The Barren Grounds

Morgan, a child in foster care, wakes up from a dream where she was in a blizzard. She tries to sneak out of the house early so she can walk to school by herself and not with her foster brother, Eli. However, when her foster father, James, wakes up and ruins her plan, Morgan goes back to sleep. When she goes to breakfast, she finds that James has arranged her breakfast so that it resembles a happy face. Morgan gets angry, saying she’s not a kid and they shouldn’t treat her like one because they aren’t a family. She turns her breakfast into an angry face and refuses to eat it. Then Morgan grabs Eli and they leave for school.

Morgan and Eli walk to school and have a conversation for the first time. Eli asks Morgan why she is so angry all the time. Morgan gets defensive and says she isn’t. Morgan and Eli talk about Morgan’s history in foster care: how she has been in seven homes and has run away from all of them. Katie and James’s home is Eli’s first, but Morgan doesn’t learn why. When they get to school, Eli is jostled and drops his drawing pad into the street. He tries to get it before it’s run over, but Morgan stops him. When they finally retrieve the pad it is ruined. Eli is very upset and admits that his father gave it to him.

Morgan takes Eli to his locker. He is still upset about the drawing pad, but Morgan doesn’t know what to do, so she goes to her own locker to get her books. When Morgan closes her locker, a girl named Emily talks to her, gives her the nickname “Ghost,” and asks to see the poem Morgan wrote for language arts. Morgan is too shy to show it to Emily. When Morgan turns in her crumpled poem, Mrs. Edwards is displeased: She doesn’t give Morgan a grade and tells her to speak with her after class. She says Morgan has talent but her poem needs more heart, and she asks Morgan to redo it. Morgan is upset but grudgingly agrees.

Emily sits next to Morgan at lunch (the first time Morgan hasn’t sat alone). They talk about the poetry assignment, which Morgan is still angry about having to redo. She vents about blowing up at someone earlier in the day and needing to rebalance her karma. In art class, Emily throws a paper ball at Morgan and asks her to text her about her karmic deed. Morgan texts her but forgets her phone is not silenced, so her art teacher kicks her out of class. Morgan texts Emily to get a drawing pad for “the kid” living with her. Emily delivers it to her after class and asks Morgan why she calls Eli that. Morgan tells Emily she is in foster care, which is the first time she has ever told a classmate that information. After school, Morgan gives Eli the drawing pad and invites him to her secret place, the attic.

Morgan takes Eli to the attic, which James has told her not to enter since it is under construction. Morgan reads while Eli draws, but she gets annoyed when she feels Eli blowing on her. Eli says it wasn’t him and that the blowing came from his drawing, which is a wintery scene that Morgan recognizes from her dream the night before; it features a humanoid animal walking in the blizzard. Morgan tells Eli to prove the blowing came from the drawing, but then the door opens and Katie comes home with takeout.

Katie and James have brought home dinner from an Indigenous restaurant, and they serve it on fancy plates. They have bannock, an Indigenous bread that Morgan can only remember having once before—at school, for First Peoples Day. The food is delicious, and Morgan apologizes for her outburst that morning.

After dinner Katie and James bring out a cake and a gift for Morgan. Morgan opens the present to find beautiful black wool moccasins. She gets upset and asks why they’re giving her a present from an Indigenous culture. Katie and James say they read it is good to expose foster children to their own culture. Morgan says that since this isn’t her home and Katie isn’t her mom, they should stop trying so hard. She runs upstairs and overhears Katie telling James to let her go; Morgan feels like they might send her back to the system because she has been difficult.

Morgan goes to her room and thinks about running away. However, she doesn’t want to, so she runs up to the attic. Morgan notices a door that has been painted shut and decides to open it so she can have a secret place that is just hers. She uses tools left on the ground to get it open and finds an unfinished bedroom. Morgan sits on the floor and cries until she hears footsteps. Eli appears in the attic and talks to Morgan. Morgan explains that her last foster parents said they wanted her to be part of their family, but whenever they went to visit grandparents, they would leave Morgan at home and take the dog. Morgan ran away because she wanted them to want her.

Eli shows her his drawing of a “fisher,” a humanoid looking animal, in the wintery place that Morgan has been picturing all day. Morgan decides to hang the drawing on the wall in their new secret room. As she staples the corners, she feels a huge gust of wind and snow building. When Morgan staples the final corner, the picture becomes a window into the snowy world, and the fisher starts running toward them. Eli runs to the wall and tears the drawing off, but in the picture the fisher has moved closer to them.

Morgan and Eli talk about the portal opening. Eli says it reminds him of home, and they fight about whether to go through the portal or not. Morgan doesn’t want to go and says Eli only wants to go because he doesn’t have a home. Eli leaves without saying anything. Morgan goes to her room and cries until Katie finds her. Katie explains that she’s just trying to help Morgan: She wants to be a well-intentioned “settler” and not a “savior.” Morgan says that she just wants to be treated like a girl and that she won’t run away. Katie and Morgan hug with new understanding. Exhausted from all the emotions of the day, Morgan falls asleep thinking about checking on Eli.

Morgan wakes up at three o’clock; she’s very cold and can’t get warm. She decides to make tea. She bundles up, puts on her moccasins, and goes into the hall, but it’s colder there. James and Katie are asleep, but when Morgan checks Eli’s room, he is missing. Morgan looks at the attic and sees the door ajar; she knows that Eli went through the portal. Morgan goes to the secret room and finds the drawing stapled on the wall and blowing more snow into the already snowy room. Morgan trudges to the window and calls for Eli, but she doesn’t see him. Morgan decides to follow Eli.