Part 1: The Setup The sky over Chicago that Saturday afternoon was a sharp, biting shade of gray. It was the kind of overcast, chilly autumn day where the wind...
“My Brother Is Sick, I Came Instead,” I Told My Blind Date… And She Said, “Best Date I’ve Ever Had” The Recipe for Staying My name is Jake Carter. I’m...
Part 1: The Return The bus dropped me three blocks from the Sterling Industrial District at exactly 6:15 on a Tuesday morning. The chill in the air was sharp, a...
Part 1 My daughter smirked, “Sorry, this table’s for family only,” pointing toward a folding chair by the dumpster. Everyone at the rehearsal dinner laughed as I sat alone. I...
Part 1 At Christmas dinner, my son sneered, “You couldn’t be half the woman my mother-in-law is.” Everyone laughed. I stood up and said, “Good – let her pay your...
The men on the courthouse steps thought the 900 acres would sell for somewhere north of $900,000. Ruth Halverson paid forty dollars. Not that morning. Not cleanly. Not in the...
Part 1 On my wedding day, my dad walked my sister down the aisle. Right in front of me. Mom grabbed my arm: “She’s going through a breakup. Don’t make...
Part 1: The Midnight Call The phone call came at 2:00 A.M. You know exactly the kind of call I’m talking about. The one that rips you violently from a...
“My Father Said You Needed a Wife,” She Whispered… And I Said, “He Was Right” — A Scarred, Lonely Farmer Agreed to a Marriage of Convenience with an Orphan Girl...
“Four hundred dollars for that bag of bones?” Vance Sterling’s laughter cut through the humid stink of the St. George livestock auction like a blade. He leaned against the rusted...