Tin Man

by Sarah Winman

Men and boys should be capable of beautiful things.

His hurt turned to anger, there when he woke up and before he slept. Life was not as fun without Michael. Life was not as colorful without him. Life was not life without him.

Life gets it wrong sometimes, doesn’t it?

And Ellis remembered thinking he would never meet anyone like him again, and in that acknowledgment, he knew, was love. He could see his mother concentrating on Michael’s words, how enraptured she was. And when he stopped, she bent down and kissed him on the head and said, Thank you. Because everything she held on to and everything she believed in came together in that unexpected moment. The simple belief that men and boys were capable of beautiful things.