How To Keep Your Heart For Christmas_The Late Buffet_A Matter of Grace and Our Father_Debut Under th
Catalog Guide:
How To Keep Your Heart For Christmas
“Grandma, do you know where Mommy and Daddy is?” asked Susie over chocolate-chip pancakes. It was after 8 pm, when usually her younger brother, Noah, and her are watching cartoons together on the living room floor of their home. But this time, Grandma picked up Susie from school instead of their mother. At Grandma’s house, they get to eat pancakes or cereal for dinner, which Noah enjoyed without much else going through his little head. Susie, however, felt uneased the absence of her parents this December evening.“They’re getting their Christmas shopping out of the way, my dear,” said Grandma, ...
The Late Buffet
Lily was brushing down the old wooden desk she used for check-ins when she heard the door open. When she looked up to great her customers, she saw Mrs. Barnschweigel. An older woman, probably in her late 50s, she was particular about her room and everything else. True to form, she headed for the desk and Lily suppressed a tiny sigh – she really didn’t have time for whatever manufactured crisis was coming her way, she had a group of new guests that were due to arrive any minute. But Lily knew the key to the success she had made of the small resort was word of mouth, most of her new customers w...
A Matter of Grace and Our Father
“Grace,” said mom. She sounded very distant, even though she was six feet across the table from me. Behind her wooden dining chair, an eight-foot artificial Christmas tree titled in the opposite direction, almost touching the plain white wall. The tree had fewer than usual ornaments, a red ribbon that stopped halfway down the middle, and not a single light bulb attached. She exhaled deeply, her head resting against the back of the chair, her eyes closed. She wore a somber expression, typical of when she had a severe headache. I closed my eyes and proceeded to say what I had always recited, eve...
Debut Under the Big Top
[CW: The death of a parent is mentioned.]I stood with my feet firmly planted on the small wooden platform twenty feet above the ring and the surrounding crowd. My sweaty, shaking hands gripped the railings beside me in an attempt to swww.onedoor.ccteady my trembling body. I looked down, but only with my eyes since I was too afraid to move my head. The ringmaster pranced to the center of the ring to introduce the next act, my act. This time yesterday I was trudging home from the coal mine, covered head to toe in soot, and praying that my days working there were numbered. For the past year, that prayer had go...