Author: admin

So I give him a few minutes to get ahead of me, I wait until the kids are occupied, and then I slip back into the tunnel to follow him. I don’t turn on any lights but walk in darkness. I try to be silent but there is a lot of water in this tunnel…

When we return for the next load, I catch sight of Orly talking to himself. He is standing oddly in a corner, and his hands are moving as though he’s explaining something, and then I hear the lifted note of his voice, a kind of plea. It frightens me. He sees me and his hands…

“I was thirteen. And watching three kids.” “That’s right.” I stare at her. The cancer has stolen any youth from her face; it has made her ancient and barely recognizable. I can’t remember what she looked like before this. There is a hot thing growing in my abdomen, in the middle of me, it is…

“Dad!” “How?” Orly sighs. “One bite at a time. Okay-but we’re not forgetting about them.” “We’re not,” his dad agrees. The kids hurry into action but I take Dom’s arm and pull him aside. “We shouldn’t do this,” I say. “Do what?” “We should take the kids away from this beach and put them back…

Morning is bad. We have barely slept. I knew we would be punished for this and we are, we are a chorus of moans and groans as we drag ourselves up to start another day. It’s been raining on and off but any larger storms have not yet reached us. Nobody talks much as we…

“Move what?” “The freezer? To higher ground.” Dom scratches his chin, looking skeptical. “Dunno how we’d manage that. It’s a room, not a box.” “What about the freezer back up in the lighthouse?” “It’s too small,” Orly points out. “We’d only fit a fraction of what’s here.” There is silence. I look the kid in…

I hurry back to the kitchen to light a dozen candles. It’s really late now, and full dark. “Okay,” I call up the stairs. “Dinner’s ready!” They all but trip over themselves coming down. “Oh my god,” Fen breathes. Laid out on the kitchen table is our feast. I have cooked a roast chicken (which…

I meet her eyes and say, “I think we should take our dinner down to the beach this evening and eat with Fen.” The boys make sounds of excitement and a smile splits Rowan’s face. “That’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” Raff The fire is too big. That’s the thought he has as they…

She has her own words that must be said. “I don’t want children, Dom.” And I come with three and so that is that. I remember a morning, one of many that all bleed together in my mind. A morning I rose, shattered by grief and weariness, stumbling into our living room in the city….

But this evening. This evening I have woken to the sensation of having shed a skin. In my sleep I have let something go. An entire life. I go into the small living area to find Dominic taking off his shirt. Which is the last thing I need. “Sorry-“ He doesn’t look at me, doesn’t…