Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Aunt Deb's House
It’s never easy to search through a house filled with a lifetime of adventures one item at a time. Especially when it is someone you thought you knew only to learn they lived so much more than anyone else could have imagined. It was such a daunting task to comb through layer after layer of a now soulless home. It wasn’t as though Andrew didn’t have enough going on already. Life has a funny way of throwing curve balls at those who tend to have a little rougher road than most. There is almost a strange feeling to see his great aunt’s name fully written on every letter, bill, plaque, and gift over the years. She was always just Aunt Deb to him and he never questioned what she did before the grays began to creep in and wrinkles took their hold.
By Ben Reigle5 years ago in Families
Pisces will come into a large sum of money
‘Hello, Dr. Bonneville. This is Abigail Tanner, I was your mother’s editor for the Daily Gazette. First, I would like to say how sorry I am - we all are- for your loss. We all loved Jeanie at the Gazette. Secondly, and this is quite an insensitive request of me because you must be in great pain, but we’ve not been able to find a replacement on such short notice and I wanted to ask you if you happened to come across some of the notes for the column. We would be immensely in your debt if you could find them and get them to us. She used to carry around a little black notebook, so I suspect her notes are there. I’m sure her readers would also appreciate it.’
By Maria Paris5 years ago in Families
Tea Notes
A soft song of steam decrescendoed as Ariel lifted the simmering kettle. Water bubbled over the pearled leaves, filling the mug with a swamp of gunpowder green. She rested the kettle on a cool, empty burner and glanced at her desk, where a pile of journals in dark burgundy and grey, marked with ribbons and notes, was stacked on the desk’s corner--a project in progress. The singular black leather one was older, marked with the permanent stains of use, weather, and persistent fingers. It was held together with a little stitching on the spine and a cord like a too-tight belt around its bulging belly.
By Cheryl Hong5 years ago in Families
I Was Bought Twice
I Was Bought Twice It all started when my mother invited me to diner. I didn’t know what to expect but contempt. I was right. That night, she wanted me gone for good. First, my birth parents and now the adoptive one. She told me politely to accept this twenty thousand cheque and leave somewhere else, travel, whatever as long as I would feel something. She was inventing something just to hide the real reason.
By Cristina Garant5 years ago in Families
Mr. Delaney's Diaries
Before he even got to me, Mr. Delaney had greeted each and every person in the restaurant with a childlike smile being held tight by an old man’s tired face. Despite the clear elderly appearance, the entire population 400 town we lived in would agree he was the most childlike of anyone. Always wearing a yellow suit that was only a drop away from a star and always moving with a sort of flow like he was the president or at the very least the mayor. While talking to anyone in his path, more often than not Mr. Delaney would pull from his blazer a small black Moleskin journal. Occasionally the corners would still be stiff, strong, and full of youth. Enough to where one could almost smell the freshness of the pages, as if he’d come to see you straight from whatever shop he replaces filled ones with. Most of the times you’d see the journal it was beaten and worn from excessive use. It was sort of an honor for Mr. Delaney to stop the conversation dead just to whip out his diary. Ever the gentleman he would always pose
By Collin Salajka McCormick5 years ago in Families
Songbird
The sight of piled up boxes is so goddamn depressing. This was the most recent in a series of jumbled and frustrated thoughts running through Abby's head as she dragged an upright lamp across her living room. Her third move in five years had left her frazzled mind in a turmoil comparable to what she had wrought on her shabby apartment. She thanked whatever invisible deity might be listening that she’d thought far enough ahead to take the day off from work. She couldn’t imagine having that obligation on her plate today.
By Lauren Michelle5 years ago in Families
'Skin in the Game
Addison was perched quietly in the small bedroom on the third floor of their house by a small window overlooking the side yard that was lush with trees this time of year. Everyone else was downstairs. "Look," he heard his mother say in a highly concerned tone through the otherwise silent air vent, "I don't want things. I want my dad."
By Richard Soulliere5 years ago in Families
A Small Scare On A Night In
It was a normal one of my Friday nights at home babysitting my little brother instead of going to a friend's house. Yeah it sucks being 13 years old and having to stay home to babysit my brother but it means I can go to the school dance in 2 weeks so it's kind of worth it. Plus they are usually back around midnight and we have our dog, Buddy, here with us. He wouldn't let anything happen to us.
By Nitisha Chapman5 years ago in Families
