The Mirror

“Dad, what would happen to me if you died?”
Quinn continues the steady motion of the stone against the axe head, round and round and round. His little girl is mesmerised, watching the easy circular motion of his brown and weathered hand, listening to the raspy sound. He stops, spits on the stone and applies it to the axe head once again. The edge is shiny silver and he flicks it like a guitar string with his thumb, testing. “I’m not goin’ to die, kiddo.”

— From “Down the Green Road” by Gabrie...