My Body is a Cage and Other Stories

On Monday, Astrid begins getting calls from news outlets wanting her comments, her
grief, her theories on what happened. They all talkabout her mother as if she is lost forever.
What will you do? They ask. Go find her, she replies.
The night before her plane leaves for Santa Fe, sheis watching Alien Encounters, the
Washington state episode in which her mother providesexpertise on why the Northwest is such a
hotspot for UFO activity. She isn’t really watchingit. It’s paused on her mother’s face,
mid-sentence. Alive, though staticky. She feels asif her chest will cave in. She jumps when her
phone begins buzzing, and stares at it before resolvingthat this will be the last call she takes.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Ms. Finlay?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hi, this is Ezra Bauer from National Geographic.”
“Okay.”
“Can I ask you a few questions? I’ll be quick, I promise.”
“Okay.”
“Are you really going to New Mexico to look for yourmother yourself?”
“Yes, I am.”
There is a pause on the line.
“Could I join you?” Ezra asks.
“Excuse me?”
“Could I go with you? National Geographic would payfor everything, transportation,
lodging, all of it. If you’ll let me document it andmake it into a story.”