title: The Crow Scare
author: Beale, Dianne J.
description: "The Crow Scare" introduces a young, accomplished kindergarten teacher who lives a quiet, satisfying life with her prize beagle. Although actually quite attractive, her indifference toward fashion and appearance often defines her as a woman of average beauty, a label she is only too happy to wear. When she receives an anonymous Halloween card, a gift bearing homemade candy also materializes on her porch. A friend, convinced that the gift holds malice, calls the police and an investigation then ensues. As her quiet, monotonous life is laid open, she is compelled to face repressed memories from the past--memories that have unwittingly secluded her from genuinely enjoying her present and which preclude her from planning a truly gratifying future. As new people are introduced into her life, the teacher, whose goal it is to help caterpillars to become butterflies, eventually understands that she, herself, has refused to leave the cocoon.