Enjoy these Samples Stories from Our Anthology Books

Second Chance at Life and Love by Jill Garaffa
“Will You Marry Me?” Ari asked as we waited for his plane to depart. The whole thing was surreal; a scene out of a movie, or someone else’s life. I stared at the ring in disbelief.

It was the question I thought would never come. Still single and auditioning potential husbands for the past two decades, I’d resigned myself to the belief that, clearly, there must be something wrong with me. For years, I was haunted by images of my future self as a grouchy old house frau who wears a bathrobe lives in a house filled with cats. …Read More


Finding the Light Within by Ericka Crawford
Clean crisp morning air filled my lungs. I breathed rhythmically in and out as oxygen pumped to my legs, and my heart beat in sync with my feet as I pedaled my bike up a long hill near my house. Training for my first hundred-mile bike ride two weeks away, I felt strong and grateful.

Suddenly, a sharp pain in my left knee snapped me out of my rhythm and, when I cranked the pedals again, another sharp pain took my breath away. I clipped out of my pedals quickly and stepped onto the pavement. A rush of fear overwhelmed me. …Read More


A Sister’s Soul Contract: Death, Healing, & Transformation by Christina Ann Sullivan
“Christina!”

I hear the panic in my mother’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“The paramedics were at Kathy’s house—they tried to resuscitate her and now she’s in an ambulance on the way to the hospital!”

“I’ll be right home,” I tell Mom calmly even though my heart’s in my throat. I don’t want her to hear any terror in my voice. …Read More


Chemical Free from A To Z by Dale Schock
Oh my God, I can’t breathe—am I having a heart attack? There’s pressure on my chest, my heart’s racing, and everything around me looks foggy. Sick to my stomach and dizzy, I’m also sweating profusely.

I’m terrified! Only twenty-four years old and these strange symptoms come upon me when I’m driving my children home from a routine doctor visit. …Read More


Secrets, Fibs and Skirting My Truth by Sue Urda
I sat on the edge of my bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes when suddenly I realized my mother was standing before me. What’s she holding in her hand? I wondered.

Her words rang in my head as an enormous surge of adrenalin rushed through my tired mind and my whole body went into high alert. “Code Red” as the government would say. …Read More


Swinging My Way Through by Kathy Fyler
So excited and nervous all at once, I’ve been dreaming of playing golf again for what seems like forever, and here I am at the first hole. The toughest on the course…so much anticipation.

“I’ll go first” I said to Sue thinking I got this. …Read More


The Tear Down Rebuild by Christine Suva
I sat on the bed in the hotel room, tears streaming down my face, exhausted, depressed, and defeated, repeating “I can’t do this anymore!” over and over again. During that long night, alone in my hotel room, I barely slept. In and out of wakefulness, I had two incredibly vivid visions. Each lasted only seconds, but they were so powerful and so telling I was literally rocked to my very core. …Read More


A Positive Mom’s Fairy Tale by Elayna Fernandez
Tired after a long October day, the room was cold and dark but I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Something was wrong, and when I turned the lights back on I realized my husband Ben wasn’t home yet and that it was later than I thought.

Alarmed, suddenly the one hundred and twenty-five square foot room in which we lived felt as big as an ocean. Where is he? …Read More


The Right Direction by Bonnie Drushel

In the winter my mother often sent my sisters and I to bed with our coats on in preparation for my father’s drunken state when he arrived home from the local bar. So much turmoil ensued that, for our safety, my mother ran us out the front door as he stumbled in through the back.

The next morning, my mother would force me to hop onto my father’s lap, kiss him on the cheek, and tell him that I loved him, and all the while his breath reeked of booze from the night before. I hated that!  …Read More