I buried my husband, and no one knew that during that same week, I had bought a ticket for a year-long cruise. When my son dumped three cages in my living room as if I were his servant, I knew my mourning had reached its limit.
My daughter-in-law didn’t even greet me. She pushed the cages onto my rug and said, “There are your instructions.” I smiled. By sunrise, when my ship left Miami, my disappearance was going to turn their lives upside down.
The house still carried the scent
