My aunt had never visited before. She brought Diet Sprite, and we drank it at our picnic table. Dad poured a little Jim Beam into his. Mom wandered near us. I told my aunt how Mom cared for our three acres and survived on grass, leaves, and apples. My aunt argued my mom had bolted, and that Gazelle was only a goat. She showed Dad a paper from the sheriff that said it made more sense for me to live with her full-time. I’d never even been to her house. Mom pranced around, leaped high into the air, and sprinted across the meadow leaving her sister in a whirl of dust.
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Jeff Harvey lives in San Diego and edits Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine. His work has appeared in Ghost Parachute, MoonPark Review, and Five South. He’s the author of Life Would Be Perfect If (Bottlecap Press, 2024).