The love of stories started when she was a toddler. Grandpa George would stay at the house to watch Angela while her parents were at work, and he would read to her. Once she could walk, she would toddle over to the bookshelf, pull out a book, toddle back to her grandpa, plop down on…
Just until a spot opens, I reminded myself, she is only here until a spot opens and then she will move out. I took a deep breath, set down my phone on the charger, and cracked my bedroom door open. I did not see her there, so I opened the door further and looked around,…
The grandchildren had just walked back into the house from the neighbor’s pool. Bundled in fluffy towels, the grandchildren wandered around the house, grabbing clothes, and taking turns dressing in the bathroom. Damp hair and mismatched outfits clothed the grandchildren as they gathered back in the living room. The television was turned on as the…
He was not sure how it happened. The pain began two or three days after the dentist appointment. His teeth had to somehow have been sharpened like knives that were shredding the inside of his cheeks. He had only gotten a tooth filled on the top and one on the bottom on opposite sides of…
I was a lifeguard for a water park during the summer of 2019 and will never take a job as a lifeguard again. I took the job after having been on my school’s swim team for the past two years after being injured in wrestling the year before. I was a strong swimmer and had…
The medication was supposed to make things better not worse. The first prescription was an antidepressant that made the level of anxiety disappear. The anxiety remained but I could not tell at what level my anxiety was. Normally I was able to tell what level I was at any time I checked in with myself….
The party was fast approaching. The food trays had already been preordered and she would pay for them at pickup the day of. She had ordered large trays of sandwiches, wraps, and a veggie tray. She had just picked up the drinks, consisting of sprite, rootbeer, water, and ingredients to make Shirly Temples. The two…
I tend to be known as the tea queen in my family. My specialty is drinks, especially sweet tea. I do not cook very often but I do occasionally. I am not the best cook in the kitchen but there are a few recipes that I know and can cook well. One recipe is my…
All he wanted to do was lie down. He had been working almost nonstop with brief breaks for food and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. His wife had been in the same boat ever since the baby was born and the two had decided on a shift schedule to make…
Charlotte loved spiders so long as they did not touch her. The spiders ate other bugs that would otherwise pester her. The webs could be creepy at times, but they would also be beautiful in the right lighting and weather. The intricacy of each web and the designs fascinated her to no end. The only…
Anyone who knew her well knew to not trust her with any form of money in a bookstore. Given the chance, Angela would spend everything she had and would walk out with her arms overflowing with books. This had been the case since she was little. She was always getting in trouble for reading during…
Writing is just like a muscle; one must use it or lose it. Write or get rusty when writing once more. Stop using a muscle and the muscle grows weak. The first draft is never the final draft; pieces will be tossed aside, and more superior words will be used. To build muscle one must…
Time was running out as the clock counted down. Only an hour left before the deadline. Only forty-five minutes left until she had to leave. Only thirty minutes left to eat. She had most of the paper done but was rushing to finish it before turning it in. She would have asked for more time,…
He knew about it all. Her pride, her joy, her fear, her regret. He had seen her at her worst and treated her no differently than he had at her best. No one else had done that before. He knew her doubts and hesitations from previous experiences and continued to reassure her that not only…
It always came back to blood. One needed blood to live. Lose too much blood and die. Statistically, the average human being has five liters of blood in his or her body, the amount varying depending on the health and physical size of the person. Losing half or a full liter of blood will not…
The night air was chilly as she pulled the fur coat closer around herself. It was not often she would walk out in the cold evening unaccompanied, but she did not fear being attacked. She knew her knight in black leather was close by, watching her walk home from the theatre. He always watched her…
This day just kept getting better. Something was wrong with her brakes, but she could not pinpoint what. She had been late for work again, only this time no one had noticed she was six minutes late because no one was nearby to see her come in. She had managed to get through the day…
There was no cure. It all happened so quickly. One moment she was alive, raising her glass for the toast, ready to enjoy a sip of the exquisite brandy she had heard so much about. The next thing everyone knew, she was lying dead on the floor. Her glass was shattered, both her drink and…