New Orleans Aftermath

by Teresa Tumminello Brader

The day was warm - much warmer than it should’ve been - even though the sky hung heavy with dark clouds. The downed trees, the gaps where they once were, the missing shade - she noticed these things after the shock of the other changes had worn off some. The massive roots of the surviving trees buckled the sidewalk, those knotty lumps existing for as long as she could remember. The sun emerged from behind the gray clouds, and she squinted. When the clouds slipped back into place, the momentary brilliance gone, she gazed up at the live oaks that had endured. She was reminded that leaves don't change colors here: they are green, and then they fall.

6S - C1

Teresa Tumminello Brader, author of Going Back to College, was born in New Orleans and lives in the area still. Her short fiction can be found at Rumble and The Flask Review.