I saw a light up ahead, near the corner of Manchester and Baltimore, near the mall. “You hungry?” I asked Fletcher.“Not really.”I smiled and s...hrugged at him. “Well, I need something to forget about that delicious chicken dinner. You can have coffee if you want.”“Sure, why not!”I nodded and pulled into the diner’s parking lot. It was getting late, and it was after the evening rush. I had been here any number of times over the years. It’s a nice place owned by a Greek immigrant and usually. Tiny deer grazed in the tall grass at the base of the forest before the sides of the valley became steep again. Closer, almost hidden in the tall grass, a family of quail or grouse ... no, quail, definitely.The sound of a throat clearing behind me made me jump and I whirled around to find the entire group, with a couple of new comers, smiling at me.“We would have waited, but Billy here shouldn’t even be on his damn feet, and I want to get him sitting again pronto.” Jake waved at the older man. Before school started, her Mother would come up to visit her and join in on the celebration of a new chapter in her daughter’s life.As the day Julia was to arrive grew closer I found myself more and more excited at the feeling of joy that grew within me at the idea of being with family. I was spending a small fortune preparing her room and the house just perfectly for her arrival. Wanting to make sure the transition would be easy. With no k**s of my own, it would be like having a daughter,. " Heard last year was dry," Robert said, helping himself to another spoonful of vinegar-drenched beet slices. "Uh, awful hot where I was, too." He had just barely managed to say 'awful' for the common crudity he had been using for several years. He felt a bit relieved, but planned to continue restraining his tongue as his mother had asked. He glanced about to see if anyone had noticed and caught the girl looking at him."More than a month and a half with no rain at all," Seth said. "When Early's.