Aftershock

Dusk is the blue inside of a flame, and that's the colour Amy wants her ballgown, with puffball sleeves and skirt.

For once, Amy's chatter fills a space between them at the table. Then Elizabeth says, Pass the salt, Tom, and her anger spills into the room. He hands it to her and she slams it down. Amy stares at the new dent in the wood. Tom stops chewing. Elizabeth leaves the room.

In the kitchen Federico can hear Elizabeth crying. Sylvia's saying, Please, don't worry about us, sell it if you need to.

Deep beneath the houses, the fault line turns a little, plates of earth bunt against each other, like the beams of a ship docking at night.