The Housewarming

by Kristin Offiler

But Callie knew Zoe hated the dark. Hated when she couldn’t see what was right in front of her.

As she rounded the side yard, they came into view, lit by a radiant glow emanating from the house windows. A surprise sob rose up her throat. They looked ethereal in the near dark, like a shimmering mirage.

Everything about her slightly off-kilter, perfectly tilted in its own way.

Time was slippery. Her mother loved to say that it took and took and took and never gave anything back. Time could feel like a shadowy path into a moonlit sea, but today more than ever, Zoe trusted in the promise of whatever came next.