They cleared their father’s office in the weeks after, removing textbooks and memorabilia. Surprisingly, no bottles stashed in drawers as they’d found at his home. Instead, slips of paper, strewn across surfaces. Each handwritten with a name and salary, his own included (and smaller): confetti to memorialize his academic obsolescence.

Fiona C. Hankenson lives and works in Philadelphia. She is trained in veterinary science and is widely published in professional journals and texts. Currently, she is exploring her passion for creative writing, informed by her life experiences, while enrolled in the MFA program and Ranier Writing Workshop through Pacific Lutheran University.