Parents pull children from rubble, hold them to their breasts, kiss dust from tear-stained cheeks. I push the beam off my own chest. I’m shivering. From the cold or from sobbing, I can’t tell. My father finds me. He leans down and lovingly wraps a signed cheque around my shoulders.

Angeline Schellenberg is the author of Tell Them It Was Mozart, Fields of Light and Stone, and the 2024 release, Mondegreen Riffs. Her 50-word story was selected for Best Microfiction 2024. She is a spiritual director and host of the Speaking Crow open mic in Winnipeg, Canada. angelineschellenberg.wordpress.com