humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Knock
Johnathan stares blankly at the hospital bill, his eyes red with exhaustion. He can hear his wife putting their son to bed. She reads him a tale about a brave knight who took on a fearsome dragon, saving the kingdom from destruction and ruin. The knight was showered with praise and a fortune beyond imagination.
By Brittany Hancock5 years ago in Families
A YOUNG MAN AND A FORD BECOMES KING OF THE ROAD
Jerry Earnest Leroy Overman was his given name, but people who knew Jerry called him Jell-O because of his initials, and he liked that name better. But that's not important here is what you need to know about him.
By Steve A Richardson5 years ago in Families
Apple Communion
My daughter walks over to me. I'm still lying in our hammock. When she reaches me, I slide over and sit in the hammock sideways, gesture with a head nod, wordlessly asking her if she wants to join me. She doesn't of course. This is how it starts. It's always the same. She walks over, no words, I ask her to sit (with no words), she declines. Then she pulls the scarf from her head; her red hair falls around her neck and shoulders. She gestures like some vaudeville magician, carefully showing me both sides of her navy-blue silk scarf. Next, she dangles the scarf with two fingers while she uses two fingers from her other hand to grasp at the silk and pull it slowly through her fingers. She repeats this gesture. The subtext here is 'look, there's nothing contained within the folds of my scarf.' Still part of the ritual; always the same. Next, with impeccable timing, she again grasps the silk by two corners, quickly shows me the front and back several times. Finally, she extends one hand under the silk and lets the material parachute, slowly settling over her little palm, her little fingers discernible through the silk. The other hand emerges and she shows me both sides of this hand too while cheekily grinning at me. That hand then grasps one corner of the silk and I feel my chest tighten as my eyes go wide. This is rapture for me. She quickly pulls the silk aside and in the center of her little palm, where it has no logical reason or right for being, is a red delicious apple; a big juicy one. A little bigger than the one she produced last time if my memory serves.
By Shawn Ingram5 years ago in Families
And So It Shall Be...
Walking down 9th street towards his mother's house a few blocks further on, Deshawn comes upon what looks to be a large pile of clothes off to the side. As he starts to step around it a man's shaggy head lift's from where he was laying and he peers up at Deshawn.
By Maiye Waller & Dorian Dillard5 years ago in Families
Sundays Are For Redemption
The sun always seems to shine brighter on Sundays. Go figure. I guess the day is named for it after all. I really wish it wouldn’t be so damn bright and joyful. The denim overalls I’m wearing are trapping in the heat like Mama’s old oven, and I can already feel sweat dampening my thighs so the material chafes my skin. Jean is the worst for chafing. If it gets real bad, you end up with little traces of blue fabric stuck in the open sores. Not easy to get out. I awkwardly hop around trying to tug at the overalls and shift them into a more comfortable position. It doesn’t help that they are about two sizes too small and I should’ve gotten a new pair over a year ago.
By Samantha Kaszas5 years ago in Families
More than Manifestation
After my mother died, the responsibility of cleaning out her belongings was left to me, her only child. Digging through the disarray that she called a closet, I found a little black notebook with a note that read, "My dearest daughter, Elizabeth. You're ready". I had no idea what exactly I was "ready" for, but I trusted my mother. I took the little black notebook in my hands. It was thin and small but sturdy to the touch. I unwrapped the twine that was so neatly tied in a bow that you would have thought my mother re-tied it a million times to get it so perfect. Maybe she did. I looked into the journal and flipped through pages and pages of the same sentences and phrases repeated over and over again. I had heard of manifestation, but this had to be more than that. It had to. It was too specific. In the notebook was the phrase, "Lizzie will be promoted at her job in 2 weeks". I checked the date, and sure enough, it was dated two weeks before I received my big promotion. Every sentence my mother had repeatedly written in this tiny notebook of hers, had come true in less than a month's time from the date that it was written. About halfway through the notebook, the writing stopped. There was a note addressed to me. It read, "Lizzie, use the second half of this notebook wisely and carefully. I love you," followed by a page filled with the sentence, "My daughter has everything she needs". Little did I know, by giving me that notebook, she gave me just that: everything I need. The day after I found the notebook, I was running some errands and saw a billboard advertising a $20,000 lottery ticket. I decided to pick up a ticket for myself, and now the wait began. I continued to write the sentence, "I have everything I need" in the notebook. I wrote until my hand felt like it was going to disintegrate. I wrote for what felt like hours on end. The following week the winners were announced. I rushed to turn on the news. My hands trembled as I fumbled with the remote trying to change the channel. As soon as I had gotten to the right channel, I heard a man exclaim, "And the winner of the grand prize of 20,000 dollars is...". My heart was pounding. My nerves were shot. Then, I heard the man once more, "Elizabeth Beckam! Please call the number on your screen to confirm your prize!". My heart raced with excitement. I called the number and did exactly as the man said, secured my prize. I was so thankful to my mother. She really did hand me everything I needed when she left me that tiny black notebook. She handed me control over my own life, something I had never had before. Don't get me wrong, my mother made sure we never struggled. My father left when I was a child, and she had always done an exceptional job of taking care of me. A few days after I had called in to claim my winnings, I went through all of the tedious paperwork, which seemed to never end. Then, they wrote me a check for $18,000. They took taxes and fees out, wrote me the check, and let me be on my way. I stopped by the bank on my way home, explained to the teller that I had been fortunate enough to win this money, cashed out my check, and went home. I checked the online banking app that I have on my phone. The numbers I saw were just astounding. I was not even home from the bank for an hour when I decided to go shopping. I went and bought myself new clothes. I replaced my phone that was about 4 years outdated. I finally was able to do for myself without being overwhelmed with guilt. When I got home, I looked into stock investments. I bought stock in over 10 different companies. Over the course of the next ten years, I made 3 million dollars from the stocks I had purchased. I saved the remainder of the money to contribute to buying a modest house for my future family and put money towards my future childrens' education, only spending what was necessary over the course of the next ten years. In that time, I met an amazing man. He was tall, toned but not too buff, and he had the kindest eyes I had ever seen. I refrained from telling him about my winnings in fear that he would stay with me only for the money, but he proposed to me before I had even mentioned it. I gained a fiance and I gained his daughter from his previous marriage. She had twinkling blue eyes, only four years old. When she smiled at me, I melted. I had a happy family and more than enough money to support us all. When I had finally told my fiance about the money I had come into ten years ago, he pulled me in tight for a hug and said, "Baby, I love you whether you have $2 to your name or $200 million to your name. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm especially not here for your money. I'm here for you". I fell in love all over again that day. I realized I was going to have a beautiful life with a family I adored. My mother was right, I had everything I needed.
By Maura Crowne 5 years ago in Families
