Part 1 The coffee was still brewing. That’s the detail that haunts me. The smell of the French roast, the gurgle of the machine. It was 9:15 AM on a Tuesday. Lily and Josh were at school. The house was quiet, peaceful. I was wearing yoga pants I had no intention of doing yoga in…

Part 1 It would be funny, they whispered, watching her make a fool of herself. Maya slowly walked toward the grand piano. Her legs felt like jelly. Every eye in the restaurant was fixed on her. She could hear the whispers. Someone laughed. She sat down on the piano bench. It felt good to be…

Part 1 The phone in my hand was black. Silent. Heavier than my backpack. Find your own way home. The words echoed in the sudden, roaring silence of my head. The laughter from the call—Kylie’s, Noah’s, Calvin’s—felt like it was still happening, a tinny, cruel sound buzzing in my ears. The gate agent was still…

Part 1   The burlap was rough against my skin, smelling of dust, potatoes, and my own terrified, shallow breaths. It was a shroud for the living, a punishment for a crime I hadn’t committed. My crime, in the eyes of my uncle, was my face. To the world, I was just Mara. The “Lost…

Part 1   The gun shop was a hive of noise and ego. The kind of place where testosterone hung thicker than the smell of gun oil. I didn’t come here to buy a gun. I came here for a signal. Out back, a live shooting demo was in full swing, and the rhythmic crack-crack-crack…

Part 1   I rolled into the NATO training camp in a beat-up pickup truck that had more mud than paint. The tires were caked with the red clay of some back road I’d taken just to feel the rumble. I probably looked like I’d taken a wrong turn on my way to a logistics…

Part 1   “Stop drinking that juice. You will heal.” The words were tiny, but they cut through the oppressive silence of the master suite like a gunshot. I froze. I was slumped in my $50,000 motorized wheelchair, a prisoner in a body that had given up. My hand, which I could barely control, was…