At this hour, questions become whales.

A man stirs sugar into coffee and offers it to his son. The coffee becomes a padded vest, soft around the boy’s heart. The boy cuts a paper snowflake and tucks it into his chest pocket. The boy walks into the rain. He walks all the way to the ocean. He pulls up a chair and begins to question:

how long? what then? and I?

The questions become whales and sli…