On the way to Grandma's house there was a place where the trail split. It was deep in the woods and Robert could not decide which route to take. He stared at them a long time. They were both enticing, but Robert finally decided on the grassier of the two.

After a day, Robert regretted his decision. He imagined the great adventures he could have had on the other path, but he was too far along to turn back now. Robert reached his grandma's cottage without incident and knocked on the door. She opened it and smiled.  

"Perfect timing, Robbie," she said. "The apple pie just came out of the oven. It'll be nice and hot, just how you like it."

Robert sat with a sigh at the kitchen table.

"By the way," his grandma said. "What took you so long? Your parents said you left yesterday." 

"I took a different route," Robert said. 

His grandma cut a slice of the steaming pie and placed it in front of him.  Robert took a bite. Pure heaven.  

"And did you like this way better?" she asked. 

Robert chewed slowly, savoring the taste.  He swallowed. "It made all the difference," he said.

© Paul Michael Murphy. Original for CCF (Murphy grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).