In the morning, Amber woke to silence—the bird was still asleep beneath its cover and seemed to have disappeared like a magician’s assistant. Josiah had lit another fire and left a note and a pot of oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins for her. I’m at your place. No rush. You need to eat. –J. She did as instructed, then washed the dishes and pulled a sweatshirt on over her pajamas and went to check on Josiah’s progress.

When she got there the door was wide open and smoke was drifting out, casually. Josiah was tinkering with something and turned around as she entered. “Wood’s a little wet, but I’ll be done in a minute. Then I want to fix the bathroom sink. There’s a drip in there that could drive you crazy.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Can I help?”
“Nah, but you can pull your car in. I cleared a spot.”

*Not much, but a little from Deciduous