The Keepers of the House

by Shirley Ann Grau

And isn’t it funny, she thought, that it takes two generations to kill off a man? … First him, and then his memory. …

People in little towns seem to live forever, drying up like crickets, chirping all the time. …

I’ve always liked to drive alone at night. There is a sentimental brightness to things—it’s a good deal like being drunk.