by Amanda West | Jul 10, 2025 | Cover
Medina Stackpole fluffed her pillow, then jammed it between her aching back and the headboard. She patted the empty spot on the mattress and whispered, “We miss you, Rick.” The words of her eldest son, Ricky, echoed in her mind: “When I grow up, I’m going to serve my...
by Amanda West | Jun 12, 2025 | Cover
THE SPLASHING of the waterfall is a welcoming melody to Dorris Turrentine as she savors the sweet, earthy perfume of iris blooms carried by the evening breeze. Tricolored orange, white, and black goldfish circle the edges of the pond. Their graceful acrobatics turn...
by Amanda West | May 8, 2025 | Cover
WHAT IS your vacation budget? When do you want to go? Do you have a preferred destination or region? What type of activities do you enjoy? Imagine answering similar questions and then having a professional travel agent plan every tiny detail of your next vacation....
by Amanda West | Apr 17, 2025 | Cover
POLLY WOODARD drank in the scent of sliced oranges. She scooped them into her gloved hand and filled the row of lunch trays. She smiled in quiet anticipation. Soon, the first group of hungry students would begin lining up, and the opportunity for her to be a bright...
by Amanda West | Mar 26, 2025 | Cover
“I NEED YOU to pray that I have a brain tumor!” Linda Nichols clasped hands with her friends as they bowed their heads inside her home. After everyone left that evening, her husband, Howie, asked, “Why would you ask them to pray for such a thing?” In 2012, while...
by Amanda West | Mar 3, 2025 | Cover
The year was 1965, and 22-year-old Leonard “Junior” Donegan had just returned home from serving in the United States Air Force. He smoothed back his dark hair to set the pomade and took one last glance at his reflection in the mirror. Though his brother, Terry, had...
