A woman packs a kill kit and then can't go through with it. A samurai sharpens a blade and seals a letter. A hospital morgue proves to be only a doorway back. Across decades and continents, a net of crises ? betrayal, war, revenge, and miraculous returns ? ties characters to one another through consequence.

This collection pairs moral reckoning with quietly uncanny moments: a resurrected survivor who must decide whether to testify, a neighbor who finds a fan in a hedge that smells like another life, a grieving sister who learns the thing she wants most could undo her. Each story charges toward a pivotal choice that can't be undone.