9
Rosa & Thirkel
Rosa woke to the sound of hammer and nail, hammer and nail. Eyes tight shut, she listened, waiting for the curse words she knew would come. There... there was one; as a nail bent, as the hammer missed and jarred along his arm, as he thwacked his thumb—she did not know which of these it was. She slid a hand beneath her mattress, retrieving a slip of paper and pen, and marked a line next to the swear she’d heard. It was her father’s third most popular, though she could see they were all well used. She had not added a new word to the list for some weeks now. This was a disappointment to her.
Outside the air was close, even at this early hour, fitting around her shoulders like a shawl. Bone dry earth skittered across the yard in the barest of breezes. They lived away from e
