SEVENTEEN

He imagined being in the summer forest, picking ripe berries from bushes, with late sunlight slanting through the trees. When he would return to the cabin, he would find, set on the table covered by a white cloth embroidered in red at the edges, a bowl, a spoon, and a jug of milk. He’d fill the bowl with berries, then pour milk over them, and he’d stand at the window and watch the sun set through the forest as he ate the berries. With dusk, mist would begin to spread about the trees.