Acts of Contrition

SYIC: Part 1: Survival — Chapter 22

Spring is a season of change. After a long, harsh winter, things that were buried resurface again. It’s also a season of transition, a crossing from one stage of life to another. On that spring day, Emily and the Bryant family had to accept those truths.

Emily stood in Sarah’s childhood bedroom as the Salvation Army hauled away the furniture. Piece by piece, the room lost its color and soon it would be bare. Off to the side sat two banker’s boxes filled with photos, trophies, soccer medals, and other small relics that had not moved since the day Sarah died.

She lowered her head, knelt by the box of photos, and slid one free. Jack and Sarah smiled at the camera, with the boardwalk at dusk behind them, kids in the background waving sparklers. Emily paused, let out a breath, and eased the picture back into the stack.

“They’re just about done,” Stephanie said, walking into the bedroom, surveying the emptiness.

“Yeah,” Emily said, looking out the window at the large red maples, nearly in bloom.

Stephanie walked to the window and looked into the backyard at an old, weathered play set with a tire swing attached.

“I remember when your grandfather and father spent the entire afternoon putting that together.”