Mourning doves coo around me in a halo. Honeysuckles sweeten the air from the forbidden side of the riverbank—too sweet, reminiscent of Mama using so much perfume her solar plexus dribbled. I wonder why the land always refuses to meet my grief halfway...

Delora. Name meaning: lady of sorrows. Ever since a rooster crowed at her birth, her mother knew she'd be sick. Now, Delora fights to survive chronic illness as an adult, playing folk shows for loose change. It's been five years since she's seen or spoken to her family; since something so massive tore them apart that bridging it with words is unspeakable. Maybe it's finally time to right what went wrong—and go back home, where old blood still coppers the walls, watching, waiting.