The room smelled faintly of baby powder and something less pleasant. Soft light filtered through pink curtains, casting a glow on the oversized crib in the corner and the padded changing table nearby. In the center of the room knelt…
Mommy never wanted her. She made it clear in little ways. A too-tight braid. A sigh when Clarabelle spilled juice. The way she’d sneer at her in the hallway and say, “You’re going to be nothing, just like your mother…
The morning light was just beginning to spill through the curtains when she walked down the hallway — barefoot, quiet, the way she always moved when checking in on her boy. His door was cracked open. A breeze must’ve nudged…
The sky was overcast. The wind moved through the trees in lazy waves. The scent of cedar, sawdust, and slow-burning pine logs drifted from the chimney. Jack was in the workshop, shirt off, hands dirty, shaping a cedar bench with…
The town square was alive. Bunting of red, white, and blue curled around light poles and storefronts. Booths lined Main Street—grilled corn, funnel cake, lemonade, hand-carved crafts. Laughter echoed across the green where kids ran with sparklers and old-timers tuned…
The room smelled faintly of baby powder and something less pleasant. Soft light filtered through pink curtains, casting a glow on the oversized crib in the corner and the padded changing table nearby. In the center of the room knelt…
Mommy never wanted her. She made it clear in little ways. A too-tight braid. A sigh when Clarabelle spilled juice. The way she’d sneer at her in the hallway and say, “You’re going to be nothing, just like your mother…
The morning light was just beginning to spill through the curtains when she walked down the hallway — barefoot, quiet, the way she always moved when checking in on her boy. His door was cracked open. A breeze must’ve nudged…
The sky was overcast. The wind moved through the trees in lazy waves. The scent of cedar, sawdust, and slow-burning pine logs drifted from the chimney. Jack was in the workshop, shirt off, hands dirty, shaping a cedar bench with…
The town square was alive. Bunting of red, white, and blue curled around light poles and storefronts. Booths lined Main Street—grilled corn, funnel cake, lemonade, hand-carved crafts. Laughter echoed across the green where kids ran with sparklers and old-timers tuned…