"Since the arrival of the ghosts, we have been instructed to shelter in place and feed whatever ghosts arrive on our doorstep. For our roommates who are essential workers, this means little..."
"When she pulled up the news, the emergency alert system drowned out a news anchor crying into his hands. It hadn’t been this way when the fires started, spread, and never stopped..."
"Siobhan and Xander were nineteen years old. It was their first summer home after starting college, and they’d left last fall best friends and virgins. But both of those things had changed..."
"Beetles litter the carpet this morning, as always. During the cold Vermont nights, the insects crawl through the windows, the cracks in the door frame, the invisible holes all over the house..."
"A farewell of last meetings that were not recognized, at the time, as such; a cessation of plans for the completion of incomplete projects; a futility of vengeful thoughts; a surrendering of cherished hostilities..."
"She needs to find a clinic, far from her neighborhood, to get the infection treated. She thinks through every facet of her plan. Her hijab will make her conspicuous. She must remove it and hide in plain sight..."