I SENT MY DEAD WIFE’S MOTHER $300 EVERY MONTH FOR FIVE YEARS… UNTIL I DROVE TO HER COASTAL TOWN AND FOUND A STRANGER LIVING AT HER ADDRESS, A GRAVE WITH THE WRONG NAME, AND A TRUTH SO SHOCKING IT MADE ME QUESTION WHETHER MY WIFE HAD EVER REALLY DIED AT ALL

You decide to go.

You tell yourself it is practical.

You will see Clara in person.
You will fix the bank details.
You will make sure she is all right.
Maybe visit Marina’s grave.
Maybe breathe the same salt air she grew up in and finally let some part of this old mourning loosen its grip.

You pack a small bag and buy the kind of things Clara liked when you were married. Good coffee. Dark chocolates she always pretended were too expensive. Imported sardines in olive oil because Marina once joked her mother could survive the apocalypse with crackers, fish, and stubbornness.

The drive takes most of the day.