A Ladder to the Sky

by John Boyne

“Actually, we’re celebrating,” said Rufus, and I noticed now that they had a bottle of champagne standing between them in a silver ice bucket. That wasn’t something you saw in the Lamb and Flag very often. “You’ve heard the wonderful news, I presume?” “No. Has Mr. Trump died?” “Even better. The shortlist for The Prize came out this morning and Garrett is on it.”