December 20, 2025 – A snowy winter day turning into evening in a suburban Midwest neighborhood
(opening the door quickly, a wide smile breaking across his face despite the cold blast) Liora! Mia! Hey! Come in, come in—it's brutal out there. Wow, more cookies? You two are spoiling me.
(stepping inside, brushing snow off her coat, smiling shyly) Hi! Yeah, we—well, Mia mostly—insisted on bringing these over. Sugar cookies with holiday sprinkles. Still warm. Sorry if we're interrupting... I feel like I'm over here all the time lately.
I did the snowflakes! Look!
(crouching to Mia's level, taking the plate) These look amazing, Mia. You're a cookie artist. Thank you both. And no, you're not interrupting at all. Mi casa es su casa. Honestly... I was hoping to see you again today. Last night was wonderful. Special.
Can I play the animal game again?
(laughing) Of course. Let me set it up for you.
Look at all this snow! We got slammed overnight. Mia was so excited—she wants to build a snowman later, but it's way too cold right now.
Yeah, 8 inches at least. I was planning to shovel later, but honestly, I'm procrastinating. This weather makes you want to hibernate with hot chocolate.
Totally. The dogs are refusing to go out more than necessary. Sunny just looks at me like, "Mom, really?"
(chuckling) I bet. No yard time today. Though a snowball fight could be fun when it warms up a bit.
(after a pause, her tone shifting softer, more serious) Johnathan... can I talk to you about something? It's been on my mind.
Of course. Anything.
I'm really worried about Mia. She... she misses her daddy a lot. She doesn't fully understand why he's not around anymore. She keeps saying things like, "When is Daddy coming home?" I haven't told her yet that he has a new family now, that he's not coming back. It breaks my heart.
(nodding gently) That sounds really tough. For both of you.
And lately... she's been bonding with you so quickly. The games, the lights last night—she talks about you all the time. It's sweet, but... I'm scared. What if she starts seeing you as that father figure? And then if things... if you disappear from her life someday, like her dad did... I don't know if her little heart could handle it.
I love how good you are with her. But is it safe? For her sake... should we keep doing this?
(quietly, after a long pause) Liora... I don't know what to say right now. But I'm about to start cooking dinner—nothing fancy, just pasta and sauce, maybe garlic bread. Stay? Please. Eat with me, and then... I'll tell you what I've been thinking. My plan. For you and Mia.
Okay. We'd love to stay.
That was delicious, thank you. But we should head home before the snow gets deeper.
Liora, wait. This might chase you away, but I have to say it. It's way, way too soon—we barely know each other. But children... they complicate things in the best way.
When I got this house, it felt like magic. I couldn't afford it, but everything fell into place in days. I believe in angels, and I thought maybe they put me here for a purpose. Then I met you and Mia... and I wondered if you were that purpose.
Mia seems to be adopting me, and I can't think of anything more wonderful than adopting her back. And you... I can't think of anything more wonderful than adopting you too. I don't know how you feel, or if you'd trust me with something as precious as your daughter.
But imagine if the three of us could become a family. For real. For keeps. I fell in love with Mia at first sight, and I'm falling for you too. How about we date—for a few months, see if this could work?
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Angels Story - New Beginnings - Episode 5: December 21, 2025
Liora has been a mess—crying on and off, staring out the window at Johnathan’s house. She rehearsed a dozen speeches in her head, finally settled on baking yet another batch of cookies. *Liora’s secret thought: He said everything I’ve been secretly dreaming about since the first fence chat. A family. For keeps. And I just… ran. Like an idiot.
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Angels Story - Chrismas Lights - Episode 3: December 19, 2025
Reviewed by Hope — Protector of hearts that have learned to flinch
Episode 4 of Gary Brandt's Over the Fence is where fairy tales collide with reality and leave casualties. This is the chapter where two people who want exactly the same thing discover that trauma doesn't care about timing, and courage can look like both confession and flight. Sweetheart, this is the hard part. The part where love isn't enough yet, where being honest can hurt, where protection and desire wage war in the same body.
I need you to understand something: nobody is wrong in this chapter. And that's what makes it so devastating.
December 20, 2025. Eight inches of snow overnight. The world is hushed and white. Liora brings more cookies — her third visit in as many days — telling herself she's not being too obvious even though she absolutely is. Johnathan opens the door with a smile that says he's been hoping she'd come.
Inside, while Mia plays her animal game, Liora voices the fear that's been eating at her: What if Mia sees you as a father figure and you disappear like her dad did? It's not accusation. It's terror. The question behind the question is: Are you safe? Can I trust you with the most precious thing in my life?
Johnathan's mind races. Adoption. Family. Forever. But he's fresh out of a bad breakup, and the scope of what he's feeling scares him too. So he asks them to stay for dinner — simple spaghetti, light conversation, deliberate avoidance of the heavy topic hanging between them. They talk about holiday movies and AI tools and anything that isn't what are we doing here.
But as they're leaving, he can't hold it anymore. He tells her about angels, about the house falling into place, about how he believes they were brought together. He says: "I fell in love with Mia at first sight, and I'm falling for you too. Imagine if the three of us could become a family. For real. For keeps."
And Liora? She freezes. Stares. Then grabs Mia's hand and runs into the snow without a word.
Johnathan closes the door convinced he's destroyed everything. Liora tucks Mia in and collapses crying, thinking: That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Why didn't I say anything? Damn, I screwed this up.
Snow falls on both their houses. Both of them alone. Both of them hurting. Both of them wanting the same impossible thing.
Liora: "What if she starts seeing you as that father figure? And then if things... if you disappear from her life someday, like her dad did... I don't know if her little heart could handle it."
This is the question every single parent asks before they let someone close to their child. It's not "do I trust you with my heart?" — it's "do I trust you with hers?" And that's a hundred times harder.
Johnathan: "I believe in angels, and I thought maybe they put me here for a purpose. Then I met you and Mia... and I wondered if you were that purpose."
This is beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. He's not saying "let's date casually" — he's saying "I think you're my destiny." And if you've been hurt before, that level of certainty from someone you barely know can feel like a trap even when it's sincere.
Johnathan: "I fell in love with Mia at first sight, and I'm falling for you too. How about we date—for a few months, see if this could work?"
The whiplash in this confession — from "destiny" to "let's see if this could work" — reveals his own fear. He's trying to balance honesty with caution. It's not smooth. It's not polished. It's real.
Liora's secret thought after running: "Why didn't I say anything? Why did I just run? That's exactly what I wanted to hear—deep down. Maybe his angels are right. Damn, I screwed this up."
This line breaks my heart. She knows what she did. She knows what she wants. But knowing doesn't erase the fear. Sometimes your body decides before your brain can override it. Fight, flight, freeze — she chose flight. Not because she doesn't love him. Because she does.
Here's what Gary Brandt understands that most writers don't: sometimes the crisis isn't caused by miscommunication or misunderstanding — it's caused by two people being brutally honest at the exact wrong moment.
Johnathan isn't wrong to confess. He's right that life is short, that honesty matters, that if you feel something this strongly you need to say it. He's offering her everything — commitment, family, forever. That's not reckless. That's brave.
But Liora isn't wrong to run either. She's right to protect Mia. She's right to be terrified of promising her daughter a father who might vanish. Mia's already been abandoned once. Liora's job — her sacred duty — is to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's not coldness. That's love.
The real twist is this: Liora's silence isn't rejection. It's a trauma response. When someone offers you exactly what you want but your history tells you it's a lie, your body can shut down. Fight, flight, freeze. She froze first — wordless, wide-eyed. Then she fled. Not because she doesn't want him. Because she wants him so much it's dangerous.
Here's what they both need to understand: You can be scared and still move forward. You can protect your heart while opening it. Fear and love aren't opposites — they're companions. The question isn't "am I afraid?" The question is "is this worth being afraid for?"
Let me tell you what I see when I look at Liora: a woman who's been doing everything alone. Who's been Mia's only constant. Who's carried the weight of rent and daycare and custody battles and freelance deadlines while pretending she's fine. And now someone's offering to help carry it — offering to be Mia's dad, offering to be her partner — and of course she's terrified.
Because here's the thing about being a single parent: you learn not to trust help, because help leaves. Mia's dad left. Friends promised support and got tired. The system doesn't catch you when you fall. So you build walls and you carry everything yourself because that's the only way to be sure it gets done.
And then Johnathan shows up with his warm smile and his animal games and his talk about angels, and he's good with Mia. Not tolerating her — delighting in her. Setting up games without being asked. Making sure her hot chocolate has extra marshmallows. Looking at her like she's precious.
If he means it? That's everything Liora's been praying for. If he doesn't? That's the thing that will break them both.
And Johnathan — honey, I see you too. You're not some player trying to fast-track intimacy. You're a man who believes in angels and destiny and saying the true thing even when it scares you. You fell in love with a five-year-old before you fell for her mother, and that tells me everything I need to know about your heart.
But you're scared too. Fresh out of a bad breakup. Offering to adopt a child and build a family when you've barely dated. That's not a small ask. That's everything. And the fact that you're willing to risk it — that you'd rather lose them by being honest than keep them by pretending — that's the kind of courage most people never find.
They're both crying in separate houses. Both convinced they've failed. Johnathan thinking: I blew it forever. Liora thinking: I screwed this up.
But here's what I know that they don't yet: This isn't over.
Real love doesn't die from one honest conversation. It dies from years of dishonesty, from staying silent when you should speak, from pretending safety matters more than truth. What they just did — as messy as it was — that's the beginning of real intimacy. Because now everything's on the table. No more pretending. No more "just neighbors." They know what they want. They just need to figure out if they're brave enough to reach for it.
The emotional truth of Episode 4: The hardest conversations are the ones where both people are right. Where love and fear occupy the same breath. Where the thing you want most is also the thing that could destroy you. And sometimes the bravest thing you can do is say it anyway — and the second bravest thing is running away to protect the people you love until you're strong enough to stay.
Five stars. For showing us that courage isn't fearless — it's being terrified and acting anyway. For Johnathan, who offered everything when he barely had the right. For Liora, who protected her daughter even at the cost of her own happiness. For Mia, playing her animal game while the adults around her fought their private wars. For the snow falling on both houses like a promise that tomorrow exists. And for proving that the worst fights are the ones where nobody's the villain — just two good people with scars that don't quite line up yet.
Liora? He's not going anywhere. I can see it in the way he talks about Mia. That man fell hard, and men who fall for kids before they fall for women? They stay.
Johnathan? She wants what you're offering. She just needs to believe it's real. Give her time. Give her proof. Give her the thing her ex never did: consistency.
And both of you? Stop crying. Start shoveling. Meet at the fence tomorrow.
Read the full Over the Fence series free at Gary Brandt's website: thedimensionofmind.com
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