family

Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.

Good Grief and the Treasure Under the Coconut Tree
All that’s left of him is here on this old blue boat. I’m reminded by the sight of it, how he could care for people and things, but also how he could run away from life on occasion. I guess that’s how he ended up here in Belize City, thousands of miles away from a family that loved him. The paint is chipped and faded, but the functional qualities of the boat remain intact. It has the same stoic utility my grandfather possessed in droves and I imagine him beckoning Melissa and I aboard. He is gone now and this old blue boat is what remains.
By john rehill5 years ago in Humans
Drip, Drop
The sound of the leaky faucet woke Walter up at 5:45 am again. “God damnit.” Walter slowly sat up, feeling all the aches and pains in his back as he did. He wiped his mouth with the blue checkered handkerchief his wife had given him on his 62nd birthday.
By Ashley Andersen5 years ago in Humans
A Scratch Can't Hurt
It was a still, dark and fog filled morning when Matthew 'Matty' Hawkins arrived on the new job site at his usual six am. His crew, the men he had been working with for the last ten years (first as a fellow chippie and laborer and for the last seven as their foreman), had started to arrive shortly after Matty, grumbling and discouraged by the unpleasant start to the day. Libbie Kelly, owner of Flipping Majestic Constructions had handpicked this team when she started the business ten years ago. The majority of the crew - Libbie included - had all been apprentices at the same time. Now almost twenty-five years later, they were the best crew Matty had ever worked with.
By Laurel Horsley5 years ago in Humans
PaPa's Black Book
""Congratulations! Miss Moorehouse , you are now the proud owner of this well restored 1948 Ford Super Deluxe V8 Station wagon."
By Amanda Saunders5 years ago in Humans
Every Trick in The Book
Kayla and Nicole’s troubles began to build after the loss of their parents. Years of hardship began to take its toll. It was a normal day for the sisters, or so it seemed but little did they know, their lives were about to change.
By Isabelle Loobie5 years ago in Humans
In Kinsley's Honor
FAITH, FAITH ALEXANDER, Stay with me is all I could hear as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I could feel myself drifting. She's losing too much blood.
By Erica Cryer5 years ago in Humans
The Loa
Desirae was born and raised in a small town in Louisiana just west of New Orleans called Bayou Gauche. Now this town isn't known for anything in particular, in fact, most people don't even know it exists at all. Like most of the community, Desirae spent all of her free time fishing. There were lots of great places to fish in Bayou Gauche, it was mostly water after all, but Desirae's favorite place was beneath a weeping willow by the oil well where her grandma Soria taught her to fish. It was in this spot that when Desirae was nine years old, she spotted a Loa swimming beneath the water. It was a catfish as big as Desirae herself, with flowing whiskers that reached past its tail fin. It swam to the surface of the water, shimmering gold in the sunlight for a few seconds before disappearing again into the dark depths. Grandma Soria explained to Desirae that a Loa is a spirit that oversees human interaction with the natural world and that praying to these Loas brings fortune and good health. Ever since that day, Desirae would beg her grandma to take her to that same willow so she could cast her line into the murky water in the hopes of finding fortune. She would pray for shiny gems, gold coins, and sweet candy, and even after two years of no luck, Desirae was determined to catch the Loa. She would run to her grandma's house every day after school, and the two of them would fish by the willow until the sun went down.
By Elias Evans5 years ago in Humans
We're Golden
Another day at home in my pajamas. Ah, the quarantine life. It definitely could be worse. To be a college student now is arguably a pandemic best-case scenario.
By Alecia Dirks5 years ago in Humans
The Secret Between Us
Every person held onto the words the pastor spoke. Everyone except for her. She’s heard it all once before, a long time ago. Instead, she listened as the rain pattered on the umbrellas, keeping her eyes on the dark oak coffin.
By Aliseea P. Cromer5 years ago in Humans
The Daughter's Farm
The 6-acre farm with charming rustic farmhouse, spacious outbuilding, working well and lush vineyard gave Jeannie a stomach ache. It should have made her happy, excited and full of hope. But it only made her sick. What on earth was she thinking? To move 300 miles away from everything and everyone she knew for what turned out to be a ramshackle farmhouse, one decrepit outbuilding, a dried up well, and one measly diseased grapevine. To be fair, she shouldn’t have been surprised. It had once belonged to a famous actress who, in her golden years, had become a mad recluse and had retired to what had probably once been a quaint farmette. But now, the house and building huddled close together to create a barren courtyard and beyond the property, aged trees and patches of overgrown vegetation gave the property a forlorn and abandoned feel.
By JC Wms5 years ago in Humans
The darkness deepens
The interment was a simple affair. Far less lavish than the funeral itself. Only Jane and her sister were present. How ironic this all seemed, especially given recent times.
By Judy Knight5 years ago in Humans
Mirrors to Windows
The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. – Sydney J. Harris Those words are so powerful, they sum up everything it meant to me to become a teacher. My favourite teacher during my schooldays taught Economics and was my sixth-form head of year. He had a devilish sense of humour and as much as he taught us about “the dismal science”, he taught us that a teacher can be fun without losing the respect of his pupils. That was the type of teacher I aspired to be.
By Jen M5 years ago in Humans