Where They Found Her

by Kimberly McCreight

ONE CAN’T BUILD LITTLE WHITE PICKET FENCES TO KEEP NIGHTMARES OUT. —Anne Sexton

“This is what teenagers do—turn you into a sobbing lunatic. But what the hell does Barbara know about normal?” “Nothing,” I said, and that much was true. “People are only wound that tight when they’re about to fly into a million pieces.”

Even after twenty years of marriage, it was amazing how fiercely you could argue without having to admit what you were really angry about. And that was in a good marriage, with a husband you loved. Because Barbara did love Steve so very much. More than anything.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—Emily Dickinson