The Orphan Collector

by Ellen Marie Wiseman

ALL CITIZENS ORDERED TO WEAR GAUZE MASKS IN PUBLIC. On the streetlamp above him, an advertisement for masks read: “Obey the laws and wear the gauze, protect your jaws from septic paws.”

Black meant the death of an adult; gray an elderly person; white a child.

A hug was a small gesture that didn’t cost a thing.

Nothing she felt mattered anymore. The only thing she could do was keep going and do the next thing, even when she didn’t have the strength or desire to go on.

period, Pia