“She takes it, flicks through the photographs of the objects picked up at the base. Rao sees her linger on a toy rifle, a red velvet comforter, a plush rabbit, a rocking chair. “Yeah,” she says. “Beautifully curated. Makes me think of the Valley of Lost Things. There’s a chapter called that in my book. It’s a literary device, a place characters visit in stories and find all the things people have lost. These, though”—her voice turns speculative—“seem to me not so much lost things as things made of loss. Where are these from?”