Packet of Wildflower Seeds

When I first started dating my husband, I didn't know that his father had passed away when J was only eleven. My aunt lived next door to J's economics teacher at the time. The teacher made some comment to my aunt about J not having a father, and my aunt asked me about it. I didn't know the answer. It was early in our relationship, so I was too shy to ask J about his family. Instead, I asked one of his friends if J's father was alive. The friend thought he was. Therefore, I assumed the economics teacher was mistaken. A few weeks later, the paper wrote a story about J. He told me the story might mention that his father was deceased. He didn't offer me any more details, and I didn't ask him to elaborate. I was surprised, however, that his friend hadn't known that J's father was no longer alive. Why didn't J talk about it? I don't remember the exact timeline, but I believe several months passed before J finally told me how his father had died. Hi...

"I better hurry," Samantha told the thick air. Something was causing her to grow a bit nervous. She began to search quickly through drawers, desks, cupboards - all of which were bare. After a few hours, she began to get discouraged. The temperature seemed to be racing upward. Samantha grew uncomfortable even though she was used to brutal southern summers, even in the particularly difficult swampy regions. Samantha sat down in order to rest, but her breathing did not become any less labored. At that moment, lights flickered in the house. Samantha hadn't remembered turning any on. Looking up, she noticed that the electricity and other modern conveniences seemed rather out of place in a house that was definitely built before the 19th century. She began to wonder if the contemporary appliances were added merely for effect, and to test her theory, she approached the faucet to see if the water would actually run. She turned the faucet on, and water slowly began to drip into t...