fact or fiction
Is it fact or merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the myths and beliefs we hold about our family dynamics, traditions, and if there's such thing as a 'perfect family.'
Staying Behind
Hi, I’m Jimmy. I was born into farm life. I always loved everything about my upbringing. My best friends were the pigs, horses, chickens, roosters, our cats and dogs and every bird I laid my eyes on. My favorite pastimes would be to sneak into our old barn and talk to the horses about my secrets, my dreams, goals, and aspirations. I always felt like they understood better than any human I knew.
By Jazmine Ramzy5 years ago in Families
A Special Delivery
We hadn’t seen a house or other building for miles. The labor pains were drawing closer and closer together like the cinching of a cord. Our phones had gone silent over an hour ago and I was frantic over the idea of delivering my child in a car in the middle of nowhere. Finally, I observed a house up ahead, on a nice plot of land with an old barn in the lower field. I pushed the little car as fast as it would go on unpaved roads. My wife squealed a few times when we hit a bump that sent her airborne. While I knew the collision with the seat was excruciating for her, I was striving to get to a place that might at least have water.
By Alice Vargas5 years ago in Families
The Smell of Hay
The barn looked like something out of a romantic novel. The roof was a sliver tin roof. The walls of the barn were apple red, and the doors had been painting a bright white but was now it was a dull white due to the dirt that has accumulated. The barn was a little run down but that is what years does to everything. Lillian looked at the barn and was taken back to when it was new and fresh.
By Pamela Thornton5 years ago in Families
Rock bottom
Rock bottom My hands are so cold, they feel like bricks filled with electrical volts that shoot up my arms down my body and down my legs. My feet are beyond that point now, there is no feeling in them at all. I zip my tent closed and and light my one candle I have left.
By Leslie Strom5 years ago in Families
Empire, Nv II
George pounded the last nail on the porch swing he had just finished for Margaret. He attached the chain to a set of hooks on the broad wooden arm rests, making sure there was a place to set her Coca Cola, he made the arms extra wide. It was a beautiful swing he was excited to give it to her on her birthday tomorrow. He felt as giddy as a little a kid.
By Jan Portugal5 years ago in Families
New home on the farm
In the Summer a family of four, with a mother named Jannet who is thirty years old and a teacher, a father named Bob, thirty-five years old and an engineer and their two children son named James ten years and in school and daughter named Sarah, eight years in school and loves gardening. The family had gone on their road trip to a new home they started moving from the city to the country; they saw this as an adventure. The family was excited to move somewhere different out of their comfort zone. On their road trip, the family sang songs, played games to keep each other occupied, and bond as a family. The father then asked the family a question "what do we expect our new home to be like?" Everyone had stated what they expected from their new home; Sarah said she would like lots of animals and an old barn-like in her favourite story, Charlotte web. Sarah's family all smiled and said, that sounds beautiful.
By Tanika Stimpson5 years ago in Families
TT: “Tails” from a 128 year-old barn
Our Michigan house was a pretty old house, it was build in 1910. The barn, however, was an older structure. The barn was built in 1892 by the Johnstons. They were a big name in the small town of Rosebush. I was told that Rosebush was given it’s name because of Mrs. Johnston. Anyway, the barn was a huge Amish barn. Coming from Georgia and South Carolina, we had never seen, let alone owned, a barn like this. The barns that I saw in Georgia were mostly pole barns, little more than a tack room and a stall or two so the horse(s) could escape the elements if it chose. So, yeah, this Amish barn was an amazing sight to behold and a lot of fun to explore. The barn has two levels. The lower level has two outside corral areas, one for cattle and one for horses. Each corral led to large covered areas for the animals to shelter in. These areas could, of course, be closed off in bad weather (a blizzard). Two heavy doors lead from the outside shelters to inside the barn proper. There are four large stone made stalls for (Belgian probably) horses, and beyond that several feeding stalls, a chicken coop, and a rabbit coop. The second level of the barn had a few pens for pigs or goats, and a massive hay loft. The hay loft has to be thirty feet high at least. there are two different chutes to drop hay down to the two different sections (inside stalls and outside shelters) of the lower level. These chutes start about twenty feet from the floor of the loft. That barn had to something incredible to see in its prime. A huge loft packed deep and twenty feet high with hay, farm animals of all sorts making this huge barn look small.
By Jaramie Kinsey5 years ago in Families
Before You Try Durian...
Have you ever seen a ‘no durian allowed’ sign in a hotel? I saw it once inside a hotel’s elevator in Indonesia and it surprised me because I love the fruit a lot. Durian is banned in many countries in Asia, namely Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. This is due to its distinct and strong smell that might be disturbing for some people. Well, no wonder why durian has such a distinct smell, it is known as The King of Fruit. In fact, the shape, the taste, the texture, and everything about durian is just uncommon. Durian is the most special fruit, especially to me. Not only because of the taste that I love, but also because it wrote me lots of childhood memories that I will never forget.
By Denise Sahulata5 years ago in Families
The Summer of Adam
Some people are fated to stay together and live happily ever after. Sometimes, the flame of romance extinguishes itself before it ever has the chance to grow into a roaring blaze. In some cases two people fall in love, start a family and then start to resent one another, and sometimes those people for the sake of their children will stay together past the boiling point. When that happens, everyone gets hurt.
By Jarad Mann5 years ago in Families
A Mother's Heart
It would be such a shame to let the heart-shaped locket laced perfectly down her collar bone go to waste, the soldier thought. This night in particular the sky bled after a never-ending draught consuming southern Somalia. Lightning, accompanying the storm, echoed off the roofs of the village and seemed to catch the shine extra bright from her locket and the two tears escaping only her right eye.
By Morgan Harris5 years ago in Families
The Heart Heals
She stood there. Just stood there. As the air came back into her lungs, she became aware enough to look around at the scene she couldn’t have imagined. Slowly, it seemed, her mind began to react. Seconds had been minutes, hours… Slowly, reality set in. She knew she had to move, although she hadn’t tested her legs; she had felt locked in place during the melee. Whatever the source, it had dissipated, at least temporarily, and caused mass confusion among the people running and screaming, going nowhere and fighting each other in place of the ghosts left behind by the, the… what was that anyway? Emma closed her eyes and sat on a crumpled bench. “I’m not crazy. What I just witnessed was amazing and terrifying…” She opened her eyes as a crying child wandered into her small personal space. “Hi! Are you okay? You can wait here with me until your parents find you.”
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Families
