by Claudia Monpere Jeton Bajrami In a cottage in the woods lived a man and not even the green-eyed princess could cheer him. Not even his two children who lived nearby with his wife could cheer him. The ruby rhododendrons and azaleas, the sugar pines, the grandfatherly oaks, the bamboo fountain that trickled in his yard while he stared at the stars: no. The Wife Where is the wife in all this? Did she crank events in motion like Mousetrap, that game he loved as a child, gear t

by Claudia Monpere Alison Marras Janine and Haley were playing happily outdoors which relieved me because Janine didn’t like Haley the new kid who was a little weird but Haley’s mother and I were co-room mothers so I’d scheduled a playdate and when I asked Haley how many popsicle sticks her mother had for Monday’s picture frame project and she said 500 the tiny child inside me was jealous because I had only 298 but I said that’s great and honey why don’t you take your sweater