“Your mother would be hugging me right about now,” Dad mumbles from the armchair. The TV screen is engulfed in an expanding ray of white light. There’s a sliver of Dana Scully’s silhouette, her fiery red hair illuminated by the supposed UFO. 

On the other side of the couch, Mom cuts a glance towards him. I imagine she’s thinking back to the early 90s when they met, when he had hair, and when they unplugged the landline to watch the latest episode of the X-Files. She playfully rolls her eyes, turning back to the TV as Mulder and Scully reunite in the deep Oregon wilderness. 

Both of them are still transfixed on the ideas of the supernatural.

Taylor Wyna is a Magic City writer whose work has been featured in Aura Literary Arts Review and Reckon Women. She is the Founder and EIC of Camellias, a Southern Regional magazine dedicated to the modern Southern woman. Say ‘hi’ on Twitter @TayyWyna.