I ARRIVED AT MY BEACH HOUSE EXPECTING PEACE-YILUX

I sat in my car at the end of the street, engine still running, hands resting on the steering wheel as if they belonged to someone else entirely.

The music from the house carried faintly down the road, distorted by distance, but still loud enough to remind me what had just happened inside my own walls.

For a long moment, I didn’t move.

Didn’t cry.

Didn’t continue reading …