Francis leaned back, listening to the shuffle of tourists and the clack of chess pieces echo through Washington Square Park. The summer heat hung over lower Manhattan like a weight. It roasted skin, soaked shirts, and slowed everything to a crawl. He sat on one side of a stone chess table, with sunglasses shielding his eyes and a Mets cap keeping the sun off his face. He looked at his opponent, then down at the board. Fra...

The prison gates opened slowly, without sound. No clang, no warning bell, just the quiet roll of steel parting from steel. A guard stepped aside and gave a small nod, more reflex than gesture, already turning back before the man had cleared the threshold. Earl stepped out carrying a canvas duffel that sagged near the seams. He paused, taking in the sky with a look that wasn’t awe or relief, just recognition. The light had...

The mule stood still in the morning hush, its ears twitching at the wind that moved in dry currents through the mesquite and creosote. There was a silence about the land that did not welcome voices, nor did it yield to memory without cost. The man moved slowly through it, burdened not just by age but by the weight of something far heavier than years. A weight shaped like absence. In the lean shade of the adobe wall, he cr...