"To the End of the World with You"

JJ Maybank had a strange habit of falling asleep with his head at the foot of the bed, but ever since Haillie came into his life, he no longer had trouble waking up facing the right direction. Maybe it was magic, or maybe it was just her. For four years, his world had been simpler. Less fighting, less running away, more meaning.And ever since they'd moved in together on the outskirts of the Outer Banks, in a small cabin on a hill—right next to an old pasture that Haillie had carved out with her own hands—life had become… real.

Whiskey, her Isabella-colored gelding, had always been there. Smarter than most people JJ knew. Tall, golden as sand in the setting sun, with a soft coat and the look of an old ghost who saw everything. JJ swore the horse had once laughed at him when he'd tried to mount it barefoot with a cup of coffee in his hand.

A summer morning. Fog still lingers over the meadow. Haillie is walking around in JJ's sweatshirt, too big and smelling of him. Whiskey is calmly munching on hay, and JJ sits with a beer, looking at his girlfriend like she's the whole damn universe.

And then they hear a soft squeal. No, not a dramatic scream—just a small, mournful sound from somewhere under the barn. JJ looks up. Haillie is already heading that way.

A dog lies under the worn-out boards. Dirty, clumped together, thin as a crayon. And so scared.