river below carried the dull brown shine of early autumn.
We sat on a low stone wall where we had sat after finals years earlier. Elise put the sandwiches between us and smoothed the list across her knee. The last line remained folded away, but above it I could now read an entry I had written with more confidence than understanding.
Ask the question we were too afraid to ask at twenty-two.
Beneath it, another rule: no answering with a joke.
Elise ate half her sandwich, wrapped the rest, and
