family
Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.
Mouse Flambe′
We had a small disaster this Christmas. Well, actually, it was the 6th of January. I was taking down the Christmas decorations and I had just placed all the green artificial garlands in their box when I decided to take a break and fix myself a snack. I opened one of the kitchen drawers and was confronted by my worst nightmare. At first, I tried to convince myself that I was observing a few of the chocolate sprinkles that my husband likes to put over his vanilla ice cream. In my heart, I knew this was not so, but Kenneth is very careless in the kitchen, so I made a stab at this conclusion while I let the truth settle in on me. Ultimately, there was no denying it... A mouse had visited me. "Visited" is a misnomer. Mice do not visit. They move in for the long haul. Mice are one of life's perils if one owns a home in the woods, especially in the winter.
By Pamela W. Carman5 years ago in Humans
Asher
Asher sat fingering the check. Twenty-thousand dollars was more money than he had ever made at once as a landscaper. And certainly more than he had ever made as an artist, although he hoped that might change one day. But he was wracked with guilt over whether or not to cash it. He didn’t think his Mom would have wanted him to. He knew his Dad would have told him to “go for it”. His expenses had been minor. More time than anything. It was such a strange sequence of coincidences that lead him here. He reflected on what had put the check in his hand.
By Eugene Evans5 years ago in Humans
Saying "Thank You" or "Please" Doesn't Make You a Kind Person
Sometimes a "thank you" might feel like a slap on the face. When my son was a baby, my mother looked after him quite a lot. I worked at home but had to go to meetings often, so I dropped him at his grandmother's.
By Nihan Kucukural5 years ago in Humans
UnBroken
Eva left just in time, as more tears strolled down her face it started to pour outside. She felt she could cry without worrying about other people’s gaze until she gets to her bus stop; partly because of the rain as it would excuse her wet cheeks but also because she’s usually very discreet and can’t be noticed easily. She knew she could always hide well in a crowd, and this crowded 112 bus she was about to embark on was just what she needed. “Here’s the perfect place for me to zone out until I get home to deal with more bullsh*t, I better cover my hair with a head wrap before he calls me a bald headed b*tch again,” she thinks. Unfortunately for her; few stops after she got on the bus, while there was still half of the way up, the bus but needed to stop abruptly and evacuate all the passengers. Leaving her to walk home alone, in this industrial area of the city as the sun was setting. At least she got a chance to cover her half-braided head she said to herself. As a woman walking alone on these streets she felt a bit safer because she was dressed very loose thought she could pass as a man as long as they don't get too close. She’s still scared because it's getting dark soon and this very quiet area felt like the perfect place to dump a body. None the less she refused to let that get to her head, so she flew into a childhood memory to escape her nocturne journey home:
By Hadaya Samatar5 years ago in Humans
Poems for the Passing
Halfway to the paper, Kate's pen paused. It sat poised on a barrier of resistance only she could sense. She had been considering her options for the last few weeks, not that it had helped. Even now, right down to this last moment, she still wasn't sure what she would choose. Sign the contract. Don't sign the contract. Sign it. Don't sign. It seemed each heartbeat sent her thoughts skittering back the way they had come, like a tennis match in her mind.
By Cortana Whit5 years ago in Humans
The Grow up
He dropped to one knee. I was in complete and utter shock. I think I said yes. I must have said something because he came off that knee and bear hugged me and wouldn’t let me go. Our worlds were about to be turned upside down because no one, including our families, even knew we were dating. Like no one. I snapped a pic of us. He posted it on his gram. ‘This woman is the epitome of what love requires. She supports me in ways unknown and secures our future. I can’t believe I just asked my best friend to have this journey forever with me. She said yes.’ The caption read. All my sisters follow him. His brothers follow me and I’m tagged in his post. We didn’t get in the car good before phones started jumping. The stories I grew up hearing about him. How he was taking his parents through the ringer. The chip he had they couldn’t knock off. He wouldn’t give in . Pretty sure he only gives to what he wants to now. It had been nonstop the past 30 days. No utterance from our parents. We were headed to our third brunch to celebrate us. He said he’d pick me up at 3. My mom , apparently , was keeping her silence no longer.
By Jai Shirin5 years ago in Humans
Two Gifts
TWO GIFTS By Jason Lambert-Lee “WHAT is happening?” I somewhat softly and characteristically exclaimed as I woke to my cell ringing. After flipping my body over to grab it, I could see two important things on the tiny preview screen on the top portion of my flip-phone. First, it was 3AM. “Ugh.” Second, it was Aunt Louise. “Oh, no.” I knew this wasn’t a surprising emergency for which I was randomly chosen to receive bad news. We don’t do that in my family. We try to avoid conversations that would draw criticism, and we DO NOT like to ask for help if avoidable. So, I did not answer. With no second call, I felt safe in my assumption of what it was about. There was a voicemail. I went back to sleep.
By Jason Lambert-Lee5 years ago in Humans
