The Salt and the Storm
The first time she saw him after the fire, he was kneeling in the sand, tracing letters in the wet ground. Clara’s boots sank into the dunes as she approached, the wind tugging at her coat. The lighthouse loomed behind…
small town
Read MoreThe Salt and the Storm
The Aroma of Us
The first time Clara saw him, the air smelled like burnt sugar and diesel. She was slumped against the counter of her father’s bakery, wiping flour from her hands, when the bell above the door jangled. A man stepped inside,…
The Last Light of Summer
The salt air clung to Clara’s skin as she locked the library door, the click of the latch echoing off the cobblestones. Summer had bled into August, and the town of Marrow’s End felt like a forgotten place, suspended between…
The Last Light of Summer
The salt-kissed air tasted like memory as Clara stepped off the ferry, her boots crunching on gravel. The dock creaked beneath her, a sound she hadn’t heard in a decade, and the sun hung low over the water, bleeding gold…
The Hollow Veil
Lila’s fingers brushed the dusty spine of the journal as the attic light flickered, casting jagged shadows across the rafters. The air smelled of mildew and forgotten things, a scent that clung to her skin like a second layer. She’d…
The Salt and Sugar of Us
Clara’s hands moved instinctively, kneading the dough as if it were a language she spoke fluently. The kitchen smelled of yeast and cinnamon, the air thick with the warmth of the oven. She glanced at the clock—8:17 p.m.—and sighed. The…
The Last Light of Summer
Clara adjusted the lantern’s wick, her fingers rough from years of tending the beacon that guided ships through the jagged coastline. The sea roared beyond the cliff, salt clinging to her skin like a second layer. She had never questioned…
The Last Light of June
The bakery smelled like cinnamon and regret. Clara pulled the oven mitts from her hands, leaving them on the counter where they’d been since dawn. Outside, the sun slanted low over the rooftops of Willow Creek, painting the cobblestones in…
The Hollowed Hour
The salt-kissed air tasted of brine and secrets when Elara stepped off the rusted ferry, her boots crunching over gravel as the dock groaned beneath her. The lighthouse loomed beyond the town’s ragged edge, its white paint peeling like old…
The Last Lightkeeper
The salt air tasted like iron as Mara climbed the lighthouse stairs, her boots echoing against the rusted metal. The storm had passed, but the wind still clawed at the tower, rattling the windows of the small cottage below. She…
The Last Light of Summer
The day the storm rolled in, Clara Bennett was knee-deep in dust and deadlines, her fingers smudged with ink from cataloging books at the Willow Creek Library. The rain came without warning, a deluge that turned the gravel parking lot…
The Currents Beneath
The salt air bit sharp against Mia’s cheeks as she pulled her jacket tighter, the hem flapping like a wounded bird. The dock creaked beneath her boots, a sound so familiar it felt like a heartbeat. She’d spent every summer…
The Forgotten Vault
Maya’s fingers brushed against the brittle edge of the journal as she pulled it from the attic box, its leather cover cracked like old skin. The air reeked of dust and mildew, but beneath that, something sharper—a metallic tang she…
The Last Light of Summer
Clara’s hands trembled as she slid the sheet pan into the oven, the scent of caramelized onions and rosemary curling into the air like a secret. The bakery hummed with the clatter of dishes and the low murmur of customers,…
The Last Light of Summer
The air smelled of salt and burnt sugar as Lila pulled her coat tighter, her boots crunching over gravel. The boardwalk creaked beneath her, a familiar sound that had once felt like home. Now it groaned like a tired man,…