Challenge
Disorderly Conduct
When I reached the fourth grade, I found myself in Georgia in an inner-city school. As the only "white girl" there, except for my cousin who was in kindergarten, my school life was difficult at best. I'd get up in the morning, work the farm, then get dressed for school. I walked down the dirt road to the bus stop and spent the next 7 hours defending myself. Life was just hard. My parents had recently split and it landed us in poverty-ville USA, on a piece of ground my mother's family endearingly called a farm, even though we barely grew anything more than dirt and misery.
By Veronica Coldiron2 years ago in Writers
Count Dracumite
Tongue sticking from between milk teeth, I carefully dragged a steaming tea bag across the paper; I wanted it to look old. I wanted it to have the 'mysterious book found in an old library, filled with secrets' kind of feeling. My mum sometimes tells people I am a born writer; this is not true. I am a born storyteller - writing, as a hobby and daily pursuit, came long after this moment.
By S. A. Crawford2 years ago in Writers
Reflection
"This is a GREAT story! You should be a writer, honey!" The compliment felt great, but even at eight years old, there was plenty of skepticism stirring within. I bashfully accepted the compliment with gratitude, but did not have the intrinsic belief that this skill was one I could pursue as a career. Besides, I needed to get outside and play soccer.
By Brandon Phifer2 years ago in Writers
Campfire Stories
Campfire stories. We have all heard them. We have all told at least one. They send chills down our spines, making us scared to sleep at night. Parents, siblings, friends, and camp counselors have told us. The scarier they are, the more we love them.
By Mother Combs2 years ago in Writers
Microwave Toast
Reader’s Digest has my first gut punch, heartfelt writing piece published in their Best Life Stories book entitled “Microwave Toast”. It can also be found on Audio Books now. It was written several years after my husband passed away at the age of 58 from Early Parkinson’s Disease and a rare form of dementia diagnosed at the age of 49.
By Barbara Gode Wiles2 years ago in Writers
The Poem That Made Me a Poet
It started as an assignment. I was in my second year at Western Washington University, and was lucky enough to snag the last seat in Jane Wong’s class on food writing. The course focused on our connection to food. How it inspires us, challenges us, fills us with nutrients and love.
By Katherine J. Zumpano2 years ago in Writers
Casino Addictions, Memories
In the dimly lit corners of memory's labyrinth, there exists a relic of my literary infancy. A story, earnestly penned during my youth, beckons like a whisper from the past. It tells of a rainy day in a nameless town, of souls ensnared in the allure of a casino's neon-lit illusions, and of lives entangled in the threads of fate, or perhaps misfortune. As I revisit this embryonic creation, it awakens emotions I had long buried beneath the layers of time.
By ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR2 years ago in Writers
From Innocence to Insight: Navigating the Nuances
In the soft glow of youth, during the tumultuous transition to a freshman in high school, I ventured into the realm of self-expression through my first ever written piece. It wasn't an assignment or a task, but a self-inflicted venture into vulnerability—a love poem. Raw and unfettered, it was inspired by a boy who unknowingly occupied a significant space in my adolescent heart. Every line, dripping with youthful exuberance, was a testament to the sheer intensity of a first crush.
By M Dannenfelser2 years ago in Writers
Down to the Nub. Top Story - September 2023.
Memories of my childhood are vivid but disjointed, like a movie trailer that flashes various exciting bits, but not in context and out of order. Thus I can't be sure which of the stories I wrote as a child was the first.
By Sonia Heidi Unruh2 years ago in Writers
Penning the Grayscale
We never forget our first love, do we? Most 'firsts' are clumsy and awkward. They're the beginning of a journey. In love, they're often heart-breaking. We learn their lessons—of love lost, perhaps unrequited, and of own capacity to adapt to change.
By E.K. Daniels2 years ago in Writers
