Every Sunday evening, Nora made a list. She loved lists. Lists made life look manageable. Buy groceries. Do laundry. Call Mom. Clean kitchen. Answer emails. Walk the dog. Prepare lunches. Pay bills. Water plants. Help Sarah with her résumé. Pick up Dad’s prescription. By Monday morning, the list had already grown. Someone always needed something... Continue Reading →
The Week That Needed to Be Escorted From the Building
By Friday morning, Claire wasn't finishing the week strong. She was finishing it the way a shopping cart with one bad wheel finishes a trip across a parking lot - loudly, sideways, and with several strangers wondering what the hell was happening. Monday had started innocently enough. Her alarm went off at 6:00am. Claire turned... Continue Reading →
The Afternoon She Stopped Earning Her Rest
Maya had a habit of treating rest like a prize she could only claim after completing absolutely everything. Unfortunately, “everything” was a sneaky little jerk that kept adding things to the list. There was always another load of laundry, another email, another room that needed cleaning, another errand she could squeeze in before dinner. Even... Continue Reading →
One Small Detour, a Thousand Ripples
It had been raining since before sunrise - the miserable kind of rain that seemed determined to soak through jackets, shoes, and whatever optimism a person had left. Marla was driving home from work, thinking about exactly two things: changing into sweatpants and ordering dinner so she wouldn't have to cook. Then she saw him.... Continue Reading →
The Witch Who Walked Through Centuries
The first thing Aveline learned about immortality was that everyone who dreamed of it imagined the wrong things. They imagined centuries stretching endlessly before them. They imagined watching kingdoms rise and fall, witnessing inventions that would have once been called sorcery, reading books that had not yet been written and walking through cities that did... Continue Reading →
Wicked Wednesday: The Event That Absolutely Refused to Behave
Julie had planned everything. And when she said everything, she meant everything. The venue was booked. The tables were arranged. Decorations were ready. Food was scheduled. Music was organized. There were lists, backup lists, and one particularly impressive spreadsheet that Julie was considering framing after the event. Wednesday morning, she looked at everything she'd prepared... Continue Reading →
The Day She Did Absolutely Nothing – And Needed Every Minute of It
By Friday evening, Hazel had reached the point where even her to-do list seemed judgmental. There was laundry waiting to be folded, emails she kept promising herself she'd answer, groceries to buy, floors that desperately needed attention, and approximately seventeen other things bouncing around inside her head demanding to be done immediately. So naturally, on... Continue Reading →
The Dinner Party That Became a Competitive Sport
It was supposed to be a civilized dinner party. That was mistake number one. There were six of us, a table full of food, three dogs strategically positioned beneath the chairs, and one cat pretending she was far too sophisticated to participate in anything so common as begging. She sat on the windowsill with her... Continue Reading →
A Compliment Costs Nothing, But It Can Mean Everything
Maya was standing in line at the grocery store when she noticed the woman ahead of her. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about her. She looked to be in her sixties, wearing jeans, sneakers and a bright yellow sweater. But what caught Maya's attention was her hair. It was completely silver, cut into a short,... Continue Reading →
The Dog Who Chose His Own Family
Every Saturday morning, a woman named Maggie volunteered at the local animal shelter. She cleaned kennels, folded blankets, filled water bowls, and spent as much time as she could sitting with the animals who seemed to need a little extra company. That was how she met Walter. Walter was an older dog with a greying... Continue Reading →