The Secret Book of Flora Lea

by Patti Callahan Henry

Loss and gain. As nearly every myth told: birth, death, rebirth. One thing dying, another born. An old job. A new one.

“Time will say nothing but I told you so.” Hazel quoted Auden with a smile.

“That’s one of my favorites,” he said. “And yet her favorite is ‘Let the more loving one be me.’ ”

A heart,” she told Hazel, “can hold much joy and great sorrow at the same time. It’s a mystery and it’s also true.”

gazed at each other’s reflections.