Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Healing by the Book
Laura’s fingers curled tightly around the opened envelope, crinkling it as her heels clicked against the hospital’s white tile floors. The hallways were familiar, too clean with dry air. She turned the corner and felt her blistered feet begin to drag. Her heart started to pound wildly in her chest as she drew closer to her destination. Fear and anxiety filled her thoughts flipping as quickly as an old film. She felt her throat tighten and she leaned against the wall to steady herself. ‘How am I supposed to tell him?' Laura choked, trying to compose herself.
By Matthea Pohl5 years ago in Families
By any other name
The twenty thousand dollars felt lighter than it should have but she didn’t have time to check. Lily lengthened the strap on the duffle bag and pulled it over her head so it rested across her body. The handoff was clean. She’d taken the streetcar east on King, disembarked at Cherry street and walked south toward the Portlands. The Toronto winter of mid-January seemed to have flit right past zero and into frozen nostril territory overnight.
By Simren Deogun5 years ago in Families
The Book of Levi
A match strike. Sulphur hangs in the air. Moishe’s hands, their lines deepened by time, cradle me. Fingers stroke the gold lettering pressed into my black cover. My leathered edges relax into the warmth of his hands. His reverent fingertips run the length of my words like when he first touched my pages when I was handed to him by his father. The long, black ink lines on my pages are the transcendent link between this moment on earth and the heavenly infinite.
By Heather Lustig-Curran5 years ago in Families
The Old Man's Shrine
It's a small nook between two houses on a backstreet, surrounded by mossy stone walls cracked with age. Inside an overgrown garden around a small ramshackle shrine, incense candles long burned out, the only offerings are from a seventy year old grandfather in the house on the left. Under the eves lies a small shabby and wild dog, fast asleep as the rainy day plays on, its music, the pattering against the tiles and pooling in old pots.
By Paul Karolczak5 years ago in Families
Good Days
I clutched at the peeling, faux leather purse strap that draped across my chest as I traipsed down the familiar, pristine hallway of Pureheart Wellness Center. I hastened my steps, attempting to keep pace with the stout, fast moving silhouette of Nurse Jackie as she led me toward my intended destination. After about five minutes of walking, we came to a halt in front of a white door with “15” in golden numbers. Nurse Jackie turned to me with a tender expression etched in her face.
By Earl Jackson5 years ago in Families
One More Adventure
When parents pass away, a hole is left behind in the lives of their children. The size of that emptiness can vary depending on the relationship between the parents and their children. It can take the form of relief in the worst cases. Maybe it’s a somber sensation that never quite goes away, always returning when just the right memories are recalled from the recesses of the mind. For Nora it was a boundless chasm, and she was standing at the very edge of it.
By David Levins5 years ago in Families
Henry's Inheritance
"Hi, I'm Andy." He said holding out his hand. Henry ignored him, directing his attention instead to the white Subaru in the driveway. It was his sister's car. Her husband, Stan, and their eldest, Rodney, were already hard at work emptying the back of it. Removing a series of cardboard boxes and restacking them onto the grass. It was like salt in the wound, the fact that they hadn't bothered to come to the front door first.
By Alice Garitt5 years ago in Families
Fly Free
I tried one more time, but this time his phone went straight to message bank. Now this could mean that his battery was dead or he’s turned it off. I honestly don’t know why I care. Yes, he’s my son’s father, but he’s put us through hell, with the unemployment, drinking, drugs and threats that forced me to get an AVO. I was a little concerned, as he rang every night to talk to his son, not that I would let him if he sounded off his head, but it had been a couple of days and nothing.
By Janice Burns5 years ago in Families
The Inheritance
“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” thought Alice Hooper as she was browsing Reddit. It’s been exactly a year since she came out as transgender, and yet it still hasn’t fully sunk in. As she kept on browsing, she couldn’t help but reflect on everything that’s happened. Alice furrowed her brow slightly as she thought of everyone she lost over the last year. Some left right away, in silence, others left gradually, slowly fading away from her life. Somehow nobody made a scene as they left her life, to the disappointment of some of her more confrontational friends. The ones that hurt the most were the ones that she had to leave herself… Her phone rang with the one contact she did not expect to see.
By Alice Capewell5 years ago in Families
