A beam of blinding white light shot down from a sky thick with clouds, centering on Kym and bathing her in a gentle warmth. Under the intense brightness of the light her sweatpants and rumpled hoodie seemed to lose their color before fragmenting into piec…

I turn 80 today. Birthdays don’t mean much anymore, but I’ve been lucky. I'm the only one of my friends to have lived to this age, the only one of my kind who has acquired eight decades.

I’m a magical girl- or rather, a magical woman.

The nursing home a…