West Virginia summers were always green, but it had been two years now since we’d been on our own, and Deep Hollow was positively choked with it. Green was overtaking all the houses, and ours was no exception. Vines had started to creep under the back door.

One day this would happen. A speaker would appear in the clear blue sky.

Now it’s dark. The boardwalk teems with life, ghost beach people who are here one week and gone the next.