Debut Flash: 'Blended Whiskey, or, Adopted' by Kate Hollingsworth

Soon, he’ll decide to discover his roots. He will fly across land and ocean to do so. He’ll not be certain what he hopes to find.

He will tour the Highlands. He will visit distilleries and castles. Then, he will linger in a gift shop, swaying in front of a display of pins emblazoned with crests. “Historic Clans of Scotland,” the display will read, with a guidebook in the centre: Origins of Your Clan.

Macfarlane, Macintosh, Macpherson…

He will pick up the guidebook, flip it open. Were his ancestors in here? He will never know for sure.

“What do you think?” He will turn to his wife. She will sigh while clutching a small stack of books on the history of Stirling Castle.

“That’s just tourist tat,” she will say. “I want to get the proper ones.”

He will set the book of ancestral clans down. He won’t recognize any of them, anyway.

A week afterwards, he’ll be back home in South Carolina, trying to enjoy his souvenir Scotch. The Scotch will swirl slowly, and he will think that he can still smell the peat of the distillery.

He will imagine the rest of this batch still in Scotland. The same, but separated. The thought will press against his chest.

A different life, in a different universe, maybe.