He had never noticed the door before. It wasn’t surprising, really. The door was well hidden. And he didn’t really notice it as accidentally discovered it. It was during a time of stumbling, of incoherent thought and speech, of confusion, of being lost. As he wandered through the halls, his dark thoughts consuming him, he paid no attention to where he was physically. All he was doing is trying to get away from the thoughts in his head. But no matter where he went, the

Justice had finally caught up with me. At least that’s what everybody said. But justice is supposed to make everything right. Why did it still feel so messed up? I was in prison, but the young man was still dead. My choice to drive that night caused another person’s death. My sentence didn’t make it right for that family who lost their son. My cell mate is in prison, but it will take years for that restaurant to recover from its losses from that robbery. Things aren’t

This time he had gone too far. He threatened our children. We could take all of the hits and blows against us. We are strong and we are able to withstand them. We are experts in diligence and perseverance. We stand, and if one of us falls, we get back up to stand again. And again. And again. But he attacked our children. He put nightmares in their heads at night; he provoked chaos from peace. His days are numbered. He’s gone too far. We are surrounded with warriors,

They came back every year to this same spot, not to grieve, as some would suppose, but to remember life and miracles and happiness. That’s not to say they weren’t living or miracles still didn’t happen or they weren’t happy; they were. They could pick many spots of remembrance, but this is the one that was the origin of all their current experiences; the culmination of their hopes; this place of hope-filled tragedy. The spot itself wasn’t one of beauty. It was downright

It had been two weeks, and now they were the only ones left. Two people. Out of two dozen. How does that happen? Joe was the first one to leave. Joe. The alcoholic. The one that had been through four marriages, and each one telling the story of how alcohol was his only live. Then Sara. She was sorely missed. The service around here wasn’t as good as it was with her here. And many of the patrons missed her flirting. It was the only female attention some got. Then

The unnamed stranger claimed to be a traveler, but why was there a sense of the familiar about him? I don’t think I’d met him before. I think I would remember those deep brown eyes and those waves of dark hair. It looked as if he’d recently traveled from someplace sunny and warm the way his skin glowed from the inside out. But he was still familiar to me, I thought as we moved up in line to place our coffee orders. “You don’t have to worry about your job at Kroger...” hi

She awoke to excited whispers, but would take a few moments before she collected her courage to open her eyes. Instead, she listened. “That was amazing!” “Look how beautiful and innocent she is!” “She is perfect.” “There was some trouble there for a while. I didn’t know if she was going to make it.” “Yes. The process was long with this one. But she has strength in her.” “The most important thing is that she is here! I can’t wait to watch her grow.” Suddenly, the w