Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Families.

Silentria:Chapter 10. Content Warning.
Years passed the way storms do in old houses… sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. Aria grew taller. Stronger. Not in the way people usually meant.
By Amber31 minutes ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 9. Content Warning.
The notebook became her lifeline. Aria kept it hidden beneath the loose floorboard under her bed, wrapped in an old T-shirt so Chloe and Sadie wouldn’t accidentally find it while playing.
By Amber42 minutes ago in Families
Silentria: Chapter 8. Content Warning.
The woods gave them back in silence. The door appeared where the silver path ended, standing once again between two ancient trees wrapped in ivy and white flowers.
By Amberabout an hour ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 7. Content Warning.
The forest changed after the shadow shattered. The air felt lighter. Not safe… not yet… but different. As if the woods themselves had been holding their breath and had finally exhaled.
By Amberabout an hour ago in Families
CHRISTMAS DINNER, ONE CHICKEN AND NEIL
When I was about four, Christmas felt magical and exciting. It would be our first Christmas in England. We had travelled down from Scotland in the family that April, with my pet mouse perched on the back window ledge. I had only started infant school in September, so there were Christmas carols being sung everyday, and we spent our time making homemade cards and decorations.
By Karol Williamina Sumnerabout an hour ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 6. Content Warning.
The forest narrowed around them like a closing fist. Branches clawed across the moonlit path as Aria ran, Chloe and Sadie’s hands locked in hers, their footsteps stumbling over roots and stone.
By Amberabout an hour ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 5. Content Warning.
The ash did not fall. It drifted. Like black snow carried on a wind none of them could feel. Aria rose slowly, the lantern still trembling in her hands as the dark particles swirled deeper between the trees.
By Amberabout 2 hours ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 4. Content Warning.
The branches snapped again. Closer. Aria’s body moved before her mind could catch up. She pulled Sadie behind her and reached for Chloe’s hand, gripping it so tightly Chloe winced but didn’t complain.
By Amberabout 2 hours ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 3. Content Warning.
The hinges did not creak. That was the first thing Aria noticed. For something so old, the door opened in complete silence, as if it had been waiting for their hands and knew better than to frighten them away.
By Amberabout 2 hours ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 2. Content Warning.
The woods began where the backyard ended. Not all at once. First came the patch of wild grass behind the rusted chain-link fence, where dandelions pushed through cracked earth and old soda cans lay half-buried in the dirt. Then the narrow trail between the pines, worn down by years of small feet and secret escapes. Beyond that, the world changed.
By Amberabout 2 hours ago in Families
Is it OK to Grow Apart From Your Adult Children?
I’ll never forget running into my friend at the grocery store. I hadn’t seen her for a while. We had been good friends when our kids were little. Now that they were adults, we had lost touch a little bit.
By Marie Dubuqueabout 2 hours ago in Families
Silentria:Chapter 1. Content Warning.
By the time Aria was eleven, she knew the house by sound. Not the way other children knew their homes… by the squeak of a favorite swing on the porch, or the hum of a dryer, or the comfort of a parent moving around in the kitchen before breakfast.
By Amberabout 2 hours ago in Families