Nonfiction
How Things Went From Wonderful to Terrifying.... Content Warning.
My divorce with my first husband was final in August 2014 and by the time I got the divorce papers in the mail I had already been dating Wade 2 weeks. I remember I was so happy to get that paperwork in the mail that my pregnant self ran across the yard to give Wade a hug and kiss when I got them. The paperwork meant that I was officially legally divorced and could be with Wade. I wish to God I had opened my eyes a little wider to see the red flags that were already looming over an overcast sky. The funny thing is that I thought I was keeping a good outsider's perspective. Everyone around me was just happy I was happy and Wade was a hard worker so he made enough money for me to be able to keep my house. It was convenient really because when I met Wade he told me he had just gotten out of an awful long term relationship where his ex girlfriend was crazy and then of course there was that brief fling with K from my work but he said that he and his boys were living with his mother and step father and he was about to be looking for another place to live anyway and since I was having trouble figuring out how to pay for my house it made perfect sense we both figured for him to move in permanently. Soon, the what should have been red flags started to emerge. Well, they already had had I known to see them or had I not been so blinded by his passion and attention that I somehow couldn't see them. As it turned out, Wade had a lot of crazy exes. His ex wife and mother to his boys and he used to have crazy knock down drag out fights that he hoped to never repeat. He said they would throw things at each other, yell, scream, punch walls, push each other, etc. She was crazy though and she couldn't keep her hands off the men. He was a truck driver for the most part that's how Wade made his living and he said when he was married to her he traveled across country and he would get calls that she had other men at their home. He described in detail to me how bad her sex addiction was and how it destroyed their marriage. Then, there was the last long term relationship he'd had shortly before me with Amy we'll call her. He said Amy was always trying to force marriage on him and even bought them wedding bands. He said that Amy lived with most of her family though and that her and her family was crazy. He said that they'd talk about crazy things and get drunk and high all the time and he got so tired of living that life. Wade said it got to a point where he and his boys were scared to stay there and one night while Amy was ranting and raving about something he got a few clothes for him and his boys and got them out of there. Because of this incident though, it left Wade with pretty much nothing to his name. They had no beds, no toys for the boys, no possessions except a few clothes. Also, to top it all off he said that Amy still wanted him and still asked people about him and what he was doing nowadays. It was crazy. Then, there was this other girl that was one of his exes named Jin and she worked at the Dollar store in town and I was told who she was and what she looked like because she wanted him back too and if she found out that he and I were together she would probably try to cause me trouble. He wanted me to know this he said so I could keep myself safe and be aware of these situations. Are you seeing the red flags yet? I wasn't. I just thought, "Wow, what a troubled past this poor man has had and what a string of crazy exes. Good grief. I don't want that drama and they won't be starting anything with me." There was one thing that Wade never opened up to me much about though and that was his childhood. He always told me that he would in due time but that time never really came. Sure, over the years and with some coaxing I managed to piece a few things together but what I knew for sure was that his biological father was a nightmare and Wade didn't want to be anything like him. He said that his step father who we'll call S had come into his life in his late pre-teen years and raised him to be a good man. He idolized S and thought I suppose that every boy needed that in his life. My son was six years old and was going through the worst time in his life what with his parents divorcing and now this new guy had moved in and yet Wade for some reason thought he needed saving and some structure I suppose. Wade's motto was always something along the lines of shit happens, stuff it in a box, shut up and get over it. It seemed everything my son AJ did was the wrong thing in Wade's eyes and he kept trying to set him straight. I was told every time I stuck up for AJ that I babied him too much and that I was favoring him over Wade's two boys. I tried hard to accept NJ and LJ as my own but with the situation with my son starting pretty much right off the bat I immedietly set up resentments. It was in fact, a recipe for disaster but at the time I told myself "Well, Wade isn't the only one that says I spoil AJ so maybe I do need to buckle down a little. Maybe there is a happy medium in this somewhere because other than the children and parenting disagreements Wade and I are great with each other." I tried still even though I knew deep down I was failing my son in certain ways to please not only Wade but my son. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted us all to be one big happy family and I just knew it was possible right?
By Lindsey Altom2 years ago in Chapters
Morals of the Story
Toastmasters International is a group devoted to increasing communication skills, boosting the confidence of people learning to hone their public speaking skills. Meetings emphasize both listening and speaking skills, and newcomers work through lessons to assist them in creating their speeches.
By Judey Kalchik 2 years ago in Chapters
Messages From the Universe 🥹
I just had one of the most spiritually incredible days of my life. I can’t share the whole story until I am safely off this island… because I have to protect myself… let me just cut to end. The story start to finish would have a much more impressive impact but (safety first).
By Kayleigh Fraser ✨2 years ago in Chapters
Road to Admittance. Content Warning.
It takes a lot for a person to admit they need help and for me, it took me to lose everything I knew to finally admit to myself that I needed help. I purposely pretended to be fine, denied others reasoning to be concerned and refused to seek help because I selfishly didn't want it. I isolated myself because deep down, I knew nobody around me would be able to understand exactly how I felt. The pain in my chest and my suppressed anger, hurt and confusion all joined up together and made my thoughts become somebody I didn't recognize and often feared. My best friends, Trinity and Briana, knew I was getting worse every time the school bell rang and I had to make my way back home. They knew I had finally given up fighting my depression for my sexual abuse and my mother’s neglect; 5 years was too long to keep trying after the 9 years of abuse. And unfortunately there wasn't much they could do when they looked into my eyes and didn't see the real me anymore as I told them “ I’m okay guys. I’m used to it. Go home, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Reluctantly, we would turn away from each other and walk away and I knew they knew the whispered “ Maybe ” came uttering from my mouth causing unshed tears to gather in our eyes. The sinister me was waiting to welcome me in its arms as soon as I walked in my home and trudged up the steps to the sanctuary of my room. My mental health was in shambles but I wasn't going to admit that to anyone, even myself. It wasn’t until I was alone in a hospital room where everything changed for me.
By Yvonaé Dessus2 years ago in Chapters
Time
I had two choices: Cry a bit longer and risk the whites of my eyes and puffiness around not having enough time to go back to normal, or push the feelings aside and try to focus on something else. The former would have made sense. I had about 20 minutes until my clients would arrive - 5 more minutes to cry, 5 minutes to fix my makeup and 10 minutes to put the mask back on, with its painted smile across it.
By Sabrina Rupolo2 years ago in Chapters
Heimgang . Runner-Up in Chapters Challenge.
Outside of my front door and across the valley there are three castles each on their own mountain top. I'm living in an old railroad station and the train still runs in front of my house. There is a small road that connects the two closest towns. They are a kilometer in either direction. I am allowed to run all the way to the end of the dirt road where there is a giant buckeye tree. The farmer piles his hay underneath it and when I climb the very top I can almost touch the lowest branches of the tree. There are wheat fields all around my house and I am just tall enough to look over the grass. I love plucking the green and unripe seeds out of the field. They taste sweet. I have a giant backyard and my favorite spot is in the top of the cherry tree that leans just over the fence.
By Adelheid West 2 years ago in Chapters
Into the waves
Saltwater swirled around my outstretched fingers, the chill of the October brine prickling at my ashen skin. The pallid grey-green sky and the eerily calm flow of the tides signaled that a storm was coming- i'd need to batten down the hatches.
By Christiane Winter2 years ago in Chapters
How Things Went From Wonderful to Terrifying...
When I first met we'll call him Wade I was working at my uncle's grocery store, I was pregnant, I had a six year old son and was in the middle of a divorce from my highschool sweetheart. Wade was working for a local businessman who owned a couple of local business' around our small town and they came into the grocery store about everyday for lunch and to do business such as cashing checks for some of the local business man's employees. I was feeling lost in my life as you can imagine; I didn't know where to go from here. I had worked my ass off for years to finally own my own home as my previous husband had not been very consistent with keeping a job and I knew it would take more than what I made to be able to keep my home. I had another baby on the way and a six year old plus myself to feed and take care of and stressed and scared doesn't even begin to describe it. I had also felt lonely, unheard and misunderstood for so many years in my marriage that it had left me feeling desperate to see if better was out there. Wade started talking to one of my co-workers and they even went out on a date but it didn't go well and when he tried to come talk to her about it at the store that should've been my first red flag but I let my desperateness see past that incident. When Wade came to talk to her he cornered her in an aisle and wouldn't let her pass telling her that he just wanted to talk about the date and that she couldn't just avoid him. She was smart and said that she didn't want any part of that meaning his aggressiveness and abrasiveness and they didn't go out again. I waited a few weeks and let all that simmer down but I couldn't get something I had heard Wade tell my young co-worker when they were talking out of my head. He had said that he just wanted someone to settle down with, someone to love and that would love him back. I thought because my co-worker was young at the time "Well then you don't need a girl you need a woman and you need me." Although I also was petrified he would see me and run because I was pregnant with another man's child. So, after those few weeks and things simmering down I let the talk of my other co-worker we'll call Sue who was telling me things like "He's cute!", "You should grab him up! K(the other co-worker who'd went on a date with him) didn't want him so you need to get him." get to me. I looked into his beautiful blue eyes one day and let myself get lost in them. I asked K for his number and it was not long after that that we were texting back and forth and then the next day he and his boys came to visit. He had two sons from a previous marriage. One of his sons who we'll call LJ was the same age as my son and the other, we'll call NJ was nine. Things with Wade were very hot and very heavy very quickly. That first night we spoke on the phone and stayed on the phone most of the night; talking to each other, asking each other questions about our likes and dislikes and our family life. He agreed with most everything I said which now I see it for the red flag that it was, unfortunately at the time I just thought "This is great! How are we so much like each other!?" The next day we all met each other and let the kids play while we hung out and talked some more. By the end of that day, we had shared our first kiss and it wasn't just one. The next day which I believe was a Monday, Wade came to stay the night. It was a horrible decision on my part with having my six year old there but he consumed my every thought and made me feel like I was so special that I didn't want to be away from him. I felt at the time that God was answering my prayers since I knew that alone I would lose my house possibly and I was so worried about that. That night, Wade and I made love all night and the rest of that week followed much the same way. We'd get up in the morning on little to no sleep, go to work, come home, cook supper, eat with my son who we'll call AJ, get him his bath and homework done, put him to bed and then resume our love making sessions. It was some of the most passionate sex I'd ever had(granted I'd only ever been with my highschool sweetheart beforehand) but Wade was full of a fire and a passion I had never known. He was hungry and wild and passionate and so was I. If only I'd understood that part of that passion came from an anger burning deep inside that could not be tamed. A beast that would soon emerge....
By Lindsey Altom2 years ago in Chapters
