Mothkeeper

Gerald trapped, collected, and mounted the first fifty-nine species in his collection under the tutelage of his grandfather. They were not the best specimens, but he kept them displayed because they signified a lifelong love that not even his wife, Marjorie, could rival in their fifty-six years of marriage. Gerald was a lepidopterist, and his collecting continued even as his mind and body began to deteriorate. When Gerald began hearing voices, the doctor gave him a prescription. When Gerald wrote the name “Susan” accidentally on one of his taxonomy cards, he scratched it out. When Gerald lay dying, he wondered to himself what it all meant — until, unshackled from his earthly trappings, Gerald finally understood…