Bennett leaned against the hood of Driftwood, watching the low clouds churn over the horizon as Micah stood silently beside him. Ignoring him, as usual. The wind cut through the gaps in the concrete, sharp enough to make him tug his jacket tighter around himself. “Do you ever wish you smoked?” he asked. Micah blinked, clearly not … Read more
Micah hears the family long before anyone comes to get him. The clatter of pans. Daniel humming off-key. Lucy shrieking about where her socks went. Nora negotiating with her mother over the ethics of pancakes vs. waffles. Warm chaos. The sound of belonging. He sits on the edge of his bed in what is now … Read more
Micah didn’t want a birthday celebration. Didn’t ask for one. Didn’t mention the date. He figured if he didn’t say anything, the day would stay quiet, and he could treat it like any other slow evening. No such luck. Elise had gone full older-sister celebration mode. He came home from work to the smell of … Read more
Bennett doesn’t even open the door at first. He stands there on the passenger side, one hand hovering over the handle like he knows how momentous this is. Micah pretends he’s not watching, but of course he is. It’s his beat-up old SUV, the one he bought when he was just a kid, and Bennett … Read more
19-year-old Micah Rowe rattled up Mom and Pop Reyes’ driveway in a car that looks like she’s held together with prayer and spite. But he doesn’t care. The car belonged to him! He’s been working at NorthArc for over a year, and he finally had enough money to pay for the car he’d been watching on the … Read more
Micah is alone in the house for the first time since he moved in. The silence startles him. No footsteps. No overlapping conversations. No one needing anything. Just the low hum of the refrigerator and the sound of his own breathing. He stands in the kitchen for a long minute, waiting for the familiar itch … Read more
Elise called Micah two days before the holiday to invite him to come to her house for Thanksgiving. “Mom and Pop Reyes will be there,” she said, like that settled everything. He muttered something about work. She had expected this reaction and played her trump card. “The girls are asking for you.” That was the … Read more
The strange time slips and voices and sensations that didn’t belong to the modern world were getting more frequent. More destabilizing. Micah wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep looking like everything was still normal with him. Fortunately, he didn’t have to this morning. Elise had an early shift. Daniel had taken the girls … Read more
Micah had been feeling… better. Not cured. Not fixed. Just steadier. Like his thoughts had stopped ricocheting long enough for him to breathe between them. Even Jack hadn’t been getting under his skin. Nora had eased off the quiet surveillance, notebook blissfully absent. And the sun was actually out in the Pacific Northwest, which felt … Read more
Micah sits at the kitchen table like the phone just insulted him. Elise left it there for him on purpose because she’s sick of watching him suffer in silence every time the girls beg him for ideas for a craft project they can do together with big, hopeful eyes. He stares at the screen. Pinterest … Read more