It was on a Friday afternoon—3:08 PM to be exact on the eighth day of
January 2021—when an email arrived and asked in the subject line: Are you still out there?
The sender, Jennifer, was hoping to reach the Vietnamese writer on the
other side of the question, the writer who had disappeared years ago
without saying goodbye and letting her readers know what happened to her
story. Jennifer pressed on in her email: she had been there for a while It was almost time to go when Rachel, Michelle, and Mia placed their
packed bags in the hallway of the Hotel Palazzo Rosa in Venice. The last
train to Spannocchia was set to depart in a few hours to take them to their writing group in Tuscany. Recognizing
that life may never bring them together again in Venice, they circled
back to their favorite spots and the people they met, unaware of the
open door and enchantment waiting for their discovery. The chocolate chip cookies were as decadent up close as they were from the outside looking in. Made fresh daily, they would make a good gratitude gift. But that changed when the mobile designer stepped inside L.A. Burdick Chocolates, a 1,000-square-foot chocolatier shop and café that invited her to consider other possibilities. The artist understood what had to be done even if she didn't know where she was going with the elephants made of jade, agate, jasper, and onyx. |
"Mia's writing is beautiful. She has a unique combination of quiet grace, amazing creativity, and what I sense is unwavering strength." —Stephanie K., subscriber