°°° Grim Truths °°° Sean highlighted the SUV a few seconds after they got back to the house. He grabbed his bag, feeling a bit ashamed of his actions, and walked to the door. "Sean," Dan called out. "Come with me." "There's something you should know," he said, tilting his head in the direction he wanted them to take. "Boys, you too." His smile was calm yet alarming. Jason looked at Sean, who was equally confused. The trio shrugged in unison and walked after Dan. In a minute, they were at the back of the house. They hardly ever came back there, but they made sure it was always neat regardless. "Come on," Dan beckoned on them. The three boys slowly walked to him. He was standing, hands on his waist, staring at a group of garden gnomes that were placed in a circle on the grass with a sleeping beauty toy in a miniature glass coffin. It looked like a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves scene, only there were twelve gnomes. "Hey… "I remember that," Andrew smiled, taking a step

°°° Dinner °°° Lunch was served at 3:30 p.m. A creamy and highly aromatic Mac and cheese dish that Jason and Andrew couldn’t get enough of Sean and Dan, on the other hand, were stuffed from the cake, and Ann had eaten some grilled key lime chicken wings while they cleaned up the kitchen. There were plenty of leftovers. The rest of the day was spent in the living room watching movies. Sean was a bit surprised that the Whites didn’t ask their kids to go to bed as a result of the upcoming exams. In fact, he had been quite perplexed by the fact that they had agreed to his coming at such a time. It was mostly because of the move, but still, they weren’t the least bit concerned about how these past few days would affect their children’s performances in school. Sean concluded that Jason and Andrew were just that smart. He was also smart himself, which is why his mom didn’t really have issues with his trip, but she also trusted him to study while he was in Kentucky. The Whi

°°° Chaotic Welcome °°° Kate was waiting at the airport for Sean’s arrival. Immediately she saw him, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Looks like you were spoiled in Kentucky," she joked as he walked to the car with his bags. "Hey Mom, I missed you too," he chuckled. Kate pulled him in for a hug as he tried to walk past her. He was a few inches taller than she was. She ruffled his tapered fade haircut and took his bag from him. "How was it?" she asked on the drive home. "To be honest, it was much more fun." and a lot more interesting than I thought it would be," Sean replied with a dreamy smile. "What’s with that smile?" Kate asked after a moment of observing him. She knew her son quite well, and she had not seen that smile variation in a while. "What smile?" Sean looked at her a bit confused. "That smile just now... "When you were thinking about... the smile teenagers in the movies have when they fall in love," Kate laughed as he tried to hide it. "What?" Sean couldn’t hel

°°° Flowers at Work °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Carl’s Automotive Repairs and Accessories- The sun was up and hot like it was midsummer. The Wednesday traffic almost never had a shortage of vehicles rolling into the repair shop, but today was rather slow. The proprietor of the establishment, Carlos Wilson, a chubby Latino, sat outside the shop having a chat with a man in a black suit as his subordinates worked on the man’s car. "How’s the job hunt, amigo?" Carlos said, changing the topic from the car. The man gave him a look and then looked away. "Heh," Carlos chuckled, tossing a chip into his mouth. He crunched on it before he said, "I told you not to quit that job, Boris." He coughed dryly, almost choking on his chips. "Keep laughing, stupid," Boris wasn’t the least bit amused. "If that doesn’t choke you, I’ll do it myself." "Heh…" Carlos’ laughter died down as he drank from his water bottle. "I always knew you were a murderer," he chuckl

°°° Resolve °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Walker Residence- Kate stood before the mirror, putting on the final touches to her makeup. It was Sunday morning, and she was going to be twenty minutes late to church, her usual time of entry. She was clad in a beige body-con pencil dress. It looked like a simple high-waisted pencil skirt with a wide black elastic band that stopped immediately under her knees, complimented with a long-sleeved blouse that seems to have the wind blowing it from underneath. But it was, in fact, a gown. Her black, glossy hair was pulled to the front through the right side of her head, resting just below her breast. "It's not excessive, is it?" she asked herself as she dropped the lipstick after applying it lightly to her lips. She exhaled, happy with her look. For a woman in her late thirties, she was extremely beautiful, and her body was envied by most younger ladies in Oak Lane. She pulled open the doors of her room and walk