Back in 1947, BioMother relinquished her baby for adoption under a pseudonym. BioFather was “Unknown.” Masters of misdirection, they’d multiplied and vanished. Baby searched for decades, a woman sawed in half.

Pencil-bending bureaucrats. Palmed-dollar private detectives. A DNA card-shuffle. With a wave of the wand, the magicians remained forever invisible.

Writings by Lisa K. Buchanan (www.lisakbuchanan.com) appear in CRAFT, The Citron Review, and elsewhere. Foes: fellow bus passengers with shoulder bags near her nose. Friends: anyone not preceding her in the bakery line for a lemon bar. Heroes: public librarians. Current favorite banned book: Bus 57 (Dashka Slater).