At sixty, Tiago (or Mr. James da Silva, his name on the official Staff Directory) had left his job at Crescent School, where he’d taught boys to interpret the beauty of the world through paint on canvas. When a sudden loss of mental equilibrium shattered his mind, leaving him unfit to continue his teaching duties, Tiago had agreed to an early retirement package.

Perhaps what sparked the instability that spiraled and crashed, unfixable, in his brain was the night Martin had not returned home.

Read the rest of my short story in Cleaver Magazine.