mother’s earrings were on the dresser. Ana’s dresser. Her finding them wouldn’t help David any, but I couldn’t be sure that my retrieving them would be much better. He stared thoughtfully out the picture window into the yard. During a morning visit the week before, we’d stood there together spying on a Redshouldered Hawk in a nearby eucalyptus. Unaffected by our intrusive gaze, it devoured the small sparrow it had dragged from the park beyond the cinderblock wall. I wondered if David was remembering that morning now. Both the carnage and the conversation surfaced in my mind. “I’m glad I got some pictures, it’s so raw and almost beautiful to watch, you know?” David loved to photograph nature. Nature and scenery. “I like raw and beautiful,” I giggled, bumping my hip into his and turning a little to look up at him. He smiled and bent to kiss my cheek.
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