“That’s right, Daddy’s lost.” Arthur pushed Lori along in her stroller. “Lost.” He flapped his hands out to either side of his body as he emphasized the first consonant sound of the word “L-l-l-lost.” “Where are we?” he crowed, then tickled his daughter’s nose, repeating his query twice, each time speaking in a more elevated sing-song, “Where are we? Where are weeee?” The baby giggled and cooed. She answered with a long happy babble, even offering up a few rewarding “da

Mr. Morton needed a new pair of shoes.  That’s what Grace had said in her message.  His loafers were tattered and the soles had worn thin.  But even more than replacing the loafers, he needed dress shoes.  Something nice that would go with the black suit hanging in his closet.  It just wouldn’t look right otherwise is what Grace had said.  And now the shoes had been added to Rosie’s “To Do” list.  A list that Rosie had never failed to fulfill. Rosie was wondering about the

Debbie dropped her luggage on the floor of the little efficiency apartment allocated to her in the Bradbury habitat on Mars and sneezed. The sound bounced back and forth from one wall to another, increasing in annoyance with each bounce. The apartment seemed spotless at first, but when she looked at the furniture, walls, and floors more carefully, she saw that they were covered with a light but uniformly thin layer of pinkish dust, possibly causing the subtle scent of pero

A lifelong shelter volunteer finds redemption and purpose in rescuing unwanted animals. From Boston to Phoenix, through heartbreak, injury, and aging, they keep showing up—proving that compassion can outlast pain and that saving lives can also save your own.

A magnet held the snippet to Leah’s refrigerator door. She remembered the jagged hole the words left when she desperately cut the lines out of the Burgundy Square Gazette  on that rueful May day in 1983. The divorced man’s inability to commit is his problem and has nothing whatsoever to do with your supposed inadequacies. And the biggest mistake a woman can make is to assume she is responsible for a divorced man’s unstable feelings. She knew she ought to throw the littl

It was a silent night, but it was far from holy. Ink-black sky stretched above, untouched by stars. Winter clung to the air, sharp and...

I leaned against my father’s truck, breathing in the humid city air. I didn’t live in this part of town. It was too rich for my blood. But my father delivered ice to over a dozen restaurants in the city, including a couple in this area. “Hey,” someone shouted from across the street. I looked the man’s way and raised my index finger, pointing it at my chest. “Yeah, you,” he said. “Come here.” I glanced over my shoulder, spotting my father inside the restaur

My cousin Bill never learned to ride a bike or throw a rock or drive a car or drop a cannon ball into a lake. Instead he was strapped in...

Mass confusion greets Officers Williams and Sawyer as they stare through their tinted squad car window, but maybe that’s to be expected...

I received the information by postcard: Sacred Journey to Greece and Turkey, April 20 th  to May 8, 2009.   Join this mystical journey of...

The fishermen saw the smoke first. Their shouts alerted the men in their workshops on the hill, who seized what tools might serve for...

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?” asked Piglet. “Even longer,” Pooh answered. A. A. Milne   My childhood and adolescence were...

When we practice generosity and forgiveness, we reflect the image of God. – Mac Canoza I was sitting on the toilet when I got the...

Three tattoos and three people with vastly different lived experiences collide in this flash fiction story.

She lived for the cool night breeze, like a cloud in the sky, free and easy, always wandering. I often wondered if she’d just wandered...

Working as a Hospice Chaplain, there's never a dull moment. This is true for every patient who comes to our service. You pray, you say,...

Dedicated to Louis Clinton Carrier, my grandfather          I remember running through the forest of endless trees, skylight breaking...

You forced my hand. When you modernized, flying all around the world in your airplanes, I could have mutated, evolved. I could have...

The tracks parallel the Japan Sea coast. On one side, a fishing boat’s lights on dark water, on the other, towns too small for a stop,...

Can music save a child from school bullies? In "Musical Underdog," Leah Mueller writes how an unwanted instrument helped two unpopular kids find their way.