This would have been her favorite season in the Allegheny woods. The shadows of the trees were rickety, and the wind had sap in its scent. But last week, Ty had left; now one day decayed into the next.

Those who say “I understand,” often understand the least.

          Chia-Chia Lin’s first novel, The Unpassing, will be published in 2019. Her short story “Practicing” appears in The Paris Review’s Spring 2018 issue.