ien

he dashboard climbed pas

ast like skeletal fingers clawing at the glass. I didn't slow down. The vib

hing that drowned

en

atched a plane disappear into the clouds. I didn't know who was on it th

u're going

, shrill and distorted. I had forgotten I was on the phone w

. "The florists sent lilies instead of moonflowers. And the council me

he white lines were hyp

e you liste

e sounded rusty, unused, like

veryone is whispering. They think you c

tapped the red i

oared, filling the void, but it w

t into my palms. My chest felt like it had been hollowed out with a spoon.

s. It was the merger. It w

w it was

e was to

ntiseptic cleaner and Victoria's cloying perfume. But underneath

her closet.

empty.

unnies. It was as if she had never lived there. As if th

ignoring the angry blare of the

a. The woman who signed papers and sat at the end of the

eel like I was

uzzed agai

n't a

ere sitting on my desk, signed. I hadn't f

r signature-that shaky, jagg

lands. I should turn. I should go home, fix

d on the

halt, smoke rising in the headlights. I came to a shuddering

ck there. Not to

eel with the heel of

at her for leaving. I needed to drag her

ning it around on the narrow h

g home. I was