A true story from Dr Jindal's clinic.  ***** Ramesh walked in alone, into my clinic. He had bought an auto rickshaw recently and drove it around Delhi streets from 6 am to 11 pm at night. He barely made enough money to pay the mortgage for the auto, rent for his one room home, just enough rations to keep his family of four children, his wife and himself, alive.

A very personal account from Peter Philipps. Mr Philipps is a previous participant in The Irregular SloWord BirthMonth Festival.  ***** That Sunday, for some long-forgotten reason, we took the streetcar to Villa Brandt rather than walk, as we’d always done in the past. That got us there half an hour before the first garden concert of the season was to begin. As my father and I opened the gate and let ourselves in, Dr. and Mrs. Brandt and their three daughters were getting into position around their ornamental water fountain for a formal photograph. Against a backdrop of apple trees beginning to bloom, it made for a captivating tableau. A passerby might have concluded that God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.

A very personal and touching account from author Darlene Campos. Darlene is a previous participant in The Irregular SloWord BirthMonth Festival.  ***** During the height of COVID, Jake, a rabbit I adopted after finishing graduate school, died of a genetic disorder. I knew at the time I adopted him that he did not have long to live, but I still wanted to give him the best life possible. Although he lived a year longer than expected, I was completely heartbroken when he died.