Hair rose along my arms as I laid in the darkened tent, forcing myself to breathe and remain calm. I’d woken to movement in my sleeping bag, and terrified to move, I couldn’t even nudge Jack for help. Overwhelmed by the need to scream, icy dread ran down my spine, breaths coming in small gasps as something brushed against my legs. Tourists’ concern about wildlife in Australia no longer seemed amusing, and I whimpered. Jack woke and turned a flashlight…
Papa, whiskers twitching with a smile, wiped his cow shoes before wrapping them in a scrap of cloth and hiding them in the back of the closet. On this moonless night, he’d walked deep into the woods under the blanket of darkness. Jars of moonshine, wrapped in burlap, hid in his pockets. A subtle sign of the silent rebellion we mountain people engaged in. Settled at the table, lantern low, he used his knife to sharpen the stump of pencil…
The gaggle of white-haired women hurried down the hall, ignoring the staff following them, muttering something they couldn’t hear. “Which room?” Hazel shouted, hearing aids off — again. Marge swung her heavy handbag towards the nearest door, accidentally hitting a member of staff. Rita, slowest with her walker, rolled past the young man crumpled on the floor while Marge burst through the door Hazel opened. “Edna, don’t start without us!” A woman in a glittering gown stared at them, and…
Bo watched the couple as they danced, but there was only one person he wanted to find. Anna, who agreed if he could find her at the crowded party, he’d win a New Year’s kiss. He had the vantage from the stairs, and unimpeded by the masquerade masks, recognized her in the sequined blue ballgown glittering in the meagre chandelier light. He hurried forward, took her hand, and she spun, colliding into him, chest heaving. “Found you,” he said, watching…