Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Motivation.
El Camino
“Whatever you do, don’t run!” Every part of my body was frozen with fear as I heeded my father’s warning in the distance behind me. I could feel my blood run cold as the six-hundred-pound black bear, not fifty feet away from me, stood on its hind legs. A deathly silence filled the mountain trail. I could see the hot air escape from the bear's jaws as it let out an angry grunt and huff. “Walk back, slowly,” my father firmly explained, still in the distance.
By Krystal Lapinski 6 years ago in Motivation
The MOLE
"Hello Dear One." I heard a very soft voice. There was no one around. It wasn't Mom or Dad or my siblings. I know their voices. I didn't pay it much mind. As a child, I was on to the next thing. What's a girl to do at the tender age of three? Going through life never forgetting the chills I felt, during such an unforgettable, magical experience. Off to bed I went and I woke up in love. Believing in all the happy ever afters I've heard of. Believing it had to happen for me too. Yes! I fell in love. Unfortunately, in time it became a grand nightmare. It was the worst pain I ever felt. It caused my whole world to melt. "Hello Dear One." Holy smokes! This time the voice was louder. Am I loosing my mind? No! I'm too strong for that! I have been through and experienced too much to go out like that! There has to be more to life than this! I don’t want to experience that ever again! I'm going to stop dreaming and just sleep. Dreams don’t come true! “Hello Dear One.” Oh, no! Not you again! As I dug my finger deep inside my ear trying to erase what I heard. I know what I’m going to do! I’m going to sleep till 2022! Then I will have the power to create whatever I want! Reboot my life and fill it with all of my desires. All brand spanking new! After such BIG energized wishes, I fell asleep. Guess what! I lost the battle. About three o’clock am I was awakened by a soft, yet loud voice. “Hello Dear One.” I was startled and annoyed. I jumped up out of bed. To calm myself down I went to the kitchen to fix a steamy hot chocolate. As I took the first sip, I noticed there was a very bright light shining outside my door. It was beaming through my window. I went to door. I peeped through the peep hole in the door. I didn't see anyone. I peeped out the window. There was a huge black box with a golden ribbon wrapped around it in front of the door. I opened the door. I looked around. I didn't see anyone. I looked around the box to see if there was a note. I leaned over to listen for ticking. Hey... I happens. Yes, there was a note. The note said, “Hello Dear One.” OMG! I felt the same chills I felt when I heard a mysterious voice utter these same three words when I was three. The note said, “Open… There is a special gift inside. Whoopee! For Me? Jumping for joy, I pulled the ribbon and opened the box with haste and excitement. The box was filled with matching gold and black confetti that read on each strip “Just for You.” I clawed like a cat to see what was inside. It was a pile of note books. OMG! They weren’t just any notebooks! They were MOLESKINE® Notebooks, Journals and Planners all different colors. I pulled them out one by one. At the bottom was a little black book that had a note attached that said, “Read Me.” I opened the little black book. Inside the cover said, “Always Believe!” It’s only then, will you receive. The pages are all blank for you to write your own Life Story. The note went on to say, “Now turn to the last page." I turned to the last page. It read…Yes, there is a such thing as a Fairy Tale ending! Turn the page. I turned the page. There was a shiny golden envelope attached inside the back cover. I gasped and opened it slowly. Inside was a check for twenty thousand dollars written out to me! It had another little note attached to the check that said, “Now you don’t have to sleep till 2022 for your dreams to start coming true! You always had the power inside of you. Love, Your Future Self.
By Stephanie Scott6 years ago in Motivation
Windfall
The door chimed as I entered Big Jimmy’s restaurant, the smell of delicious bbq wafting in my nose. I could feel the cool air of the AC soak into my warm skin. It was the beginning of June but the weather had been warmer than usual. I looked towards the bar catching the eye of Sandra, the waitress. I smiled and lifted my hand in a wave, she smiled back and tilted her head toward an empty booth. I took the cue and went to the booth putting my purse on the table before sliding in to sit, the leather was cool on my skin. My leg brushed something as I was getting comfortable, I looked down to discover a black notebook on the seat beside me. Curiously I picked it up, flipping open to the first page and it was titled bucket list with nothing else written. Rolling my eyes, I wondered why so many people wrote these silly bucket lists, no one ever finished them anyways. People would write down every interesting thing they could ever imagine and then complete a couple things, leaving unfulfilled dreams stuffed on a shelf never to be thought of again.
By Kirsten Schoep6 years ago in Motivation
My Little Black Book
It was a gift from my mother on my 11th birthday. She had watched me scribble music lyrics and poetry into worn out notepads for years. I couldn't play an instrument, but I'd hum what I thought the song should sound like while words flowed out through my pencil and onto whatever paper was near. She must have been tired of picking up post-its and bringing them to me. I'm sure that's why she thought to give a young girl this gift.
By Shea Montiel6 years ago in Motivation
The Magical Old Man
“Sheesh, so much for a day off,” I whispered under my breath. It was a Sunday afternoon, a perfect California day of 72 degrees outside, and I was glued to my laptop - scurrying to draft up some last-minute emails my boss had requested I write before the start of the week. At the sound of my voice, Teddy, my 2-year-old Labrador retriever, perked up his ears with hope. “Alright, alright,” I said aloud, “I guess I can take a little break,” and before the words could even fully leave my mouth, Teddy had cheerfully bolted to the door.
By Chelsea Langone6 years ago in Motivation
The Book Of Me
The Book of Me Another scroll through the KeepInTouch app to see what everyone is up to. All people that, admittedly, I no longer talk to. Tristan Cook must be inspired by his name, as he mostly posts his food. Claire Morgan is on selfie number 3 for the day, and I do not believe she is quite finished yet. She pretends to be annoyed with the flirty comments on the pictures, but she keeps sharing more. Joyce Hadland, employed by the restaurant that I was sitting at, has shared her fundraiser for her brother Greg once more. I wish no ill will on anyone, but I was never a big fan of Greg. Still, his condition sounds quite serious nowadays. James Neary sent me a friend request, but I thought we were already friends on here. I do not think I will be accepting that.
By Nick Danz 6 years ago in Motivation
Three Tips for Being Successful
I’ve been thinking a lot about success lately. By most people’s definition, I would be considered a failure. I didn’t finish college, I’m not working a traditional 9-5, I’ve never run a business that actually made any money, I’m not a part of any thriving friend groups (or friend groups at all for that matter.) I have a bad haircut, am out of shape, and am exhausted most of the time. I don’t consider myself a failure, though. I consider myself very successful. My thought process on success has drastically changed over the past year. How could it not?
By Sara Sublette6 years ago in Motivation
Throwing Stars by Joshua Aikens
hrowing As I layed there on the beach listening to the sounds of waves roll onto the sand, I stared up into the bright blue sky. I could feel the heat of the sun warm my body. The sound of a gull coming closer from distance, kind of scared me.
By Joshua Aikens6 years ago in Motivation
Almost A Spy
"What am I getting myself into here?", I think as I sit waiting for my flight. I'm headed to the East coast, specifically Baltimore. There I'll be undergoing a job interview. Normally I'm not nervous about job interviews. I've certainly had plenty, with my work history. I've done everything from being a bag boy in a grocery store, my first ever job, to working for a family friend as a travel agent planning road-trips in the days before everyone had GPS at their fingertips, to spraying ant and wasp nests as a pest control guy that one summer I wanted to live by the beach in San Diego. Yes, job interviews are a cakewalk at this point, but I have a hunch this one may be a little different. You see, I'm going to an interview to become a spy.
By Gary Bunker6 years ago in Motivation
Legacy of Centuries
The icicles, elegant and glistening, cast prisms around the neighbor’s windows on that cold midwestern morning. Barbara Hartley stood at the kitchen sink, holding a steaming teacupful of black gourmet coffee, which she carefully budgeted to last through the dreary Wisconsin winter. The coffee was a Christmas gift from her daughter and husband and Barbara savored the rich, earthy drink as one would any sacred indulgence. Barbara stared out the window at the frozen stalactites, slowly dripping in the morning sun. She smiled, thinking of her daughter, Stacy, and her husband Todd, living in Chicago. Barbara felt relief that her daughter got out of this small town, and moved where life is vibrant, happy, and exciting.
By Julianna Leber Wilmoth6 years ago in Motivation
The Million Dollar Book
I have a little book. It is black. And it is called ‘The Million Dollar Book!’ This book is a compilation of all of my wildest dreams and desires. I bet you are familiar with the idea of writing down your bucket list?! 100 things you would love to do before you die! I wrote mine for the first time after seeing the movie ‘The Bucket List’ starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.
By Lucie Arkel Sramkova6 years ago in Motivation
The Price to Pay
It all started with a little black notebook. Covered with a leather exterior that resembled the smell of a brand new car. Laying on the store shelves waiting to be bought by a journalist or maybe a poet that has been searching for their new muse. Any person who was to grab that little black notebook had no idea what was to be of their old life after purchasing it. So as the notebook sat there on the shelf, collecting dust and getting dodged by every other customer coming through the story, there stood Emily. Emily was an employee at the bookstore, only working part-time as she aspires to be an author some day. She only took this job so she could gather enough money to find a publisher to publish her very own book she had been working on for years. Though she had hit a roadblock in her writing and could not find an ending to her novel, writer's block they call it. Emily knew she had to do something about her writer's block but had no solution or hope. One day after the book store closed, Emily stayed back to empty the shelves to make room for new inventory. As she was clearing the journal/notebook section, the whole store started shaking, books were falling off the shelves and the alarms were set off. It was an earthquake, they are actually pretty common in the state of California but normally you barely feel them. This earthquake however, was only an M4 so it did not cause too much damage to the state. Though it did fright Emily and her fellow co-workers, and it made the inventory process twice as long. As Emily was picking up the fallen notebooks, she noticed a black leather notebook laying open with the number $20, 000 written across the pages in bold font. Confused, Emily attempted to cautiously pick up the notebook only to pass right through the book like it was thin air. Instead, she came out holding a wad of cash that counted $20, 000. "This can't be real", Emily whispered to herself. She had no idea how this was even possible, she didn't know what to do. "I need to turn this in", she thought, "but if I do they'll ask me where I got it and then I'll be brought in to questioning, and I can't do that!", she debated. Puzzled, Emily decided to put the cash in her book bag, along with the notebook. She hurried home and in hopes to find some answers to this out of the world mystery. Emily dumped the money onto her kitchen table and found that it had doubled the amount since leaving the bookstore. She now had $20, 000, Emily felt bad, she felt as though she had stolen this money from someone she doesn't even know. The guilt was swallowing her as she contemplated what to do with the cash she has come into contact with. She spent all night searching for any clue to where this money could have come from but couldn't find anything even closely relating to her situation. As she was doing so from her living room sofa, she saw a glowing light coming from the kitchen. "Oh great, what is it now?!", exhausted, Emily hesitantly made her way into the kitchen to see the notebook wide open with it's pages flipping back and forth while shining this bright beam of light from the pages. She went to go close it only to see a faint memory of herself in the last previous months. "I'm sorry but we aren't able to help you." a secretary of a publishing office spoke to Emily. "But you don't understand, I've worked so hard on this, you, you can't just turn me away!" Emily cried, "I'm sorry but we aren't able to publish an author that doesn't have an agent to represent them.", said the secretary. "I have never even heard of that ridiculous rule!", Emily cried but fading away. Back to reality, Emily slammed the little black notebook shut in disbelief. "It...it...it can't be...a...a...a notebook giving me the chance to finally get what I want!", screamed Emily. She immediately started writing her last chapter, "Finally," she thought, "finally I have the material to finish my novel!". Emily spent sleepless nights working on finding the perfect words to go into her final chapter. Hours turned into days turned into weeks, she didn't stop working until it was done, "Perfect!!", she yelled in relief. Emily finally finished her novel, though what she did not know was that the $20, 000 that came from the little black notebook was not simply just given to her. What Emily did not know was that she would have to give up her recognition of being the author of what would be soon the #1 selling book in America. To be continued…
By Kayla Froese6 years ago in Motivation
