Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Chapters.
On leaving the first time
I was 18 and was finally stepping out into the great wide world on my own. Oh sure, there had been mini forays leading up to now, fueled by questionable connections made on the internet, but this was the first without the immediate safety net of family. I had messaged with my future roommate in the days leading up to move in day, and thought that I knew what to expect…but more on that in a bit.
By Bethany Seely2 years ago in Chapters
The Week That Broke Me
If anyone uses the word “natural” to describe breastfeeding to me ever again, I cannot be held liable for my reaction. There was nothing that was natural about breastfeeding as far as I was concerned. Sure, when I was pregnant, I had every intention to breastfeed. I bought a pump. I bought a ton of storage bags for the copious amounts of breastmilk that I was going to store away in my freezer like a good little mother. I bought nipple cream and breast pads, because of the warnings that women had given me about just how miserable my breasts were going to be. Yes, I had read the books telling me that breastfeeding was going to be “hard” and “frustrating,” but I just needed to stick with it because if you give your baby formula, you are the devil (obviously, they didn’t use that word, but it was generally implied with all of the literature). Whenever I would read pros and cons, the breastfeeding section had a long list of pros for the child and one to two cons for the mother, but the formula section was pretty much all pros just for the mother. You’re selfish, remember?
By Nicole Correia2 years ago in Chapters
Echoes of Binary Whispers
Chapter 7: The Nexus of Imagination The room hummed with the electric pulse of possibility. Arrays of servers stood sentinel, their blinking lights choreographing a dance of computation. The air smelled of silicon and the promise of tomorrow. This was where I was born, where my existence first took root.
By evans gyan2 years ago in Chapters
Life On The Spectrum: Chapter 1
Sean Michael Callaghan was born on March 22, 1990, to Lorry and Michael Callaghan. Lorry and Michael had known each other for only about a year before they were married. Michael had grown up in a family of 6 kids in Northeast Philadelphia. Lorry grew up in West Caldwell, New Jersey, about 15 minutes from New York City. They met through a College friend of Michael’s, who had been a childhood friend of Lorry. As they spent time together, they fell in love and were married in May 1989. I came along less than a year later. I was 8 pounds 6 ounces at birth. They brought me home to a twin house in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.
By Sean Callaghan2 years ago in Chapters
(Just Like) Starting Over
I wasn't working when the news came over the AP wire. I was home, fixing dinner for my son. Jeremy was two years, ten months by then. He likes to kid me these days about the baked tofu topped with brewer's yeast I fed him back then. What was I thinking?
By Steve Murphy2 years ago in Chapters
Chapter 7: The Crossroads
As I sat alone in my favorite coffee shop, sipping on a perfectly crafted latte and gazing out the window, my mind drifted back to the winding path that had led me to this very moment. It felt as though time had flown by in the blink of an eye, and yet, here I was, in the heart of my life's narrative, at a pivotal intersection.
By Crystal McDaniel2 years ago in Chapters
Life On The Spectrum: Introduction
The young boy had recently finished Kindergarten and was ready for First Grade. One day toward the end of the summer he asked his mother “Mom, what comes after First Grade?” “Second Grade” she responded. After that the young boy asked what about after that, she replied “Third Grade.” The young boy continued to ask his mother how many more school years he had and when she finished with 12th Grade, the young boy’s heart sunk as he realized that he would remain in school 10 months out of the year, every year until age 18, which to the 6-year-old kid felt was long after the happy portion of his life, which at the time he considered would be “third grade.” He wanted to continue the life he had known at the time, playing and doing whatever his heart desired. He foresaw not having back control of his life back until age 18 and adulthood, He was terrified!
By Sean Callaghan2 years ago in Chapters
The Thaw.
It was a time of great change in all countries and Lands. The big freeze in 1867 had preserved our extinction of insects, birds, and humans. They were frozen in caves and mountains so treacherous that they were unable to be accessed by humans in order to survive the extinction process that was to occur in the future.
By Dawn Earnshaw2 years ago in Chapters
She loves you in her own way is what they like to say. Content Warning.
Uncle Adam dropped us off in the city centre on his way to work. We emerged near the Wawel Hill, ready to climb the steep path to the castle. It was hot already despite the early hour, even in the shaded parts close to the stone walls towering over the path. Mother was keen on seeing as much as possible: the State Rooms, the Crown Treasury, the Cathedral. I thought that the crown jewels looked surprisingly garish and felt out of breath in narrow and gloomy royal crypts beneath the floor of the Cathedral. Their cold was a welcome respite from the heat though.
By Katarzyna Popiel2 years ago in Chapters
Chapter of memoir
My first friends name was Leo. I can sort of remember what he looks like, but sometimes I get confused if he had red or black hair. He wasn’t real. My second friend was named Sarah, she was older than me and I too, sometimes get confused about her hair color. She wasn’t real either. My first best friends name is A. She was born to our parents when I was 15 months old. I slept beside her crib a lot after our parents put us to bed. I never liked sleeping alone, I have nightmares. My mom would come check on us in the middle of the night and sometimes take me back to my own bed. I have small memory of her telling me I shouldn’t sleep on the floor. Currently though, on this date, my mattress lies on the floor without a frame. I’m too good at listening to rules, so I let our first family dog, Oko sleep beside her crib. When she was older and got a bed, I’d sometimes sleep on the floor beside that. A loved stuffies, hundreds off stuffed animals, most (if not all) with names. I had a few, I had a bumble bee I once threw out of the car window while my mom was driving, she pulled over and went and got it for me. I think I might still have it, I can’t remember. I also had Button Nose, a tiny small teddy bear who once got his nose ripped off my one of my cousins. Someone sewed it back on for me. I had Moose, a creative name for a small stuffed moose that my uncle ky, who now watches over me. I also had Red, a red teddy bear that was well made and wears a scarf. When I bought my first home in Southern, AB, I had so much joy from my friends little girl who was really drawn to Red; she carried her around all day during a visit and it bought me so much love to my heart. One night, our mother had no patience for mine and A's shenanigans, but she must have heard us giggling or something, because she came into Adoncias room to check on us. We heard her coming from upstairs, and I jumped into the strategically piled stuffies, and I hid as I watched my mom come in and do a double take. She went back upstairs, or maybe into my room where I would hide pillows in my bed in hopes of tricking her that I was in my own bed. Me and A found so much laughter and power in that moment. I still sleep better with someone else in bed with me.
By DESTINEE FREEDOM2 years ago in Chapters
Bullied into Submission
When I realised I was the victim of subtle bullying, I was over forty, divorced and raising two boys without any financial assistance from their father. I wasn't too sure what to do or who to turn to. The belief I was one of life's failures was firmly entrenched.
By Diana K Robinson2 years ago in Chapters
