Vanessa L. Collins - todaytime24.com

The classroom smelled of damp winter coats and floor wax when the last bell of the Tuesday afternoon...

The blue plastic shopping basket on my arm had three rusted wire links near the bottom that always...

I was sitting right there at the kitchen table with my coffee going cold in the ceramic mug...

The linoleum in our kitchen has this one cracked tile right by the refrigerator that catches the toe...

The blue composition notebook had a grease smudge right near the corner where Dennis always rested his palm...

The humming sound of the compressor on the upright freezer in the back hallway was the last normal...

Four hundred and eighty-two dollars was all that remained in the checking account when the bank finally processed...

I knew the minute Mrs. Walker called my classroom phone at 3:15 that my life was split in...

Gary never raised his voice, not even when I put the Buick station wagon into a ditch behind...

The folding chair under me creaked every time the choir hit a high note, which was often enough...