Year: 2021

Slam! Aspen’s foot smashed a cockroach that crossed the floor in front of her. Pinching the bug between her thumb and pointer finger, she picked it up by a leg, its two-inch dark brown body dangling from her fingers. Aspen grabbed Trinity’s enclosure key and took the bug outside to its…

Jack, wearing his coolest sunglasses and khaki explorers hat, clipped his life vest, and waded down to his kayak, while his sister, Aspen, watched as he climbed in. She handed him the paddle and then stepped into hers, wobbling just a bit. That wobble always made her nervous; she had fallen…

Dusty and Aspen headed out to a remote part of the lake after receiving an urgent hotline call. A neighbor spotted a monster of a snapping turtle across the cove with an arrow stuck in its neck. They pulled up to the address and found an empty home with a for…

The following day when Aspen went into the center, she learned the snapping turtle she and Dusty rescued was at a local veterinarian’s office having the arrow surgically removed from its neck. It turned out it was not an ordinary arrow, but a fishing arrow that had three prongs, which popped…

Aspen tried to volunteer at the center a few times a week, depending on her college workload. Organic Chemistry was taking up a lot of her time. It was a diffcult subject for her; she needed extra help from the campus tutor. She was volunteering at the center to relax; sometimes…

Leaves changed color and fell as the air cooled while the semester continued. Aspen was studying when she got a message from Kim, "Hey Aspen, this is Kim from the center. I was wondering if we could release some squirrels out at your parents’ house. Give me a call." Arrangements were…

Aspen woke very early in her dorm, the morning of her last final exam. The fire alarm blared. Hair a mess, wearing flannel pajamas and a sweatshirt, she evacuated the building. Fire trucks pulled up, lights and sirens going. The students huddled together wondering what caused the hullabaloo. Usually, it was…