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"I’ aboutout ofas a baby was to give ar water, and the conversation s But in the , airl in the blue tie I can’t shake the idea that she looks fa her in the city

The train stops and Alice and I guide Lex onto the platfor and exiting I feel a tug at the back of irl in the blue tie is holding a silver star earring in her palm "You dropped this," she says Her eyelids are slitter, and it isn’t until after she has walked away that I realize why she looks so fairl They could be sisters And they probably are

The juroup is held behind a closed door in a recreational roo cell for cris, and parents aren’t allowed inside

Alice straightens the collar of Lex’s shirt and kisses hiht outside when it’s tieous," he says

"Gorgeous," she says, exhaling a little laugh "For all you know, I’ve colored reen," he says

She does her best not to show it, but it’s hard for her to relinquish her husband into the care of a fellow jumper, who ushers hi, and this is so these group irl in the blue tie slips past us into the room and finds a seat She looks so s the others Most of the jurown cynical about our little world, discontent I’ve never heard of a child juured and disabled from their attempts, but she looks polished and thin in her pressed uniforirl’s, is held back by a white band with a bow on one side Soes a polite if despondent s her hand on et out of here" We pass others who linger in the hall, waiting for their loved ones while reading or talking ast one another This is where Alice would have waited in her pretty dress, and when she went hoain I don’t know that I can ever forgive Lex for squandering her And yet she has never coo out more if she wanted to; if he’s in the throes of a novel, he probably won’t even notice But she reenhouses

A patrolmen opens the door for us "Ladies" He nods as we pass by "Be safe out there tonight"

The orange glow of street lanterns outlines the cobblestones with shadows Yet in the distance, the glasslands shiirl is part of the juroup?" I ask, once we’re beyond the earshot of the patrolmen

"I’ve seen her the last few times," Alice says

"So she’s jumped?"

"Sheoff She takes a deep breath and says, "Look at that ht up to the edge and reach out and take it" She closes one eye and holds up her hand, balancing the moon on her palm

I hook my elbow around hers I don’t like what she has said I don’t like the thought of her crossing the tracks and chasing the o ness and they lose themselves

"Is this the tea shop?" I say

"Oh! Yes, it is Look, the sign is shaped like an actual teacup Isn’t that quaint?"

It would be, if not for the patrol at the entrance

5

Every ift, froold, and the rough paper of our favorite books I find a god in these things--which god, I cannot say, but I’ible Gods," Daphne Leander, Year Ten

PEN FIXES THE HEM OF MY RED VELVET glove that’s starting to unroll from my elbow "You look classic," she says, and then holds up her own blue gloves with a look of disdain "Aren’t these archaic? They’re my mother’s She used to wear them on dates with my father You know, back when Internround"

"I think you’re a vision," Tho the overhead handle as the shuttle begins to move

She looks over her shoulder at hiht catches the shadows of her neck and collarbone in a way that ht for sure you’d ht it just as the doors were closing," he says, and looks atus shortly?"

"We’re taking the train to his section and walking froe about the word he has used: "other" He likes to talk like a period actor; he’s always reading romantic classics--a wo faint as a s of that nature

When the shuttle jolts and pushes Tho that he’lla candlebox hat that has been dyed the saloves Candles come in small, cylindrical stiff paper boxes that can be taken to a clothes maker to be recycled into a hat They’re dyed desired colors, given a brim, and affixed to a band so that the hat will sit firmly on one side of the head

They look ridiculous on h to pull the