The station door was swollen shut. Wren put a shoulder to it, then their whole weight. It opened all at once and they fell inside.
The radio made a concerned noise.
Wren
I’m fine.
Please don’t write that down as my arrival.
Iris
Too late. Very dramatic. Excellent commitment.
There was a crate beneath the desk. Keys, photographs, a chipped bowl. A toy horse with one wheel. Somebody had wrapped the breakable things in weather reports.
Unfold the note
If anyone comes back:
We took the blue boat. All five of us, and the cat, though she had objections.
We’re heading inland. Ask for the old observatory.
There is food in the bottom cupboard. Please eat it.
— M.
Wren recognized the handwriting before they finished the first line. The narrow letters. The way every full stop looked cross.
They sat down on the floor.
Iris
Wren?
Wren
She left a note.
I kept thinking there would be nothing here.
Iris
Take your time.
For a while,
there was only breathing.
The cupboard held two tins of peaches and a spoon. Wren ate one tin sitting on the floor. The peaches tasted of metal and summer.
Wren
The old observatory. Do you know it?
Iris
I’m looking at it from my window.
Wren folded the note along its old creases, then folded it again to fit beside the shell.
Wren
I think I need directions.