she got a phone call in the middle of dinner. at first she was annoyed, but as she listened to what the mechanically filtered voice of her mother, she had to sit down.

“stanley hasn’t come back. you know how he would wander in the woods. well, he hasn’t come back this time. it’s been three weeks. he hasn’t come back.

we. well. we. assume that- well.”

there was a pause.

“the funeral is a week from saturday.”