The Blue Star Part One: Christmas Afternoon “No presents for you this year, sweetheart.” My mother said it so lightly that, for a second, I thought she was joking. She […]
Hands Part One: The Peas “Mom, do we have any ice?” My fifteen-year-old son, Noah, was standing in the kitchen doorway with his backpack still on one shoulder and his […]
“Grandma, what happens if the judge makes me go with him?” My granddaughter, Hazel, was standing in my bedroom doorway. She was holding her stuffed rabbit by one ear. His […]
Yellow Stickers “He’s not my daddy! I want my mommy!” The little girl couldn’t have been more than three years old. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe, […]
The moving truck was already in my driveway. That was the first thing I saw when I turned onto the street. A big white rental truck with orange stripes, backed […]
Lane Four Part One: The Smell of Chlorine I hadn’t been inside a competitive swimming pool in twenty-two years, and the smell hit me before I’d even opened the doors. […]
There were packages everywhere. Boxes stacked against the wall outside her door. Shopping bags crowding the welcome mat. Smaller padded mailers wedged in the gaps between them, like somebody had […]
At 11:04 on Christmas Eve, my phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. I was standing at the sink with my hands in warm dishwater. My wife, Carol, was in the […]
The suitcase was standing by the front door when I came downstairs. It was the big navy one. The one we’d taken to Florida the summer Natalie turned twelve. The […]
The Last Piece Part One: The Puzzle on the Table There is a jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table that has been unfinished for four years. It’s a thousand […]