Snakewoman Creek
When Noah Barrett stepped down from the gravel bank into the shallow waters of Snakewoman Creek, the war still lingered in his bones. The cicadas' whine sounded like the whistle of mortar shells, and every time he shut his eyes, his fingers more readily recalled the feel of an M1 than a pencil or spoon. Though he was thirty, he appeared older—his once-thick hair was thinning at the temples, and months of restless wandering had left him out of shape. His army boots were decaying with rot, and his duffel bag's canvas was worn to threads. He walked with a limp that wasn’t so much physical as it was a weary rhythm that affected his stride. The farmhouse was gone. When he returned home weeks earlier, he found only padlocks and silence. His parents had died in their sleep three years ago—a faulty furnace, they said. His brother was incarcerated in Raleigh. No one had preserved the letters Noah sent from Italy. So he followed the rivers. Not because he had a destination, but because t...