A veil of confusion falls across his face. “My mom is here?” I nod, and the confusion turns to panic. “Inside?”

I shake my head and take his hand to pull him in the direction that she went. We race to the back of the cottage, but she’s not there. We both go in opposite directions to check along the sides and meet back at the front.

“Where is she?” he screams at me as I approach.

“I don’t know.” My own scream comes out like as whisper. “She came out of the woods and went around back. That’s the last time I saw her.”

He starts screaming her name at the woods, running in every direction across the front lawn. Movement on the roof pulls my attention away from him, and when I look up, I see Willa standing far above us. She’s balanced on one of the peaks like the statue of an angel, her white nightgown billowing in the breeze.

“Ezra,” I call out. It’s not loud, but somehow he hears me. I point up; he follows the direction of my finger and goes very still.

“Mom,” he calls out. “Don’t move. I’m coming to get you.” She shakes her head. “Mom,” his voice pleads. She shakes her head again. Ezra moves toward her, and she backs up toward an open window, making it very clear that if he goes up there to get her, she’ll go into the burning cottage.

“What the fuck is she doing?” he says, tears and panic heavy in his voice.

I reach out and take his hand. “She wants it to be over,” I explain. He doesn’t say anything. We both just stand there, watching Willa, who is watching us.

When it’s clear that Ezra is not going to come up after her, she puts her hand to her mouth and blows him a kiss. His body jerks forward, but I hold tight to his hand and keep him in place. She finally turns and walks along the peak to the open window, ducks down, and crawls through it. A sob escapes Ezra, but he stands firm. Something in him knows it’s the right thing to do. That by not saving her, he’s saving her.

We stand there together, hand in hand, and watch. We both know there’s no point in trying to stop it. It’s an old wooden cottage on an island; it never stood a chance next to Willa’s gas can and match.