her bedroom-their bedroom-first. The door was wide open

asing her from their life together, making space for K

a small, dusty space, cramped and dark, with a single tiny wind

," she told the maid w

rything, ma' am? Even the gift

nnor as kids, grinning at the camera, their arms slung around each other' s shoulders. She

sed it back

aid, her voice har

s once got so angry when one of these frames wa

atly. She ordered the maid to bring her

bought her, books he' d given her, pictures of them smiling, laughing, lov

or died, she was done with him. This bonfire

for years to come. Then, she asked the director for the old photo albums. She went through them page by page, and wherever she fou

r bare hands, she dug into the damp soil until her fin

ained a slip of paper, a wish for the future t

be Conno

at day, promising he would never leave her. A pro

tiny pieces and let t

y had lived after leaving the system. It was a tiny, cramped space, but it had been their first real home.

rimy windows. Like her

ubr

Fred Frank, the elderly owner of the small diner on the corn

she said, manag

seeing Connor on the news. Y

t, so full of the hope that

she said, her voice barely a whisper.

altered. "But... he

s the diner open? I' d lov

' m sorry, honey. I closed up for good

ght in her eyes died.

r. He returned a few minutes later with a steaming bowl of noo

circles under her eyes. "You need to

rose and clouded her vision, hiding the tears that started to fall.

ood as I remember

time you want," he s

t eating, stuffing the noodles into her mouth, trying to swallow the sobs that wracked her bod

ger. She put the bowl down on the stone t