She walked the streets, not knowing where to go or what to do. Whimpering and still warm, her newborn baby lay where she had left him. She hoped the owner of the tatty launderette would find him when she came to lock up, if no one had found him before. Flickering like a broken slot machine, the fluorescent lights of the launderette provided not enough light for day and too much for night. The baby snuffled in time with ea...

Life returned to pretty much normal the next day. Taylor and I were in suspension but still hated each other. My mom still hadn't come home, but I wasn't worried. Bill still came over every morning. Life was life no matter how you looked at it. Or that's at least what it seemed."Why the hell did you sit next to me?" I growled."I have a matter of importance I wish to discuss with you," Taylor replied cooly."Not interested,...

A year after coming home..."Mommy! Mommy, my girl scout troop is walking in the parade tomorrow, do you wanna walk with us?" Kristi, 7, runs up and tugs on my shirt sleeve. Her smile is so wide and hopeful, I am conflicted in how to answer her. I know what I should say, to be a good mother, but I heard the parade here at home last year. They set it up so it's at the center of town, a good five miles from here. I should sa...

Wednesday. Once more it was four in the morning and I was just waking up. Mom hadn't made it home the previous night, telling me she was probably with one of her co-workers from her second job again. A knock at the door quickly drew my attention. I already knew who it was. I couldn't care any less. That bastard could stay out there all morning. I wanted nothing to do with him today.  I prepped myself for school. Glancing...

For the past few years, I was a ne’er do well. I was the one kid from the Houston ghettoes that would throw illegal raves, steal cars, run a couple meth labs, run drugs to Mexico and saw the inside of a jail cell more times than dudes saw the panty line of the neighborhood slut. The number of times I’ve been arrested should go in a record book somewhere. I’m surprised I’m not featured on America’s Most Wanted. The beginni...

A businessman married a stripper, and they had two kids. The kids were in school, and she got tired of sitting around the house while her husband was at work. It made her feel restless, and useless. Boredom settled on her mind, as a dark cloud of angry depression. The cloud filled the house, and soon the businessman was depressed as well. They weren’t a well matched couple. She wanted adventure. She was wildly expressive...

(Note from Author: This is fiction but I knew a woman just like her.) NANCY James couldn't read but he knew it was important, after all the postman gave it to him directly.He sat heavily on the steps. In his 21 years he could not ever remember the postman giving a letter directly to him. He stared at the envelope wondering what to do. He saw the stamp with the airplane on it and he saw the letters forming words. He knew a...

Adam hands me the pregnancy test and a package of mini blueberry muffins. I set the muffins aside and look in his eyes as I grab the test and exit the car. I don't say a word, but he nods in understanding, sitting back and drinking his morning coffee, eating--of all things--some mini donuts while I enter the store. I go to the counter first, asking if I may use their restroom. The guy behind the counter says that usually...

The days blur as time passes and I wait for Garrett's reply. Bruises disappear as scars multiply and Adam is still as persistant as usual. He wants to know why I'm so silent. He wants to know what 'that' scar is from and where 'this' scar is from. He wants answers from me and I'm just too tired to give them to him, so he finally just hands me a slip of paper with his phone number on it and shuts his lips. But that doesn't...

The morning sun shone brightly through the stained glass windows. Gentle, calming and warm the rays of light shown beautifully over the wooden casket. It let everyone know everything would be all right. Their loved one was in a better place. At least that was what the pastor would say, if anyone were there. He walked in expecting the dead man's wife softly crying by the casket, the children rambling about, friends and ext...

She stood outside the funeral home and told herself this was a mistake. She had been having this dialogue with herself since the day she saw the obituary in the paper. It’s not like she read those on a regular basis, in fact, she avoided this section of the paper like the plague because she found it morbid and creepy, but she was reading an article that had “continued on page” with her morning coffee and she turned to the...

"Why didn't you just tell her? I know it's your stepfather. You live in the same house; he can't be that good at hiding it." I don't look at him. I get into his car and sigh at the warmth inside, shivering at the cold covering me from the inside out. He gets in and starts the car, turning on the heater for me even though he looks like he's roasting."I didn't tell her, because my stepfather doesn't do drugs--he drinks--and...

I remember it like it happened yesterday even though it actually happened 8 years ago. I was 10 years old--almost--and I was scared. It had been almost 2 years since the Zoo and Stepmonster was having fun reliving that fateful day. I waited until I knew he was asleep, and then pulled out the duffel I had slowly been packing for the past month, stealing chips, bread and unopened Peanut Butter. I'd even managed a couple qua...

It's been many years now. I've been to college and received my degree. My job now is teaching young people. It's a rewarding way to make a living. It's a fine and honorable thing to spend one's life forming the personalities of youths. My students give me a great deal of pleasure. My daughter gives me even more. She sometimes reminds people of me. I don't always see it, but they tell me that her quick mind is similar to m...

Standing outside the curio shop looking through the display window, Tanya watched the woman standing at the counter inside. She had sad eyes. She wondered what had happened in the woman’s life to make her look this way. Tanya could almost feel the sadness herself just by looking at her.. She took her eyes off the sad woman and looked in the display window and a child’s miniature china tea set caught her eye. Tiny white pl...