return to dust, part 3

October 2086. Zach Harris is 8, Nathan Lind is 36, Keri Riley is 25, Dominique Beech is 27, Samir Peroit is 31, Amaya Hadley is 8. 


"Can we stay out a little longer? Can we please, Uncle Nate?"

How do you say no to that face? Zach looked up to Nathan with the kind of ravenous hope in his eyes that suggested he hadn't had any fun in precisely one year and fourteen days, which was likely true. Night was Nathan's favorite time in the city, too, when everything became so vibrant and exciting. So he said yes.

"What do you wanna do? See the street performers? Buy some sparklers?"

In the end, they decided to do it all.

return to dust, part 2

October 2086. Aurora Harris is 40, Zach is 9, Rebecca is 3. Meadow Lind is 71, Brady is 72. Clarice Miller is 40. 


The story of how Aurora ended up in California with the kids was a complicated story. If she had to summarize it, it would be that she ran and ran until she hit the ocean and could go no further, contemplating whether she should just keep walking out into the sea. No, she decided, she would not walk out into the sea. She had children to raise for fifteen more years. The sea could come for her later.

Of course, there were a few more steps between that moment and now.