In the quiet after my mom disappeared with the newscaster, I realized I’d made a mistake. I’d chosen the wrong parent. (Seeing Pete Scheuster at that meeting about Uncle Wade’s permit, made me wonder if I’d done the same thing…

[novel continues!] They scrubbed and scrubbed before sitting down to dinner but a lavender sheen followed them everywhere. You could see it when Ravi passed the string beans. You could see it when June turned toward his mother to ask…

There’s this moment, sitting in the dark of an early morning hospital room….. Andrea my favorite nurse today….and I’ve had lots of good nurses here… Let me describe her: ( and the Turn Team)

Loneliness. I'm so used to being lonely that I'm surprised if I feel something beyond loneliness. I passed the Icelandia mural on 24th Street the other day, the one with the Carnaval Dancers. The faded painted dancers were still there.…

Had I known that you were going, I would've begged you to stay with me. This is not a happy ending. Your boss walked by, deliberately announced that this was a workplace, so I should get out! I don't have…

(Here's the next installment of Annie's backstory.) The day she left, I came home from school and found Aunt Bobbie sitting in the kitchen. “Did something happen to mom?” I asked, a cold fear rising from my belly. Later, I’d…

We traveled through time together, from the time you were twenty-two until you reached eighty-seven. I was eighteen when I first met you-- you seemed older, more mature than I, although, looking back, I now see that age twenty-two is…

There is actually nothing but change, is there? I mean nothing you can count on, except that everything in existence never stays the same for very long! Things may move slow and frustratingly so we don’t notice the change, but…

John

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……..is a wondrous thing, she thought as she gently melted into another of the hospitals rare blessings: a great nights sleep. At 6:00 am sharp, Lilly, the 6 foot tall blonde solidly built phlebotomist came to take more of her…

What I loved for a little while is my dream. I popped my head up from my pillow long enough to squint at my watch. 6:00 a.m.? My usual wake time, but. Back to sleep. Next thing I know, it's…