On the Street Where You Live, from Wednesday's Child, Yiyun Li

 

This story reminded me a lot of the recent movie with Rose Byrne, "IF I HAD LEGS I COULD KICK YOU." It is also about a mother with a troubled child. In this case, her child is autistic and his disease is growing worse. She, and to a lesser extent her husband, is trying to find ways to help him: music lessons, art, etc. He is fearful of being alone in the world yet does nothing to prevent this (though he is only six). The mother is keeping a journal of people she meets that have an oddity too. When a burglar confronts her, she lets him take everything but asks him to return the journal.