Author: TOPSTORYUSA

PART 2 “Turn around. Now.” I stared at the message for exactly three seconds. Then another text appeared. “Claire, I am serious.” My hands tightened around the steering wheel. Sarah …

“My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 3 “The other me.” For several seconds, nobody moved. Not Detective Morales. Not Dr. Patel. Not the nurses standing frozen near the doorway. Not me. I could hear my …

PART 3 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 4 “One of the children is moving.” “And the other?” A long silence. “Not anymore.” Sarah screamed. It wasn’t a word. It wasn’t a name. It was just sound. …

PART 4 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 5 “Mom!” I ran toward the fire. I did not think. I did not hear Sarah screaming my name. I did not hear Daniel shouting that the upper floor …

PART 5 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 6 “Thank you for bringing all three generations together.” Dr. Vale’s voice filled the room. Calm. Satisfied. Close. Too close. Then everything went dark. Not unconsciousness. Not yet. The …

PART 6 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 7 Every alarm in St. Vincent’s began screaming. Not one alarm. All of them. Fire. Security. Medical emergency. Containment. Different tones stacked over one another until the entire underground …

PART 7 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 8 “My name is Evelyn.” The words came out of my mouth. But I had not chosen them. The crypt went silent. Not quiet. Silent. The kind of silence …

PART 8 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 9 The Council was not run by people trying to create replacements. It was run by replacements who had already succeeded. For several seconds, I heard nothing. Not Emma …

PART 9 – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

PART 10 — FINAL PART The woman on the screen had my face. My exact face. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same small line between my eyebrows that appeared when I …

LAST PART – “My sister asked me to watch my niece for the weekend, so I took her to the local pool with my daughter. In the locker room, my daughter gasped: ‘Mom! Look at THIS!’. Read More

**The Birthday Table** On my sixty-fifth birthday, I sat by myself at a dining table prepared for nine and watched the candles sink into a cake no one arrived to …

Part1: At my son’s wedding, his new wife smiled in front of her wealthy family and introduced me like i was someone they had to tolerate. “this is his mother,” she said. “she is not used to places like this.” Read More