She stepped into winter’s velvet wood and
I didn’t think she would ever come out.
I was seven and my mother stayed
up late drinking Jim Beam and gin.
I had a terrible dream that night.
I dreamt of the world ending.
I was in my house but everyone
was gone. My father had vanished
from the basement, and I saw my
mother walking a half mile down
the road. I called to her, but she
didn’t respond. She tripped over
her shadow and disappeared
without saying goodbye.
They found her wandering alone,
but that was all I had heard. I went
back to bed—I didn’t care anymore.
I slept in my head until
the police arrived.
Jake Rosenberg is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, and his work has previously appeared in the Eunoia Review and the Sucarnochee Review. He currently resides in New Haven with his fiancee and his cat.
–Foreground Art by J Stimp
–Background Art by Thomas H