The Landslide


The day began normally for Gabriela and her friends in their little town up in the highlands of the desert. They went to school, they went home and helped with chores, and then they ran and played on the slopes just beyond the edges of town until it was dinnertime.

Only today, before it was time to go home, a siren wailed through the air. Gabriela and her friends stopped and stared at each other, one word racing through their minds.

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Nightly Chats with Mom


My name is Adam, and I want to tell you about my mother. I don’t think I would have made it through my growing-up years without having her ear. At night, when I got into bed, she would sit down on the floor by my bedside, take one of my hands in hers, and ask, “Is there anything that happened today that you want to talk about, honey?” (As I got older and resistant to being called too-sweet or too-embarrassing things like that, she humored me by using my name.)

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