Stories tagged “mother”
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Good Moods are Nice
My mother was in a good mood when she got home. She came up to check on me right when she got home. She told me about this guy she just met and how she had a date tonight so she wouldn’t be home until late. Then she asked if I was okay enough to ...
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Mother-Daughter Time
Marisa had never really liked the cat, even though her daughter, Kara, had adored it. So many times, she had wanted to strangle the little beast because it had puked in her shoes, or foregone the litter box for her duvet, or any number of other offense...
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Survivor's Guilt
Anna closed her eyes and again imagined her step father standing above her 24 years ago, thin lips and thinner hair, asking her about her day. Anna’s 1868th day on earth had been unremarkable to that point, and might have remained so had her moth...
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Disease
So let me just say that the woman on the couch with her tongue down my dad’s throat was nothing like my mother. She had straggely oily blonde hair and a muffin top from trying to squeeze herself into what looked to be clothes from American Eagle ...
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Water, Water, Everywhere
The sky was overcast, the clouds impossibly darkening the sky. Even the rain looked black. The little girl tugged on her mother’s coat sleeve. “I’m thirsty,” she whined. “I know you’re thirsty,” the mother said...
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The Truth Of Love
“Can you truly say we will be still together in ten years?” “No.” “Then you have your answer why we can not be together.” So there I was sitting in the park with a bottle of wine, and a red rose. Wondering where I wo...
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Todd: The Genius
Looking up from his microscope every minute or so to jot a note on the yellow pad, Fred worked with intense focus. His lab coat had some grunge stains on it from outside. He’d dropped his keys and, as chaos dictates, they found a way to land under hi...
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Memories
Dharma yelped as her skin was pulled fiercely by Seneca’s strong hand. She glared at Seneca, hurt, and backed away. Soon she was lost in the crowd, but Seneca caught a last glimpse of her- talking to Glom. Seneca’s feet pounded into action, hurling...
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Stockholm Syndrome
They were killing her, those three. They made her their slave. She was such a compassionate woman. She would give and give until she simply gave out. I saw the stress and strain wearing on her. She would worry about one of those three for a while, then...
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Dreams and Cypress Trees
The song cut through the humid air despite the tinge of static, “…doctor, doctor, gimme the news, I gotta bad case of lovin you…” “Orville, turn that down!” With one hand hold the cigarette out the window, one hand h...
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Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks
I sat at the kitchen table quietly munching my cereal, “Charlotte dear,” My mom said, “I’m going to work okay? Have a good day at school!” She leaned over to kiss my cheek. My mom and I were close but I still stared at her...
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Mother Earth
Everything seems bright tonight, on this cold winter night. The small lights of the city hang like frozen fireflies in the mist, their stillness reflected in the absence of life across the waste ground. I glance up at my son, smiling down at me, his si...
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Wedding of White
“She says it was the happiest day of her life,” she thought to herself. Her glistening gown was bright enough to be made of clouds. The sheer veil draped over her, covering her bright eyes and pale face. She glanced at the fading cream-colored phot...
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Silence That is Not-So-Golden
“See you tomorrow.” Nathaniel called as he got up. I watched him walk off the bus and up to his house. I sat there, staring out the window after him long after he was out of sight. My stop was next. It was slightly comforting knowing that I...
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Hurt and Confusion
“No, Jim, I mean… not no, but that’s not what I meant. I mean, I’m scared, Jim.” I couldn’t find the right words to explain the depth of this confusion, this feeling. “I’m scared, too, Shawna, but I’...
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I Wish There Was a Way
Dear Mom, I wish there was a way to make you understand. A way to show you that I do try my best, but sometimes, well, a lot of the times, my best is just not good enough. I wish there was a way to tell you how I feel. A way that won’t provoke y...
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Why I Bother
“Why do you even bother?” I ask her, genuine curiosity in my eyes. This truly sets off some spark, or flame, deep within her. Tears streak down her face, she looks into my eyes. “I bother,” she begins, “because I’m a...
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You Don't Always Need Protection
“I can do this!” “Honey, you’re talking about throwing your life away!” “No, Mom! I’m talking about saving one!” “You’ll be missing your Spanish immersion trip and your volunteer hours at the ...
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Lenses
“Everyone’s mind skips like a bad record sometimes.” Her mother used to say that whenever Alice stammered or misremembered a word. The last time she’d used the cliché was the day she’d been admitted to Cottonwood Oaks. &#...
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Black & White
Alice put the spyglass down. The colored lenses had shown her miracles and horrors: slices of life and worlds past, present and future … things that could never be. There were still more, too. Her mother’s illness and her own decline still ...
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1:42 AM, I'm Scared
You hover over her, only her silhouette visible at such a time as 1:42 AM. Her tousled curls spread over the pillow like branches on an old oak tree. School starts tomorrow, and you’re not sure if you want her to ever grow up. The innocence her f...
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Pressure of Greed
“Come on honey. Just please stand still for mommy,” the woman begged her daughter as she held a spray bottle filled with spray-on tan. “But I don’t like it when it gets in my face!!” The four-year old stamped her foot in p...
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Nightly Constitutional
She hadn’t the courage to call out. She had a feeling she’d be disturbing something if she would. Even so, Elinor lowered her voice to barely-recognizable rasp and called out for her lost companion. “Lisha! Li – sha! Here, girl....
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Explain Yourself
My mother stepped aside to let me pass through the doorway. I entered the living room and quietly took a seat on the couch beside my father. “Hi, Dad,” I practically whispered. He shook his head and turned away, not saying a word. My mother...