immediate family
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A Creative Ledger
A Creative Ledger Chapter 1: Keeping Track I looked to my hands, black, covered in tar, and took a heavy seat in the front of the truck. Another job done. Another tick off the list. The barrel of tar was still half full and would need to be lifted into the back of the trailer. Aside from that, we were ready to move on. I wiped my hands across my trousers, and opened the little black book, careful not to smudge the address we were headed to next.
By Janelle Bange5 years ago in Families
And So It Happens
Florida put her hands over her face. It was enough. It was too much. She could no longer pretend that everything was okay. It wasn’t. It had not been for a long time. She blew out a breath, or maybe she should be taking one in. Either way, she felt calmer. She almost broke down for a minute, and that would not do in front of her sixth-grade math class.
By Fatima Hyman5 years ago in Families
The Black Book
Jeff opened the door to find Miranda standing there. Her face was blotchy and wet with tears and snot. She looked like a child again; his little girl who had fallen and scraped her knee. She did not move or look at his face. He did not need to see her eyes. He knew them too well. Emerald green with a gold ring at their center. Even when she cried, they were still beautiful, an exact replica of her mother’s eyes. Just a quick glance at them and he would be hooked again. He was relieved that she was looking down, it made closing the door easier.
By Jessica Swearingen5 years ago in Families
The Ripped Notebook
It’s your average Monday morning in the Johnson household with her best friend. They get on with their day as usual by eating breakfast and cleaning up. Then, they drive off to work at 8 am and nothing unusual usually happens in the quiet country town of Deer Hills until tonight. Mary and Chloe get home from work around 3 in the afternoon. As soon as they get home from work, they sit down on the couch and watch tv together. The show they’re watching is called, “Murder Mysteries,” which is not as creepy as it sounds. They’re invested in the show, and then Chloe says: “Oooh, that’s creepy. Let’s watch more,” with excitement in her eyes. “In a minute. I have to go down to the basement for something.” Mary says. “Do you want me to come with?” Chloe asks. “No, I’ll be okay, but thanks anyway.” Mary replies calmly. “Good, ‘cause your basement creeps me out anyways,” Chloe retorts. “Oh, come on, you know it’s not that scary,” Mary says while rolling her eyes. Then, Mary walks down to her basement around 6 pm to grab some extra food out of the fridge that’s down there, but as soon as she turned on the light, she screams because she finds something that was never there before. As soon as Chloe heard her scream, she sprints down to the basement and asks frantically, “What’s wrong?!” Mary shouts, “Look!” while pointing at the ripped little black notebook. As soon as Chloe sees the notebook, she freezes in fear. Mary looks at her while waving her hand in front of her face asking, “Chloe are you okay?” Chloe snaps out of her trance and answers, “Ya, I’m f-f-fine,” as she stutters her words a bit. “How about you go on upstairs and I’ll figure this out, okay?” Mary tells her. “Wait, what?! Are you crazy?!” Chloe shouts. “Crazy about what?” Mary asks confused. “You’re really going to investigate that ripped notebook without even knowing who it’s from nor where it came from?” Chloe asks. “Ya, why?” Mary answers. “You crazy,” Chloe tells her and then sprints back upstairs.
By Courtney Lee5 years ago in Families
I'm Your Daughter
Dress. Aisle. Seat. Ceremony. Pictures. The list repeats in my head. I want to make sure I don’t forget it, even though I’ve had it memorized for what feels like a lifetime. Dress. Aisle. Seat. Ceremony. Pictures. That’s all, I just have to get through those five things. I figure the reception will be so packed that I won’t have to deal with her, that’ll be Dad and Isaac’s job. She’ll see the dress, we’ll have our moment, then they’ll walk me down the aisle before taking their seats, leaving me home free for the ceremony and reception. Guilt creeps into my mind. I shouldn’t be looking forward to not interacting with her.
By M.A.R. Leigh5 years ago in Families
Authentic Christmas
Christmas trees have always been a peculiar thing to me. The first time I learned about Christmas I was around 12. It was in the middle school classroom of a small southwestern town of China. My English teacher played a Christmas Carol for us. I don't remember exactly which one, but it was beautiful. I learned that Christmas was a very important holiday in the West and people celebrate it with Christmas trees and carols. Later, I read about Christmas trees in Anton Chekhov’s story, “Vanka”. I fell in love with that story and Chekhov right away. It has been my favorite story since then, even though I did not understand the purpose of having a Christmas tree either in or out of the story. All I know is the tree makes the story bittersweet and beautiful.
By Cheyenne Huang5 years ago in Families
MARTY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK
MARTY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK His voice carried half-way across the store: “Mom, mom! Come check this out!” I rarely hear that level of excitement from my 11-year old son. He’s the youngest boy in my trio of what I call “typical” boys—preteen and growing up too fast. Anyway, Marty got my attention by waving wildly along with the exuberant voice and huge smile I could see from aisles away.
By Janna Bruns5 years ago in Families
Discovering Her Mother's Secret
Discovering Her Mother’s Secret By Wendy Matthews The murmur of people holding conversations in the small living room and kitchen was like a soothing salve on Aggie’s wounded soul. She was half-listening to the person speaking to her and half-listening to the drone of multiple conversations, catching snatches of ‘…she was always there when you needed her’ and ‘…she never asked for anything herself but was always the first to give.’ They were talking about Aggie’s mother, Jackie, who had died just 10 days ago. Her mother died in her own bed and was found that way when her friend Anita asked the police to make a wellness visit on Jackie because she wasn’t answering her phone and hadn’t shown up for a lunch where she was expected. She apparently died of natural causes, but Aggie was sure the overuse of alcohol had contributed to her mother’s demise. Still, no sign of foul play said the police.
By Wendy Matthews5 years ago in Families
The Black Wig
If I knew my day was going to start as it did, I would've definitely passed on drinking last night! I'll start at the beginning of this whole ordeal.....practicing in front of the mirror. I was cast as the lead in Romeo & Juliet, and I was not only practicing my lines I was practicing Juliets' aswell. Well hey...they say all good actors learn and practice all the lines, so why not!? So there I am in the mirror saying "Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo!" Then all of a sudden... "Daylon! Daylon! Come here right now!" inside I'm thinking "Oh lord did they find the stiletto red bottom pumps I've been hiding? 'Cause Lord today isn't the day to come out of the closet." Walking with masculinity in viewpoint I walk into the family room and go "Yes mother?" Then she goes "Don't play silly! You are supposed to go get all of the stuff out of the attic and set it outside for trash pick up!" Inside I am so relieved I simply forgot about taking out the trash. No coming out of the closet and dealing with that conversation a little while longer whew! Little did I know I was about to be in little "fairy-boy" Heaven. Once I arrived to the attic I started opening the boxes before I took them out to the trash. If I know my mother anything important stays so I begin to look through everything. Then I found it, it was a regular U-Haul moving box that looked brand new. I opened it and sitting on top was this little black book. So what else was I going to do, not read it? So I began reading it and what I read absolutely floored me. It was just a friendly letter address to me. It read:
By Daylon Eugene Brown5 years ago in Families
