Read the 2026 Second Prize Winner: The Ingredients of Home by Susan Swan
The Ingredients of Home by Susan Swan It’s dusk when I break in. A sign looms above the gate with a drawing of an Alsatian and a camera. I hadn’t noticed that in daylight. My heart pounding, I rattle the wire mesh on the gate, stop and listen for barking. Nothing breaks the silence except the alarm call of thrushes. I pull the hood of my parka down over my face and climb, jamming my toes onto the metal struts. Halfway up, I throw over the holdall, wincing as it lands with a thump on the other side. Someone might have heard that. After a few seconds, I climb some more until the top of the gate is level with my waist. Then I reach into the carrier bag hanging from my shoulder, pull out the pillow and flatten it over the barbed wire. One leg goes over, finds a foothold, then the other, like dismounting a horse. I ease the pillow from the barbs and drop to the ground, crouching in the undergrowth like a rabbit hiding from a fox. Beside me I notice a long gash in the fence held t...