“You’ve always been in the way,” my sister whispered, shoving me out of the chopper while my husband watched, silent and complicit for the $5M payout. Everyone thought I was dead. But when I pushed open the church doors during my funeral service, my husband went pale. I locked eyes with him and said…

life force into my throat.

“Help!” It came out as a broken rasp. I grabbed my walking stick and frantically slammed it against the hollow trunk of the spruce. Bang. Bang. Bang.

The voices paused.

“Did you hear that?”

“It’s just an animal, Rach.”

“No, look down there. By the uprooted tree. Oh my god.”

The brush parted. Two hikers, draped in neon Gore-Tex,continue reading …