She looks up. Smiles.
“Are you in our system?”
“Used to be, but I moved away.”
“But you’re back now?”
“Yes.” I smile at my son. “When I knew he was on the way, I brought us back.”
She smiles at him, too. “I understand. I found you. You’re here.”
I look from her to him.
“We are.”*
I look from there to him.
“I understand, Bud. I found them,” I point, smiling encouragingly at him. “They’re there.”
“Yeah,” he says, smiling at her. “When the fire’s away, will they bring it back?”
“It’s there now.”
“Used to be, but it’s burnt away.”
I look around at everyone. He does, too.
“We’re still in their system.”
— Joshua Commander
*”We are still Northtown Books!”
(drawn from northtownbooks.com)
This article appears in Free Food!.