A mother makes good on her wish.
The next morning, while Delilah waits in the minivan, her words for Greg churn and cut through her. It’s not too late to change your mind. You wanted to go back then. The birdcage and the feather inside. Where we found them. Where they found us. When we were told otherwise. The doctors telling us we couldn’t. Everyone else telling us to adopt. We would come back someday, we promised, and leave something in their place. Her body tightens until her family trickles from the hotel, and seeing and hearing them and sitting in the sunrise, a new day fills her with more than blood.
William Auten – “Thick Blood”
“Thick Blood” is now available on Substack. Enjoy and please spread the word.