“Are you sure you don’t want it? It’s an antique. Been in the family for a long time, handed down for generations.”

We’re downsizing - or attempting to anyway. Through the years, we’ve collected a ton of shit. I say shit, because when you get right down to it, it really is. Useless stuff that takes up a lot of space and is just meant to look pretty ( Read more... )

Kaitlyn set the tray of coffees on the counter and shook her arms out of her coat, laying it across the back of the kitchen chair.

“Mom? Gramma?”

“In here,” came a muddled call from the back bedroom.

“I have coffee” she called back. “Want some?”

“Bring it with you.”

She entered the bedroom to find her grandmother perched in a rocking chair and ( Read more... )

I think that I have mentioned that my boss of 15 years passed away last September. Our company - I refer to it as “our”, but it was really “his” - is a very small energy (mainly oil and gas) company. There were only ever two employees, him and me. It made for a pretty intimate working relationship throughout the years. I knew almost everything ( Read more... )

Now for something a little different. This is a Round Robin story. The topic lent itself to finding a helping hand, so I did what any self-respecting, intelligent member of today’s society would do and consulted my Facebook friends. Four of them answered the call, and I present the following story, written by Annie (that’s me), Sarah (a former LJ ( Read more... )

She should have listened to her grandmother.

Her whole life had been spent defying the old traditions, scoffing at the superstitions, and ignoring the warnings from her elders. She wasn’t disrespectful about it. In fact, she humored Grandmother when she was with her and did what she wanted when she wasn’t.

It was all coming back at her now. Karma ( Read more... )

In the quiet of the morning dark

They rise.

Coffee is on to brew.

There’s an excitement in the air

Serving as a better catalyst

To wakefulness

Than caffeine ever could.

Equipment is loaded,

Gas tanks are full.

They are ready to go.

The field is

Wide,

Vast,

Empty.

Decoys are placed,

As breath breaks the stillness

With puffs of vapor.

Blinds ( Read more... )

We are being forced out of the home we’ve lived in for the past eight years. It’s nothing we’ve done, and not really something avoidable on the part of our landlords.

We rent our primary residence from the church next door. It all began when the house was sitting empty and no longer used by the congregation.  My husband worked there (as the ( Read more... )

I’ve tried, though admittedly not very hard, to write something. Something complete. Something I could submit to an editor. Something that might earn me some sort of income. I’ve come up empty. Every. Single. Time.

There were Ahndrea and…shit, I can’t even remember his name. She was traveling cross country to start a new life and new career, ( Read more... )

Family Christmas

My mother was one of nine children, and they all married and had children, so my extended family is HUGE by most standards. I think there’s 34 of us grandchildren, and most of us have now married and have children. Some of those children have even had children. I’m not counting, although I could because the majority of us stay in ( Read more... )

I'd like to apologize in advance for this.  This week's topic screamed trashy romance novel to me, which I admit is one of my guilty pleasures. :)

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Magna knew it was foolish the minute she stormed out the door, fury her only guide. Now she was living the proof of her temporary insanity. She wasn’t ( Read more... )