There was no sound from the backyard now
There was no sound from the backyard now, and I wondered if Brian had gone down to the cellar to organize his tools.
He always organized when he could not build, shifting the heavy plastic bins from one shelf to another until the labels were perfectly aligned.
At eleven, the bright Ohio sun was high enough to bake the gravel in the driveway. Through the screen door, I could see Brian standing beside our gray Buick, the car we had bought second-hand with eighty-two thousand miles on it.
He had already opened the passenger door for me, his silver watch catching the glare of the light as he rested his arm on the warm metal roof.
I stood in the dim entry of the hallway, holding Olivia’s graduation cap against my floral skirt.
The black polyester felt surprisingly light, almost weightless, like a shadow I could carry in my hands.
From here, I could see the heat rising off the hood of the car, distorting the green leaves of the maples across the street.
Author
Andrew Collins
I knew what lay beyond that threshold: the pitying
I knew what lay beyond that threshold: the pitying looks from neighbors, the empty seat in the front row, the loud celebration of families who still had their children.
I smoothed my skirt one last time, my fingers lingering on the pattern of faded blue roses.
The kitchen clock gave a heavy, metallic click behind me, marking the hour.
I stood there, staring at the brass handle, with the sudden, heavy realization that I had to open the front door and step out into the bright Ohio sun.
My hand stayed on the brass knob for three long ticks of the hallway clock before I pulled. The heat from the porch hit me like a physical weight, thick with the scent of dry clover from the front yard.
The hallway floor was slick under my shoes, smelling faintly of the fresh floor wax I had applied the previous Tuesday to keep my mind busy. Down the corridor, the heavy black fan sat on its metal stand, humming on its lowest speed and shaking the floorboards with a dull, rhythmic vibration.
Author
Andrew Collins
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