Never tell Susan you slept with Daniel.

She will never understand. Eighteen years old will not excuse any of you now. Why hurt her? Why reduce her?

SO VERY GREEN BY SARA BASRAI 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 11

Marie was irritated. Daniel possessed the power to irritate her. She always remembered this when they were together again.

But, today, all was glorious in Cape Cod. Greens were so very green and the sky whispered to her to open her palette and paint. The children were playing—Susan and Daniel’s with hers in the garden—laughing and chasing and playing ball in and out of the shade of the old Willow Oak tree. They were inventing a game with turn-taking and rules. Wow, how sophisticated the children were. How wonderful that they should be friends, too. For a moment, she forgot that Daniel possessed the power to irritate her.

So yes, the children were enjoying the garden—the mosquito-ridden garden. Each time Daniel spoke of the garden, he raised his hands and made quotation signs in the air. “Who wants to play in the mosquito-…