“What are we doing?” Sara kept asking.

“We’re waiting for Mom.”

“Where are we going?”

“Far away.”

Mom had told them—no, she’d promised them—that they would be getting a special Christmas present today. Just the two kids. She had said she would give it to them during the day, that it was going to be a surprise, that they couldn’t mention it to Dad. This is her present, Thomas thought as he waited and worried that the next one out of the house would be the man with the glassy eyes and the tightened jaw. His hands felt sweaty as he rubbed them and tried to act like he wasn’t nervous in front of his sister.

Maybe she planned on leaving later. Maybe the fight they had when she started cooking dinner convinced her to go now.

The door opened and Thomas stopped breathing.

It was Mom.

All she carried was her purse. Maybe she had already packed a few things, but he didn’t see anything in the backseat.

How do I ask her about my bike?

As she climbed into the car, Thomas could see the fear on her face and in the way she moved. Before starting up the car, she turned to face both of them.

“You two, listen to me. We’re leaving and we’re not coming back, and I’ll explain why. But for now we have to go. Do you understand me?”

Sara began asking questions, but it was Thomas who told her to be quiet, not Mom.

He didn’t need to be told why.

He didn’t need to ask about his bike either.

The car left without hesitation.

Thomas and Sara had received the best gift ever: freedom.

The question was whether it would still be there tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.

And whether the man inside the house they were leaving would find them and reclaim them as his own.

God Must Be a Country Music Fan

The snow dancing on the sidewalk alongside the towering skyscraper reminded Kevin Morrell of better days, when he walked here with his wife celebrating a new year and a new business and a thousand new opportunities. A decade later, the snow still circled his feet and the city still searched for its pot of gold, but Kevin walked alone, knowing he was down to one single chance.

He wished Jenny was here. Something about her presence always gave him more confidence. She had been the first to tell him to take a leap of faith, to quit the corporate job and become his own boss. The look in her eyes had told him he could do that.

Kevin could use that look right now.

For a moment, before crossing the street and entering the skyscraper to find out the verdict on his next year, Kevin stopped for a moment and took a few deep breaths. He didn’t want to admit he was nervous, but every bone in his body felt it. He wanted to appear cool and collected, as if this meeting didn’t mean everything, as if keeping this retainer wasn’t a matter of making or breaking him. Kevin wanted to appear in control.