“Every evening after dinner we’ll do some exercise,” Richard says. “What do you like?”

Graham shrugs. “Nothing.”

Richard knows this is Graham’s fifth foster home in as many months. “Let’s start with jogging.”

It takes months, but stamina builds; endorphins are released, words too, and Richard never leaves Graham’s side.

Laura Besley writes short fiction and squeezes her writing into the bookends of her day. She has lived in Holland, Germany, and Hong Kong, but now lives in land-locked central England and misses the sea. Her flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers, was published in March 2020. She tweets at @laurabesley.