family
The Package
I found the package covered in a fine layer of fresh snow. I reached down to the first step to retrieve it, juggling my purse and tote bags. My name was scrawled in thick black letters, across the front of the anonymous brown packaging. Just my name. No label, no address, no return address. I carried everything into the house, dropping my bags on the counter. The box, which wasn’t very large, was on the heavy side. The paper was tied in a crude bow with thick twine. I put it on the small kitchen table and forgot about it while I fed the dogs and put away groceries. There wasn’t a lot to do, I was shopping for one these days. I had outlived everyone I had ever loved, an adult orphan. Most days were tolerable, some days I felt a painful yearning for days long gone. My dogs kept me company, and at my age, I felt like that would just have to do.
By S. Hileman Iannazzo4 years ago in Fiction
Christmas Package
There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked cookies mixing with the scent of the Christmas tree, so it is no surprise that one could get lost in their world while surrounded by the two smells. It is even easier to get lost in one's world when the house is genuinely peaceful with no loud kids or other halves.
By Elizabeth Townsend4 years ago in Fiction
When the Thief Comes
It was the incessant whir in front of the house that woke me from my stupor & caused me to set the empty cup of coffee I did not remember drinking down on the table. One of the neighbor’s kids had been raking leaves in our yard, but there was no reason he or she (I was never quite sure anymore) would be using a weed whip. I slid my chair back, slowly got up & went to the door to investigate.
By Randy Wayne Jellison-Knock4 years ago in Fiction
The Drone that Saved Christmas
A drone anonymously delivers a mysterious package to your doorstep..... I mean, what would you do? Would you immediately assume the worst? Or assume the best? Because honestly who deliver such a package to the home? I thought over all of the scenarios while the package was inside my home. It’s sad in my doorway for over two weeks, due to me, not knowing where it originated from. I was unaware who sent it, why, also if it was even legal to open the contents. Was it a dangerous package also ? The package did state my name on it though.
By Avril Doucette4 years ago in Fiction
Memory Delivery
Rick Phillimore looked at the little dwarfs standing before his mirror. He swiped the pills in front of Sneeze and washed them down from the glass on his night stand. It was Sneeze Day according to the calendar that hung on his wall. When did he get a Snow White calendar? He put a big X on the day and moved to his stairs.
By Casey Abbott4 years ago in Fiction
From Beyond The Grave
PASSING AWAY PARTY ‘I am running late. 10:30 to London Paddington is delayed due to the protests on fake jewels. You should be….’ Anjali heard the monotonous announcement on the train right before the conversation with her grandma ended abruptly. Her face was glistening with sweat, and her long black hair came out of her unruly braid. Her brown eyes shone with joy, and her dimples stood out as she could not stop smiling. She had been running around the house in frenzied excitement the entire morning, trying to get it ready for her grandpa’s passing away party. A fancy name for his first death anniversary. Today was exactly a year since Mr Moorthy’s passing away at the ripe age of 98. And he had requested that they have a party with games and all. She was looking forward to celebrating him with dozen of his close friends.
By Anu Sundaram4 years ago in Fiction
Songs from My Father
Songs from My Father By C. Jyl Parker Sharla had gotten used to the stream of condolence letters and flower deliveries, but the high-pitched whir of a drone delivery was something new. She was just heading into her house after checking her mailbox, and the noise made her turn. Such a big package from only a medium sized drone. The box was oblong, and the return address label was smeared. Sharla took it inside and placed it on the kitchen table. She cut open the tape with a paring knife and found an old guitar, exactly like the one her father had given to her when she was a teenager. It even had the same style embroidered strap on it with silver trim, and the strings were four nylon and two steel. Everything about it told her it was the same guitar.
By C Jyl Parker4 years ago in Fiction
At A Time. Top Story - January 2023.
It's been a long time since I've seen a Christmas tree in my living room. Small, with plastic firs poking at odd ends, my thrift-store Christmas tree glows with pride in the centre of my one-bedroom apartment. Small lights twinkle from its base to its top, and every second-hand ornament smiles with untold stories.
By sleepy drafts4 years ago in Fiction
Secret Treasures
Cedar grew up in a large family, with three brothers and two sisters. Their lives were vibrant and chaotic, between all of the extracurricular hobbies and community events. Cedar participated in several volunteer projects, and played the piano and the cello, but they were always more independent than their siblings. They were the oldest, and with fewer obligations than their younger siblings, they spent a lot of time at their grandmother’s house, helping her now that her husband had passed.
By Tristin Roholt4 years ago in Fiction
