Showing results by publisher "John isaac Jones" in Anthologies

Cousins Billy and Roy were just two mischievous boys - probably meaner than most - but still just bored, country kids looking for some adventure and excitement. During the nights they spent with their grandmother, their favorite pastime was spying on the tenants of their grandmother's rental houses. Over the years, the two had spied on all of their grandmother's renters at one time or another, but the one who provided the most fun and excitement was a desperate woman named Annie Atkinson.

For years, the old men had been hanging around the country grocery store whiling away their days playing checkers and dominoes and talking about politics, women, drinking, and life experiences. All that time, the store owner readily approved their presence in the store and went on about his business as if they were not there. Then, one fateful morning in 1956, a new owner bought the business who was not quite as tolerant.

This is the story of a dying little boy fighting to escape a very special hell!

One day in June of 1951, Billy Johnson's father delayed plowing long enough to teach his son how to trap a rabbit. In the past, he had never seen his father delay plowing for any reason, especially when he was using black hired hands. Over the years that followed, he always assumed the motive for the lesson was nothing more than a father who was an avid sportsman teaching his son to trap a rabbit. After his father died, he learned differently.

It was Mother's Day and Robert Allman tried to prepare for the occasion. Tradition held that when worshippers attended church on Mother's Day, those whose mothers were alive wore red roses. Those whose mothers were passed, like Robert's, would wear a white rose. However, after he could only find a red rose to wear, he never dreamed, not in a million years, what was in store for him.