I smash Mother’s clay flowerpot with a basketball. It splits into multiple pieces.

Dad sifts through the pieces.

“Some things can’t be replaced,” he murmurs.

I wish he’d hate me. Or hit me. Yell.

I glue piece after piece. Fill the pot with the lilacs Mother had planned.

Cracks remain.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. A native of Idaho, Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, CaféLit, and Ariel Chart, among others.