Segment 13.4

From behind, the sameness of the condos only intensified. Each one hid behind a smooth façade of brown wooden fencing flanked by uniform fleets of gray trash barrels and bright blue recycling bins. Only the perfectly symmetrical white numbers painted beside each gate distinguished one unit from another.
Sam replayed the number of the Templeton [...]

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Segment 12.5

Maybe the colors were right after all. In the glow of the sun slanting through the skylight, the earth tones pulsed and soothed. The warmth that curled around Saffron in her spotlighted rocking chair took away the creeping memory of the intruder’s touch and lulled her to near sleep.
“Are you hungry now, Florecita?” PePé crooned.
Saffron [...]

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Segment 11.6

The lunch call had gone out minutes ago and had been repeated. Now the steaming bowls graced the table and there had been time for PePé to settle in his seat, say grace twice, and cross himself. Angel watched from across the table, his chin resting against his interlaced fingers.
“Shall I go call [...]

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Segment 10.8

Fumes of some chemical wafted down the stairs and provoked Saffron to wrinkle her nose. She stopped in the midst of mopping the kitchen floor and eyed the side door. Outside, the sun blazed and a light breeze pushed the hanging trumpet flowers around the supports of the metal awning. The promise of fresh air, [...]

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Segment 9.5

The squeal of brakes and the thump of something being struck, followed by a crumpling sound, drowned out the words that Sam was forming. Emerald leapt up and covered her ears, wailing “No! There they go again!”
Dinah poised her pen over the papers on her lap as Sam stood, offering his hand to Emmy. Dinah [...]

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Segment 9.1

Warm earth tones ran all across the floors and walls, taking away even the memory of the cool seas that once flowed all through her mind’s eye, wrapped in the gentle rush of the surf, rocking the baby to sleep.
“You don’t like it, Florecita?” PePé sighed.
“Of course not,” Angel huffed. “It’s not what she [...]

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Segment 8.1

Papers, so many papers. PePé shuddered at the sight of the fat clipboard they handed Angel.
“Go sit down there, Mr. Morales,” the nurse said. She pointed with her nose to a crowded bank of plastic seats.
“You sit, Papa,” Angel said as they approached the one open chair.
“No, por favor,” PePé replied. “You need a place [...]

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Segment 7.5

The sand never clogged the shoes so quickly and the feet never refused so fully to lift and pull ahead. Saffron huffed as she climbed the path to her house. The shapes of her husband and his father drifted across the bright square of the kitchen window. In the corner of her eye, she caught [...]

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Segment 6.8

A pile of sloppy pots and a stack of dirty plates awaited Saffron at the end of dinner. She sighed and dug in, one ear cocked to Angel and PePé as they brushed off the table and chairs and shook out the linens. She could only follow snatches of their Spanish banter. She caught the [...]

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Segment 5.9

Fresh chilies simmering in a sauce on the stove mixed in the air with sawdust and adhesive. Angel rubbed his temples and pulled himself up out of his chair, tossing the newspaper aside. A sour taste rolled across his tongue and his stomach churned with both hunger and revulsion.
“I hope you’re wearing a mask [...]

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