Carole was wrapped in a bathrobe, finishing up a mocha along with the Sunday paper. The sun was shining brightly in the window, the landscape outside alive with the activity of a spring morning. Feeling whimsical Carole found her horoscope at the bottom of the page, and laughed a little to herself when she read the first line: a five star day. She skimmed over the expected astro-babble and preposterous overgeneralizations but read the final line out loud.

“Despite your recent loss, you are in a position to gain a lot of knowledge about who you are.”

“Right” she said throwing the paper down on the table and went to the sink to rinse her coffee mug.

What recent loss? She wondered… she went back and picked up the same section of the newspaper, feeling not-so-whimsical as she turned back to the obituaries, looking for someone she might know, or had known.

There in bold black print was her name CAROLE HICKMAN with a simple dash separating her birthday from yesterday’s date.