Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about someone who didn’t get along with their family as a child, but has since found an appreciation for them.

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 112 stories

Malefice Pt. 1

. .

Submitted to Contest #69

"Lariona, get down here. Customers are coming", my mother said, tight-lipped and emotionless. That was what happened when you worked with dark magic for all your life. She, like all my family, extended and close, had never seen what life was like outside of Malefice crafting. They'd drawn me in too, but I was different. I had dreams. Dreams of helping the world, of happy days, not supplying the Maleficers of the world with their means of terrorism. I didn't want my life to consist only of that. Still, for now, I would have to make do. I ...

71 likes 120 comments 120
Read story

Who I am Today

Submitted to Contest #69

Title: Who I am Today Author: Haripriya Authors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great Sunday! I took a bit more of an interesting take on this prompt. I didn't really write this as a story, but more of an inspirational piece. I wanted everyone reading this to also feel appreciated by themselves and to show appreciation to their own families. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy this short story! Have you ever felt undeserved by your own family? Unappreciated? Always been told that you forgot to do this&n...

66 likes 57 comments 57
Read story

Repairing Relationships

Submitted to Contest #69

“No.” “What do you mean ‘no’?” “I mean that it isn’t worth it. Spending that much money isn’t worth it.” “How come when it’s something you both need, spending money is worth it? Whenever I need something is when the money is too much.” “Stop talking to your mother like that.” “Okay then, I’ll just shut up. That’s what is best for everyone, isn’t it?” Mom slaps me. My cheek is throbbing with pain, and I’m pretty sure it left a mark. But that isn’t going to stop me. “Whenever Madilyn needs something, the entire world wi...

55 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

The Last Stage

Submitted to Contest #69

“Why is there an extra chair?” Mildred asked. I didn’t like Mildred, she was loud. Sometimes when I tried talking to her she would change the topic really quickly. When we were little, she took my toys before I could finish playing with them. It was like living with an alien.  “That’s where mom used to sit,” I said.  “Oh,” Mildred said, “then we don’t need that seat anymore.” “Yes, but we’re going to leave it there for a little while, alright sweetie?” My dad said. “Sure, I guess there’s nothing else to do with it anyway,” she ...

47 likes 46 comments 46
Read story

To Be Loved

Submitted to Contest #69

You used to take pictures of the women you slept with. Every one of them had a forgettable face and some name that was on the first pages of dictionaries. They were always foggy-eyed when they woke up, whispering through unpainted lips and gathering their bag. The pictures were taken on your Polaroid camera. Those were the ones that came in muted colors and lived at the drugstore. Teenagers used them but you were twenty-seven. The film was expensive but the pictures were worth it. After they rolled out of the camera, you pasted them in ...

47 likes 27 comments 27
Read story

Cracked Linoleum: Cracked Cases Part 7

Submitted to Contest #69

           “I need to find Alma,” Abigail mumbled to herself, over and over again like a prayer. She paced back and forth, ripping individual pine needles off a small branch. “I need to find Alma. She’s probably dead now. Or giving away all our good information.”           “Alma?” Victor-Vincent prompted. “So that’s her name?”           “What?” Abigail whipped her head up. “No. N...

36 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Whitening

Submitted to Contest #69

I’m standing in front of an oak door about to go into battle. That’s what it was every time I saw Mister Rhodes. All out psychological warfare. And, sure enough, he always won. But on this day, I am bringing reinforcements. The most badass lawyer ever to come out of Spelman University.Latonya Wilkins, Esquire. She made a name for herself fighting for the citizens of Flint Michigan in a highly publicized class-action lawsuit. Ever since then, she has worked with organizations like Black Lives Matter to find instances of police corruption and ...

26 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Would You Like To Proceed?

Submitted to Contest #69

I clicked the mouse on my keyboard and the screen lit up in a royal blue.  Would you like to proceed? The screen said, its snotty attitude rubbing my misfortune in my face. No, I don't want to “proceed”. I would do anything to get out of doing this. I couldn’t bear to face my family. My breath shook as I moved the mouse away from the button. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough.  How could I face years worth of anger about what I had done. I had caused them pain, humiliation. But, they had done the same to me. My cheeks we...

22 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

Love Peace and Tea

Submitted to Contest #69

A wonderful warm feeling embraced her as she sat beside her siblings with a hot cup of tea in her hands and a glow of happiness in her heart. Tea with her siblings whenever they could be together had become a tradition, a much anticipated ritual that promised gossip, laughter, heart to heart talks and an all encompassing joy of just being together.  "Oh ,how I miss your peacock dance ", she said to her brother Z, "the last time I saw you doing it was when you were celebrating the millennium "."It serves you right ,you interrupted m...

22 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Do You Love Me?

Submitted to Contest #69

1534 wordsRated PG; gun violence, mature subject matterHa.That's the first word that came to mind. The first thing that rolled off my tongue when it happened. I apologize, dear reader. You just opened a book when this slip of paper fell out. Tell me, why are you reading Joop Ter Heul? Is it for a school project? Do you just like comedic, old Dutch books? Did you pick this up by accident? Fun fact, this book was a favourite of Anne Frank. Of course, you could always put this slip of paper back for the next person to find. But I have...

22 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

"Who's Your Hero?" My 6th Grade Teacher Asked

Submitted to Contest #69

Trigger warning: Drug abuse and depressive talk. Her chest heaves and falls, this ongoing rhythm creating an atmosphere of serenity and stillness. The AC vent on auto just above her head, a caramel-brown piece of hair dancing in the cool air. I stop typing up my next speech that I am planning to give in less than a week and look at my mum. My eyes start to get blurry as I fixate on this piece of hair flying around merrily. Just as it is pushed to the right, the hair stops dead. Falls back onto her closed eyes. Oh no. Not again. My heartbea...

22 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

The Late Visit

Submitted to Contest #69

I am going to visit Jack on Thanksgiving this year, although he probably won’t be too enthusiastic about it. Actually, he won’t like it, if I am being optimistic about meeting him. Even Ma still blames it on me and certainly hasn’t forgiven me yet, for what I’ve done to him. And of course, when she scolded me last week she ignored the part about what Jack has done to us. But never mind that. Ma knows I was responsible for most of what happened. I am thinking about reconciling myself with him, even though I just got out of the mess and the o...

21 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

The Simple Truth About Me

Submitted to Contest #69

I committed my first petty theft at the tender old age of 6. My grandmother’s purse was sitting on her dresser just beckoning me to get some change so that I could send my wayward older sister Cindy to the candy store. It was close between the two of us who would have the title of black sheep of the family. When she ran away from home at the age of 13 to join the circus. Well that’s what the family was led to believe, but I knew better and why. She was pregnant and a shame and went to live with her 44 year old boyfriend and his understandin...

19 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Just South Asian things...

Submitted to Contest #69

Gary Kemp once said ‘love is family, support, priority, and understanding’. After reading this I feel like a fish outside the pond.  I am an Indian who belongs to a slightly conservative but conservative family nonetheless. I am a free-spirited girl, I want to enjoy life and want to live life on my terms. But my family holds me back.  They don't quite understand me, they force their morals, religious beliefs, and decisions on me. They don't value my emotions either. My parents forbid me from going out with my friends or staying out...

16 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

A New Understanding

Submitted to Contest #69

           From a young age, Bradley was a rebellious boy. He felt that the whole world was against him, especially his parents.            At age four, Bradley had already begun showing signs of aggression when things did not go his way. On one occasion, while in the care of his grandmother, Bradley had grabbed the corn broom and started chasing his grandmother around the house with it. This was all brought about when she told him t...

16 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a family adapting a holiday tradition to take place over video chat.

Holiday – 59 stories

Write about someone who falls back into childish behaviors whenever they’re around their family.

Kids – 66 stories

Write about a family’s first holiday after a parent has gotten remarried, and now there are new faces at the table and new traditions to be honored.

Holiday – 98 stories

Write about someone telling their family they won’t be continuing the long-standing family business.

Sad – 174 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel