I still remember the burning sting of the antiseptic, the harsh fluorescent light overhead, and the echo of my father’s voice as he hung up on me. “Why are you making such a fuss? You’re not dying. Don’t call in a panic. Clare needs support urgently now.” I was lying on a gurney in the ER,…
The boy was unknown to Nathan, and yet his face felt strangely familiar, his eyes were identical to the baby’s in the storm, though he now looked nearly seven years old. The woman looked up and provided a soft smile, though a quiet fear flickered beneath it “He came to us on his own. We…
After knocking and hearing no response, he noticed the door was unlocked and stepped inside. The sight that met him nearly knocked the breath from his chest. He froze where he stood, pulse quickening. A woman and a child stood in the living room, but their faces were not those he had met that rainy…
I have no place to stay,” she admitted quietly. “My husband put us out, and I don’t know what we’ll do now.” Without thinking twice, the man pulled the keys to his apartment from his pocket, handing them over while telling his driver to take the pair home and make sure they had everything they…
He hurried toward the airport to catch his next flight. Yet something he witnessed on the road forced him to pause. That day looked ordinary in every way, aside from the heavy rain pouring down outside. As he sped toward the airport, he caught sight of a woman standing in the storm with a little…
The silence after he left was a living thing, vast and terrifying. Every creak of the old house settling was the sound of his return. I counted to one hundred, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. “Eli,” I whispered, my voice a raw croak. “Eli, can you hear me?” A faint…
My mouth went dry, my limbs turned to lead. I looked across the table at Eli. His eyelids were drooping, his small hand rubbing his eyes. “Mom,” he slurred, his voice small and frightened. “My tummy hurts… and I’m so sleepy.” That’s when I knew. The look in Jared’s eyes wasn’t concern. It was… observation….
We sat at the dining table, the one we’d bought together for our first anniversary. The air was thick with a forced pleasantry. Jared was almost manic in his cheerfulness, pouring me a glass of wine with a slightly trembling hand. “To us,” he’d toasted, raising his own glass. “To a new beginning.” I should…
hollow-eyed stranger who lived a second life through hushed phone calls and late nights he called “work dinners.” I stayed for Eli. I stayed for the ghost of the man I loved, hoping he might one day find his way back. That’s why, when Jared announced he was cooking dinner—a genuine, home-cooked meal of steak…
Don’t move yet,” I breathed, the words a raw, broken whisper. “Whatever you do, stay completely still.” This was a hunt, and we were the prey. The only way to survive was to play dead. Just hours before, our life had been a carefully constructed illusion of normalcy. I’m Naomi, 38. My life revolved around…