Embarrassingly, I seem to have forgotten to select a Story of the Month for January, so here it is, over a month late!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for January were:

Point Price by Salman Ansari
Aging Children I Am One by Laura C. Alonso
A Lesson In Botany by Jenna Manley
Cherry Blossom by Tim Boiteau
Hurt is Homeless by John Lovell
After My Mother’s Stroke, My Parents Refuse Assisted Living by Jennifer L. Freed
Ripples (Another Misadventure of the Broken Boys) by Bob Thurber

The winner of the January 2022 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Cherry Blossom

I think the thread of comments on this story does an excellent job of laying out its merits, so I invite you to read those (and contribute comments on daily stories, in general!).