As part of subscribing to our free email updates, you may select three of the following short stores for free. For each one, you’ll find a brief look at the story line followed by a short excerpt. Just email me with the titles you want and some great reading will soon be in your hands. And if you landed here without knowing what the benefits of subscribing are all about, I hope you’ll check that out.
Take Your Pick
A Tree for Tomorrow – Revisiting a childhood home, when you expect the worst, can sometimes provide a happy ending.
“A number of the houses were gone, and most of those remaining were empty and neglected. I drew into our old drive behind a large truck. The rear cottage, my father had built for my grandparents, was gone; parts of it, no doubt, were in that truck. I was aware of an uncomfortable ache in the pit of my stomach. They’re going to tear down my home!”
And Above All Honor – What causes some people, even children, to seek service in the military during a war?
“Their differences, if there had ever been any, disappeared as they focused on the eastern horizon, and their reason for being there: a cloud of dust moving steadily
along the fence line toward them.”
Relocation Nation – You’re an American citizen of Japanese descent and all is good during the early 1940’s until something called WWII.
“Mikomi enrolled at UCLA, intent on becoming a doctor, and going to Japan to practice.
Although more than capable of reaching such a goal, she was several generations ahead of her time, and soon realized that she would never succeed.”
Joy of Listening – What a child thinks and things older people remember, come together to create a story for all. (If you read my ‘Why Subscribe‘ page, this is the story dad had published in 1981)
“Granpa.” The sound of Timmy’s voice became indistinguishable among the sounds and scenes that led me to another day, another place. I could see a small boy clambering up the front steps of an ancient house which stood well back from the dusty road. An old man, seated in an even older rocking chair, smiled as the boy reached his knee. His words and the sound of his voice spanned, with ease, the nearly fifty years that stood between that day and this.
Tenacity and Foolishness – Who better to evaluate the thinking of mankind than a tree who can look down with a different perspective.
“For several days the tree had been watching the men in gray digging into the earth, and piling rocks one on top of another. She had seen them roll cannon into place behind the rocks, and knew, as did the other forest inhabitants, what was to take place.”
From Pain to Gain – A look at some, not always pleasant, cycles of life, from childhood to parenthood.
“With the arrival of this precious gift, Edith experienced an awakening; or, as she later described it: a rebirth. Her life took on a vibrancy and meaning that, in many ways, satisfied the emptiness, the need, so long denied fulfillment.”
Made Your Decision: Email me with your three favorites and I’ll send them back to you as quickly as possible. And thanks for subscribing!