fact or fiction
Is it fact or merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the myths and beliefs we hold about our family dynamics, traditions, and if there's such thing as a 'perfect family.'
A Sweet Goodbye
He sat in his window seat, staring off into the clouds. They looked as though they were soft enough to lay on. How beautiful they appeared, floating in the blue sky. This was what he needed. Anything to take his mind away from thinking about the reason why he was headed to his hometown of Virginia. Jacob got the call from his sister Lidia. It was one of those calls no one wants to get in the middle of the night. That sound of a phone ring bursting into complete silence always represents an emergency. A week before, his father had been rushed to the hospital for shortness of breath, only to be told he unfortunately had Covid-19 after being tested for it. It was the scariest time for any elderly person, facing pre-existing conditions to be told they have the Corona Virus. He went from being stabilized to being put on a ventilator, and in a matter of days was gone. Now, Jacob along with his sisters were planning to bury their father. He kept hearing his fiancé’s voice going off in his head, telling him days ago, “just go get on a plan babe and see about your father, Covid can be tricky. You never know.” Yes, those were her words, but Jacob actually thought his father would be fine and make it back home. Once he landed, he headed straight for his father’s home. It had been two years since the last time he was there, so he needed to quickly be in his father’s space. He wanted to smell his colognes, see his favorite book and glasses sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. He wanted to look up at the wall to the right side of the room at the article he had framed on the wall that read "Hail To The Redskins." He was the biggest Redskins fan, which made Jacob be the same die-hard fan. He walked through the room slowly, taking deep breaths in and out. The tears came, and the tears fell. He couldn’t stop nor help it. It was like a faucet turned on inside that no one could turn off.
By Tatiana Penz5 years ago in Families
Legend Hunter
Legend Hunter 1973 North Florida, Kate Turner one of the few people who still believes in legends. This story is how Kate discovered a new legend. Kate just got home from another disappointing trip from Olympic national forest. Only to find out that she has still not found enough proof that the big foot actually exists. So Kate goes to write in her little black book only to express her grief, worried she may never find big foot. So back to the books to find more evidence. While she was looking for big foot’s tale, she stumbled across a map that tells of a new-so called legend. Gold in the mountains of Wyoming. Kate called her office and asked for a new case in Wyoming, they granted it, and she packed a bag. She didn’t pack much she didn’t have much hope in this one, she left the next day. She arrived at 3:00 AM, she was tired. Her eyes were so heavy she had black rings under her eyes, so she left the airport in a cab and when she arrived at the base of the grand Tetons, she was ready to get her hands dirty. Kate found a good flat spot to camp, she sets up a tent and starts to boil some water for tea to keep warm. And goes up on the mountain to see what she is working with. “Not bad,” she thought.
By Rylie Bailey Hansen5 years ago in Families
Birds
The flutter of twenty or so birds disturbed the silence of Garborette road that Sunday morning. From afar it would have seemed to a random passer-by that they had simply flown away in terror from an invisible, harmless entity: a common routine that birds unfailingly seem to follow; but no, today there had been a genuine reason for their fear.
By Amanda Mucke Silva5 years ago in Families
Sunset
It’s true that you couldn’t see the sun for most of the day, but once in a while, on a very lucky day, you could see it at sunrise and sunset just as it touched the horizon, as if the edges of the cover of filth over the world were burned away briefly to reveal the sun.
By Mark Abukoff5 years ago in Families
Little black book
“ C’mon’ Babe, it’s just a one-time investment of $500.00, It’ll pay off in the end, I promise, I wouldn’t steer us wrong.” Luke Jennings said in his most confident and reassuring voice to his wife Eve of almost 8 years.“ I just don’t know Luke, it’s a huge risk, and we can’t afford to just take $500.00 and invest it in some future cryptocurrency that may or may not double in price... eventually,” Eve mumbled under her breath. Luke was always coming up with these crazy get-rich schemes that his Air Force buddies put into his head. Most of the time, Eve went along with them, but this time she was feeling a little hesitant. Investing was not something she or Luke was familiar with, especially not in cryptocurrency, it seemed an extremely high risk to her, and $500 was a good bit of money to a young couple with 5 kids living paycheck to paycheck. “Okay babe, we’ll hold off buying the Bitcoin, but your gonna hear me tell you I told you so one day, watch and see.” Luke broke out into a huge smile and scooped Eve up in his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek.
By Jennifer Bettelyoun5 years ago in Families
The scavenger hunt and the little black book
I woke up about 6:30 so I could get ready and go to school. I got in the shower, which took me about 15 minutes, then, I got dressed, it took me about 5 minutes, and last of all, I have to get to school in time, so I started off. On my walk to school, I walk by a lot of houses. One house I walked by had a stack of money, and a little black book on the ground. I picked up the stack and opened the book. “Huh” I thought as I read it. The book read “If you happen to find this money on the ground, please return it to the owner.” I stopped reading for a second and looked to the house it was in front of, and then I remembered the book. I went back to reading, “The thing is, this money does not belong to the person in this house. There is a scavenger hunt you have to go through to return it. Or, steal the money, and I will call the police. There is cameras by all the locations. If you don’t go there within 24 hours, the police will be called. The first location is at the park nearest to this book. Good luck!” That’s where the book ended. I looked at the time and it had been 5 minutes. I took too much time looking at the book and thinking about it that I lost track of time. If I wanted to get to school in time to study for a little bit and get settled, then I’d have to run. So I did.
By Peyton Williams5 years ago in Families
Wolfing the Wolves
I was ten when I invested in my first stock. Of course I had to do it under an account with my mom’s name but trust me, I have my ways. I had my mom’s MasterCard number memorized like my classmates knew times tables. When she asked what the Robintown charge was I told her it was a couple burgers, that the bank meant to put Round Robin; classic typo. She had just looked at me weird, what’s she supposed to think? I knew the charge would get lost in the flood of her shopping splurges anyway. Plus, I was ten.
By Alexis Pulmano5 years ago in Families
Write your way to success
Mya stared at the cheque. Twenty thousand dollars. She counted the zeros a few times to ensure she was seeing correctly. And it didn’t help that it was one of those giant cheques that was six feet wide. She had seen people on TV receiving those cheques, but never thought she would be standing this close to one in real life.
By Safiya Robinson5 years ago in Families
Book of Names
"Your available balance is 20,000 dollars and no cents." the matter-of-fact robotic voice sounded through Luz's iPhone speaker. She rushed to silence the seemingly booming smartphone and sipped her latte casually to avoid extra stares. The quaint New York coffee shop was uncharacteristically bustling that day, and she glanced casually around to see if anyone was looking in her direction or overheard the blaring sound. Fortunately, no one was paying attention. She had already taken off her oversized red fedora and had it lying next to her leaning against a wall, so everyone who was intrigued by that had settled down.
By Regine Demure5 years ago in Families
I Blame Aquarius
I Blame Aquarius My less than stellar track record when it comes to love, luck and happiness have a very simple root cause: I am Aquarian. Yep, I have looked back at every whoops, faux pas, idiotic decision and crashed dream, and after careful examination and soulful root cause analysis, the truth is each was inevitable and I blame Aquarius! First of all, my mother, (hereafter to be referred to as The Empress of Pain, more on this later) was a. Scorpio, believe me that deadly scorpions were not just her astrological sign but her spirit animal. This chubby smiling Aquarian child and The Empress were doomed to be nemesis from the start. Her favourite child was a nice safe Libra swinging this way and that and always landing feet on balanced scales. School was heaven for me, sure, but Catholic academies are not good places for the idealistic Aquarian’s who just can’t take no for an answer. When Chatty Cathy Aquarian’s just can’t help asking questions that challenge the status quo, problems ensure. Like at the school trip, in 4th grade to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
By Rosanna Pittella5 years ago in Families
The Journey Home
On a cold blistery night when Samantha got the phone call that her mother was being rushed to the hospital, she was hours away and had a million regrets running through her mind. Why did she agree to put her in a home she thought to herself, why wasn't she with her? Why did she get married?Her guilt was just overwhelming. Only one person was allowed at the hospital and her sister Jamie was in town so she made it there first. Overwhelmed by it all it, not long after did the second phone call come. Sam was too late, she made a short stop to grab a bottle and a bag to kill the pain . Again with so many regrets flashing before her eyes Sam was a complete mess, battling drug addiction since sixteen, her father a recovering alcoholic when he passed. He and Sam were alot alike but Sam was very young when he passed. Sam started on her journey home not realizing that for the first time she was going on the journey of her life. She drank, smoked and drove, drank, smoked and drove until eventually the car died and she finally gave up and peacefully laid her head down. Waking up suddenly she thought to herself everything must've been a dream . Sam started the car and to her surprise it started right up. She felt a sense of calm and protection so she drove to the nearest town to get her car looked at. The shop was busy and couldn't get the car in till the next day. Sam went to the nearest motel to unwind her mind and soul. Laying in bed crying her heart out all the sudden Sam had an intuition to look under the mattress, to her surprise there was one single dime. She was always told growing up dimes is a loved on looking over you. Growing up was no treat dad drank but eventually got sober and she knew then it was a sign from him. Sam had a brief bout of sobriety and during this time she found dimes which to her felt like her dad was close but she couldn't figure out what it was although it soothed her and gave sense of peace she never felt before. Sam's childhood was no bed of roses. Her mom worked and Sam always competed with her older sister Maggie. Jamie was the oldest sister that married her highschool sweet heart and had the happy life. so Maggie helped raise Sam but with only a year apart Sam resented Maggie because she was always referred to as Maggie's little sister and got all Maggie's hand me downs and Maggie resented Sam because she always had to take Sam with her. Maggie married soon after and went off to live the happy life too and eventually they grew further apart. Sam lived with her mom Grace up until she married shortly only a year before Grace passed away. Sam slept like a baby that night and woke feeling refreshed and with a sense of self she never felt before. She cleaned up got dressed and handed in her key to the front desk. It was a short walk to the garage and the sun was shining the birds were chirping and Sam even stopped in the park to smell the flowers. She entered the garage to pick up her car which was ready. The mechanic handed her her keys and said enjoy your journey she thought it was weird but answered I plan too which she thought was weird too. On the road again driving for which felt like hours but only one hour away she didn't even turn the radio on she just drove by herself and for once was okay by herself which she knew was now more a reality than ever now that her mom her best friend Grace had passed. She felt somewhat grounded it was a calm she had never felt before . She finally pulled up to the gates of her childhood home .She drove up the drive and took a deep breathe before stepping out of the car. Her feet hit the pavement and she felt a sense of being grounded , the darkness she always felt returning home was gone. She finally didn't have to live up to anyone's expectations but her own . She had choices and a sense of self. She walked up the steps opened the door with her key and to her surprise the house was empty. Sam was so relieved. Sam raced up the stairs to her moms room where she laid on the bed talking to her angel now in heaven when again her intuition told her to look under the mattress and there it was a dime and 20,ooo in an envelope and a small black notebook .Wrote on the first page it said, You were meant to find this recipe book and the envelope .This is god giving you what you cannot understand , you are not different, you are special, follow your intuition, tap into the spiritual world with your ancestors and take what you have learned and share it with the world. On the second page it said learn from your lessons Divine timing is everything and sometimes you are meant to keep somethings to yourself because you are special . So go live your life but always remember the lessons you have learned . On the rest of the pages were family recipes handed down from generation to generation. Sam took her 20,000 from her mom's mattress and her family recipes and bought a restaurant and has never looked back. She helps today to feed the less fortunate and that's by the grace of god. Sam found her calling in life she is in recovery giving back what lessons she has learned in life trying to make the world a better place.
By Cheryl Doan5 years ago in Families
