table of contents the stories ( ~word count ) cookies , a brownie , and walter ( 4,000 ) a hero ( 700 ) garden of memoirs ( 2,500 ) drawn to copper lake ( 8,000 ) the stranger ( 200 ) someone to watch over me ( 4,000 ) saving mary collins ( 700 ) custody of the chain ( 1,500 ) the rebellious fingers ( 600 ) deliver us to evil ( 2,000 ) sympathy for the son ( 2,000 ) just another day ( 300 ) about the author cookies , a brownie , and walter ive noticed that the basis of any worthwhile evening news program is horror - the faces of those watching their apartment complex burn like the seventh circle of hell ; sirens screaming in pursuit of a car-jacked minivan with children banging on the back window ; a quiver in a reporters voice , eyes wide , while she describes the heightened security in response to a very credible terroristic threat .