Six Vintage Dresses Left in a Cedar Trunk on Oak Street

on the tarnished brass plate of the lock.

Sally stepped closer, her bright orange wool scarf slipping off her shoulder as she leaned over my arm. “What if he took something out before the judge signed the order?”

I did not answer her. I knelt on the rug, my knees cracking slightly in the quiet room, and slid the key into the keyhole.continue reading …