Author: vu minh

The pearls scattered like tears on the worn hardwood, each one a tiny, mocking echo of the composure I was rapidly losing. It had been building for years, this resentment, this simmering rage that threatened to boil over every time I saw Eliza. And now, here, in Mom’s overly-perfumed, eerily silent house, it finally erupted….

The silence in the car was a thick, suffocating blanket. My father stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched, as if daring me to break the stillness. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel. I wanted to scream, to lash out, to shatter the carefully constructed facade of respectability that had defined our relationship for…

The mud was thick, clinging to my boots as I ground the watch deeper into the earth. Each shard of glass that crunched under my heel was a tiny act of defiance, a pathetic attempt to reclaim a decade lost. He stood there, bewildered, like a dog that couldn’t understand why you were yelling at…

The frosting was smudged, the candles crooked, and my youngest, Leo, was halfway up the curtains, convinced he could fly like Superman. It was chaos, glorious chaos, and usually, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But my mother was watching, her lips pursed into that familiar, disapproving line. I knew what was coming. “Honestly,…

The wood splintered under the force of his kick. I flinched, pulling the threadbare blanket tighter around me, trying to disappear into the corner of the bedroom. “Sarah! Open this door!” His voice was a low growl, laced with the familiar threat that had become the soundtrack of our marriage. My Sarah. As if i…

The ice water hit me like a physical blow. I gasped, sputtering, as droplets ran down my face and soaked into my t-shirt. My sister, Sarah, stood over me, the empty plastic pitcher dangling from her hand. Her face was a mask of fury. “You lazy piece of—” she started, but caught herself, glancing towards…

The words hung in the air, thick and poisonous: “I hate you, Mom.” Spittle clung to the corner of his mouth, eyes bloodshot, his face contorted with a rage I hadn’t seen since his father left. He was a stranger, this boy who used to be my sun and stars. Now, he was a black…

The wind howled around the cabin, a sound that usually brought comfort, but tonight it was a chorus to my anxiety. Keys in hand, I stood between Mark and his truck, the cold seeping into my bones despite the thick flannel I wore. He was furious, eyes bloodshot, voice thick with the slurred defiance I…

The pen felt heavy in my hand, cold and metallic against my sweaty palm. Dad’s hand trembled beneath mine, papery skin stretched over brittle bones. His eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, were clouded with a pain I knew all too well – the agonizing pull of addiction. I hated this. Hated him for putting me…

The sound still rings in my ears: the shattering of porcelain, a symphony of destruction I conducted with my own hands. Dinner plates, family heirlooms, all exploding against the wall as I screamed at Sarah. “Normal? You call this normal?” I roared, gesturing at the wreckage, at the pathetic charade she’d constructed around us. “Hiding…