Shady

“That makes sense,” Ky said with a nod. “Funny how the climate controls everything.”

“I mean… I don’t know what kind of fruit grows up here,” Ky said thoughtfully. “But I’m sure I could figure something out. It was one of the few meals ...

“You look amazing ,” Sadie said with a grin. “I’m so happy for you.”

“That sounds interesting,” Ky said with a nod. “We never charred them, but my papa liked it when we let birds soak in honey and mashed wild berries then roasted ...

“Oof.” Ky tried to force her expression back to neutral, but her mind was imagining taking the nerves out of a cow. Imagined having them taken out of her. And ...

Ky wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Were there any redeemable qualities of that dish?”

Sadie grinned back. “You look so good, dude! How’s it feel?”

“Oh, uh…” she was taken off guard by that question and finally let go of her abdomen to rub the back of her neck as she thought. “There was this ...

Ky saw the deflection and nodded. Right, so she had made things too dark. But apologizing seemed like it’d make it worse. “I guess not a specific place, but I ...

Sadie sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled out all the clothes. She’d look forward to changing into them after a shower. It’d been a while since ...

Ky nodded, then glanced at the children. Was this getting too dark for them? She hadn’t meant to make it like this. She always had to go and sour things, ...

“Do it,” Sadie said, gesturing towards the bathroom. “This is your moment.”

“I appreciate it, more than you know,” Ky said genuinely. She still hadn’t shook how terrible it was to watch. To remember. There was so much blood. And even when ...

“No, no, not at all!” Ky said quickly. “I don’t fault her for it. He was… easy… to embarrass,” she said carefully, then shrugged. “So I was kind of used ...

“Show time,” Sadie murmured, but pulled her phone out. “1:37.”