Sage Carey

2041

It was 5am on a Wednesday morning in Springfield, Ohio, and the crows caw shook the wake into Christopher’s bones. He threw stale white bread crumbs to the drift of pigs snorting in joy and tumbling themselves on top of each other for the morning feed. He sat perched on the rotting back steps of the porch facing into the morning fog hanging over the fields. Kathleen’s footsteps grew louder as they approached the back door. The metal doors hinge squeaked and slammed shut behind her. The clink and flare of her lighter interrupted the silence of dawn. The flame sizzled and cracked as it burned her cigarette.