te

e we

ree weeks sinc

of suffoca

my best

tracking a ghost through a storm, men who c

th

flight manifest matches. N

simply vanishe

the empty rectangular void on the

painted during our first year of marriage.

sed to reside was the most depressing thi

an

d in withou

a silk robe. *El

e of my mahogany desk unti

at off,"

nce. "Oh, I found it in the discard pile the maids

. It.

us growl vibrating with a r

ing from her eyes. "Okay, fine! You do

it pool on the floor, standing t

me to look.

opped to the crumpled blue silk

ut," I

ice rising in frustration. "She's gone! You won! W

id ge

ng the door hard enough

he bottle of sc

AM. I didn'

low. The burn distracted me, momentarily,

ed the top dra

e thing she

ett

't even

ery folded in half, left tucke

dredth time, the paper gr

ant

t if I fought hard enough, bled enough, yo

as wr

a war. It's

never ch

Because if you aren't happy after everything

look f

len

curses hurle

ndiffe

done f

my fist, the sound cr

ow and looked down a

e had cultivated white roses, p

garden wa

hired a landscaper

complained, wrinkling her nose

ng up the rosebushes, the r

als being tossed carelessl

inside m

e of scotch and hur

tered with a d

broken pane and exploded aga

d up, terrified,

er chair and buried

l of people. Sofia, t

never fel

ould see was Elena's back as

ear was the silen

der than a