boxes and squares #4.2: then have some faith

October 2088. Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4, Lou Corelli is 29, Jordan Graham is 28, Milo is 9. 

previously: Jordan is the neighborhood dad // the retired pond swans are Maria’s spirit animals

The community arts center in Evergreen Harbor was a popular destination in the neighborhood, but Maria had never found the time to go. There was always some excuse to claim for why she was too busy. She worked four days a week, and she obviously had Johanna to care for all on her own. Nobody could claim that she wasn’t busy. But her sister suggested that she should experiment with some new hobbies and try to find something more than work and motherhood (and pining over her man) to do with herself. 

So they went to the arts center one morning. There was a children’s program for Johanna, and Maria browsed through some of the adult offerings.



She really had high hopes for the wine-making class. Wine was delightful, and Maria had Italian heritage and culinary inclinations. Surely this should be a good fit!

But then she remembered that she was also squeamish. Somehow she never thought very deeply about how wine was made. But now, flat on her ass in a barrel of sloppy fruit, she didn’t think she’d ever see wine the same way again.



She finished making the bottle. It was terrible—her butt was in it, after all—but at least she could say that she tried something new.

boxes and squares #4.1: first fall apart

October 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Colette Marin is 31, Felix and Milo are 9, Maria Boone is 26.

previously: wouldn’t we be the sweetest thing to ever not work out?

Okay, maybe it was for the best that you didn’t fall in love with this. There were a whole lot of people back in Wisconsin who would prefer that this didn’t work out.

The first week of classes, Jordan might have easily said to hell with it. He was ready to call it quits and crawl back to his family in utter shame, because this wasn’t working. It was harder than he thought it would be. His arms felt like jello. He felt his muscles burn in places where he didn’t know muscles existed. His fingers gripped rock after rock until they could only tremble. To top it all off, he looked like such a shrimp next to these other beefy guys.



“But let me tell you a secret,” Maya told him, “We have less body weight to pull up. Just focus on your technique. Newbies always slip a few times. That’s why we have you on the short wall.”

Jordan and Colette: a history

This timeline was meant to be a little freewrite for my own purposes, but since it’s written, I thought I would share. This is what inspired “the boys“ flashback story. And it also inspired another adorable little flashback drabble that I posted on Tumblr. There’s not much shockingly new information here—most of this has been mentioned or discussed in one place or another over a long long saga, but some of it may have been easily overlooked or lost in the mess. Maybe somebody might find it interesting to read?  

Can you even imagine a time when Colette was carefree and happy? They were such babies. 💔

boxes and squares #4.0: the boys

July 2079 (flashback, almost ten years ago). Mick Graham is 54, Jordan is 19, Colette Marin is 22.

Colette came over to drop the boys off with Jordan at his dad’s place. Jordan stared at the babies like they were alien creatures. They were still wrinkly and pink and curled up like raisins. When she told him that he would need to take them sometimes, he imagined they might be many months older before that happened. 

“Their formula is in the bag,” Colette said. “It’s already mixed, but it needs to go in the fridge. That’s important, did you hear? In the fridge. But they like it warm, just don’t microwave it. Tell me you’re listening?”

postcards from grad school

September, October 2088. Justin Nova is 28, Calvin Banks is 21, Amy Jones is 22, Natalia Deppiesse is 23, Andre Sylvester is 23. Cynthia Kim is 52. Selena Sosa is 25. April Hutchins is 25, Beau Jackson is 24.

#1: welcome to grad school

Grad school is happening at Magnolia Graduate College. 

Leading our group is Dr. Heather Thompson, Dean of Students. She specializes in biology. (Hi, Ingrid’s mom!)

Our students this year: 

Andre, Calvin, and Steven are all working on their medical degrees. 

The others are non-medical graduate programs. Justin (architecture), Amy (nursing), and Natty, (teaching).

intermission: when time runs out (Micah Phoenix obituary)

September - October 2088. Jack Phoenix is 39, Micah is 66.

previously: 12 months to live 

warnings: cancer, death

Jack Phoenix lived a pretty ordinary life. His brother caused all the drama that people talked about in their family. In fact, when all added up, Hayden had probably caused their parents enough stress for the both of them combined, so Jack felt it was his duty to be the stable twin. 

The biggest stir Jack ever caused was dumping his high school girlfriend in his sophomore year of college. He had met the woman who would become his wife, whom he married and remained happily married to for all their years since. He didn’t become a pro sports star after high school and became a cop instead. Like his father, like any other number of thousands of men just like him. Like it was a Phoenix family tradition to aspire to greatness and fall just short. They were family people, hard-working people, and their family was strong.

boxes and squares #3: what dreams?

October 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Lou Corelli is 29.

Soundtrack: “Dreams” by The Cranberries

previously: what happened after Stephanie’s wedding // meet Lou

* briefly NSFW 😇

Before he headed out into the wilderness, while still in San Sequoia, Jordan stopped into a tattoo parlor in a quiet suburban shopping strip. Colette was never a fan of his only tattoo and forbade him from getting more. Why did he ever let her decide that for him? They weren’t married, and half the time they hardly liked each other.

Now, they weren’t together at all anymore and he wasn’t asking permission.

He wasn’t asking Maria, either, to be honest, though her opinion he absolutely cared about. This journey for him meant not letting women control his life anymore, and that had to include Maria, as well.

So, with a sizable chunk of his travel fund and a couple of ibuprofen, he settled in to commit vision to flesh. And he said a small prayer that Maria wouldn’t mind this one on him, because it wasn’t exactly small.



His travels would next take him up the coast and into the Cascade Mountains where he looked forward to being truly off-grid and out of cell reception for a few days.

Now it was time to go get lost and see what epiphanies he might find.