family
Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.
The Thornton Triplets
It was hard not to notice the Thornton triplets. If it wasn’t for their bright ginger, curly locks, then it was for their loud damn mouths. 19 long years have I had to deal with the noisy nigglers and it seems with age, they aren’t getting much better.
By Matthew Grantham5 years ago in Humans
Summer Cousins
There was magic in our lake. That’s what Grammy always said. But then again, Grammy had a bit of magic in her, too. Each year on the last day of summer, Grammy packed her picnic hamper and together we’d carry it down to the old dock where the reeds were thin and the ducks liked to gather. We’d sit for hours with our feet dangling in the water, just Grammy and me, because I was the oldest and (I suspected), that made me the favorite. We ate cheese sandwiches wrapped in crinkled brown paper and thick slices of Great Aunt Millie’s angel food cake, and Grammy told me stories about when she was a girl. I’d swat at the horseflies and watch the rich people’s boats sway in the breeze while I imagined a little girl version of Grammy splashing in the water and racing her older sisters across the shoreline. On these Last Days, I could tell Grammy all of my secrets, and Grammy only ever listened as she stroked my hair until the sky turned purple and one last lonely boat fluttered on the horizon.
By Jessica Conaway5 years ago in Humans
Passing Fancy 2
Passing Fancy 2 Alfred, who insisted on being called Al ever since he discovered Alfred was Batman’s butler, stood tall and straight on the beach, barefoot, the warm wet sand at the ocean's edge squishing up through his toes, his eyes shut against the sun as his face tilted toward its warmth. Sea breezes blew through his wind-tousled white hair which had somehow remained full and thick while the hair of his friends whitened and eased away with age.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Humans
Let’s Just Say - It’s Complicated
The buzzing sound of the alarm clock jolted me awake. I slowly opened my eyes, got up and walked to the window. The sun was shining, the sky flawless, the temperature cosy with a slight breeze and I thought to myself, “Wow, I’m so grateful for my life.” I could hear my two boys in the next room already wide awake and playing computer games.
By Rejoice Denhere5 years ago in Humans
Star Bodies
I spend a lot of time sprawled beneath the cover of the stars, hoping it will make me feel closer to them. I lay out in the field behind my house and press myself flat against the ground, fingers sifting through grass and dirt, searching for the earth’s pulse. Sometimes I think that if I dig my nails in hard enough for the soil to cake or if I look up with enough longing, it’ll spark something deep between my ribs. That feeling of the organs inside me coming together to fill the gaps the blood always sloshes through.
By R. S. Gonzalez5 years ago in Humans
Blacktop therapy
Blacktop therapy her dad used to call it, highway driving. Johnson gets in the car and makes for the Albany Highway. Armadale. North Bannister. Passes Italian mansions on the hill behind a fug of black foliage and toilet brush pines. Less than 80 kilometres from the city and Radio National is going staccato on her already.
By Jane Cornes-Maclean5 years ago in Humans
The Memory in Merlot
I was early, as usual. It's a habit of mine, probably devolved to avoid disappointing people, then again, I don't necessarily aim to impress anyone, so I should throw that one out the window. The awkwardness began to creep in on me, my body temperature rose slightly, and it felt like all the eyes in the restaurant were on me. "I got Stood up" is the thought that replays in my mind over and over. Why did I even agree to this date, especially a blind date? As the overwhelming awkwardness of sitting alone starts to take over, here walks in a stunning woman. She seems to be in her mid-twenties, maybe a few inches over 5 feet tall, and has the most picture-perfect red hair I have ever seen. It is long, full, wavy, and close to orange, but my eyes were trying to convince my brain it was red. Right away, I knew she had a unique quality that I have never seen before, which has me excited but also nervous. She sat down, and my anxiety began to climb as I realized I should have pulled the chair out for her. I feel like I already failed the first test. I stuck out my hand to shake hers as I said, "you look great" "Oh, thank you!" She responds, "I'm Amy, by the way," Benny, I say. The next few minutes are filled with meaningless small talk; she doesn't like the city, her dog loves walks, and she's moving to Miami if the weather doesn't get better. The waiter came by and asked what we wanted to have to drink. Amy responded, "a glass of merlot, please." And you, sir, asked the waiter. In the middle of asking for just a glass of water, Amy interrupts and says, "make that two glasses of merlot." She smiles at me, unaware that I am not very fond of alcohol, but I gave her the most genuine smile I could so I didn't seem rude. As the night went on, we talked a lot and had a great dinner. I learned where Amy went to school and how she is now a chiropractor, along with how she and her mom are practically best friends. "Are you not going to drink your wine?" Amy asked. I don't like to drink, but I also don't want to seem rude, or like I am some sort of a recovering alcoholic, so I play dumb and say, "oh my goodness, I totally blanked out and forgot it was here," Amy laughed it off and so did I as I took my first sip of the Merlot. "It's not bad, hey?" she asked. "No, it is excellent!" I responded. We both ended up having a few more glasses of Merlot and decided to order dessert. "So, are you close with your family?" Amy asks. We had been talking about her life the whole night, and I was quite pleased that she had not asked many questions until now. "Um, not so much. It was mainly just my mother and me while I was growing up. "My dad was out of the picture early on, so no, not really." As Amy asked if I am still in touch with my mother, I began to zone out. I focused on her hand. She was twirling her glass which made the wine dance around the bottom of the glass. I felt like I was in a trance when I blurted out, "Merlot was my mother's drink of choice; she would twirl her glass around her fingers when the wine was low just like that." Amy was caught off guard and didn't reply as I remained focused on her glass. Unlike my date, my mother didn't ever do that with her wine when making small talk. She would do that after my father got home. I don't remember much about my dad except a blurry image of him. He had a thick beard that had equal amounts of black and grey hairs in it. I know he liked to get mad though, yelling and throwing things around the kitchen, and I also know if my mom were in his way, she would get thrown around too. I remember her eyes and what fear looked like when he would throw her to the ground onto the cold tile floor. With sadness, she would look over at me, disappointed that she couldn't stop me from seeing what was happening. Once the yelling would stop, and my angry bearded father would disappear, my mom would get up and go into the cabinet for a bottle of wine. It was always a merlot that she would drink after incidents like this. She would pour herself a glass of the dark red wine and fill it nearly to the rim. She would drink, and when it was near empty, she would twirl the glass with her fingers, except it was not a smooth motion like Amy. Her hand would still be shaking, and the cuts on her hand would drip blood that was a much brighter red than what was in her glass. I will never forget how frightened my mother was. What that did to her, and that damn shake in her hand. I looked up at Amy, and her hand was steady. She isn't traumatized; she's not in pain, she is pure and innocent, but maybe I'm not. That was my father that did those horrendous things to the woman he was supposed to love and protect. Is that inside me? Am I capable of doing that to her? "I'm sorry," I uttered to Amy after snapping out of my aimless stare. "For what?" she asked, "I have to go." "You are great and did nothing wrong, and I am sorry for this. I really am." I threw down more than enough cash for the bill and hurried out of the restaurant into the cold, windy night. I feel awful, but here I am, running away from good people. All I know is that my father was a monster, and maybe some of that monster is hiding inside of me, waiting to get out, waiting to cause damage to anything good. But I will not let that happen. If that means avoiding connections with people I want to care about, then so be it. Because my monster will stay buried, I will hammer it down with 6-inch nails and pour concrete over it, whatever it takes. My monster will not see the light of day.
By Corey Vallee5 years ago in Humans
Twenty Five
A light blue sky with cottony clouds arched above a canopy of oak, birch, and maple trees. Small, green buds dotted the branches. Sun beams poked their way through the clouds and illuminated the rocky, mossy forest path. The woman breathed in deeply. A cool, earthy scent filled her nostrils. She was dressed unconventionally for a walk in the forest. She wore no shoes. The moss tickled the bottoms of her tanned, bare feet. She wore a rich plum, velvet off the single shoulder dress that came to her knees. Velvet fabric draped elegantly on her one shoulder. The dress was loosely fitted and ruched across the bodice. She wore simple gold hoops and a gold thread necklace with polished, clear quartz crystal beads. Her black hair was in its tousled and messy state down her back. She walked softly along the path; guided only by intuition.
By Julie Achterman5 years ago in Humans
My Mother's Last Gift
I have always been very close to my Mother. We would meet for lunch or dinner weekly, up until the lockdowns due to the Covid-19 virus. It pained me so much not to be able to see her in person during those months of confinement. One evening at dinner, we were discussing my horrible, boring love life. Being as I was almost 43, she told me that she knew I would meet someone and could not wait to share a glass of her favorite merlot with him someday. She had taken a liking to this specific wine, not only because the woman on the bottle resembled her beloved grandmother, but she really enjoyed the notes of blueberry, leather, tobacco, and chocolate, and how the taste would linger around her mouth after every sip. I laughed at the thought of finding a decent partner, because I had never felt mutual love and it was starting to seem as if I never would. I asked her, “How will I know when I have found true love?”
By Vivian Barahona5 years ago in Humans
The life I lived
Growing up my life was in between good and bad there were days that I had bad days due to bad things happening and then the days where I had good things that happen. As a baby I grew up with a heart condision and was slow with my learning, I grew up not knowing who my father was because my mom kept me from him because others told her things and she believe them. I never had the proper help and was always in the hospital seeing doctors and being tested on I never had a break. People bullied me always made fun of me called me names saying that I don't belong that no likes me,don't get me wrong I had a few friends as a kid that helped me when I was being brought down. I spent most of my time at home in my room reading books, listening to music and singing as I loved singing and reading. In grade three my mom lost my siblings and I, we were put into foster care and that hurt as my brothers were put in a different city then my sister and I but I had my sister with me. While my sister and I were in our foster home we were treated badly it got to the point my sister ran away and we tried to go back to our mom but that never happned and we were brought back to the foster home and were made to sit on the hard floor for hours. It was like that all the time until one day my mom got my younger brother my sister and I back, my older brother had to stay in foster care for bit long. A few years after my mom got us younger kids back when I was 10 years old I was raped by a family friend who was 60, after it happend it took me a long time to get over it, I went to counselling and was having nightmares. When I was in grade four I was picked to go to Alberta for the Tim Hortons camp I was excited as it was a life time oppertunity but then I found out that my grandma was sick in the hospital and was on her death bed which made me not want to go to Alberta any more as I wanted to be with my grandma. I told my mom that and she told me that if I didn't go that my grandma would hunt her so I eneded going because my mom forced me. While I was in Alberta I wasn't having a good time at first but then that changed after the 3rd day, I got to go horse back ridding in the mountins, water rafting, camping in the mountins and other fun activities. The last night being at camp I said my goodbye to all the friends I made while everyone at camp was around the the bonfire. The rest of the summer after I got home from camp went by slow then school started and it was my last year before I went to jounior high but also the year I got in trouble. When I was in grade six I was having a hard time with my school work and the teachers I had never did anything but made fun of me saying I was not smart enough and need to go to a school for thoes that have a learning problem so I was moved to a different school in grade seven. The teachers I had in grade seven had my mom come in and told my mom they were going to move me to grade nine in september as they said I was too smart and that I needed to be with kids my age. From that day on my mom started treating me bad she started making me cook dinner and clean the house while taking care of my younger siblings while she sat around on the computer. There were times my mom would beat me, I would go to school with cuts and bruses which my teachers notice and asked me about them which I would lie just so my mom wouldn't get into trouble. It took me putting up with the abuse until I was 14 years old and my mom held a knife to me and said she would kill me, she did this in front of my sister we were both scared. I took off that night. I went to my teachers's house and told her everything and how I didn't want to go back there but was worried about my siblings and was brough back to my mom's, I stayed up all night that night worried my mom would try to do something while I was a sleep. When I went to school the next day I was having a hard time staying awake in class and one of my teachers were mad at me until the teacher I told everything to told the other what happend, I was given the rest of the day to chatch up on my sleep. After school was done I was called to the office just to find CAS there waiting for me right there I knew they were there to take me to another foster home. As they were took me I asked about my sister and brother, asked where they were the CAS worker told me that they were safe and being brought to their foster home. The foster home I was brought to was a place I knew already as it was where a friend of mine was living so I felt ok being there. That year I was on the computer with my aunt on my mom's side and she and I talked about how she didn't like my mom for what she did to me. Also my aunt one day told me she found my biological dad and gave me his e-mail, I right away started to talk to him for the first time. It didn't take me to get to know my father which made me happy I was even going to move in with him and my half brothers but that was taken from me as that yeaer my father passed away from a heart attack. I felt like everything was falling apart and for days I stayed away from people and cried thinking to myself why bad things always happened to me, why I felt like something was wrong with me. That day forward I started doing bad things getting into trouble to the point I was moved from foster homes to foster homes until they found one I was at for three years . Just after I turned eight-teen the foster mom I had for three years was at my step dad's with all my stuff and told my step dad which is my younger brother's dad that I was his problem now. I was confused and upest and once again thought what did I do for her to not want me or to just turn away from me. I was living with my step dad and younger siblings until I was twenty then I left and was homeless for a month before I went and lived with my boyfriend at that time. I moved to London, Ontario with my boyfriend which made my mom mad and her deciding to treat my boyfriend and his family bad. It got to the point I had to tell my mom that if she didn't stop that she would lose me for good as she was being a bitch yes I called my mom a bitch back then. My mom stopped for a few years but started up agian when she found out I was pregnent with my first child. I was stressed out while I was carrying my child thanks to my mom so I lost it again on my mom this time I told her that she either stops or she will never see her grandchild. As the time came and I was ready for my child to enter the world I had my mom and all of my boyfriend's family at the hospital. Two months after my first born and I were sent home from the hospital my boyfriend and I moved up north with our baby because my boyfriend back then wanted to keep my child and I away from my family but to be with him. Things started going down hill after we moved to a small town called Manitouwadge and I tried leaving with my child so many times but never did because of my boyfriend at the time. Life in Manitouwadge was not go I was never happy and I wanted for my child and I to be happy away from my boyfriend. When my child was four I finually was able to have my mom come visit us as my boyfriend at the time was dealing with him mom being on her death bed due to cancer. While my mom was visitiing she was noticing that my boyfriend back then was treating me and our chld like crap and how he was abusing us. My mom tried to get my child and I out but was not able to. In 2019 I found out that I was pregnet agian and had a hard pregnacy with my secand child no thanks to my boyfriend at the time. Last year my mom and older brother came up for a visit and once again my mom saw that I was the only one doing things around the house while my boyfriend/ father of my two children was no where to be found as he was always out drinking and smoking weed. My mom was angry and told me that she wanted for me and my children to leave, for us to be in a better place and I agreed as I was done with being treated badly and having my child be around my boyfriend their father while he was drunk and doing things to hurt us. While I was packing things for my children and myself inbetween taking care of my children my children's father allowed my oldest child after I said no go with his intoxicated sister to a drug house. I was ready to hurt my boyfriend at that time for putting my child at risk but didn't as I was more worried about taking my children and leaving which I did.
By Katherine Gough5 years ago in Humans
