Here After

by Sean Costello

It was a tiny crystal figurine of a cat he’d bought for David when the boy was six. David had spotted it in a downtown boutique and had all but begged Peter to get it for him. It had seemed an odd thing for a small, active boy to want, but Peter had bought it just the same. And David had treasured it, holding it up to the light in the daytime, storing it at night in a toy safe only he knew the combination for.

He was caught in this undertow of pain and grief and could no longer summon the will to escape it.