Sisters of the prodigal - short story

Christian Century, June 1, 1994 by Madeleine Mysko

"Hey, things are really looking up now that Gerald's returned from the dead." That's the last thing I said to Noreen before she left this afternoon. I shouldn't have said it - the joke's getting old anyway - but for some reason I wanted to get a rise out of her. She laughed - same old Noreen-and yet for a minute there I thought it was going to go the other way.

I thought she might actually cry. And it hit me then that nobody needs to tell Noreen anything. She already knows the good news, which is we might as well forget about Clearfield, now that our brother's back.