“They took down the swing set on Sunday,” Daniel said.

“I saw the grass where it stood.”

He got into the car.

María stayed on the sidewalk a minute longer, then went after him.

The drive south took them past the school, where the crossing guard was still out with her sign, and Daniel turned the radio all the way down.

Two hundred miles away the afternoon was warmer.

Ruth had sanded the porch bench in the spring, so the armrest was smooth where Emily laid her hand.

The rabbit sat upright on the wooden chair next to her, his left ear twisted from years of little fingers.