“I am very sorry I left the gate open, Lucy! I wanted a frootalicious ice cream from the ice cream truck. Now you’re gone. Well, not gone. Now you will live in my room, next to my unicorn. Her name is Georgiana Banana.  She likes being called Georgie, for short.” Beth, 6 years old, carefully placed the glass dog she’d found under the couch next to her glass unicorn. The sunlight hit the little statues at that moment, throwing rainbows across the room. Beth clapped happily. “Rainbows, rainbows, all around the roooo-ooom, rainbows, rainbows, all around the room!” She sang … Read more

1 Edna swung the ratty broom along the concrete floor. The bristles were worn and broken in many places. The broom made an abrasive, scratching sound as she brushed it across the floor. Sweep. Sweep. Sweep. The broom’s yellow handle had been broken, probably during one of the frequent fights among the inmates. Sweep. Sweep. Sweep. The handle had been repaired with gray duct tape that curled at the edges.  Edna gripped her fingers around the taped portion, trying not to think. Sweep. Sweep. Sweep. The steady rhythm of coarse brushing was the only sound that broke the silence.  Edna … Read more

As the worst blizzard in 40 years raged around them, Bernard crossed 72nd and 5th Avenue to take his chihuahua on their daily walk in Central Park. At 6’5”, 275 pounds Bernard was a very large man. He’d always prided himself on his stolid strength and would insist to anyone who would listen that he was as strong at 80 as he had been at 21. Still, the winds whipping around him in this “snowpocalypse”, as CNN insisted on calling the storm, did push him around a bit. The little dog, Trixie, whined and pulled on the leash, but her … Read more