Another chapter ends and the hero stumbles offstage bruised and longing for a better story though he won’t admit it. With a rueful smile, he jokes that love always wakes the dragon but now the pr...

Published in my school district’s 2016 student anthology. “Hello.” Lounging on the bench in the park, I begrudgingly glanced up from my sketchbook into the eagerly smiling face of a child. Seldo...