• Villain

    “I knew he was up to no good the moment he walked in.  I just wanted to leave and never look back, but I didn’t think I should leave Lacey.  I knew she was more at risk if Jared was there.  But I didn’t really know where she had gone.  That’s why I am out here.” …

  • Heart

    “My heart exploded the day you came into my life.  I always knew I wanted you and I knew you would feel the same when we finally got the chance to spend more time together.  I know we will be a perfect fit.”  I kept my whisper to a minimum so the other cafeteria workers…

  • Drunk

    “Let me tell you about the first time I ever got drunk,” I heard my father start into his oft-told story and could imagine exactly what he was doing at this very moment. I knew he was picking up his wine glass in his left hand as he leaned back into his favorite chair. Which…

  • Bones

    The skeletons in my mother’s closet were enormous.  I managed to find most of her secrets when I was diving headfirst into my most rebellious years as a teenager.  The first time she caught me sneaking out and grounded me for a month was the first time I really started going through everything we had…

  • Rome

    I always hated when my parents told me “Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.” Clearly. All I wanted was to be able to live my life without them hovering over my shoulder with every decision I made. All I wanted to do was to go on a vacation by myself. All I wanted…

  • The Chef

    PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young  I had always loved cooking elaborate meals when I had friends over, but when it came to feeding myself, I never wanted to cook. Only simple salads and fruit would do for me. The day I met Gabriel, everything changed. I couldn’t pinpoint the moment I changed, but something had.…

  • The Donation

    When the donation first came through, I immediately started crying. I had never needed help more than I needed it right now.  I had never asked for money before, for help before, but my situation was dire.  Everything had started when Mario smashed my car into a tree. He wasn’t supposed to be driving, but…

  • The School Trip

    As soon as I woke up, I knew the day was going to go haywire. I always hated going on school field trips because no one else wanted to see the same things I wanted to see. Today I would be heading to the science museum with the rest of my fourth-grade class and I…

  • The Dishwasher

    The dishwasher had been broken for months before anyone noticed. I didn’t want to tell my family because I knew what they would do. I knew I would have to pay for the damage even though I hadn’t been the one to break the dishwasher. I was the scapegoat – the black sheep – of…

  • Short End of the Stick

    I always knew I had the short end of the stick being that I had two older brothers.  I wanted to be with them for every hour of every day.  I wanted to do everything they did and sometimes they let me and sometimes they didn’t.  My parents obliged my fantasies of playing flag football,…