The next morning, Dessie gathered her schoolbooks together, kept a warm pot of oatmeal on the stove, in the office, and was on her way to school.  She had left Adam sleeping in a chair, with his head against the wall in David’s room, and her heavy eyes wished she could be sleeping, too.  He looked a little awkward, with the back of his head against the wall, slumped over just a bit towards his shoulder, but she didn’t want to move him, and wake him up, when he seemed to be sleeping so peacefully.

     Today was a school day, and she had to be there.  Her arithmetic test would be a challenge, but she had studied when she woke up and had studied for the last several days here and there.  And even though she felt like she might...

Please subscribe to keep reading.