The Cherry Robbers

by Sarai Walker

Her husband continued to come to her despite her pleas that she couldn’t survive another pregnancy; he said it was unnatural for her to refuse him.

We’d had little supervision as we’d grown collectively older, but we didn’t stray. It was as if there were one of those electric fences around our house, the kind that gives a dog a zap of electricity if it wanders off the property. Eventually, the owner can turn the electricity off because the dog doesn’t dare go too far. That was us.

There was a trail of empty rooms where Aster should have been.

If I’d been at home, I would have taken a walk in the woods or gone to the meadow.