Story Excerpts

Santa Dash in Blue
by Pat Black

Santa was in the right place and the right time. Meaning: Santa, so you wouldn’t notice him. Big toy shop, large windows, a big name, very boutique, all the decorations and silver bells. A rich roast of red and green and gold. The biggest indoor tree in Glasgow stretched from the bottom of the escalators all the way to the atrium, with a giant gold star threatening to join the real ones on high. The tree had been sourced from a kingdom of fairy stories, with a castle in the background, maybe some wolves. READ MORE

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Coins in the Box
by Kate Hohl

I sat at the scrubbed pine table in the kitchen staring at the ledger book that held all the household expenses. I’d learned that morning was the best time for me to sit with the bills. Before the neighborhood came alive with newsboys shouting out the latest headlines. Before the streets teemed with horse-drawn carriages clattering by on the cobblestones outside. Just me and Winnie, my faithful terrier, resting at my feet while the rest of the house still slumbered. I’d dressed in the dark before dawn, making sure that my gray serge dress was neatly pressed before I buttoned it up to my throat, my white cap carefully pinned on top of my hair that I braided tightly and looped back into a bun to tame the brown curls. READ MORE