title: Emily Ate the Wind
author:  Peter Conners 
description: Peter Conners was born September 11, 1970, in a small town called America. His published books include the prose poetry collection OF WHISKEY AND WINTER and the novella EMILY ATE THE WIND. His memoir, Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead, was published by Da Capo Press in March 2009. He is also editor of PP/FF: AN ANTHOLOGY which was published by Starcherone Books in April 2006. His writing appears regularly in such journals as Poetry International, Mississippi Review, Brooklyn Rail, Fiction International, Salt Hill, Hotel Amerika, Mid-American Review, The Bitter Oleander, and Beloit Fiction Journal.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/00004.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/00005.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/00001.jpg)
  
  ONE
  
  EMILY LEFT HER OFFICE EARLY TO WALK ON THE BEACH. She didn’t care that the
  usual clear blue sky was gradually growing darker or that the wind was rapidly
  picking up. After leaving her hectic life, a broken relationship, and a job in
  Boston to move to a quiet seaside village, she had grown fond of the breeze
  and the sound of the waves gently crashing onto the beach. She had spent a
  grueling day in negotiations with an uncooperative client, and she was looking
  forward to a brisk, relaxing walk along the shore.
  
  The access nearest the beach was practically empty; she quickly parked and was
  on the sand in moments. The sky was darkening, and the wind was becoming
  stronger, forcibly blowing the sand across the beach. The sand felt like
  thousands of tiny needles striking her legs. Regardless, the walk was what she
  needed. The smell of the water, the sound of the crashing waves, the touch 