Smallara

Cindy caught glimpses of Krysi’s home as Madison walked further inside.  Part of a wall here. A blur of framed photos there. A flash of flooring, a doorway, the edge…

The cold reached Cindy before the world did.  It came first as a thin blade through the tiny gap in the zipper, a narrow breath of winter slipping into the…

Madison came into her room with the force of the afternoon attached to her.  The bedroom door opened fast, and the hallway noise came in with her for half a…

Ava’s homework came in later, after Brooklyn’s, and with far less fanfare.  There was no video call.  No bright face filling the tablet.  No cheerful interruption, no casual claim, no…

Greg had started on Brooklyn’s science homework. He sat at the little workstation Madison had set up inside the habitat, the tablet propped at an angle in front of him,…

It was noon when Brooklyn called.  The tablet rang with a cheerful little chime that cut through the habitat like a thrown stone.  Greg startled first.  He had been dozing…