Sixteen Key Chains

This story also paints the picture of a father who would not give up on regaining his time with his son. It shows the father desperately trying to rectify the mistrust issues he created because he stated to the boy when they were sitting in the diner after the highway patrol redirected them away from the snow-covered route home that she would never forgive him if he did not get the boy home for

The car's wheels caress the highway lovingly. I forget the rumble of the cars behind for a moment, instead focusing on the insignificant touching of the wheels and ground. My sister sat at the wheel seemingly waiting for some kind of sign, waiting for me. She spoke, “Are you excited about moving back to Meetleburg?” As if, I am leaving behind all that I have worked for in the past four-teen years! I stayed silent to the dismay of my sister.

Next to the front door, Noah had propped a backpack up against the wall. From it, he fished out car keys, hissing as they crashed against each other. He packed his car halfway down the block tonight so his mother wouldn’t hear it as it scuffled down the driveway, see the headlights as he sped off. He shouldered the backpack, readjusting his balance as the weight shook him back and forth. He sent another glance towards upstairs, to his mother’s bedroom. She would hate him for this. She would destroy him for this.

“Aw thanks dad, I really appreciate it, but in order to go to school I have to be clothed...” Riley awkwardly, but politely cajoled. Her dad exited her colorful room without unwillingness, so she wouldn’t start the morning off with an attitude like her identical twin brother, like Casey did when their dad wished him a happy birthday in his filthy room “to interrupt his sleep” as Casey would call it when he shouted at his dad. Like every morning, Riley gazed into the round mirror

Every family has its own perks. Some Families are open, and share their lives with the world, and some are very conservative and do not speak of house matters outside of their home. In a short story, “Sausage and Beer”, written by Stephen Minot, the author portrays a boy by the name of Will Bates, who is left alone to spend time with his father on a short trip, and learns at a young age that secrets actually makes friends. As the story unravels, the narrator, Will, begins to mature and finally develops a relationship with his father as he introduces Will. to the world of adulthood. At the beginning of the story, while embarking on their trip, Will’s character seemed to be quiet and kept to himself as he introduces his audience to the kind of

“I’ve got a wonderful job offer so we are moving to Georgia,” her dad had spit out, finishing her mother’s sentence. Caylee’s happiness came tumbling down. Now she had wished it Zoe was getting something instead of this. “How could something like this happen?!” she had thought. Caylee didn’t want to move, she didn’t want to reply, she didn’t want to leave her friends, and she didn’t want to cry. Caylee ran out of the kitchen as her eyes filled with tears. Her mom had tried to grab as she ran, but she had pulled away.

His booming laugh filled my ears with joy. He asked me to help carry some hunting equipment out to the car. I nodded eagerly. It was my first ever-hunting trip. Even though I didn’t know what to expect and I couldn’t even touch a gun it was still going to be fun. When we arrived at the hunting ground it was barren and brown and the crisp thirty mile and hour wind jabbed me every second. The previous appeal of this trip had suddenly turned to disgust and the hunting hadn’t even begun. My dad smiled at me and I feebly smiled back. The first hour was fine, the feeling in my hands went within ten minutes even though I was wearing gloves. The third hour , I started crying and my dad bribed me to stop with candy and verbal threats of punishment. However, by the fifth hour of thirty degree weather and less than two birds being shot, I sat down. The final act of defiance to try and turn the tides in my five year old favor. My actions in fact had the opposite effect and my Dad kept walking. Shivering, teary-eyed, and defeated. I stood up and dragged the small wooden gun behind me. The walk to the car seemed like an eternity, nevertheless, we got there before the sun went

As Connie got into the car she felt a wave of grief. She couldn’t get away from the invisible gates surrounding and trapping her as if she were a hunted animal. The ride seemed like a journey, going on forever and ever. Trying to pry information causally, Connie would ask Arnold ,” Where are you taking me?” Arnold just turned around and gave her that sleepy smile of his and , “Don’tcha worry ‘bout a thing honey. You are safe with me.” His smile, that reassuring yet mysterious smile quenched her longing for home and diminished the thought of how her family would think about the absence of their youngest daughter. It seemed to mask her thoughts of how how her cold mother and father would react seeing the their screen door wide open and the music that Connie listened to

After 200 miles of endless driving, I decided to pull over and let Aaron drive. We got out and switched places. “I dunno about this, Alex,” he stuttered. “You’ll be fine,” I said reassuringly. He walked around the side of the car and got into the driver’s seat.

I had been driving for two hours, but I didn’t care. Beams of sunlight glimmered through the gaps between buildings, and the cityscape was alive with light. It was a good day for diving, and I was a good driver. It was a perfect combination and I couldn’t help but smile. Mom undid the windows and her smile matched mine as her long grey hair danced in the rushing air. “Enjoying it, Mom?” I asked, waking her from a trance. “Yes, Robert” she replied, her voice cooler than the morning. The engine purred smoothly as I navigated the car gently through the turnpikes sharp curve. Ahead, a large truck spouted black stacks of exhaust high into the air, leaving a path clear of traffic in its wake. Behind it, a lone blue convertible cruzed comfortably, taking advantage of the now open road. Despite being a couple of

The car ride was stressful for her. Her little brother had to pick up his friend. She complained, saying “why couldn’t he get a ride to our house before hand?”, but her mother shushed her. She was anxious, she didn’t want to miss one thing from her day, and she most definitely did not want to be late. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the small

The ride to school was awkward. Since his father had to go in early for work at the new Overhaul and Repair center the next town over, Dante had to be driven to his first day of school by his soon-to-be stepmother, Laura. It wasn’t that Dante hated Laura or that she wasn’t a nice person. She just wasn’t that intelligent, and it was beyond annoying having to deal with her sometimes. It was quite cramped in the metallic blue ‘99 Pontiac Firebird with Laura’s 8 year old son, Ryan in the back seat, sitting quietly, as the sports car trawled the streets of Lawndale, Maryland.

It’s late Thursday afternoon, mom shuffles a minivan full of hungry, tired children from school to the latest afterschool activity. As she enters the highway , through the whines of children asking for a snack, she hears her cell phones familiar chime and rummages through a purse full of old receipts and a checkbook that’s desperately in need of being balanced. Hurriedly, she answers the phone to relay a list of items they need form the grocery store for dinner to her husband. She only looked away for a short second to swipe the answer button but as her eyes return to the road she see the vehicle in front of her has come to a stop. She acts as quickly as she can but it’s too late. As she plows into the car in front of her all she can

It had not seemed this bright since he first laid eyes on Anna’s mother twenty years ago. He loved her the moment he laid eyes on her. She, unfortunately, loved John. If things had only been different, but they weren’t. Stephen continued drinking the scotch as he reminisced about Emily Wellington, the love of his life, although so unrequited. He thought of her long flowing blonde hair and her innocent blue eyes. Why hadn’t she been wearing her seat belt the day of the accident? Emily always wore a seat belt. A tear began to stream down Stephen’s cheek as the thought of the possibilities that would never be, not now. Anna crossed his mind for a moment. Since she looked just like her father, Stephen’s thoughts quickly returned to Emily. As the bottle of scotch neared the bottom, Stephen’s guilt of Emily’s death urged him to apologize to her. He took some stationary from the old oak wood desk’s top drawer and began to pen a letter to Emily. He explained all the details of his horrific plan in detail, the payoff, the cut brake lines, his hope of her surviving the crash and eventually marrying

Mark is a successful logger and has a wife and son. He makes good money and can even perform one hundred pushups in a row. For some reason he isn’t happy though. He thought when he followed in his father’s footsteps he’d have it all. He now feels empty inside. He’s always away from his family and even though he makes money he doesn’t spend it much. He has no time. Today is one of the rare days Mark has off. His family has eaten dinner and is now getting ready for bed. His ten-year-old son Billy is playing with Legos. Out of the blue, Mark ask his son what he wants to be when he grows up. He’s horrified when his son replies” a logger like you dad”. Most parents wouldn’t really care if their young child had this reply but Mark did. He told his son that wasn’t an option. He didn’t want him to be disappointed when he found out the realities of the