Oak and Maple by Janice Pisello

For one man, the past is everywhere--in the rust on the old gate, the creaking of floorboards, and the clawing of raccoons inside the walls of his deteriorating house. His wife masks the decay with fresh paint and new shutters, but nothing can cover the memories of a life they built together, now slowly unraveling. Each return from their travels reveals new cracks, new signs of wear, as if the house itself reflects the fractures in their relationship.

As they move to a new home in Seattle, the promise of fresh beginnings is overshadowed by the haunting familiarity of cracks in the pavement and rust on the gate. The constant drizzle of the city's mist seems to mirror his own growing sense of loss and detachment. Conversations about heartbreak and change feel like empty echoes, and soon, the divide between them becomes too wide to bridge. When they finally part ways, the separation is almost seamless, a quiet unraveling down different paths--one down Oak Street, the other down Maple.

Oak and Maple is a poignant exploration of memory, loss, and the invisible weight of time. It's a story about the spaces we inhabit and the memories we cling to, even as they slip through our fingers like mist, leaving only the faded imprints of what once was.