His father and grandfather and great-grandfather had all practiced medicine in Berlin. Dr. Ernst Weldmann never questioned—rather, he embraced—the ancestral tide that swept him along a similar stream.

These were the kind of days children dreamed of. A warm sun shone over Coronado, California. December weather on the island did not prevent outside play. The wind off the bay remained soft, even if chilled. Church let out early. There was time to pla

Her time was spent in its usual way, breakfast, pills, organizing and cleaning. It was just hours behind today; hence the late swim. She was proud she did it, that she went outside. She swam, moved herself in the pool, chilly as it was. The pump made a wa

Within an hour of the storm starting Kitty was growing anxious. This was to be a “long duration event,” according to the weatherman. Already there was a visible sheen on the road and Vern, a neighbor right up the road, had gently spun his truck into the d

Rome and Carthage wage war as Hannibal crosses the Alps and invades Italy. With him, he brings an army of barbarian hordes hellbent on reducing Rome to ash. For one young Roman soldier, Gaius, he is trapped between his loyalties to the republic, and to hi

One day a girl with blond hair was walking along the fence on the other side. There were just a handful of us left and I was the only one to notice her. I watched her. She did not see me. The next time I saw her, I went to the fence. I thought she might y

“The King,” he paused, pursed his lips, looked across the crowd of eager and fearful citizens of Ki, “is dead!”