She hears that rotten limb finally snap. Waiting for a scream, she freezes. But the only sound is birds welcoming the new day. She pushes away the reminder of the sound her arm made when he hit her with a baseball bat. She smiles as she fills the watering can.

Debra Kuzbik lives on Vancouver Island and watches out for creaking branches.

Editor: To refresh your memory, look back on Tim Boiteau’s Widowmaker and Stephen Tilden’s Widowmaker Revisited.