Alice I was sitting on my porch, looking across the street, watching Cody Morrison wash their car. It is said, youth is wasted on the young. It certainly wasn't wasted on him. A fine figure of a young man. A figure even a woman as old as me could appreciate. Tall, blonde, with a body I bet drove the girls mad. I know it would be me, if I were just a few years younger. Shoot, it was doing it to me today. Watching him broug...

I was always the brainy one. All the way through high school, math and science held no mystery. With this gift came a curse: ostracism. When other girls' social lives evolved to cliques with interests like cosmetics and boys, I was excluded. Nobody wanted to associate with the nerdy girl who made them look dumb. And boys? Same thing. A few (very few) dates always ended badly because I intimidated them, just by being mysel...

I realized my eyes were closed, but light penetrated my eyelids. I was warm. A sheet or light blanket covered me. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was the anesthesiologist placing a mask over my face and saying, "Breathe deeply." Now, here I was, wherever "here" was. I opened my eyes. There were fluorescent lights and ceiling tiles. The air had a chemical odor. Hospital? Was I in a hospital? I tried to move my han...