they go see the doctor to get her checked out. Bela hears Other Mommy creaking around upstairs and wonders if she will stop coming closer if Bela says yes to her.

Dr. Smith gently questions Bela about her fall, asking if she felt dizzy or afraid. Mommy interjects, seeming to feel that Dr. Smith is questioning her parenting and telling him that she was watching Bela the whole time. Dr. Smith explains that Bela is a coordinated and agile child, so it is unusual that she would fall. She tells him she was afraid of Other Mommy, and her parents are surprised to hear that name again. They tell him it was a childhood imaginary friend.

Dr. Smith checks Bela for a concussion and asks her to look at the wallpaper of geese and ducks while he listens to her heart. Bela is frightened of the wallpaper and worries that the geese are hurting the ducks.