siblings

Siblings are the only enemy you can't live without.

The Secret in the Picture
The house was so full of people that Lyn couldn’t breathe. She had to get out but couldn’t. She couldn’t just walk out. Mom would want her to stay. She would want her smile through her tears, her pain, and to comfort others in her own grief. Mom would tell her that it would help her to heal because all the people that loved her mom also loved her and Andrea. Mom had told her to help her sister, to be there for her. That she would need her help. Lyn yelled at her mom when she said that to her that day, just a couple of weeks ago.
By Myra C Lewis5 years ago in Families
Little Brother
I just hope you could know. Some girls probably know what it’s like to have a little brother. They spit, and their eyes wax often when they abash in ripped hand- me- downs. Little brother reptile shirts drip easy sweat with popsicle stains.
By Laticia Blaine Hequembourg5 years ago in Families
Sprouted
I jabbed the garlic bulb with a five-inch kitchen blade. The cloves had begun to sprout; slivers, like fingernails on wide-set digits. They darkened, lengthened and thickened: raised brown spots and a thicket of green stemmed, inching ceiling-ward until Mama told me to dice it for the chicken parmesan—my favorite, which I’d begged her to make for dinner.
By Nicole Akoukou Thompson5 years ago in Families
Strings Attached
“Where is it, then?” my sister shrilled at me across the living room. It was the day after Mom’s death, and all of our nerves were a little raw, Brigid’s especially.
By Victoria Shannon5 years ago in Families
Always Listen
She stood there in the rain, head hung down, trying to focus her eyes in the dark on the package that he had handed her as he laid dying. It was very small and lightweight, wrapped in waxed brown paper and tied with a string. She quickly stuffed it under her coat as she scurried back to her car. After sliding back into the driver’s seat, she placed the package in her glove compartment.
By Carolyn Fields5 years ago in Families
An Unusual Inheritance
Inheritance is a peculiar thing. It is an explicit expression of one’s own mortality. Conversely, it is also a means to impact those still living even after death. There were once two brothers, Edison and Elias. The first brother was deeply moved by the beauty of life, while Elias felt drawn to the less esoteric and found comfort in money. Both brothers disapproved of the others life, however the more sentimental of the two, Edison, had a secret. He knew that for as much as he loved this life and the incredible things he had experienced, that journey seemed to be coming to an end. Instead of being mournful of this loss, he decided to use it as an opportunity to reconnect with his brother, even if this reunion were to come after his impending departure. Edison bought a little black book, plain in appearance, and began to write in it. He began to fill it with tickets to all the places where he found the most happiness. The day finally came for Edison, as it eventually comes for us all.
By Matt 5 years ago in Families
April Holiday
Six months after the mass suicides April received a cardboard box full of her twin brother’s personal effects from the police. She ignored it for a week, things accumulating in piles around it on the counter as she tried to make sense of her sudden inheritance. She opened the box the same morning she stared at the sun. The six-shooter was inside, sealed up in an evidence bag with her brother’s name and case number written on it in black marker. March Holiday. March and April. They’d been born thirteen minutes apart on either side of midnight and Dad had always had a sense of humor. Mom didn’t make it. Happy Birthday. April Fools.
By J. Otis Haas5 years ago in Families
Emily's Eraser
The expression ‘to rub somebody out’ takes on a whole new meaning and one that has dire consequences. “I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!”
By Robert Taylor5 years ago in Families
The Doleson Estate
“You all know why we have gathered here this afternoon,” said Mr Battridge. The old solicitor looked over the table with a gravitas that suggested he was only practicing family law until a seat on the Supreme Court should become available.
By Garry Condoseres5 years ago in Families
My Sister, the Sin Eater
I sat down on the side of the stinking, brown-stained mattress and opened my sister’s diary. It wasn’t like I was expecting to learn much about her or her life or the tortured thoughts that had led her to a lifetime of her prioritizing her addiction to chaos over me, her only sister and last living relative.
By Kennedy Farr5 years ago in Families
Burning Questions
“...to be divided equally between my son, Robert, and my daughter, Jennifer… Finally, please burn the shoe box in my bedroom cupboard labelled ‘Tax docs 2014-2015’.”
By Mary Kiley5 years ago in Families
Are Twins Genetic?
Something people always wonder about is, “will I have twins this pregnancy. They run on my side and the fathers.” Which is a good question to ask. The answer is simple.
By Devon Renee5 years ago in Families