Henry wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm and then shoved another tray full of dishes into the dishwasher. His shirt was soaked, both from the spray of the faucet as he rinsed dishes and from his own perspiration. His back ached, right there at the base, and it made Henry want to pause to just rub it, to knead out the kinks and the pain. But there was no time!
When he was little, he’d loved the movie Fantasia, and his mother would allow him to watch it over and over. Looking back, he realized she wasn’t being indulgent. She was using the DVD as a babysitter, as a way to avoid interacting with him.
What made him think of the Disney film right now, though, was not a dysfunctional family memory but Mickey Mouse. He was in the segment called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and he lost co
