Mourning the absence of something that was never there is a solitary kind of pain. Sometimes it hits me from the smallest thing: A little blonde kid at a store, wanting some sugary cereal. Last night, it was when the takeout was arriving, and I went to get two plates. Two. The space where more plates should go just sitting there empty, loud, lonely.

Listen with the lights off: What podcasts are the scariest, the funniest, the best? The scariest fiction: Ghosts in the Burbs. Liz Sower is a a rarity, a great writer who is also a great narrator and storyteller.