Fiction
Harsh, cold wind rippled across the snow that blanketed the farm's fields. Sighing, Sam led the shivering sheep across the wide plain. Cauliflower, the farm's sheepdog, ran with Sam, keeping the milk-white sheep in line as best as she could. "Snow Sheep," muttered Sam, kicking at a withered plant poking its way through the [...]
Fiction
Samantha-Ellen Robinson awoke to her alarm clock's shrill ring, followed by a loud thunk accompanied by a sharp pain, as she bonked the top of her head against the bottom of the headboard. Groggy, Samantha slid her feet out from under the cozy fleece quilt and onto the embroidered rug. As she slipped her ten [...]
Fiction
At the age of sixty, I can't say I remember many things vividly. Eight years has certainly felt like a long time. Eight years since I saw the slave being sold down by Mississippi. He was young and strong, a handsome man. I still see his face in my mind's eye. "Sold!" cried the auctioneer. [...]
Fiction
Cura Smith, a gangly girl of twelve, was exploring the desert landscape of Arizona when she heard the sound that would alter her life forever. It was the soft, normally musical mew of a cat. However, that wasn't what made Cura turn in anxiety. It was that the sound had an almost undetectable cry for [...]
Fiction
CHAPTER ONE Two small figures seemed to creep up the snowy mountainside. The hawk staring at them through two black eyes from up above dove a few yards to their right. A mouse flinched in his sharp talons and was soon torn to pieces. Scampering among the treetops, squirrels chattered, munching their fall harvest of [...]
Fiction
It was Christmas Eve, and everything was ready. Presents had been purchased with great care months before. Yesterday they had been wrapped in dozens of pretty papers and decorated with beautiful bows. Now they sat like sparkling jewels in a pirate's treasure chest, under the fragrant boughs of a giant spruce. The farmhouse was filled [...]
Fiction
“We’re moving." The words fall with a dead thud on my ears. I can't believe it's happening. The possibility has been there for weeks, months even. But I never thought it would happen to me. "Why?" I choke. "You know how long your father has been searching for the right job," Mom says apologetically. "We [...]
Poems
The icy November breeze Chilled my neck, as muggy Gray clouds hid the brilliant sun. Laying my rake down, giving it a rest From clawing the leaves into a pile, When the desperate cries of wood thrushes came to my ears. The enormous amount of birds made me suck in the crisp air. I exclaimed, [...]
Poems
Listen! Is that the calling of the hounds, The hounds returning? What wavering desolate horn is this that sounds, So much like the wild hunt's baying? A trembling weary choir of voices From the chilly gray air. And they come, then, From behind the old, mound-like gray hill, A long-necked mourning choir on wings, Late [...]
Poems
I walk through the silent pasture to the tree swing. I sit down and start to swing. I close my eyes and fall into a silent sleep. When I open my eyes I see the ground is littered with leaves, acorns and plants of all kinds. I sit listening to the wind roar. I am [...]
Book Reviews
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages; Viking Children's Books: New York, 2006; $16.99 Suze reached in and picked up a book, riffling the pages with a thumb. The Boy Mechanic, she said, snickering. "Why do you have that?' "They didn't make one for girls," Dewey replied. Have you ever done something that you really [...]
Book Reviews
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale; Henry Holt Books for Young Readers: New York, 2006; $16.95 Do you know somebody who survived a natural disaster or a big storm? Well, I don't, but when I read Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale, I felt like I had survived a natural disaster, the Galveston storm of [...]
