FIVE YEARS LATER
The field trip permission slip arrived in Ethan's backpack on a Tuesday, crumpled and stained with what appeared to be grape juice, the way all important documents traveled through the ecosystem of kindergarten. Sophia found it while unpacking his lunch container, the remains of a sandwich he had partially eaten, the apple that had returned home bruised and rejected.
She smoothed the slip on the kitchen counter, reading it twice. The Blackwood Development on Mercer Street. A new mixed-use complex featuring residential, commercial, and community spaces. Educational tour for architecture and urban planning curriculum. Parent volunteers requested.
Her hand stilled on the paper. The name was coincidence, she told herself. Blackwood was a common enough name. The development
