No promises. Just this.
Whatever happened when we took Dad back to Japan, I didn’t want a Kind binding on it. It had to be a man and a woman and simple, straight-up desire.
A knock sounded on the door.
I pulled back, slowly. Ken looked a little dazed. His tongue darted out to lick the corner of his mouth as if he wanted to savor the lingering taste of me.
“Guys? Dinner’s ready,” said Marlin through the door. “And I can’t keep Dad from barging in there any longer,” she added in a stage whisper.
Ken pushed the door open.
My sister stood, hands on her hips, with an expression caught between a glare and smirk.
“Sorted that out, did you? Good. Let’s eat.”
Korean stone bowls of rice and perfectly seasoned vegetables were laid out on the counter. Dad, Marlin, Ken and I squeezed together at the table; a strange little family.
We ate.
***
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About the Author
K. Bird Lincoln is an ESL professional and writer living on the windswept Minnesota Prairie with family and a huge addiction to frou-frou coffee. Also dark chocolate—without which, the world is a howling void. Originally from Cleveland, she has spent more years living on the edges of the Pacific Ocean than in the Midwest. Her speculative short stories are published in various online and paper publications such as Strange Horizons. Her first novel, Tiger Lily, a medieval Japanese fantasy, is available from Amazon. She also writes tasty speculative and YA fiction reviews under the name K. Bird at Goodreads.com.
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