“Come on, Craig, you’ve got to get up!” Lenny banged on his brother’s bedroom door. “It’s 1:30.” Craig jumped out of bed. His throbbing head made him wish he hadn’t. He opened the door just a crack. His voice sounded tired and hoarse. “Stop it. I’m up.” Lenny tried to get a peek. “You got [...]

It was a warm, sunny Saturday morning in Coreyville. Greg Tenorly loved Texas weather—except for the humidity. It was a perfect day for a long drive in his big red convertible. The large suitcase looked small in the huge trunk of his shiny 1965 Pontiac Bonneville. They could have made the trip in Cynthia’s new [...]

Craig hurried to the stage, zigzagging his way across the floor of orange puddles. He ran up the stairs to meet Sondra. “Are you crazy?” He tried to give her a stern look, but then broke into laughter. “Did we get the job?” “Yes, you did.” Boomer walked over to Sondra and gave her a [...]

“Looks good, Boys.” Billy-Eye knew he had been taking a big chance leaving the final details for his sons to handle. He had not even visited the place all week. It was Friday, 5:30 PM—thirty minutes before the grand opening of Billy-Eye’s Arcade and Dance Barn. The arcade room had been arranged nicely—although not the [...]

There was a soft knock at Greg and Cynthia’s bedroom door. They froze in place, moving only their eyes—to check the glowing numbers on the alarm clock. It was nearly 1:00 AM. “How late do we have to wait to make sure we don’t get interrupted?” whispered Greg in frustration. “I’m sorry,” whispered Cynthia. Greg [...]

“Edsel?” said Angie. “Yeah?” he said, from under the Oldsmobile. “Dinner is served.” “Aw, Angie, you shouldn’t have done that.” “Well, what I’m I supposed to do? Let you starve?” Edsel and Angie went through this at least two or three nights a week. He normally walked over to Angie’s restaurant for dinner. But some [...]

“To be real honest, Jeffrey, you’re not making much progress,” said Greg. “Are you practicing at all?” “Well, yeah. Mom makes me. She sits there watching to make sure I’m getting the right fingering and phrasing.” “Hmm. I might need to talk to her about that.” Greg hated when kids were forced into musicianship. He [...]

Sondra arrived at 1:00 PM sharp. Billy-Eye’s Arcade and Dance Barn was located on Highway 87, north of town. She was not impressed. It was nothing but a huge commercial metal building with the name painted in big lettering across the front. There were about fifteen cars in the small gravel parking lot—mostly older models [...]

The pews were packed at First Baptist Church, Coreyville. As part-time music minister of the church, Greg Tenorly sat in his usual place on the podium, behind and slightly to the left of the pastor. He wondered why attendance was up. It was a perfect day—seventy degrees, sunny. That had to be part of the [...]

Sondra Crench kicked a roach out of her way as she walked into her tiny apartment and sat down at her old laptop. It was after midnight. So, she figured her new friend, Jason, was already dead. And so were her hopes of landing a secretarial job in time to keep her apartment. Rent was [...]