This issue is the hot summer wind that dries your tears. We wait in the shade of the red rock, hoping there is still water in the soil. We fear to dig, but we must, because there are sprouts to be rescued. This issue contains stories about the bonds of family (for both good and ill), stories about the changes that come over us as the seasons shift, and stories about how we decide to linger.

Here are stories from Sarina Dorie, Elad Haber, Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito, H. L. Fullerton, Warren Benedetto, Jennifer Worrell, K. Wallace King, Michelle Knudsen, Ingrid Garcia, and Matthew Cheney.