The wind whispered through the dark, empty trees like a warning in a foreign language. Winter was coming, and with winter came shadows. Long nights. Endless journeys through the long, dark halls of my mind. I stared out of my solitary window facing the barren orchard. The few leaves left

“How did you know?” I ask, not sure I want the answer. I thought I had been careful. I thought Minnie felt only my feigned support and cheerfulness. “I don’t know,” she shrugs. “Just a feeling.” Blurred asphalt and weeds fill my eyes. A dilapidated farm house in the distance.

I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and most of the time, that’s fine by me. But in late fall when the sky fills with birds migrating south for the winter, traveling thousands of miles, I homesick for places I’ve never been. Places like Malaysia or Thailand or South