Everyone receives gifts they neither need nor want—bath salts for people who only shower, a frilly nightgown wrapped up for someone who sleeps in sweatpants, that 27th tie . . . Sometimes we ... [+]
Heather Santo is a development chemist living in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and daughter. In addition to writing, her creative interests include photography, painting, and collecting skeleton keys. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @Heather52384 "Blue Glass Dog" is in Short Circuit #06, Short Édition's quarterly review.
After I left Tom, I rented a house next to a cemetery. My mother offered to help me move. Standing in the gravel lot where I parked my car, she regarded the one-story clapboard partially hidden in pine shade. "Are you sure this is where you want to live?" "Yes, mom," I replied, lifting a laundry basket out of my car. It was filled with the few clothes and possessions I'd taken from my marital home. "And it came fully furnished," I added. "But don't you want to be around people?" she asked, concerned. "It's so, I don't know, secluded out here." Her eyes swept right, through the tree line whe