Tag: short story

  • Quarrel

    That night, father and son quarreled.  Only I knew that this would be the last time they would fight in front of me.  This was the last straw.  My bag was already packed in the back of my closet with everything I thought I needed.  The cigarettes and flask my father was always looking for were hidden in the loose floorboard…

  • Without a Trace

    “Adam!  Jenny!  Michael!  I’m home,” I called as I kicked the door closed behind me.  I struggled through to the kitchen and managed to get all the bags onto the island without dropping a single thing.  “I’m home,” I called again.  I started putting the groceries away, listening with one ear for any noise coming from above.  Or below.  Or anywhere.  After a few minutes,…

  • Secretly Excited

    I was secretly excited when he told me he was leaving for the night.  I would have time to actually take a bath.  I could finally paint my toes.  I could drink a glass of wine and not have to worry about him barging in on me saying we had to go on another ‘adventure.’  All I wanted to do was…

  • Health

    I knew my cousin’s health was declining when her hair lost its shine.  Her hair had always been her pride and joy and there was no way she would let it go.  I just knew I needed a way to be able to approach her about it without her blowing me off.  She had been burned too many…

  • The Fire

    The fire burned brightly and I could see it from almost a mile away.  I knew it had to be Rich starting the fire pit in the backyard.  He was the only one who could ever make the fire that big or even wanted to.  I wondered what this would signal for the rest of the night.  When…

  • Wild

    I knew shit was going down as soon as Susan started toward my desk.  She was the office gossip and tattletale, but thought she was getting away with all her games.  She thought she was getting away with everything when her whisper was as loud as her yell.  Everyone knew as soon as she started toward you: be prepared for anything.    I…

  • Returning Home

    I always knew I would never be able to go home.  The moment I stepped out the front door when I was eighteen, I knew I was completely on my own.  My father always told me he was surprised he was going to be a father again and once I hit puberty, he spent more of his…

  • The Window

    I jumped the moment Martin knocked on the window.  I had been waiting for him, but I honestly wasn’t sure he would show up.  He had been talking so much about his great desire to sneak out of the house, I didn’t believe he would go through with it.    At seventeen, I never could quite…

  • Springtime Sun

    “The sun is bringing my life back,” I whispered to myself.  “This is exactly where I need to be.”    I stared at the clear blue sky and smiled.  I knew there was something off every day while I was visiting my friends, but I could never exactly put my finger on it.  I now knew what it was.  We…

  • Love

    I knew I loved you the first time I saw you.  I had to train myself to sit on my hands so I wouldn’t touch you during class.  I wanted so badly to be with you and next to you that I had a hard time sleeping.  I even started wearing makeup and stopped wearing sweatpants to class every day.  The…