Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Confessions.
Crossing Boundaries
Contrary to popular opinion, Americans are not the most well-respected foreigners abroad. Being a “USA”, according to my entry documents, Hong Kong was less than impressed with the super-charged culture clash that comes with a twenty-something-year-old American discovering herself in such an environment. I worked hard to disprove some of these notions by partaking in local rituals and learning what I could of the language. I greeted the elders and showed my respect as best I could. In the end, I really couldn’t take the American out of the girl, as it were.
By Deborah Nava5 years ago in Confessions
Stuck in a Soda Pop Bottle
When I was young, soda pop only came in bottles. One day, I thought it would be clever to show off to my siblings a trick of how I could suck my upper lip inside the bottle top of my Mr. Pibb, then let go of the bottle and stretch my arms out, holding the entire weight of that Mr. Pibb with nothing but the amazing strength of my upper lip. “Ta da!” I managed to shout with just my teeth and my lower lip. "What a marvelous accomplishment,” I gleefully thought to myself. “This will give me bragging rights over my poor, lesser-accomplished siblings!” But my bravado came to a shrieking halt when when I suddenly realized—I was stuck!
By Karla Bowen Herman5 years ago in Confessions
My Merry-go-round Fail
At recess, the boys thought it was great fun to twirl the girls faster and faster on the merry-go-round, as we held on for dear life. It was a boy's wildest dream to send a girl sailing through the air, to her demise... Of course, I was the only girl who ever forgot you should NEVER let go. I don’t 100% recall why I let go after the merry-go-round had gathered too much speed… Looking back, that was just craziness on my part!
By Karla Bowen Herman5 years ago in Confessions
Pedal Pusher Picture Day
In 3rd grade, I wore some capris to school for the very first time; they were hand-me-downs from my cousin. (Of course, back then we called them “pedal pushers”.) As fate would have it, it happened to be Picture Day, the day I wore those pedal pushers. Not understanding that I was supposed to wear them with either anklets, bobby socks, or nothing besides flip-flops; I somehow managed to leave the house without Mama noticing that I had kicked off my flip-flops and pulled up really high fuzzy brown knee socks over the bottom of my red pedal pushers, so my legs wouldn’t get cold. “What kind of mother sends me to school with such high-water trousers?” I wondered.
By Karla Bowen Herman5 years ago in Confessions
The Naked Man In The Mirror
I woke up excited on Saturday, October 29, 2013. Today I was getting my Zumba certificate at my local YMCA. I have been taking a Zumba class for a year and was loving it. So, I decided to become an instructor. I made my usual breakfast of apple cinnamon oatmeal with a banana. I packed a lunch and filled my water bottle. Today was going to be a fun day of learning and dancing.
By Melissa Bezborotko 5 years ago in Confessions
I Gave Up Drinking For 90 Days And Nothing Got Better
The previous twelves months have been particularly tough on most people so when 2021 dawned I thought I would do a “good thing” and quit booze. There are many websites, You Tubers and other sober experts who extol the virtues of quitting alcohol. My friends and family all swear by a Dry January and a Stoptober to prove their lack of addiction and how wonderful going alcohol free is. It was all so tempting and on Christmas Day I consumed my final glass of wine and looked forward to the dawn of a new dry life.
By Fiona Lawley5 years ago in Confessions
Frozen peas, please
I've never called my Mum on the phone crying before. Either my life has been a series of good fortune that I've never felt the urge to call Lorraine and let her know how terribly unfair something was, or I've stuck to my ethos in that crying is a personal thing, and doesn't really need an audience. Either way, that tradition was shattered when I was in Prague.
By Megan Maxwell5 years ago in Confessions
Karma Comes Full Circle
Let me start by saying that I’ve had a knack for video games ever since I was a kid. For some reason, I’ve been innately good at them. Whenever I walked into an arcade (for those who’ve never been in one think of it as a big room with a bunch of PS5s or Xbox Ones, but they’re in giant cabinets and they only each play one game) I made every single quarter that I put into those machines count. The best part of spending my time in arcades wasn’t necessarily just playing the games themselves. Playing against people made the experience so much better. I’m not a necessarily competitive individual, but I do have a problem with the arrogance that came from people, specifically older people. They always seemed to walk up to me with this smug look on their faces like they just expected me to shrink in fear because they were taller. Whenever anyone older than me would face me, they usually had to use a minimum of two plays. The first when they tried to “take it easy on me,” and the second when they found out that was a very bad idea the first time through. Regardless of the outcome, it gave me great pleasure to see that look of arrogance change to one of angry respect or just anger period as they walked away in inevitable frustration. As I grew older, I knew that I would experience that same feeling of being beaten by someone younger than me. I just never thought that experience would also come with an embarrassing bonus.
By Anthony Hall5 years ago in Confessions
TOO QUALIFIED FOR A MAN
As the sun rises with the ray of hope for others, it reminds me of how loneliness has eaten the better part of me. In reality, my heart remained lost and at the same time, it was eager to be found again. I completely embraced the reason I became lonely in the first place, education, it mapped my escape from reality.
By Taiwo Ogunnimo5 years ago in Confessions
An imperfect fairy tale
it was about 2008, or 09' earlier or later the year. My parentes moved so much. Anywho, they moved to a another home in the same town we been living in, it was a nice home , next door were our new neighbors. We became befriended really fast even getting together during the holidays , summers, and even birthdays. Even today we still have a friendship, althought a little more distant, but can still chat like the old times. Reverse to some time after our families have befriended each other, at this time we are going to travel to, I was only about 18 or 19 years of age. Young and clueless lol. It was winter of either 2009/08, the holidays were in, this particular holiday was Thanksgiving and Christmas. As usual, I had gone next door to spend some time with my next door neighbors. I became good friends with one of family members, she is a niece to my neighbor. We really hit it off, and I am still grateful to today for our friendship, back to this particular day, it was a cold evening, I went next door to spend time with my neighbors and their family whom had visited, everyone was there, brothers, sisters, grandmas, granpas, uncles, nieces, nephews, you name it. In that crowd was a guy, he was about just about my age. No idea who was at the moment and you would figure I should know but I never asked. I did come to find out he was on break from military duty. I do recall seeing his photo at my neighbor's mother's home.( Yeah, I been there too! )thats how close my family and I became with our neighbors. Back to this boy, the first time I saw him I thought he was amazing, I was already an introverted and super shy person, I am thinking, only in my mind it's a fantasy if we were to hit it off. For starters, he was really cute, short hair, bright brown eyes, nice lips, and due to being in military which I don't know if it had anything to do with physique, but for me , he seemed physically attractive as well. He was also funny. Right away I had on crush on this boy. He and his family ( mom, sister, nephews, and nieces) were visiting for the holidays and staying in the same house.
By deborah martinez5 years ago in Confessions
