I drove to my late wife’s mountain house to say goodbye to the life we had lost. Instead, I found two abandoned twin girls standing on the porch,

picture.

“She knew I’d come home eventually.”

Outside, snow softened every scar on the mountain. Inside, two girls ate warm bread with honey, safe beneath the roof Vanessa had tried to steal and Mara had saved for them.

I had gone there to say goodbye to my family.

Instead, Mara had guided me back to one.