It was always her. Verna Firefly Dodd. She was the one woman in the world who understood me. It didn’t matter that I was born mute; I never needed to talk around her. She was beautiful and full of optimism, and she loved me too, but she shouldn't have. It made her vulnerable. I made her weak. I knew it, and yet I allowed myself to fall in love with her, for more reasons than I could count… But she wasn’t mine to love. She was my brother’ his wife and his Firefly. I’d learned to shove it down; after all, what could I say? I was voiceless. My inability to talk had made me an easy target in a world where judgments are harsh, and talking my way out of a troubling situation wasn’t an option. I needed Verna. She was my life raft on violent waters. My channel through the hush. I may have come into the world silently, and I’ll leave it that way too… But what I won’t do is go out without telling my side of the story. And when wanting her pushes me past the breaking point, will I betray my brother and cross the line? If anything is worth the risk, it’s her.