family

Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.

Evelyn
He lay on his back. His eyes opened, fixed on the revolving fan whirling overhead. The dull thud that came from outside was familiar. He silently swung the covers over his legs, being sure not to wake the woman next to him. Sliding into his slippers, he tiptoed towards the bedroom door. The windowless hallway was nearly pitch black, so he placed his hands on either side of him, using the walls for guidance. At the end of the long hallway, he opened the wooden baby blue door to reveal soft rain falling on the brick walkway in front of him. He picked up the paper from the stoop, holding it out in front of his face, allowing droplets of water to fall from the translucent orange plastic cover.
By Patrick Clancy-Geske5 years ago in Humans
Lost in the Wood
Last night I dreamt of the horses. Running wild and free, those magnificent beasts, the thunder of their hooves even drowning out the terrible roar of the guns and the staccato blasts of the machine guns. For a while they were free again, running down a hillside in France, while bullets whizzed past them and mortar blasts lit up the sky. Their eyes wide and terrified, hearts pounding, jumping over their fallen comrades to escape.....running for their lives. I awoke shaking, wishing it were a dream, then as reality clawed though my unconscious state and the sound of the guns brought me back to where I was I realized how much I wished I was one of them, those wonderful wild and terrified animals, who for a few brief moments were free again, running wild in the woods.
By Maria Lorraine Preston5 years ago in Humans
Child's Play
There's only one reason I sat on the cold hard concrete of our front porch for hours nearly every summer afternoon: to beat my fiercest competitor, my little sister, at jacks.
By Debra Rogers5 years ago in Humans
Mouse Flambe′
We had a small disaster this Christmas. Well, actually, it was the 6th of January. I was taking down the Christmas decorations and I had just placed all the green artificial garlands in their box when I decided to take a break and fix myself a snack. I opened one of the kitchen drawers and was confronted by my worst nightmare. At first, I tried to convince myself that I was observing a few of the chocolate sprinkles that my husband likes to put over his vanilla ice cream. In my heart, I knew this was not so, but Kenneth is very careless in the kitchen, so I made a stab at this conclusion while I let the truth settle in on me. Ultimately, there was no denying it... A mouse had visited me. "Visited" is a misnomer. Mice do not visit. They move in for the long haul. Mice are one of life's perils if one owns a home in the woods, especially in the winter.
By Pamela W. Carman5 years ago in Humans
Asher
Asher sat fingering the check. Twenty-thousand dollars was more money than he had ever made at once as a landscaper. And certainly more than he had ever made as an artist, although he hoped that might change one day. But he was wracked with guilt over whether or not to cash it. He didn’t think his Mom would have wanted him to. He knew his Dad would have told him to “go for it”. His expenses had been minor. More time than anything. It was such a strange sequence of coincidences that lead him here. He reflected on what had put the check in his hand.
By Eugene Evans5 years ago in Humans
The Missing Page
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND The child had not gotten to finish the story before the page was ripped out of hand and gone from sight. The torn page had been an accident, but the rest of the book was purposefully pulled from his hands. The always towering cloud by his side was, at that moment, like a black hole, able to instantly consume anything at will. This cloud was now raining down on him, and dissolving the corners of his and every smile within reach, on the busy, early morning street corner.
By Aaro Ku5 years ago in Humans
I Adopted Almost Adults
I was at work when I heard the news. My stomach sank and all I could think about were those girls, just 15 and 18 years old and they lost their mom. I first met them when they were 5 and 8. Their father told a harrowing story about their terrible mother who withheld his daughters from him and until I had his third child, my son, I believed him.
By EMKAY5 years ago in Humans
Saying "Thank You" or "Please" Doesn't Make You a Kind Person
Sometimes a "thank you" might feel like a slap on the face. When my son was a baby, my mother looked after him quite a lot. I worked at home but had to go to meetings often, so I dropped him at his grandmother's.
By Nihan Kucukural5 years ago in Humans
UnBroken
Eva left just in time, as more tears strolled down her face it started to pour outside. She felt she could cry without worrying about other people’s gaze until she gets to her bus stop; partly because of the rain as it would excuse her wet cheeks but also because she’s usually very discreet and can’t be noticed easily. She knew she could always hide well in a crowd, and this crowded 112 bus she was about to embark on was just what she needed. “Here’s the perfect place for me to zone out until I get home to deal with more bullsh*t, I better cover my hair with a head wrap before he calls me a bald headed b*tch again,” she thinks. Unfortunately for her; few stops after she got on the bus, while there was still half of the way up, the bus but needed to stop abruptly and evacuate all the passengers. Leaving her to walk home alone, in this industrial area of the city as the sun was setting. At least she got a chance to cover her half-braided head she said to herself. As a woman walking alone on these streets she felt a bit safer because she was dressed very loose thought she could pass as a man as long as they don't get too close. She’s still scared because it's getting dark soon and this very quiet area felt like the perfect place to dump a body. None the less she refused to let that get to her head, so she flew into a childhood memory to escape her nocturne journey home:
By Hadaya Samatar5 years ago in Humans
Mikey's Room
The emptiness of Michael’s room struck me. A sudden feeling of weightlessness rose in my chest as I realised that emptiness was here to stay. It’s the same feeling as when you miscount the stairs and take one step too many… My brother used to count the stairs out loud when were little. Sometimes for an hour or more.
By Paul S.5 years ago in Humans
Poems for the Passing
Halfway to the paper, Kate's pen paused. It sat poised on a barrier of resistance only she could sense. She had been considering her options for the last few weeks, not that it had helped. Even now, right down to this last moment, she still wasn't sure what she would choose. Sign the contract. Don't sign the contract. Sign it. Don't sign. It seemed each heartbeat sent her thoughts skittering back the way they had come, like a tennis match in her mind.
By Cortana Whit5 years ago in Humans
The Grow up
He dropped to one knee. I was in complete and utter shock. I think I said yes. I must have said something because he came off that knee and bear hugged me and wouldn’t let me go. Our worlds were about to be turned upside down because no one, including our families, even knew we were dating. Like no one. I snapped a pic of us. He posted it on his gram. ‘This woman is the epitome of what love requires. She supports me in ways unknown and secures our future. I can’t believe I just asked my best friend to have this journey forever with me. She said yes.’ The caption read. All my sisters follow him. His brothers follow me and I’m tagged in his post. We didn’t get in the car good before phones started jumping. The stories I grew up hearing about him. How he was taking his parents through the ringer. The chip he had they couldn’t knock off. He wouldn’t give in . Pretty sure he only gives to what he wants to now. It had been nonstop the past 30 days. No utterance from our parents. We were headed to our third brunch to celebrate us. He said he’d pick me up at 3. My mom , apparently , was keeping her silence no longer.
By Jai Shirin5 years ago in Humans