You are a fifth-grade girl who comes home from school to find a doll on your front porch. The doll looks like you, is dressed like you, and there is something about the eyes. Who left it? Why is it here? And what makes this doll so special?
19 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Learning how to wiggle your ears is really hard. But you can do it if you keep trying. And if you learn to keep trying, no problem is too big. So if you can wiggle your ears, you can do anything!
Could it be possible? For years I’ve been reading about the complications of a growing population. How large numbers of people strain resources and create pollution. How too many are condemned to live in poverty and “food insecurity.” How we live where we’re not supposed to — in floodplains and on barrier islands to be
Today I was surprised to learn of a problem that really shouldn’t exist. It’s no secret that there is a shortage of organ donors. The Medscape website estimates almost 113,000 people are waiting for transplants. So you would think the shipment of donated organs would receive the highest priority. And you would be wrong. According
Have you ever had a strong urge to start over? I mean go missing and begin life again somewhere else with a new identity? For whatever reason — escape debt, a loveless marriage, maybe domestic violence? All over the world, people have been known to do that — just disappear and start over someplace else.
It’s happened again. The headline reads “A mom called 911 to help her 13-year-old with autism. Utah police shot him” by USA Today’s N’dea Yancey-Bragg. Basically, a mother returned to work for the first time in a year. But her 13-year-old son with Asperger’s syndrome had separation anxiety, which led to a “mental health episode.”
Have you ever wondered why the avocado fruit has such a large pit? It would’ve been so much easier to propagate if it was the size of, say an apple seed. (That’s why we’ve never heard of a Johnny Avocado.) Was this an evolutionary malfunction? Sort of. The current scientific evidence is the avocado plant
Parasites are probably the least popular life-form on Earth. For example, Guinea worm disease is a very painful infection cause by a parasite that can be found in areas of Africa without safe drinking water. The details are too gruesome to detail here and there is no treatment. The only good news is eradication efforts
Monday, August 31, was the 100th anniversary of the first radio news program, a milestone worth commemorating in this election year. One hundred years ago, the users of radio were hobbyists. In Detroit, home of the Scripps newspaper family’s The Detroit News, the company faced a dilemma. Radio was a threat to newspapers, yet it was
What would you think of someone who hasn’t showered in five years? Meet James Hamblin. He occasionally gets his hair wet, but some time ago he quit using soap (except on his hands), shampoo, antibiotic deodorants, and similar personal-care products. And he hasn’t showered in five years. He doesn’t recommend this lifestyle for everyone, but
When I got back from running Thursday afternoon, I had a voice message from the high school. They needed a substitute teacher for special-needs classes. I’ve been so bored I was happy to take the job. The students I had today were functional special needs. They’re attending half-days, one group in the morning and one
In August 2019, I announced the publication of a story about a girl and a very special doll. One story has led to three, and now all three are available at Amazon.com in multiple formats — Kindle downloads ($1.99 each), Kindle Unlimited (free to members), and in paperback ($4.99 each). They can be accessed at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bob+welbaum&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
