It was October of 1981 and I was a fifteen-year-old boy living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with our mother, "Alice", and my two brothers Robert and Ralph. We were typical working blue-collar family. There were no frills and no extras, only ... . The next thing I knew I woke up to the sounds of sirens. I jumped out of bed and looked out of the bedroom and down the hall. I saw our mother on the kitchen floor flat on her back, while Robert was kneeling over her administering CPR. All of a sudden, we saw firefighters storming the front door and proceeded to where our mother was ... laying in the ki...

• Word Count: 638
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... stayed in the same small town in Italy. As years past these children had offspring of their own. My great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Raffaele Lucatelli, had two girls and a boy. My great aunts Libia and Pina, and my grandfather Giuliano Lucatelli. My grandfather was schooled in Italy and joined the Italian military. I believe it was in 1950 that he returned ... the age of fourteen my father had put me to work in the restaurant. It wasn't like an actual job though. He had me work busy weekends either in the kitchen helping out or somewhere at the front of the house. I didn't mind, it was...

• Word Count: 1099
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . It was the day I moved to Satellite Beach and the day I met Brad Faulkner. From my kitchen window, I could see out to the golf course and I could see a little boy fishing in the lake. I didn't know any kids, so I went out to meet him. The boy's name was Brad and since there weren't many children in the neighborhood, we became very close friends ... school. We would see each other ever now and then, but not exchange much more than a "Hello." When I got to High School, Brad had grown up! He wasn't the same boy next door that I used to run around and play tag with. Brad was a junior with ...

• Word Count: 883
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School