Dana: Vespoli Dear [upd]

A floorboard creaked in the hallway. Dana didn’t move. She thought of the stray cat— Dear, she called him —who had stopped showing up three days ago. She thought of the way the fog had been pressing against her windows earlier than usual, thick as cotton.

Dana Vespoli dear, she whispered to herself, the way her grandmother used to begin every scolding. And then she got up, very slowly, and walked toward the bedroom, leaving the letter on the table beside the wilting geraniums and the unpaid bill. dana vespoli dear

Then she turned the paper over. On the back, just one line: A floorboard creaked in the hallway

Dear Dana Vespoli,