Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
A Little Black Book
There was so much stuff to go through. Kate had wanted to start sorting things while her father was sick, but there was simply not enough time for that. Now that the funeral was over, all she felt was emptiness. Looking around the house, she felt completely overwhelmed. Where should she start?
By Kathleen Jones5 years ago in Families
Goodbye, Mom
I saw her today. My mother. She had always been an exquisite beauty, what with her midnight locks and her radiant copper skin. My childhood friends could hardly believe we were related on the few occasions that any of them met her. I am twenty-two years old now; and to this day, I have yet to encounter a woman who was even half as lovely. Seeing her laying in total stillness today, looking so serene, my mother could easily have been taken for a carving of a goddess.
By Chris Doherty5 years ago in Families
There is always a crack in everything.
The air was heavy this July. The neighborhood felt as if it were in slow motion. Rosa’s front door was covered in a beaded condensation that formed small trickling waterfalls down the outside wood. Protruding, laminated flyers for the car wash down the street, acted as cups to host little pools where fairies might go to get cool. A cream colored letter hung from the slot in the door, its corners moving up and down, up and down with the breeze outside. A small tear on its end, showed signs of being mishandled - forced through the letter slit angrily like an unwanted home truth. Two leaflets for the Sunday market down the street, and the chicken shop’s discount menu, sandwiched it just enough to keep its form in tact.
By Adrianna Vasquez5 years ago in Families
At the Bottom Of the Sea
Sienna took a seat at the back of the bus as she usually did after work. The raindrops that had clung to her coat were quick to abandon her for the blue patterned fabric that lined the chair. Then, as usual, she set her bag on the seat right beside her keeping one of the straps looped around her arm. Once Sienna was settled, she looked out of a window that seemed to vibrate as the bus started on route forty-seven. She had made a promise to herself to be more present and found that looking at the sky helped her appreciate that she had experienced another day - no matter how routine and monotonous.
By Tugche Pehlivan5 years ago in Families
The Last Act
The Last Act A frigid December morning, the sun was exceptionally bright outside my window, yet my eyes and mind are still closed to what the day would bring. I had a little too much to drink last night, my body refused to move. Just need ten more minutes, hospice will be pulling up to deliver the hospital bed for the gentleman next door. I promised I would help him get situated. I said aloud, get up, get up, Jesus help me, I am not ready. Every waking moment it starts, rolling, reeling, he is dying, Did the alcohol really help me cope? Forget he is dying, forget today could be his last day, forget he can’t walk. Praying for a calm, pain free day is ultimately washed away with the certainty he is dying. Please not today, we all die, I need more time.
By Amber D. Coughlin5 years ago in Families
Things We Don't Talk About
Photo by Courtney Nuss on Unsplash I only heard from Lizzy once after she left home. More than ten years had passed by the time she called. Evan was asleep upstairs, but I didn’t even think to wake him. He was old enough to understand that his mother had left him, but he hadn’t started asking questions yet.
By Rebecca Johnson5 years ago in Families
My Dearest Daughters
“MMMCHT.” Sucking her teeth in disgust, Adolisa was furious. “I shouldn’t have come here,” she rambled as she sat in the car. Her sister, Chioma, had chased after her and was now banging on the door, pleading for her to come out. “Addy, wait a second,” she yelled. Adolisa, with watery eyes, shakes her head and pulls off.
By Brenan Okumu5 years ago in Families
Make a change in your children's learning.
Hi, welcome to my post. You’ll find information on aspects of homeschooling like languages, organisation and We are a family that believes in learning every day and grabbing adventure when it presents itself. I am the Mama and I am have never fit the mould. Being part of the LGBTQ+ community, neurodiverse and aiming for anything but the typical nuclear family. My dream life is not the typical 9-5, which was not the life my partner expected to end up living as he has grown up with traditional values. We have similar goals for our life together and for our children.
By J . Turner5 years ago in Families
Stickers and Blooms
Marissa kept her magic in the notebooks. She had a row of ten of them, the warm black covers lined up on her shelf, a record of everything she’d done and felt for two years. She started writing in a journal when her mother got very sick, when it felt like her stomach was eating itself and it hurt to open her jaw. The writing helped: she’d describe what she felt, and, when she couldn't write about herself anymore, she wrote what she saw, and what she wanted, and she wrote little stories about the people at the bus stop in the mornings on her way to work at the grocery story: the man with the stained ties, the old woman with her rolling basket, the sparrow that seemed to greet her and bathed himself in the dewy grass.
By Rachel Taube5 years ago in Families
