North Carolina Boundary Lines Drawn on an Oak Desk

“Our maps are digitally printed, Mrs. Vance,” Ralph said. “There is no manual ink on the committee’s files.”

“There is on this one,” I said.

I pulled my old blue fountain pen from my pocket. The blue plastic casing was stained near the nib, where it had leaked into my pocket for years.

“This pen leaks when the basement registry gets cold,” I said. “It continue reading …