humanity
Humanity begins at home.
The Book of Good Magic
Caddie had been dreaming again. It had been a long time, since she was a child, since her nightmares had been this bad. Well, they weren’t nightmares, exactly, but they weren’t good dreams either. Nothing much happened in them, but they left her feeling unsettled, wary, like something in her brain had disconnected. When she was younger she would dream about witches, old wrinkled faces peering at her from beneath their dark hoods in the forest outside of her bedroom window. She would sit up, her pajamas clinging to the cold sweat beading on her skin, and look, trembling, out the window over her bed and into the darkness of the trees.
By Taylor Wilson5 years ago in Families
Questioning Everything
Once more, I undid the clasp around my late father’s little black Moleskine notebook, just as I had watched him do a thousand times while he was still alive. It was a little while now since he had passed after an arduous battle with cancer. The funeral was over and done. The vegetable trays and sandwich platters had stopped arriving. The random hodgepodge of visitors spanning decades of relationships had ceased. Now, it was just me and the mission I had taken on. I was determined to track down the mystery person that had left a most valuable package on my doorstep in the days following my father’s death.
By Brandon Pierce5 years ago in Families
What Little Girls ARE Made Of
Grade 2 I hop down from the bottom step of the school bus, and as it disappears over the knoll I start skipping along the dirt road home, my footfalls crunching the dry Autumn leaves that skitter along the ground. Fluffy, my grey short-haired cat greets me at the edge of the crushed-limestone driveway and chatters to me as we walk side-by-side along the flagstone walk and up the stairs. My mother beams at me from the open doorway, takes my blue vinyl lunch pail and gives me a hug.
By Tracey Gonneau5 years ago in Families
Changing Lanes
You know those distinct words that someone said to you, that stick in your memories forever? Maybe you structured your life around these words. Maybe they were the words that haunted you, when you made a mistake. My words came from my mom. My mom used to always tell me, “what goes around, comes around.”
By Jessica Tillman5 years ago in Families
Grandpa Charlee
"It's dusty in here," said Nera coughing and waving her hand in front of her face. We were in my late grandpa's house, which was left for me in Wisconsin, not far from Lake Geneva. My wife, Nera and I were clearing his old things out to get ready to move in.
By Anne Favors5 years ago in Families
The Bus To Delphi
Everyone sat by themselves in their bus seats because there were so few kids on the bus. The Delphi program was a new program and that meant the whole school bus was just for us. The sun streamed through the windows as we headed back to school. I sat by the window letting the sun toast me because it felt good, I never liked being cold. It was special in a way I didn’t understand. I just knew that one day my fifth grade teacher told me that I qualified to be a part of the Delphi program and would get on the bus every Wednesday afternoon and go to another school. There were two other kids in my class whom I recognized, and one or two in the other fifth and sixth grade classes that I never met, but I knew who we were. We were the smart kids. The word “exceptional” was used among the teachers when they thought I wasn’t listening. The other two kids in my class were Katie and John, their names were always next to mine. Everyone in the class had a little laminated kite with your name on it, and it floated on a picture of a hill and sky. With every score your kite went higher and higher. Katie, John and I were the three highest scorers every week so our kites were already touching the clouds. The rest of the class was still down in the grass. We had just taken the test for greatest common factors for the number six.
By Chau M Pham5 years ago in Families
Unexpected Kindness
Unexpected Kindness Inhale. Exhale. June Marie took in the fresh fall air sitting on her front porch. Something seemed different about today. Sipping her coffee and watching the sun rise brought a sense of contentment. The scenery filled her heart with memories and her eyes with tears as she remembered her late grandma Pearl and her sweet soft voice, ‘June Marie, life is a gift. Don’t take one day for granted. We are not promised tomorrow.’ With her grandma’s voice of wisdom and the sudden urge to venture June decided to brave the day and try something new.
By Michaela Valles5 years ago in Families
Prom Night 454NEM3QLWEPBAHLeE78plQ4NvRRF2LMx9
It is Lily’s self-assigned duty to wake up before her husband each morning. Admittedly there is no romance left in their relationship so I’ve learned not to think anything kind of it. There is no breakfast to follow or good morning to be had. Every drop of kindness has been drained from their relationship. Disappearing with it is all of the attention Lily might have received from others at earlier stages of her life.
By joyce keokham5 years ago in Families
The Layover
Olive saw the stocky young teenager just before he ran into her, bumping her shoulder and knocking her handbag to the ground. He slowed to look behind him, but he did not apologize or even look at her. Instead, he looked past her and he laughed at something behind her, a laugh that filled Olive with a sudden urge to knock him to the ground like he did her handbag. But he was running again, up the stairs of a waiting city bus.
By Cherilyn Rowley5 years ago in Families
Brownies and Tennis
LITTLE BLACK BOOK Rose is watching TV enjoying her dinner when she's interrupted by a knock at the door. Due to her husband passing, kids moving away she has not had company in over 15 years and becomes startled and hesitant. Against her judgement she goes to the door looking through the peephole. To her surprise it is Hannah, a 15 year old with two big red curly puffs, freckles, and a charm bracelet with "H" on it. Rose opens the door. "Hi I'm Hannah, your new neighbor. I was wondering if I could get my ball that went into your yard?" She's a tennis player for her highschool team. Rose responds with "Yea sure go get it" in a very monotone nonchalant way. Being the bright bubbly kid she is, Hannah smiles, says thank you and begins to retrieve the ball.
By Takila Wiley5 years ago in Families
Natural Mystic
On friday November 12th of 1999, a beautiful baby girl named Ubaida was born to Ahmed's family. She had beautiful big brown eyes, tight coils for hair. Dark brown skin that glows when the sun hits it, and shimmers like gold when her lovely mother massages it with shea butter. Her father, Assani, was a hard working accountant who earned a good living to take proper care of his family. While her mother, Sherika, worked as an elementary school teacher. The total combination of their household income was around $180,000 per year, which meant that they could afford to live comfortably even after having their newborn daughter. Sherika was born with a weak heart as a child, so got sick often and sometimes even bed ridden. When Ubaida was around five years old her mother was admitted to the hospital due to her heart and passed away. This was a devastating event for the newly formed Ahmed’s family, but was very hard on Assani. He had to start performing the duties that his late wife used to do, to keep some things that Ubaida knew as normal going on to reduce the effects on her death on their daughter.
By Ubaida Ahmed 5 years ago in Families
