“Viola,” Henry whispered, taking her hand in his, “home is something we must sometimes negotiate. But it is always worth the negotiations, no matter how complex. You must not send yourself into exile when you can return and make your way. We Chinese have a saying: Your heart will lead you to a path and if you do not follow it, you will find, as the years pass, that you are still at its beginning.” It was then he glanced at the photo on the small table. He shut his eyes and was quiet for a moment before he took Viola’s hand and kissed the palm, his lips soft and warm on her cold, pale skin.

Full Bleed

It will be a descent through the darkness of the familiar into the world where, like the blind man cured in the gospels, he sees men as if they were trees, but walking. This is the beginning of vision . . .

— Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners

Adam has no idea why he agreed to take his ancient in-laws on this stupid outing over dirt roads through the Valley and up into the distant hills they call mountains. He feels like he’s changing into someone else, reckless, with no appreciation for caution. They’ve been driving for an hour on tiny roads that make Adam think of another time, of early settler days. Adam is from Vancouver and hates rural life on the East Coast. There’s too much wild nature here. Big trees in city parks with groomed, accessible paths are more to his liking.

Still, he picked up Grandma Charlotte and Great Aunt Doris-the-Spinster after lunch, for a drive in the country. As soon as the women got in the car, though, Charlotte insisted that they visit the site of the old abandoned homestead. She had no interest in his little Sunday drive to see the autumn foliage. “I’m no tourist, Adam, not like you,” Charlotte said.

But Aunt Doris didn’t want to do the trip to the homestead this year, she said, and why was Charlotte insisting they go today? They usually went much earlier in the season, she reminded her, when it wasn’t almost dark in the late afternoon. “And besides, I’m done with going up the Mountain to keep the family memories alive, Charlotte. We’re old now and the past is past. You agreed we’d be normal old ladies for once.”

Charlotte began sobbing and Doris finally agreed just to get her to be quiet. Doris had worked as a clerk in the town office until she retired and if ever asked about it, she said the job required a specialization in handling idiots. Charlotte clutched her purse and giggled, pleased as a conniving child, her tears gone as quickly as they had welled up. “Due north, Adam,” she said.

Now Adam is driving north toward the Mountain and he has a choice to make. It’s up to him to refuse to take them north to the homestead, decide not to take them anywhere after all, or to insist on just a short afternoon drive as originally planned. But, smiling like a fiend, Adam suddenly shouts “Yes!”