Tag: family

Linnea sat quietly sobbing in her tiny studio apartment as she read over all the details on her baby boy’s birth certificate. It was all she had left to remember him by and she had not so much as looked at the document in the last twenty-some-odd years. 

In fact, the creases were tucked so tightly together for so long, the paper would fold on its own if she didn’t hold it with both hands – one at the top and one on the bottom. But, this was a nearly impossible task, given the tears rolling down her face required … Continue reading...

A troubled, deeply unfulfilled yet very successful middle-aged corporate executive, who was brought up in a wealthy but highly dysfunctional household, is given a remarkable chance to change his life; and after accepting the exceptionally rare offer, experiences an outcome that is utterly unimaginable…

Theodore begrudgingly woke to an intense ray of sunlight, piercing through a slim gap in the otherwise tightly closed window blinds of his corner office suite. Weirdly contorted on a couch meant for clients, vendors, and visitors, he could barely draw focus on the coffee table – littered with empty liquor bottles – merely an arm’s … Continue reading...

It was a bright, sunny afternoon, with a few happy, puffy clouds dotting the sky. When the dismissal bell rang, Melony eagerly awaited her 8-year-old Billy, who just finished his first week of 3rd grade.

He playfully skipped out of the school, and onto the playground, the teacher following behind her class. After checking her boy out with the teacher, Melony let him play for a half hour before getting him in the car.

“So, how was school today?”

“Pretty good.”

“What did you learn?”

“Oh, a little math and some other stuff.”

“Hmmm…what other stuff, Billy?”

“Well, we have … Continue reading...

Abandoned by his mother only a few months after his birth, Taft had to rely solely on his dysfunctional dad. A man who always kept his word but could be very cruel at times. By the age of fourteen, the teenage boy knew what he wanted to do in life. So, he carefully laid out a plan: graduate at the top of his class, earn a degree in finance, and join a prestigious firm. But, one obstacle would be extremely difficult to overcome – the continued presence of his ne’er-do-well, alcoholic father. Thankfully, his dad’s many years of harvesting in … Continue reading...

Under sunny blue skies with a pleasant breeze sweeping across the little league field, Ryan and Sienna shared a mutual excitement – it was his first year as a coach and her’s as a team mom. Their ten-year-old, Tyler, rushed into the dugout, hastily throwing his equipment bag onto the bench before running onto the diamond and taking the pitcher’s mound, winding up, miming a knuckleball delivery, then a fastball.

“Hey Tyler, that’s some great form, there, buddy! Now, come back over here and help Mom carry the snacks.”

“All right, Dad!”

It was a half hour before the team’s … Continue reading...

Laura looked over at the smart display on the end table next to her husband. It was noticeably, undoubtedly late for a school night – about an hour past their tween boy’s usual bedtime. But, she and her husband had already given their word – a new time for Patrick to tuck in. After all, he wasn’t a baby or a toddler anymore. He wasn’t even in elementary school any longer. A precocious seventh grader with an excellent academic record and a very specific plan for his future adult profession, he successfully negotiated a new time for lights out on … Continue reading...

2:17 am. Still, silent, unsettling, and four long, anxious hours until the morning alarm chimed. Leanna had grown so tired of tossing and turning she defiantly laid motionless on her back staring up into the discomforting darkness that offered absolutely no consolation.

By quarter after three, she had only slept an hour, and morning wouldn’t come for another three. Now, it had been five agonizing hours since her parents took her phone away. Over three hundred minutes, more than ample time for the worst to happen. She knew full well the consequences of breaking the rules but didn’t have much … Continue reading...

Twenty-seven – that was all. After numerous deployments and two enlistments, Dakota’s body trauma finally overcame his ability and will to live at just twenty-seven years old.

The victim of a massive myocardial infarction, brought on by his lingering wounds, his body now lay lifeless in an old VA building, surrounded by total and complete strangers.

It was the inevitable end to a hard-fought battle the young man had no real hope of winning. The injuries he suffered during his last military operation were simply too great. So egregious, his doctors were stunned he survived at all. The physicians’ agreed … Continue reading...

A young boy experiences his very first deep-sea fishing adventure with his father on their brand-new center console boat. But his giddy excitement turns to sheer panic when dangerous elements intrude on their lively, memory-making excursion…

Laddie could barely sleep that night. His mind was full of visions of the open ocean under a bright sunny sky. He could hear his parents talking softly in the next room and just knew that they were discussing tomorrow’s schedule. A game plan he knew very well by now. It would be the first day he put all of his preparation into practice. … Continue reading...

After a man rescues a frail lone mountain lion cub, he and his family nurse it back to health, and while raising the cougar, experience many exciting and dangerous adventures over the years…

Derry found the tiny, starving cub when it was only one, maybe two months old, along a precarious hiking trail, not often traveled. Its fur noticeably patchy, as if it had been attacked by a larger, more aggressive predator at least once. The little cougar’s ribs were clearly visible and it panted heavily, laboriously, trying to catch its breath while visibly craving water. It cried out for … Continue reading...

A year after introducing its parcel service in 1913, the US Post Office struggled to define what could and could not be sent, as people tested the boundaries by mailing coffins, construction bricks, puppies, freshly-laid eggs, snakes and other reptiles, small farm animals, and even their own children, from one location to another…

Abigail watched with curious excitement as her mother carefully packed all of her clothes into a little suitcase, topping it off with her favorite doll, sweet Annabelle, before closing and latching the bag shut.

“I’m so excited to go stay with Grandpa for a little while, but … Continue reading...

A pre-teen boy experiences many uneasy and awkward moments as new feelings for a special girl begin to arise, but they’re at odds with his embarrassing predisposition to avoid revealing his secret…

Four hours and a useless wristband. That’s all Conor had. Along with a bit of cash saved up from the weekly commissions his parents paid him for doing household chores, he still had just four short hours and a stupid wristband. It was all he could fit into his schedule. This regardless of how quickly new feelings grew deep inside. Conor hid the change from everyone he didn’t … Continue reading...

A grandfather recounts his freshman high school debate club experience that pitted him against the smartest girl in the class. He tells his granddaughter about the face-off and how it changed his entire life. She learns a valuable lesson, which neatly applies to a set of circumstances she’s currently going through, and resolves a very pressing personal issue…

Zoe knocked on her grandfather’s front door before unlocking it herself. Swinging the entry open, she carefully returned the key to its hiding place and walked into the living room, calling out, “Grandpa!” Then, stopped to listen for an answer but no … Continue reading...

An elementary school boy learns a valuable lesson about the difference between asking for something he wants and getting what he needs…

Danny sat down at the kitchen table to eat his breakfast before scampering off to school. Mom, humming happily, hung a new calendar on the pantry door.

“1954 is going to be a great year!” She exclaimed as she did every year before, jubilantly drawing a big “X” through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the first three days of that year their family just enjoyed over the weekend.

It was over the very same weekend Danny came across the … Continue reading...

Sarah is the single mother of Tiernan, a very rambunctious teenage boy. Tiernan is exceptionally smart, funny, and caring — but also, inexplicably socially awkward. Though very close through his formative years, their strong mother and son bond is tested when he dates his first serious girlfriend and experiences one of life’s greatest difficulties – heartbreak…

Three-hundred seventeen dollars. Money never felt so worthless in Sarah’s hands. It was enough to pay the month’s electric bill and almost a full semester of school lunches for Tiernan, her only child, and high school senior. In fact, it was more cash than … Continue reading...