Short Story : ' V '

If I am unable to sleep after 10 minutes, I will get up and go to another room. I will only return to my bed when I feel tired.

During my childhood my mother and father expected me, my brother and two sisters to be respectful, obedient and polite. They set a conservative tone for our house that was not as strict as a boarding school, but there were similarities. Now that is not to say they beat us, or were mean, in fact they loved us very much but the love was shown from a specific distance. We talked, we laughed, but we never talked loudly, and we never laughed too much. I can remember hugging my dad, but it was when I was pretty little. I guess he felt that I was a boy, and as such I had to stand on my own. My only problem was he worked so much I never really learned how to stand on my own as a man. He never taught me how to defend myself. My mom always told me to walk away from a fight, problem is kids don’t view the world as adults, and the kid looking to avoid a fight probably didn’t know how to fight, and that was just too tempting a target to pass up. After we mover to Cerritos it was different, my relationship with my dad changed. He was getting home after work on time, he was around in the evenings and on weekends. I could see he was more relaxed, under less stress than he had been before and it was great! We started doing things together more regularly. We went deep sea fishing 4 or 5 times a year, we went to science fairs, hobby shops and down to the local harbors and checked out sail boats. I was getting to know him, where he came from,

“Um I need I need to go my mom's waiting” I lie and quickly run down the steps before he can say anything else.

When I was growing up, the only family I had was my mom and her side of the family. My father was not a big part of my life at that point in time, and our relationship has suffered because of it. For the first four years of my life, my father was an active member of the Marine Corps. His absence in my life impacted our relationship since we never had a chance to connect, and I don 't think we ever recovered from that. We’re on good terms now, but we don’t have any special connection like my mom and I do. The two of us were never close, we never see eye to eye, and we can barely hold a conversation that lasts longer than five minutes.

‘’Time you was in bed Josh’’ she said without looking ‘’Finish up your homework now son’’

It’s never easy to grow up with a parent in the military. My dad has remained in the air force even before my older brother and I were born, and before my parents were married. For my dad to be deployed during the holidays is a usual occurrence for our family, and we’ve learned to cope with keeping in touch over a phone and letters for months. In the year 2010, I learned that my dad would be deployed to Kuwait in the Middle East for four months. I was currently in seventh grade at the time, so the news was hard for me take in. Before then, my dad deployed countless times before, but four months at that time would be the longest he would be away.

Velma, her eyes shut tight and watering, felt a hand gently hold her by the waist and guide her through the wooded terrain and her own anxiety. She had never been attacked before, never faced possible death so far from home before. It seriously unnerved her.

When I got the Voalte I took sometime to put my thoughts together and took some-time to pray and head to the floor. When I introduced myself to the nurses they seem so concern for the patient and when they heard that it might be Leukemia they took a deep breath and when I asked if I can go in they immediately said yes. Before going to the room I took some breath and prayed as I sanitized my hand. The room looked deemed and only the TV seemed on, I knocked softly the door and nobody responded, I knocked with the door a bit cracked and mom seemed to get out of the patients bed. I introduced myself and mom allowed me to come in and as I washed my hands I introduced myself to Suzy. The room looked very empty with not personal belongings but did

“See ya later Riley!” I said while she was walking down the hallway hoping that she would hear me. After school ended around two-forty five I went home and talk to my mom about how Riley reacted to Justin over dinner. She thought it was hilarious, and told me that's how most girls react to boys that look like that. The next morning when I woke up I didn't want to keep wondering about my dad I wanted answers. So that day I texted Riley and told her my plan to find my

Before I knew he was my dad I called him “BJ”. I thought he was my mom's really close friend. After a soccer game on October 6th 2008, I got home and my parents told me to play for a while outside while they had a “grown-up talk.” After about a half an hour they came outside and called me inside and told me to sit down. My parents then explained to me that “BJ” was actually my dad. I was told that he was overseas at war and now he was back for good. I was overjoyed with the news. This is special to me because before my dad came home it was just my mom and I, so knowing I had dad, back then was a big

Assurance- My parents have been knowing each other since the 10th grade. My dad went of to the milatry after he graduated , and they lost contact , but

"Mel! Get up outta of bed now! Your not showing up late again!” My mom's distant voice echoed throughout the house. My mom was always a big fan of school, and when I ever showed up late, I got an hours worth of scolding.

“I’ll be home in a few hours but you girls will be in bed by then. Listen to dad,” my mother instructed.

I was wrapped in my blanket like a Butterfly in its cocoon. As soon as I began to have conscious thought of my crush, dancing, and my dreams turning into a reality my eyes opened as if I was facing Bruce Lee himself. Then I jumped out of my bed if I was running with gazelles in sub Saharan Africa. I smoothly landed into a crouched position on the ground I got straight into my dance battle stance with a stare determined like Eminem. I knew today would be a good day with the sun shining on me through my white curtains. As I noticed the dust from my desk float in front of me I copied its abrupt and jerky movements into the bathroom. I walked on my bathroom carpet like

“Girls it’s very late and time to go to sleep,” My parents said with great exhaustion