family-saga

He grumbles incoherently, opens the window a fraction and continues to smoke away. It__ like every time Sidney Drake enters a new location he has to readjust the atmosphere, akin to one of those sci-fi shows where they oxygenate the planet, but for my dad it__ in a suffocating reverse. He replaces the clean wholesome air with a non-stop puff of toxic poison.

We tell you, tapping on our brows,The story as it should be,As if the story of a houseWere told or ever could be.

It__ sad really, trying to appreciate all of the great events in our lives and all the amazingly good days. Sometimes it seems like we take them for granted, until something bad comes along to put us back into perspective. Are these bad events catalysts for change, which bring out the resiliency and best in us? A cosmic wakeup call that reminds us to enjoy the good times, because they can be taken away so easily. How messed up and ironic would that be?Is it even possible for us to remember what goodness we__e truly capable of on a daily basis, not just when things cause us to react out of necessity. A base line of beautiful acts and thoughts that are not brought out only by holiday music or someone else__ misfortune, but remain at the surface of who we really are. Wouldn__ that be amazing? Wouldn__ that be something to strive for?

What had those vile creatures unleashed in me? What beast had they awakened? I think I vowed to kill the beast and bury it so deep in the abyss it would never again rear its ugly head. Part of me did make this promise. The other part embraced an unfolding of life__ inextinguishable flames and the mind__ unspoken bondage.As far as reinforcing the strength of my mind__ resolve, I supposed my body was a useless entity. Rather, it was this fancy thing I lived in__ mausoleum that beckoned the living, promising gratification, refuge, solace, peace, even immortality. It wasn__ me. It wasn__ mine. I realized then, it had never belonged to me. I could control what happened to it only if people were merciful. Watching Valentin was not merciful. It was a torturous joy.

The greatest gift a parent can leave a child is that parent's own independence.

We may be finished with the past but the past is not finished with us.

Lillie woke to darkness an instant before a large warm hand clamped down over her mouth_

As she reached the stairs, she made a quick detour and stepped outside. A crescent moon hung in the midnight blue sky along with trillions of twinkling stars. Out here there were no streetlights to wash out the view. She loved being able to see the stars. Tonight, the mountains were etched deep purple against the night sky. The white snowcapped tips gleamed silver. Nearer, silhouetted pine trees swayed in the breeze as if in a slow dance. __ou are such a romantic,_ Trask had once told her. __re you sure you want to open a bar? You should be writing poetry._ She__ laughed. __ow do you know I don__?

It__ easier to spew hatred, but actually watching yourself doing it is a whole different story.

Time can be cruel if you don__ use it wisely ~ Imani Wisdom, Zion's Road: A Love Story about Faith and Redemption.

Sometimes time can play tricks. One moment it idles by, an hour can seem a lifetime, such as when sitting by the river at dusk watching the bats snatching insects above the limpid waters; the breaching fish causing ringed ripples and a satisfying plop. Other times, time flashes by in an immodest fashion. So it is with the start of war. First time quivers with the last strum of a wonderful peace, the note holding in the air, mysterious and haunting, filling the listener with awe. Then, with a rising crescendo the terror starts with uncouth haste; with a boom the listener is shaken from their reverie and delivered into the servitude, of an ear-shattering cacophony.

Payton __in_ Sinclair was an unapologetic people-watcher. As a sports consultant, working with some of the biggest and most recognizable athletes in sports and business, he had to be able to read the smallest nuances of others. That ability was just one of the unique attributes that set him apart from the competition and made him the go-to person when corporations wanted to align themselves with the top professional athletes in the country.

This is what I know about my parents. They spent the next several years trying to forget each other, and me.

I was struck by the image of Daddy still dressed in that same plaid shirt and undershirt with the bloodstains below the neck, the one I had first seen him wearing in the jail the previous day.

Kevin looks at me and I know he isn__ seeing the little girl I use to be, all pigtails and gangly limbs. He isn__ seeing my mother__ daughter or even my mother anymore. As his eyes linger over me, stopping here and there in the most uncomfortable places, I know he isn__ really even seeing me as I am. The bloodshot eyes staring out of the alcohol-flushed face are seeing a girl, nearly of age, who owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.--Rocky Evans

My heart, for unknown reasons, seems to freeze in motion in my chest. I can see he senses it and he holds his pause to enjoy my suffering, prolonging my ignorance. __iktor, what?

There is more important work to be done here. The strong must lead us into a new energy age before our world dies out. Who's going to do that? You, Caleb? Your face bears new marks__ou are not ready to win such a battle. - Adrian

Social dynamic theory is philosophy, not politics. There can't be only one correct answer, or there would only be one book." Sharon L Reddy, Worldcon, 1995.