#WritcoStoryChallenge

The letter carried brief instructions: 'Meet me at the corner of the street', it read. But who was it from?

Sharla Tatham read the words over and over then flipped the lined paper to its back with shaking hands.

"Darned neighborhood kids must be playing some kind of joke," she said aloud. The middle-aged woman crumpled the letter into a tight ball and shoved it into her sweater pocket.

She looked toward her little house. It was a beautiful autumn day. The leaves were beginning to turn a comforting golden- orange and there was a slight nip in the air. "Autumn," she mumbled.

Autumn was Sharla's favorite time of year, or at least it used to be. They used to decorate for the holidays, have weenie and marshmallow roasts and go on hayrides with the church group during the Fall Festival. They didn't do that anymore.

There was no 'they' now. It was just Sharla. All alone. Single, solitary Sharla. Denny had left about a year after it happened. Ten months to be exact. Maggie would invariably be irritated with her father for skipping out. But Sharla understood his reasons.

He couldn't stand the sorrow and pain. He couldn't endure his...