They found a hook and line on the shore of the lake. Their daughter begged to go fishing, wading in on chunky, shaky toddler legs. They swam wide circles around her, laughing and splashing. Everyone froze when she pulled out the sunfish, shimmering in the sunlight like her golden curls.

Melanie Winklosky is a fiction writer trapped in a grant writer’s body. She lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts with her husband and dog, in what those who don’t understand call her “empty nest,” cheering on her children as they chase their dreams.