The Things We Leave Behind

by Tanya Anne Crosby

If the house were on fire, what would you save? The cat? The computer? The only existing picture of your dead sister? Rather, the question should be: What would you be willing to lose?

Essentially, blood left the body in a number of ways. It might spurt, drip, spray, ooze or gush.

At the last minute, Zoe went back into the bedroom and picked up the dried, bloody rag. And then, taking both the paper towel and the rag, she placed them both into a plastic zip bag she plucked out of the box beneath the sink. She stuffed the bag inside her purse. The purse was beginning to bulge now, filled with last-minute items.