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EARTH ANGELS & MAGIC MOMENTS
Chapter 8:
But, I Don’t Talk to Strangers
Late one snowy January afternoon in 2019, Eric
Hogan looked up from the hunk of Krispy Kreme
doughnut he was about to dunk into his coffee. That’s
when the chaos erupted.
Four noisy teenagers tumbled into the booth
directly in front of him. Doughnuts in one hand, drinks
and phones the other, knapsacks dangling from
shoulders and elbows, they nudged and scrunched
themselves in to the booth. Energetic. Absorbed.
Radiant. Winter jackets off. Eric's eyes rolled
heavenward as he muttered, 'Just what I need.'
But as he watched the teens settle in, something
shifted inside him. Curiosity got the better of him, and
he stood up, counting to three in his head. It was a
moment of reckoning, a choice between annoyance and
engagement. Eric's eyes locked onto the teens, and he
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