This is a collection of short vignettes meant to be enjoyed like chocolates from a box.  Each vignette was inspired by a prompt in the form of a quote from literature. The quote and its source are used to title each vignette.  Acknowledgement is given to the authors that provided inspiration and to JC for choosing the quotes for the 2024 Pinecone Challenges.  Characters, topics, and genres are varied, and all questions are not answered. 
Rating: T warnings: mentions of corporal punishment, adult topics word count: 11,416

Canon refers to Ben leaving the Ponderosa for a time after Marie’s death. This story presents a possibility for how Adam managed during this time. (This is an Old Ned story.)

This is a compilation of five vignettes that take place on Ben Cartwright’s trip West.
Rating: K+ Words: 2274

Summary: This prequel is set a few weeks before Adam’s departure for school.  A simple request to pick up Little Joe from a neighbor’s home where the little boy is playing, ends up bringing Adam into a world of confusion over what’s going on with the wife of his father’s oldest friend.

This is the first of 2 prequels, the first taking place in the weeks before Adam left for college, and the second story showing his return. Both take a fun, yet serious look at how the Cartwright family faces problems.

Rating: K    Word Count:  26419

Summary: A Halloween story. It all starts with a harmless visit to the circus.
Rating: PG Word Count: 6000

Summary: The Broken Ballad episode ends with many unanswered questions. Life would have changed in small and huge ways following Ed’s death. So … what happened to Will Cass, whose grief pushed him to do despicable things? How does Billy explain his reason for shooting Payson in what could be described as legal murder when Ed refused to shoot first? How do Adam and Sally make sense in the loss of their friend who simply wanted a chance at a normal life? And how do Adam and his father find common ground after Ben sided with Will Cass against his own son and continues to think Adam should have expected this outcome all along?” This story takes a realistic view of what they each faced in the hours and days after Ed’s ballad was sung at the cemetery.

There’s a twist in this story connecting Broken Ballad to an earlier episode, Blood on the Land that should prove interesting to the story.

Rating: K

Count: 16510

Summary: A spoof. All is not as it seems in this version of the story.
PG  1,808

Summary:  This is a collection of four vignettes written to various prompts.

Rating:  G  (2,920 words)

Ben’s Boys Series, links to stories within the series are included.

Summary: The Cartwright boys’ belles are left wondering what has happened this time.  

Rated: T    Word count: 1182

Synopsis: What if Little Joe and Adam really did want the same girl? “High Stakes” involves a poker game, a blind gambler, and a girl who knows how to play both sides of the table – with the Ponderosa and two Cartwright brothers the highest stakes of all.
Rating:  G
Word:  13,600

Summary: A Missing Scene for “The Legacy”
Rating:  PG
Words:  6,850

Synopsis: An accounting of Hoss’s death
Rating:  PG
Words:  7,000
Part of the Legacy Series, links included within

Synopsis: Ben reluctantly leaves 20 year old Adam in charge of his younger brothers and the ranch for the first time. While he’s away, his sons have a few adventures of their own. (Story blends both the old Bonanza and the new Ponderosa shows.)
Rating:   PG
Words:10,050

Synopsis: After a nightmarish experience, Adam and Joe find themselves riddled with guilt as they fight to keep their heavy burden a secret from their father and Hoss.
Rating:  PG-13
Words:  27,500