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Write about the moment a child (of any age) first comes to view a parent as a three-dimensional human being, and not just a parental figure.

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 24 stories

“Pebble” by Ellysia Mason

I have always been a Daddy’s girl. An only child, I received plenty of attention from my parents, but my father especially doted on me. His big hairy bear arms never scared me, and I would scream and screech as he threw me into swimming pools or swung me through the air- somehow never doubting his hold on me. He was known as a stoic man, but I found solace in his dark brown eyes and his rough husky voice- the same voice that would read me to sleep each night. My favourite memory was of him and I on a stony beach, squat...

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“The Spies ” by Madelyn Morrison

It’s like someone died. Even my breathing breaks the dead silence filling the ominous room. The darkness suffocates me. It’s not just a dark room. I look around and and see empty expressions and sad eyes. Their clothes are all black. Like spies. They act like spies too, blending in with scarlet walls, barely whispering to each other. They exchange quick glances, avoiding eye contact for more than a second. It’s like they're all in on a secret mission. I’m trying to be a spy too, but I don’t k...

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“A Mirror on a Trail” by Coral Howe

It wasn't until I straightened myself out in young adulthood that I realized who my father is. My father is me. No, I am not parthenogenetic. I am not a nematode. What I mean is I have a father who, for the longest time, I failed to acknowledge fully. I sought him out in various ways as I walked along a trail unknowingly structured for me. It wasn't until I had found myself along that trail that I realized my father was leading me. Only feet ahead, he kicked away acorns, parted thick brush, and pointed out stumps and roots to avoid trippi...

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“In the Mother Part of My Mother's Heart” by Franny Behrman

This story is too dark for childhood, but I tell it anyway. “Get out!” She has me up against the wall, in the kitchen, right by the refrigerator, and is shaking my shoulders. “And don’t come back.” Later, she will say she never said it, but I remember. Why do I remember it so clearly----the way you only remember the few moments that truly changed your life forever--- if she never said it? I had never thought it would come to this. Maybe no true child ...

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“The Night-Shift” by Deion McGhee

I stand there, in the living room of my childhood home staring. Just staring, because that's all I am capable of doing at the moment. My father walks out of his room. My father who goes to work at seven o'clock every morning. Who teaches my little brother how to play baseball every afternoon when he gets home from a long day at work. Who comes home to his family every night. Who proposed to my mother at her parents' house where they first met. Who isn't catholic, but married my mother in a chur...

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“Product of Sin” by Stephanie McKibben

Some people are born when they are punted out of the womb. Others are born when they are twenty-eight. It’s not really confusing when you think about it. Take me for instance. I was brought into this world two months prematurely, in July of 1972. I was a bubble baby for six weeks and was brought home, still underweight with a fifty-fifty chance of survival. Despite that, I grew up strong with a slight astigmatism that affected my right eye more than my left. I was a quiet boy, ha...

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“I'm not a bad person” by Anie Doe

“Life is difficult. Sometimes you just aren’t in the right place. Leila was there and she understood me. She also didn’t want to separate from her husband. But we were really good together. We just enjoyed the time together.”“Dad, what? Are you telling me you were unfaithful to Mom?”“Yes. Sometimes it happens. She wa...

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“Faults” by F. G.K

Aya tip-toed her way to the kitchen. A small giggle almost escaped from her mouth when she saw her mother’s back but she managed to hold in. From behind the wall, she took a peek; always check the situation first before acts, that’s what her dad always says to her. She caught a glimpse of her dad’s big shoulder before it disappeared, soon followed with a creaking noise that she suspected came from their old kitchen cupboard. They exchanged words in hushed whispers, with Aya noticing a slight edge on h...

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“Mom” by Samanntha Liñan

She loved her Mom. She made her favorite sandwiches and took her to read books with the story lady sometimes. She was also very smart. Dolores, age five, wanted to be like her one day. Her Mom said she was smart, but she wanted to be Mom Smart, not just Dolores Smart. Everything she said always made sense to her even when it didn’t, like the morning she bit her tongue jumping on the bed even when she knew she wasn’t allowed to. As soon as the dull pain of teeth cutting into flesh and the metallic tasting blood star...

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