“Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.”

– Saul Bellow, American writer, winner of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize for Literature

The dust came in through the metal floor boards of the old truck – through a rusted hole the size of a silver dollar. It danced in the air, mingling with the cigarette smoke Father exhaled from the corner of his mouth. I moved the toe of my sneaker across the hole and watched the grey dancer drift silently, effortlessly to the floor.

I looked up and out of the windshield; it was like standing in front of an open oven. The heat poured through the fractured glass, washed over me – consumed me.

A half-filled jug of water bumped against my ankle. I reached for it, re...

Please subscribe to keep reading.