“Could they have stolen anything at all?” The police officer asked.  “Not that I am aware of,” I said, my body still shaking.  “You sure?” He asked for at least the fifth time.  Like the fact I was a woman was going to change the fact on whether or not a few small town kids had broken…

“We don’t have another choice,” I told my friend, Sam.  “We have to take this test before he will let us leave.  Just tell the truth and we will be fine.”   Sam patted my shoulder and acted like nothing was going on.  Like everything that had happened tonight was a normal Friday night house party.  “We will…

“Leave us my dear.”  As soon as my father said those four words, I knew everything had changed.  That my whole life was going to change.  My heart skipped a beat knowing that my father was finally going to stand up for me against my mother.  He drew his back straighter as she slowly turned…

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat,” he whispered to me.  He had come out of his chair and to the sideline.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I responded.  “I never plan to lose.”  “Then maybe you should start trying to actually win,” Sam whispered as he backed up to the…

I worked long and hard on the decorations for the house.  I knew my parents could not afford any this fall with my sister being in the hospital as much as she had been in the last few months.  I knew fall was my mother’s favorite season and had always loved decorating the house.  Construction paper was…

I knew my father had been in my room as soon as I opened the door.  His cologne still hung in the air so I knew he had left the room not long before I got home.  He was probably looking for the weed and alcohol I kept hidden in my closet, but I knew he would never find it.   Our…

I never wanted my father to find out what I knew about my mother.  Everyone described her as having a heart of gold and my father always told everyone the story about he fell in love with her the night he saw in the library.  They were both grad students at the time and she was working…

I had always wanted to get pregnant.  To be a mother.  I already had names picked out for my future children and a detailed plan of how I would decorate the nursery.  I had a Google Drive and Amazon wish lists set for all the items I wanted to buy to decorate.  And oh the books I would buy!  My book…

Growing up, I never really thought electricity was necessary.  Probably because most of the time, my parents struggled to pay the bills and we often had ‘campouts’ in the living room where we could use all the blankets and pillows to build forts to sleep in.  I always thought it was all in good fun, but realized later it was more of…