"How high..." sings Lynn. "How hi-igh... How high the moo-oo-oon!" With echoes of Sarah Vaughan, she stretches the final word beyond its normal constraints, modulating the tone, while her fingers follow a little behind on the piano, finally resolving themselves in improvisation when she senses there is little more to be squeezed from one word. The audienc...
Jennifer stood on her front porch and waved as her two children ran down the street to catch the school bus. At 33 she often was mistaken for someone in her early twenties. This was due to the rigorous schedule she followed. Her black hair was cut short and off her face, the better to see her ice blue eyes and her pert upturned nose. Her figure was an astoni...
The bustle of life on the college campus always peaked just after finals. Students who had spent their last couple of weeks locked away in their dorm rooms or the library and stuffing all the knowledge of a semester into their heads at once finally emerged to face the sunlight and celebrate another successful term. Sherry was just another student on her way...
Home sweet home, she thought, looking around her at the library carrel that had become her nest over the past months as she worked to finish the school year. Now, late at night, late in the week, late in the semester, the desk and shelves were barely visible under the stacks of books, marked-up essay drafts, and multicolored sticky notes. The glow from her l...
Lightening lit up the dark and dreary night, thunder boomed and it poured rain. Nina could barley see the road, the windshield wipers squeaked back and forth rapidly and the windows were all steamed up. Suddenly, a deer dashed in front of the car! Nina turned the steering wheel sharply to avoid striking the animal and the car swerved off the road and into a...
Seema had only managed two hours sleep. Even that had been fitful. Her feet felt well and truly battered and bruised. She had run all the way from Barney's back to her apartment, a full five miles. At some point, she had taken her high heeled shoes off to run barefoot, save for her stockings, and by the time she had reached home her stockings had shredded, l...
For background on this story, see "Cindy Lou Moves to New York". Cindy Lou looked out the window at the landscape whipping past as the bus barreled down the highway. Only about one hour was left of the 28 hour ride from Birmingham and she was looking forward, although with some trepidation, to starting her new life in New York. The ride was boring but it ha...
Prolog She’d done it. Aspen felt exhilaration laced with exaustion throughout her body, triumph had never felt so good. After getting her bachelors in Criminal Justice and completing the numerous police training courses, she was finally getting a job at the Waylain Police Station. Her very first day! She’d graduated top of her class, ‘Nothing less...
SUSAN During our Christmas vacation Bell complained of stomach pains. At first, we weren't concerned but as the pains continued over the week, we decided to return home and get the opinion of our doctor. The next two weeks were terrible with Bell undergoing different medications and tests until on the Tuesday of the third week we were told that she had an i...
The bar was very dark for it being just six in the evening. Trish stood in the doorway letting her eyes adjust. The late August sun was especially brilliant outside, even for Phoenix. When the long bar stretching down the right side of the narrow space came into focus, she was looking at a six foot tall woman in a black wife-beater tee shirt who was leaning...