On a scale of one to ten, Taylor Hoffman’s confidence bounced between 7.5 and 9. He knew his little sister was going to die, had known it for some time, hadn’t said those words to anyone ever, and didn’t intend to. A solid student, he lived off-campus with two other guys and worked two afternoons […]

Lauren walked around the bed, took her chair, flopped an arm on her daughter’s bed and leaned toward her. “I thought your dad was a jock, okay? For whatever reason. He was on a scholarship and I just assumed it was a baseball scholarship. He had that kind of look, that’s what I thought right […]

The poetry reading had been going well. This annual Philly event drew a sizable crowd, but this year—for unexplained reasons—the hall was jammed. Crammed in the third row, at the break I stood to stretch and look around. McQuitty, one of our greatest local poets, was sitting at the end of the last row. I […]

Lauren Hoffman walked into her daughter’s room, dragged a chair next to the bed, dropped her purse beside the chair and sat. Vanessa was lying on her side, pillows at her back, a pillow between her calves, two under her neck and head. Her hands were under the covers and the covers were pulled up […]

Seventeen was grim. There would be weeks when the scramble looked to be paying off. She could breathe easier. Her limbs felt like they belonged to her again. She would get chipper and feel confident that she had some control over her life and her health. She’d look ahead, she’d think ahead and plan ahead […]