It was a conclusion he had come to without any adult telling him to forgive anyone.

I didn’t correct him.

I only asked how he felt about the letter.

He said he felt sad about the lizard and hoped Colby had found somewhere to play basketball.

Those were the pieces he could carry that day.

A month later he asked if he could write back.

His first draft said, “It’s fine.” He stared at it for a long while, then erased the sentence.

He wrote, “I was sad when Rig went away.