September 11th excerpt:
Before they reached the school, Dean paused and knelt down next to Sam.
“Be careful today,” he warned in a low voice, sliding Sam’s backpack off and handing it over. “If anything happens and you need me, I’m not far.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sam insisted.
Dean huffed. “For once you’re not the one I’m worried about.”
September 10th excerpt:
“You can’t let anyone see him,” Dean talked fast, both brothers walking with rapid, long strides to cut down on time without a flat-out run across the field and forest between the motel and the school. “If they grab, they might hurt the kid. We need to look out for him until we can get him back where he belongs.”
“I know,” Sam said with that unique way kids have of sounding completely exasperated with their family for pointing out the obvious.
September 9th excerpt:
Oscar tumbled over once, then twice, unable to counter the tilt of Sam’s hand. He landed with a gasp at the bottom of the pocket, and lay still to watch the hand retreat. Once it was gone, Sam’s face replaced the view above.
“Oh no,“ he murmured, squirming around until he could find a sense of balance. The pocket was made of cozy fabric but it swayed with every step. He never could have prepared for anything like it.
August 13th excerpt:
Under Dean’s watchful eye, Sam flopped onto his bed, and it was less than a minute before he was snoring away, arms and legs in a sprawl.
Dean shook his head. Good thing their dad had sprung for a room with two beds. He wouldn’t have a foot in his face.
August 11th excerpt:
Dean noticed that the book where the kid had sat was now empty, the M&M abandoned. Dean reached forward, plucking up the M&M between two fingers and his brow furrowing in confusion when he saw the little shadow hiding behind the bread.
With a sigh, Dean reached around to pluck the kid up. “You’ve gotta stay in sight,” he scolded.
August 10th excerpt:
The rest of the huge M&M stayed in Oscar’s lap while he took a nibble of the candy. His eyes widened in shocked appreciation and he shot Sam a glance.
No wonder the other boy was so excited. It was good.
August 9th excerpt:
Dean elbowed Sam in the side, one side of his mouth quirked. “Might wanna…”
Sam saw Oscar’s troubles. “Oh!” He quickly reached for the little yellow candy, plucking it from between the kid’s tiny hands. “Here, I can help.”
Taking the M&M, Sam lightly rapped it against the table, until he saw the top start to splinter sugar and a bit of the chocolate was visible from inside. “There’s peanuts in them,” he explained to Oscar as he held it out again. “Chocolate and peanuts and candy and yum!”
August 8th excerpt:
“Chocolate’s my favorite,” Sam finally managed to say. “Dean likes licorice.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“Oh…” Oscar frowned in dubious confusion, glancing over at Dean but doubting he’d learn anything. He had never heard of licorice, but if it was edible he’d probably like it well enough. Oscar had decided early in life that he liked food in general for the content feeling it put in his middle.
He sat down with his yellow M&M held close and cradled in his lap. He definitely couldn’t bite it the way Sam could bite several at once.
June 24th excerpt:
Picking up his sandwich, Dean glanced at Oscar. “Do you know if anyone else is around? Your size?” he asked before biting into the bread, giving talking with the kid another go.
Oscar, still standing up on the book, almost felt like he was on display. Especially with a question like that hanging in the air. Expectant looks fixed on him and all but froze him in place with a dilemma.
June 23rd excerpt:
Oscar scanned the table from his new, surprised perch on the book. His eyes were wide and he clung to the mini-sandwich like it might disappear if he didn’t. Food containers towered over him, and they’d make decent hiding places if he could hop down and scurry behind them in time.
The only reason he didn’t try was sitting just a few feet away, holding onto a much larger version of the sandwich in his hands. Oscar eyed Sam, but when the kid didn’t reach for him he ducked his head to nibble at his food.
It was so good, his tears nearly made a comeback.
Brothers Apart 