{"id":3319,"date":"2016-01-17T03:53:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T09:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/?p=3319"},"modified":"2020-09-05T03:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T08:49:54","slug":"the-twilight-diner-fiction-by-tom-sheehan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/the-twilight-diner-fiction-by-tom-sheehan\/","title":{"rendered":"Amie and Sherry and the Twilight Diner"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"leader\" style=\"line-height: 1em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/the-twilight-diner-fiction-by-tom-sheehan\">Tom Sheehan<\/a><\/h2>\n<h4 class=\"trailer\" style=\"line-height: 1.66em;\">Original Fiction<\/h4>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-indent-first\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\">\n<p><span class=\"dropcap dp-circle\" style=\"color:#ffffff; background-color:#444444\">O<\/span>n the morning of her twenty-fifth birthday, a July day, Amie Lightstreet walked into the Twilight Diner, just off Exit 185, US 80 eastbound, in Pennsylvania. She went immediately to a table in the far corner, the last empty booth, just before a couple came in the door. The waitress hurried over with a menu and said, \u201cCoffee, Hon?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-indent\">\n<p>\u201cI would love a cup of tea, if it\u2019s no bother this early in the day.\u201d Her voice was sweet, her eyes startlingly blue, and her clothes were a smooth combination of white and tan.<\/p>\n<p>The waitress\u2019s name was Sherry, just starting to get round, and she noticed how slim her new customer was and how beautiful, the way she once was and hoped she held some of it. She thought by the way the girl glanced around that she was waiting for someone. \u201cYou got it, Hon. You looking for someone special?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAren\u2019t we all looking for someone special?\u201d Amie Lightstreet had a great smile that warmed Sherry in the midst of the morning rush.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless we got him already,\u201d Sherry said over her shoulder as she walked off to get the tea; she added, \u201cMine\u2019s name is Josh. Good luck on yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie had breakfast, dawdling over her food. She had a second cup of tea, and with every sip looked at the door if it opened and then out the window.<\/p>\n<p>Noticing the clock as it neared eleven, Sherry hoped whoever the girl in the corner booth was looking for would come in before her shift was done. She wanted to feel that stab of goodness that now and then ran right through her.<\/p>\n<p>All the customers had left except the girl in the corner and an elderly couple in another booth. Outside, the traffic thinned and came to a standstill. A light mist began fell. The elderly man left the diner, went to his car, and brought back an umbrella.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry said to the girl in the corner booth, \u201cDoesn\u2019t that take all? I hope we both come to that. They look so sweet, those two old-timers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie said, \u201cDon\u2019t we all have a grandmother or grandfather story.\u201d It was not a question. She looked at the door as another young couple walked in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe sure do. I got mine.\u201d Sherry turned toward the grill and the burly man in an apron who told her, \u201cGo on and git now. I got breakfast for you and Josh and the boys all wrapped up for you. See you in the morning. I\u2019ll get that new couple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>She wanted to feel that stab of goodness that now and then ran right through her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The next morning, at about nine-thirty, Amie Lightstreet came into the Twilight Diner, looked around, and again found the corner booth available. This time, after a small delay with other customers being served, Sherry brought her a cup of tea. \u201cI\u2019m Sherry, and I hope Mr. Whoever shows up for you today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie, feeling the pleasant acceptance from Sherry, introduced herself. \u201cI remember you saying yesterday that you had a grandmother story. I\u2019d like to hear it sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sherry, checking out her landscape, letting the clockwork in her head about servings, said, \u201cI have a beauty, but it\u2019ll take time to tell. If you\u2019re around as long as yesterday, I\u2019ll tell you. You live near here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, about seven or eight miles away. It\u2019s a nice ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a few other diners between here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie cranked out that gorgeous smile again, and Sherry could almost reach back to touch her own youthful smile, the one that had crushed Josh. \u201cI bet you\u2019d agree with me that there\u2019s only one Twilight Diner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked quickly at the entrance as the door swung inward. Two burly truckers walked in and sat at the counter. The man behind the grill greeted them by name. They leaned over and there was a short three-man convention. All three broke into hearty laughter. \u201cIt\u2019s the joke of the day for Mike and the boys,\u201d Sherry explained to Amie. \u201cThey used to play ball together years ago.\u201d The summation came on her face before she said, \u201cThey\u2019re nice guys. The good kind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, with a serious look on her face, Amie asked, \u201cDoes happiness come with this place?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind the grill, Mike yelled, \u201cTwo and three up, Sherry.\u201d He and his pals still had wide morning grins. One of them was chuckling.<\/p>\n<p>Traffic inside and outside came and went; the morning ebb had begun. The sun slanted steeply into the windows and touched the floor. Shadows of tables and booths became shorter. The sound of sizzling bacon had disappeared but the aroma held place in the air. A long semi, with a galloping horse logo spread on the side of the trailer, ground to a halt along the roadside. Two cars of customers pulled away from the diner.<\/p>\n<p>Amie Lightstreet sat in the same booth with the same expectant attitude about her that Sherry swore she could measure. The good thoughts came back as she remembered Amie saying, \u201cDoes happiness come with this place?\u201d In the back of her mind a thin dark piece of matter reached out to touch her consciousness. She could feel a literal connection had been made. The image of her grandmother rushed through her and she remembered her promise to Amie, at that moment looking hopefully as the door opened. A young couple walked in and Sherry could tell the girl was embarrassed that the boy was holding her hand. He would not let go, as if he was telling her something. Sherry smiled at both of them. \u201cKids,\u201d she said to herself, and smiled again as her promise came back.<\/p>\n<p>The clock said 10:55 and Mike held up Sherry\u2019s breakfast doggie bag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got those two kids, Mike,\u201d she told him. \u201cThen I\u2019m going to sit with Amie for a while. I told Josh I\u2019d be late with his breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sherry waited on the new customers, the only others beside Amie in the Twilight Diner. She put her carry-out on Amie\u2019s table and sat down with a cup of coffee. \u201cYou want another tea, Hon?\u201d The sudden lack of motion created a sense of suspense in the diner, as Mike behind the counter had gone into a back room, and the young couple was silent, only eyes working. Both Amie and Sherry were aware of the change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I\u2019m set,\u201d Amie said, \u201cbut I\u2019d love to hear that grandmother story of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly if you tell me yours,\u201d Sherry said, \u201cand it\u2019s not too long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, I\u2019ll be here again tomorrow. I think I\u2019ll be here every day until I leave town in September. I\u2019ll be going to Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The whole story flashed through Sherry\u2019s mind and said so on her face. Amie could read the happiness and the pain, as both the hurt and the good times took turns on Sherry\u2019s face. Finally, a happy grin took over. Amie made up her mind that it would all end up as a happy story.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry began her story. \u201cOnce I was almost as pretty as you are. I\u2019m 31 now and have three kids. Young Josh is almost 16, my daughter McKenzie is 13, and my baby Cavan is 9. My husband\u2019s name is Josh and I have been in love with him since I was 12 and he was a neighbor. When he was a big football hero for the high school and I was a cheerleader and had all the equipment in the right places, he knew I liked him and someone told me he liked me. Anyway, one night we ended up in the back seat of his father\u2019s car. Oh, he was so clumsy and nervous, but so damned nice. Can you imagine a great big football player who could run like the devil was chasing him, having trouble with my bra?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, you know what happened. I got pregnant and he refused to go off to college. He had a chance to go to Penn State. But Josh wanted his child to be his child, not some other guy\u2019s. We got married right after my 16<sup>th<\/sup> birthday and after he graduated and he went right to work. He wouldn\u2019t take anything from his father, who had two other sons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sherry looked at the clock again and continued. \u201cI keep looking at the clock because I don\u2019t like to be too late. Josh is in a wheelchair now, but he takes care of the kids in his way and I\u2019m in here at five in the morning helping Mike who loves me like I\u2019m his kid sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie\u2019s face gathered into a grimace of pain.\u201cWhat happened to Josh?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTimes were tough. But he had learned how to use tools from his father, so he did a lot of different kinds of jobs. And he joined the Army Reserves to get some extra money. You know what happened then? He went off to Iraq and they kicked the crap out of him and he came home in a wheelchair and things were real tough, but my grandmother stepped in. This is the nice part of my grandmother story. She was widowed and had an old house with four bedrooms and she told Josh and me we could move in and we\u2019d have the house after she died. She was a sweetheart, let me tell you. Never went out with a single guy after my grandfather died in a car crash. Her name was Mathie Brown without an <em>e, <\/em>but I\u2019ll tell you about that later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJosh finally relented and took something from somebody. He was never sorry for himself. Never cried once. Some of the good parts are coming back for him now, because young Josh promises to be even better as a football player than his father. Anyway, he relented and said we\u2019d take my grandmother\u2019s offer, but there was a problem. There was no ramp to get him in or out. But his father, who was a widower, and his older brother, who\u2019s an assistant principal but handy with tools, came to my grandmother and said they\u2019d build a ramp for Josh. But there was another problem. The front porch was in such bad shape, they\u2019d have to make it to the back door, but they promised they\u2019d eventually build one out front.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey built the back ramp and we moved in, and then Josh\u2019s father went to my grandmother and said, Mrs. Brown, I\u2019d like to build a new front porch at no cost to you. We\u2019ll always keep out of your way, as much as we can. Jeff and I will do the work. Some friends, who remember how well Josh could run, have promised the supplies to get it done. She said to go ahead. They were relentless. They came every weekend, like they were driven to atone for something. But I was wrong there; it was out of love. They were special people. They made Josh what he was and is, me and my kids being the lucky ones. They built a new porch out front, with a special ramp, and it was like they wanted to tie the one in front to the one out back. Then they put new stairs up from the front hall, and a new railing, and then a new front hall floor, and they put up new cabinets in the kitchen, and new windows in every room and new doors. They worked there, usually Josh\u2019s dad and Jeff, and sometimes just his dad when Jeff was off with his wife and kids or on some school thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie was smiling and happiness bubbled on her face, and Sherry knew its warmth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy married name now is Sherry Browne with an <em>e<\/em>. It used to be Sherry Brown without an <em>e<\/em>.\u201d She grinned as if savoring the good part. \u201cYou see, almost two years after they started working on the house, with all that time around us, and the kids loving them all, Josh\u2019s dad said to my grandmother one day, \u2018Mrs. Brown, why don\u2019t you put an <em>e <\/em>on the end of your name and come live with me in my house. We\u2019ll leave this one to the kids, and you\u2019ll have mine if I pass on before you.\u2019 And she smiled at him, after all that time of being alone, and then being around him, and said, \u2018Mr. Browne, I would love to do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With tears in the corners of her eyes, Sherry reached over and patted Amie on her arm and said, \u201cI\u2019ve talked too long, Amie. I\u2019ve got to run. See you tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For the first time in the Twilight Diner, Sherry was afraid to approach a customer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For three days, Amie did not show up. Sherry felt the loss and wondered, knowing that Amie was looking for something special, if she had been driven off by her story. Mike noticed the change in Sherry\u2019s attitude. \u201cSomething bothering you, Sherry? Looks like you lost a pal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know what that girl\u2014Amie, who sat in the corner booth\u2014said to me? \u2018Does happiness come with this place?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mike nodded, his bald head catching some of the overhead light, softness still managing to display itself around him. \u201cHey, kid, we ain\u2019t done bad here. Neither one of us will be a millionaire, but we\u2019ll get by. You\u2019re a damned good worker and I couldn\u2019t have done it without you, and I know you never lifted a buck from me\u2014I\u2019ve had a few who did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re an old softie, Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat makes us the odd pair, kid. It\u2019s a pleasure to know you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At that moment the door opened and Amie, sad in the face, came into the diner. She sat in her usual place.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in the Twilight Diner, Sherry was afraid to approach a customer. She stood back, looking at Amie who finally looked up and motioned her over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had some bad news. I lost my grandmother. She\u2019d been ill, and I had to be with my mother, but I kept thinking about your story and knew I had to tell you mine\u2014whenever you\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, Hon, I told Josh every day I might be a bit late, thinking you\u2019d be coming in. You just sit here and wait until I get finished. I\u2019ll get your tea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She walked off lighter on her feet than she\u2019d been in three days. Mike saw the change immediately and nodded, then saw his two old teammates walk in the door and the Twilight Diner was back in motion.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry finally sat with Amie in the corner booth. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss, Amie. I was thinking about you. How\u2019s everything else?\u201d Each of them understood she meant the reason for Amie\u2019s vigilance at the Twilight Diner.<\/p>\n<p>At length, with another look at the door and new customers\u2014two middle-aged women\u2014entering, Amie said, \u201cMy grandmother told me this story a thousand times. She told it to me to the very last day, almost whispering at the end to my mother and me, not sure who was there or who was listening: \u2018Tell Amie his name is Travis. His grandmother said he\u2019d come. I know he will.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho\u2019s Travis?\u201d Sherry said. \u201cIs that Mr. Special?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amie nodded and said, \u201cYou may not believe this story, now what I have made of it, but it has taken hold of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have all morning, Hon.\u201d Sherry put her elbows on the table and set her eyes on Amie\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt began right here.\u201d Amie pointed to the one large table near her booth that could seat six people. \u201cRight at that table, or one just like it, and all of twenty years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sun was now at their feet and touching them lightly. Amie\u2019s tea was tepid and Sherry\u2019s coffee mug was empty. The diner was silent. Mike was off behind the counter someplace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandmother, my mother, my two sisters, and I were in here having breakfast. I was five years old. Sara was eight and Grace was eleven. An older couple came in. My grandmother said she liked them right off as they toasted each other with their coffee cups. She remembered they both had black coffee\u2014it was as if she could recall every detail. The woman was thin and wore glasses and had a nice smile. He was a little heavy around the belly and wore a baseball cap with the name of a hockey team on it, so it must have been a hockey cap. Grandma said I had bangs just like her and that I was a beautiful child, and this older couple kept looking over at us. And finally the man said, \u2018The children are very well behaved and very beautiful, all of them.\u2019 Grandma said she almost busted loose, it made her feel so good. She said she felt all this goodness pouring through her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sherry nodded. \u201cI know that feeling. Do you really think it\u2019s this place? \u2018Member when you asked me if this place brings happiness?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew then that I\u2019d have to tell you my story sometime, because I can use all the help I can get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is it, Hon? Is it a guy? I\u2019m on pins and needles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, the couple kept looking over at us and smiling, and then they\u2019d go on talking. Grandma said it was like sometimes there was nobody else in the room for them. She said the man\u2019s cap said Saugus Hockey and he wore a blue Penn State T-shirt and light pants and black sneakers. The way she described them, it was like she was trying to put every detail in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about his wife?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wore glasses, blue jeans, a blue short sleeve shirt, a gold bracelet, a watch, and had two rings on her fingers. One was a diamond ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, they were a married couple?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, my grandmother knew that at first glance. Then they got their bill from the waitress and the woman counted out the money from her pocketbook. They got up to leave, the man letting her go ahead of him. They got right abreast of my grandmother and the woman looked down at me and said to my grandma, \u2018I have a special grandson whose name is Travis, and someday, about twenty years from now, if he becomes the man I am sure he will become, he will come looking for her.\u2019 She nodded down at me. Grandma said a bolt of something went right through her and I have felt that same thing most of my life, each and every time she tells the story. I bet she told it a thousand times, like she was foretelling my future every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, Amie. That\u2019s a beautiful story. I\u2019ll pray he walks in here today or tomorrow. Oh, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cTell him I waited twenty years or so and just have someplace else to go.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Amie was true to her grandmother. She came every day, and the two women talked. Amie heard about young Josh doing well at practice and his father able to watch him and his grandfather and new grandmother sitting in a car at the other end of the field and able to pick out Josh\u2019s every move on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry told her about the other kids, and Amie told Sherry about her sisters and how things were with them. Summer advanced and late August dumped down on the Twilight Diner as if the evening moon had disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Amie came in one morning, got her tea, and told a story with her face. \u201cI\u2019m all packed now, Sherry. Today\u2019s my last day. I have to go to Chicago if I want to keep that new position.\u201d She looked as the door opened and two girls and their father walked in and sat at the counter. She and Sherry shrugged their shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>An hour passed; Amie got fidgety and finally stood up. Sherry gave her a hug and said, \u201cIf he comes in, I\u2019ll tell him you waited almost the whole summer for him.\u201d She hugged Amie again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell him I waited twenty years or so and just have someplace else to go.\u201d Amie went out the door and yelled out, \u201cGood luck, Mike. Sherry\u2019s a princess, but you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He waved back. \u201cGood luck, Amie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her little red car drove out of the diner parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>Two minutes later a handsome young man walked in the door. He had blond hair and blue eyes and looked like a peach of a kid. Sherry almost fainted as she looked at his T-shirt that read, in blue letters, <em>Travis.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sherry looked at the clock again and rushed over to him. \u201cAre you looking for someone\u2014a girl?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at her blankly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer name is Amie,\u201d Sherry went on. \u201cDid your grandmother ever tell you a story?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes lit up. \u201cFor twenty years almost, she told me the same story over and over, about this place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmie waited all summer for you. Now, she\u2019s on her way to Chicago. She\u2019s in a small red car. Said she\u2019s gonna drive straight through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve seen all kinds of little red cars. What kind of a red car?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, just red. Just small. She\u2019s a beautiful girl. Go after her. Don\u2019t lose her. She thinks happiness comes from this little diner. I know it does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo idea of what kind of car?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sherry ran to the menu board and grabbed a bright red marker. She handed it to Travis. \u201cHer name is Amie. She knows your name is Travis. Your grandmother told your name to her grandmother right here in this room, twenty years ago, right there at that table. Write a message on the back window of your car, something she\u2019ll see and know. Oh, Travis, chase her, don\u2019t miss her. I know she\u2019ll love you and you\u2019ll love her. Both of you have waited most of your lives for this. Go! Go! Go! Go now!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She was pushing him and yelling, and Mike ran out from behind the counter. Sherry held up her hand. \u201cHurry, Travis, hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mike understood in a second that he and Sherry had been part of something special. The two of them watched as Travis ran out and began writing on the back window of a silver-blue minivan. They could not read what he had written as the van buzzed out of the parking lot, swung left and climbed to the westbound side of Route 80.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry and Mike carried on the diner\u2019s ministry of happiness, as they began to call it. Then one lovely April day, more than a year and a half later, Sherry was at home, and the children were out back where their grandfather was putting the finishing touches on a gazebo. Sherry was wondering again about Amie, as she did just about every day. All the options, all the chances, all the possibilities had flooded her mind.<\/p>\n<p>Sherry saw a car coming down the road leading to their house, the sun flashing off the windshield. She shook herself out of the swirl of daydreaming. Moments later Josh heard her crying and propelled his wheelchair hurriedly into the front room. Sherry was leaning over the front room table where she had been working on a scrapbook. Sobs were rolling out of her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? What\u2019s wrong?\u201d Josh yelled. His wheelchair crashed into her chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, Josh,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019m so happy I could scream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He saw the movement out the window: A young woman was bundling up a newborn, a young man was holding the door for her. Josh knew everything that had come from the Twilight Diner, where Sherry and happiness happened and hung out together, all as told so long ago.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hdivider hr-double hr-long\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"small-text\">\n<p><strong>Tom Sheehan<\/strong> served in 31<sup>st<\/sup> Infantry, Korea 1951-52. His books are: <em>Epic Cures; Brief Cases, Short Spans<\/em>; <em>Collection of Friends<\/em>; <em>From the Quickening; The Saugus Book; Ah, Devon Unbowed; Reflections from Vinegar Hill; This Rare Earth &amp; Other Flights<\/em>, and <em>Vigilantes East.<\/em> eBooks include <em>Korean Echoes (<\/em>nominated for a Distinguished Military Award<em>)<\/em>, <em>The Westering,<\/em> (nominated for National Book Award)<em>; <\/em>from Danse Macabre are eBooks\u00a0 <em>Murder at the Forum <\/em>(NHL mystery), <em>Death of a Lottery Foe, Death by Punishment, <\/em>and<em> An Accountable Death. In the Garden of Long Shadows, The Nations (2014), Where Skies Grow Wide and Cross Trails<\/em> (2015) were published by Pocol Press, and <em>Six Guns, Inc., 2015, <\/em>by<em> Nazar Look.<\/em> He has work in <em>Ocean Magazine, Rosebud, Linnet\u2019s Wings, Serving House Journal, Copperfield Review, KYSO Flash, La Joie Magazine, Soundings East, Vermont Literary Review, Literary Orphans, Indiana Voices Journal, Frontier Tales, Western Online Magazine, Provo Canyon Review, Vine Leaves Journal, Eastlit, Rope &amp; Wire Magazine, The Literary Yard, Green Silk Journal, Fiction on the Web, The Path, FaithHopeandFiction.com, The Cenacle, etc<\/em>. He has 30 Pushcart nominations, and five Best of the Net nominations (and one winner) and short story awards from <em>Nazar Look<\/em> for 2012- 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Sheehan Original Fiction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,48,1],"tags":[46,108,136,137,65,15,16,25],"class_list":["post-3319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-original-online-fiction","category-tom-sheehan","category-uncategorized","tag-believing","tag-destiny","tag-friendship","tag-happiness","tag-hope","tag-love","tag-romance","tag-short-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Amie and Sherry and the Twilight Diner | Faith Hope &amp; 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