humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Different Yet the Same
Sara drove up to the mailboxes and stopped. At 26, she was always busy between work and fun. She quickly jumped out of her white Jeep and opened her box. She grabbed the pile of letters and put them in the passenger seat. She made the quick drive back to her house and parked on the corner, the same as always. Picking up the letters she shuffled through them, coupons for pizza, an excellently disguised offer to renew her car’s extended warranty, voter registration reminder, and the letter from mom. She stared at the letter from mom, she already knew what it was. She turned it over and opened it carefully making sure not to rip the smiley face sticker mom always put on letters. Yes, it seemed corny and at the same time, that’s what made mom special. Opening the letter she read “Dear Sara, I hope you loved the smiley face, I knew you would! I know it’s going to be hard but it's a job that has to be done and you’re the perfect person. Your grandmother’s house is a nice drive from your house. It will give you plenty of time to think about her and she’ll be so appreciative. We all wish she could be here but life has plans of its own. She wired the $20,000.00 to your account so please check to see that it’s there and let me know. The house key is included here, it’s for the front door. Please do a good job, I know you will. You’ll find everything you need inside the house. When you finish, send the key back. The money is yours to keep, she insisted. Keep me posted! Lots of love and hugs, Mom”. Not many things slowed Sara down, but the thought of this did. Grandma’s house needed to be organized and “put on hold” whatever that meant. Not exactly Sara’s strongest area, and she knew it. Speaking out loud to herself she sighed, " Life sure does have a way of handing out challenges to the least likely to get them right, no instructions included, of course”. Staring at the smiley face on mom’s letter she had to smile. “I’ll give it my best, no promises on the results”. Grandma knew that Sara was challenged in the organizing area so why she chose her is a mystery. Some questions seem to never get answers. At least the three-hour drive would be nice, Sara loved the trees in that part of the state.
By Elida Deluna6 years ago in Families
The Inheritance
The Inheritance by Rob Rhoades Madison woke up that morning and proceeded to start her day like every other day. She got up, started the coffee, got dressed, made breakfast, and then would sit and watch the news while eating her breakfast. She was unemployed currently due to Covid-19 and its impact on the economy. She had checked for jobs, but there were none to be had or at least ones she would consider. The highlight of her day was waiting for the postal worker to drop off her mail. She had been expecting her much needed unemployment check, which had yet to arrive. Today's mail brought something unexpected. There was a large brown envelope. She could not recall ever receiving an envelope like that unless it was from the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes promising you could be a winner.
By Rob Rhoades6 years ago in Families
Stolen Moments
I’ll never forget the moment I heard the news… the vivid technicolor tone of the bright blue outdoor sky faded and the clear edges of life became hazy and subdued. And those normally sweet sounds, the audible evidence of life being lived, seemed somehow twisted and distorted before disappearing into the fading background. My chest suddenly heavy and hollow; my breath inhaling waves of sadness and sorrow, my heart fracturing with the deepest agony of feeling utterly and completely alone.
By Sara West-Gibbs6 years ago in Families
Little Black Book
My legs were sticking to the patchy leather seats of our rusty, beat up Buick. We must have picked the hottest day of the year to move everything we owned across the country. My mom and dad split up, I was moving far away from my hometown, and everything I knew in my nine years was changing. Mom kept saying how wonderful our new life would be. I was not so sure.
By Emily Feldner6 years ago in Families
The Book of Good Magic
Caddie had been dreaming again. It had been a long time, since she was a child, since her nightmares had been this bad. Well, they weren’t nightmares, exactly, but they weren’t good dreams either. Nothing much happened in them, but they left her feeling unsettled, wary, like something in her brain had disconnected. When she was younger she would dream about witches, old wrinkled faces peering at her from beneath their dark hoods in the forest outside of her bedroom window. She would sit up, her pajamas clinging to the cold sweat beading on her skin, and look, trembling, out the window over her bed and into the darkness of the trees.
By Taylor Wilson6 years ago in Families
Questioning Everything
Once more, I undid the clasp around my late father’s little black Moleskine notebook, just as I had watched him do a thousand times while he was still alive. It was a little while now since he had passed after an arduous battle with cancer. The funeral was over and done. The vegetable trays and sandwich platters had stopped arriving. The random hodgepodge of visitors spanning decades of relationships had ceased. Now, it was just me and the mission I had taken on. I was determined to track down the mystery person that had left a most valuable package on my doorstep in the days following my father’s death.
By Brandon Pierce6 years ago in Families
What Little Girls ARE Made Of
Grade 2 I hop down from the bottom step of the school bus, and as it disappears over the knoll I start skipping along the dirt road home, my footfalls crunching the dry Autumn leaves that skitter along the ground. Fluffy, my grey short-haired cat greets me at the edge of the crushed-limestone driveway and chatters to me as we walk side-by-side along the flagstone walk and up the stairs. My mother beams at me from the open doorway, takes my blue vinyl lunch pail and gives me a hug.
By Tracey Gonneau6 years ago in Families
Changing Lanes
You know those distinct words that someone said to you, that stick in your memories forever? Maybe you structured your life around these words. Maybe they were the words that haunted you, when you made a mistake. My words came from my mom. My mom used to always tell me, “what goes around, comes around.”
By Jessica Tillman6 years ago in Families
Grandpa Charlee
"It's dusty in here," said Nera coughing and waving her hand in front of her face. We were in my late grandpa's house, which was left for me in Wisconsin, not far from Lake Geneva. My wife, Nera and I were clearing his old things out to get ready to move in.
By Anne Favors6 years ago in Families
The Bus To Delphi
Everyone sat by themselves in their bus seats because there were so few kids on the bus. The Delphi program was a new program and that meant the whole school bus was just for us. The sun streamed through the windows as we headed back to school. I sat by the window letting the sun toast me because it felt good, I never liked being cold. It was special in a way I didn’t understand. I just knew that one day my fifth grade teacher told me that I qualified to be a part of the Delphi program and would get on the bus every Wednesday afternoon and go to another school. There were two other kids in my class whom I recognized, and one or two in the other fifth and sixth grade classes that I never met, but I knew who we were. We were the smart kids. The word “exceptional” was used among the teachers when they thought I wasn’t listening. The other two kids in my class were Katie and John, their names were always next to mine. Everyone in the class had a little laminated kite with your name on it, and it floated on a picture of a hill and sky. With every score your kite went higher and higher. Katie, John and I were the three highest scorers every week so our kites were already touching the clouds. The rest of the class was still down in the grass. We had just taken the test for greatest common factors for the number six.
By Chau M Pham6 years ago in Families
