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Maddie darted across the bedroom carpet in her babydoll PJs, jumped up onto the chair and threw her stuffed pony into Carlotta’s face. “I won’t, Mommy. I don’t want to get into the box.” “Get in, sweetie, and tomorrow we’ll…

All I do is stare. All day, every day, I stare at another face. The face never changes, it simply stares back. Our fate is the same. We remain pitted in a never-ending staring contest. The real kicker is neither…

“Poverty is an animal— a beast, really.” The baby’s parents were certain to mistake her warning for mere babbling, but she continued, “And if it ever gets its teeth in you, it will devour you, bones and all.” # “Come…

It was July when I saw the first wolf, a gray male, lapping water from the creek. He saw me and made to dart away, but then stopped and just stared. It was about time they’d lost their fear of…

Hailstones pinged off the car like bullets. Thick rain blurred the outside night. In the windshield reflection, Jarrod could see his nephew trembling in the front passenger seat. “Hey, Travis!” he yelled from the back, trying to distract the boy.…