Cheri collapsed on the park bench near the monkey bars as her two vibrant children darted toward the playground. After retrieving a power bar and juice from her backpack, she sat back to enjoy a few treasured moments with her novel, while keeping one eye on the playground. Moments later, she was jarred out of the make-believe world in her novel by what smelled

He wasn’t trying to be better than everyone else. It wasn’t an ego trip or a “privilege thing.” He simply recognized that his mother was right when she said, “you don’t jump off a bridge just because everybody is doing it.” So, he didn’t drink and drive or experiment with the drugs. He didn’t jump on every bandwagon or chase every new band or

Jerry slumped over his desk in the corner of the small office, just a few feet from the coffee counter where he spent most of his time making customers happy. The numbers didn’t add up. He wasn’t turning enough of a profit to keep his coffee shop a viable business. His product was good, his location was ideal, but he just wasn’t pulling in

She tiptoed down the hallway of her beloved home, honing in on the quiet sobs that had awakened her. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since her mother had tucked her into bed, but tomorrow would be her first day of third grade, and she was sleeping even lighter than usual. Her little hands felt for the familiar chair rail and doorways,