humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
The Ticket Out
My name’s Matt, but my friends call me Charlie. You may be wondering: how do you get Charlie from Matt? Well, it’s a funny story actually. You know that book? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl? You didn’t know it was a book? Okay, well then, you know that movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp? Yep, there it is, now it’s ringing a bell. Seriously, you should read the book, but we’ll talk about that another time.
By Rob Golding5 years ago in Humans
Training to Fly Free
The embers were tired. The ebbing glow warmed her gaze and a marshmallow, but was no match against the cold wind that slipped down the mountainside and joined the scathing words swirling around her. She pulled the blue fleece collar around her ears and tucked in her face to the cheekbones. Little crystals quickly formed where her breath met the polyester. The din of veiled cruelty continued and passed through the fabric as easily as the wind.
By Charlotte Appleton5 years ago in Humans
Generosity and Selflessness:
Growing up on the west side of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the 1980s afforded me an interesting upbringing. My grandparents moved into a relatively low-income neighborhood to live and serve the community with their gifts and also took on the task of raising their newborn granddaughter - me. I was gifted the opportunity to see generosity in action on a daily basis. Our door was always open to our neighbors, my friends, the community, and to those in need. There are so many different forms that generosity takes and I have found that those that are typically the most generous - in time, energy, possessions, or even financially - are those that are experiencing or have experienced being without. Far too often, people's gifts, talents, and time are dismissed in our current societal structure.
By Joanna Scott5 years ago in Humans
The 'WHY' of everything.
'Why?' To me, it's a very important question. It holds on to me as much as I hold on to its answers. I'll be honest. I am lost. In many ways... What (uh... ok then.) does it mean to live? There's so much I want to do and I want to do it all NOW!!! I am laughing as I'm writing this. As someone who has only recently gained self awareness; this world has a new filter on it. Maybe the filter that used to be there is now turned off... ...I notice more now. The subtle nods and grimaces. The slight irritation and coy smiles. The covert joy and hurt.
By Kallym De'Ortega5 years ago in Humans
The Ripple Effect
Have you ever taken a few moments in time to just watch a body of water? The millions of molecules are so connected that the movement of one causes some movement to the molecules immediately surrounding it, and those molecules move the ones surrounding them and so on until the entire body of water is in a state of motion.
By Zakiyah Bradford5 years ago in Humans
Screech
Jane had started to notice. She was a light sleeper. Roy wasn’t, so Jane had to shake him awake every time she heard it. Well, “had to” was a bit of a stretch for Roy. After all, he woke up at 4 am for work 5 days a week, and being roughly shaken out of a deep sleep once at midnight and a second time at 3 am had started to wear on him.
By Anna Gillcrist5 years ago in Humans
Cookie crumbs
I can’t remember if it was a good day or a bad one. I do know that I was having a tumultuous period in my life. I was almost broke, worn out from work, and heartbroken from a failed love. Meloncholy was my usual demeanor at the time. Herman, my small terrier, loved going for walks in Balboa Park, so we took one once a day.
By Rebekah Leon5 years ago in Humans
Mother of the Earth
In a concrete world, what a big city offers? Is an abundance concrete. I’m around the corner of my house in hot southwestern Texas, the scorching El Paso desert where nothing grows but cactus and cockroaches I lived on a corner lot that had a sidewalk in front and on the side of my house. Behind my house was a church on a huge property and it had a baseball field, but not a nice looking field, it was all dirt. As I was squatting down as close as I could, in a three year old little body, looking real close and personal noticing the most curious creature on the porous grey sidewalk which stood out because of its pinkness in color. Later and mostly all grown up I learned that this creature was called "Child of the Earth." It was round like a coin and doughy looking like a biscuit but the most curious thing is that it had an image of a baby face on it. The whole thing, the whole roundness was a baby's face. I must have been not more than 4 inches away with my face and if I were to ever know what this creature was thinking it would be "that's a bigger face than mine." These creatures are poisonous or so I thought for many years. Enough years to feel vexed in lifestyle. I hate bugs. The child of the earth is a bug and the real name is Jerusalem cricket. But I will swear that the bug on the internet called the Jerusalem cricket is not the same bug that I saw that fearful day in El Paso.
By Janet Smith5 years ago in Humans
Flying Home
As I lay here drifting in and out of consciousness no longer able to discern reality from dream, I fight hard to focus on anything that may have some semblance of being real. The only thing I can somehow sense as a part of the living world I will soon depart is the steady gaze of a snowy white night owl. Occasionally I can even hear the haunting sounds of his voice seeming to bellow out announcements or perhaps updates of how close I am to entering an unknown world. Each day I struggle to fixate on that owl scarcely hearing what people around me may be saying because I know that owl keeps me connected to reality somehow. I know it’s real. I know it is somehow connected to me.
By [email protected]5 years ago in Humans
Last Time
“This is the last time I’m gonna call you Mike”. I look over the grey payphone at the green and white gas station that brightens the endless dark road, leading into a man-made desert. There’s no one in sight for miles except for the cactuses and animals that are chasing after the same thing as me: home.
By Keaona Gray5 years ago in Humans
