Nine Lives

And in others, evidence of life, of children—a wind-toppled slide, sun-faded and worn with use, a full wooden fort, a lap pool, then an outdoor gym, a topless man lifting weights. Then there are the true-crime shows, the trove of horror movies. Each one evidence of how easily he had given himself away, each one a nail in the coffin of his future, each sentiment gone rotten, like bruised and leaking fruit. It happened right here.” “Yeah,” Aoife sighs, as if a huge burden were finally being lifted.