NIRELLE

We somehow managed to make ourselves comfortable on the couch, and Lucien pulled out some board games.

"My family liked to play this together," he said as he set it in front of me. I stare at it like it is some sort of UFO. "You don't know how to play Snakes and Ladders?" he asked when he noticed my confusion. I look up at him and shake my head.

"Snakes and ladders?"

"I will explain the game to you." He settled in beside me and pulled a blanket over my legs. He spent the next ten ...