“Dylan,” I said, my voice firm despite the chill of my damp dress. “This isn’t about the video. It’s about what you did and what it shows about us. I told you not to. You promised you wouldn’t. And then you did it anyway.” He opened his mouth to respond, but my father interjected. “This… CONTINUE READING »
In the following days, my family and close friends were a fortress, shielding me from the social media storm that Dylan seemed to embrace. The video did go viral, but not for the reasons he had hoped. Public sympathy largely sided with me, condemning the lack of respect and the underlying issues the act revealed…. CONTINUE READING »
The body in the casket was not my father. It was a stranger—a man I had never seen before, dressed in Dad’s favorite suit, with his wedding band clinging loosely to a finger that was not his own. My mind raced, struggling to comprehend the impossibility of it all. How could this have happened? Who… CONTINUE READING »
The room buzzed with shock and confusion, whispers spreading like wildfire through the congregation. I felt a rising tide of panic and disbelief. My mother, who had fainted, was now being attended to by my aunt, who was frantically fanning her face with a church bulletin. My siblings, scattered among the pews, looked as bewildered… CONTINUE READING »
The priest, caught mid-sermon, stood frozen at the podium, his Bible clutched in his hands. “This must be some kind of mistake,” he stammered, trying to restore a semblance of order to the chaos unfolding around us. But his voice was lost in the sea of murmurs and rising hysteria. Luna, sensing the tension in… CONTINUE READING »
“Where’s the funeral home director?” I demanded, my voice louder and more commanding than I intended. The director, a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a nervous disposition, stepped forward, wringing his hands anxiously. “There… there must have been a mix-up,” he stuttered, clearly flustered. “I… I’m so sorry. This has never happened before. I’ll…… CONTINUE READING »
“I don’t know, Mom,” I admitted, my own voice trembling. “But we’re going to find out.” The rest of the service was a blur. The funeral director hurriedly ushered everyone out of the church, promising to get to the bottom of the mix-up. My family and I were left standing outside, the gray sky mirroring… CONTINUE READING »
Lily blinked, her small chest rising and falling as the weight of his words settled in. For the first time in days, she felt something other than cold or hunger. She felt hope. The café was quiet, save for the gentle hum of conversation and the soft clinking of utensils. Howard watched her, his heart… CONTINUE READING »
“Yes,” she finally whispered, her voice barely audible. “I’d like that.” From that moment, their lives became intertwined in ways neither could have anticipated. Howard took Lily to his mansion—a sprawling estate that, to her, felt like a castle with its grand rooms and endless gardens. For years, it had felt empty, even with its… CONTINUE READING »
As the days turned into weeks, and then months, something beautiful unfolded between them. Lily, who had lost her mother, found in Howard a guiding hand, a protector, and a teacher. And Howard, who had long mourned the absence of family, found in Lily a reason to smile again, a sense of purpose, and the… CONTINUE READING »