Ryszard

On Mott or Elizabeth they saw a truck with the Polish name, "Ryszard," lettered on its side. Which reminded her of the stranded manatee named Ilya, rescued from a creek in New Jersey in October, and airlifted back to Florida. Which reminded her of Thanksgiving in Moskva in 2005: some Fulbright friends had taken her along to dinner at the American Embassy's near dacha. They got off the bus much too soon and had to walk the last leg in the shoulder of the road. The forest rose all around and the snow came inside their boots. It took so long to get there that she wondered about the far dacha.

When they arrived, the assembled company was watching "Remember the Titans" on an enormous flatscreen TV that she had only glimpsed in shop windows on the fanciest street in the center. After three months of abstinence, she found the English abrasive. She went out back, where they were keeping cans of Coca-Cola in barrels. She stood there amidst the iconic red and script, gulping the quiet. The great cold night was the refrigerator, and her coat.