Three Green Notebooks Left in a Cedar Chest on Elm Street

a thick blue envelope slid out of his jacket and fell silently onto the rubber floor mat by the door. He did not notice. He took three quick steps up the concrete stairs and was gone, the heavy door clicking shut behind him.

I stood very still by the hymnal cart, my fingers resting on the cover of a Methodist hymnal. Gale turned around, saw me standing continue reading …