Since the dawn of time people have clung to the belief that at any moment of an abject life lady luck might walk through their door and bestow fame, fortune, and happiness on him who has the wisdom to receive her.† Barnabee Crass was not one of these people, but on a stormy July day, [...]

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The hour is just past dawn and a handful of servants tiptoe around Galileo’s sleeping body.† It is splayed in bedclothes across the thin mattress, the old man’s hair disheveled, his breath a whimper.† They watch him as they move, careful not to disturb.† Two boys are filling the pitchers with water they have brought [...]

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Lucy had decided at the age of five that she hated milk, but at the grocery store one day she walked into the dairy aisle and bought a carton. She did this with some trepidation – she hadn’t expected the variety, and the color-coding was not enitrely transparent to a novice. But she [...]

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