Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Book of Inspiration
Everything was dead around me. The tree branches loomed in the sky, bare, like skeleton fingers stretching out searching for something to grab hold of. My boots crunched in the snow as I climbed the ancient steps up the hill where my ancestors were buried. I had never met them, but their final resting place, a family plot dating back to the 1800’s, always seemed to bring me peace. I would come here when I was younger to get away from the world, but this place no longer held that same appeal. Now, this place where I once drew solace served as a bitter reminder of how cruel the world could be.
Cari ScalisePublished 3 years ago in FamiliesThe Gift From Beyond
My uncle Bentley was a kind and gentle man. Bentley Buxton, apparently my grandfather loved expensive cars. I remember my uncle as a quiet and contented man the few times he came to visit when I was younger. My mother often said that when she was young, he would sit with her and patiently listen to her problems after she had a difficult day and he always made her feel better just for the listening. They had not seen each other in quite some time so when we got news of his death it was an understandable shock. He didn’t have any family of his own and he left everything to my mom. Today was the day that we were to go to his house to organize it’s final sale and go through his things so that mom could keep what she wanted and arrange for the rest of it to be either sold or given away. She asked me to come along to lend a hand and more than likely some emotional support as I am sure she knew it was going to be difficult for her. He was her only sibling and now it was just her. Her parents long gone now, she was what some might consider an orphan. I could tell that this was weighing heavily on her. So we each packed a bag and jumped in the car and started on the three-day journey to the other side of the country where my uncle had lived.
Peter WrightPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesIf you're watching this, I'm not dead
After his shift at the office, Greg Greaves went to his favorite Chinese restaurant on West 38th Street. Thank God, it’s Friday, he thought to himself as he exits the train station. Greg is usually average. He’s lived in the same run-down studio apartment since he graduated from college, although he could afford something nicer. He worked the same job for the past eight years, trying to climb up the corporate ladder. Greg didn’t allocate time for anything other than work, not even a relationship. He wasn’t homely or anything but dating didn’t fit into his mundane schedule. Under his daily suit and tie, he had a robust build, and an olive complexion to match his black wavy hair. A few of the women he worked with have even made jokes about leaving their husbands for him.
Azarra LucasPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesHelping Out
I was worried about dad. He worked so hard, he was never happy or had time to play any more. He was asleep on the couch - he passed out as soon as he got home, just after I woke up. I don’t know why he had to work so late. He said he helped people by giving them money when they needed it, but at school I heard him tell my teacher he worked in waste disposal. All the other garbage men I saw worked early in the morning, whereas dad always seemed to be out all night.
To My Querida, or Querido
“Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” i. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
The Stars Will Be There Tomorrow
Living his tenth year since birth, a boy sturdy enough to carry all of his ancestors’ honor and surrounded by his sleeping siblings stares at the stars from the gaps in the roof. They take him away from the truth of it all. They give him the hope that he will change everything for his family. Everything is in those stars.
Lynda Hernandez MedellinPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesUnknown Caller
The plane was circling above the airport and the pilot was assuring us that we would be landing within minutes. His reassurances were not making me feel any better, but he sounded in control. “We have been cleared to approach, our landing is imminent.” I grabbed my purse that I had placed in the seat beside me and found my cell phone. I wanted to be ready when we landed to verify my rental car so that I wouldn’t have to wait in line.
Priscilla WelbournPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesLeaving Lego, Loss, and Ligature Points
The internal surface area of my home is an active minefield. Camouflaged, a stealth dagger caught me forgetting slippers in my hurry to feed Benji. I stifle a howl, managing not to curse, but I can’t be the only parent who’s let a “shit” or a “dammit” slip out after stepping on yet another Lego piece.
The Dani WriterPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesThe Stories We Told
My Grandmother died in a kindergarten classroom. She would visit once a month to read her latest stories to the children, before they would be published for the world. She would call them her focus group. If too many children became fussy, she knew the story wasn’t ready. She had begun this practise when I had first attended the school and kept at it long after my graduation. Despite her books adorning the classrooms and bedrooms of children around the world, she always preferred to have them read aloud. She thought it made them come alive.
Crooked Dances
In the quiet of morning’s light, I am convulsed by dissonance, jarring and sudden as a swift-knocking jackhammer into concrete, wrapped in cold wind.
Samuel WilsonPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesSecret to life
Turning off the lights to the barn after that evenings chores, Bella was exhausted but satisfied in tonight’s training progress. This new colt had come in 30 days ago with a whole year off of riding and she finally felt like she had consistency with his behavior. He was settling in, making friends and learning to trust her.
Alli HartwigPublished 3 years ago in FamiliesThere You Are
I always thought I would be the first to die. I hadn’t planned the way exactly, but it was expected. I was definitely the most reckless out of all of my sisters.
Chelsea LegerPublished 3 years ago in Families