Dirty Laundry | Teen Ink

Dirty Laundry MAG

April 2, 2009
By Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
83 articles 0 photos 435 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life's no fun if you're not insane, otherwise you grow up to be an accountant." -Moi


He is your world. He is the one you would live and die for. You love the color of his skin – different from yours – the perfect balance between light and dark, day and night. You love the way he tells you he loves you. He says he'll marry you someday.

But your mom does not approve. You wonder every day how anyone can be so bigoted. Has she not felt the way you do at some point in her life? She doesn't understand, just rants and raves about your “taste in men” in that nasally voice you hate – the one she only uses when she's angry.

Later you sit on your bed, and turn up the volume on your iPod. “All the Same” by the Sick Puppies blasts through the ear buds.

Wrong or right … black or white … if I close my eyes … it's all the same.

Your mom has forbidden you from seeing him again, and Dad's taken to keeping a shotgun in the living room.

In my life … the compromise … I'll close my eyes … it's all the same.

You remember telling him you were afraid but that you wouldn't stop seeing him. He asked you to run away with him, just drop everything and run, figure it out as you went. But you said you wanted to wait and see if it would blow over. The look in his eyes was sad, as if he knew your parents would never accept him.

You hop off your bed and start shoving clothes into an duffel bag, making a trip to the bathroom for your toothbrush. You head to your desk and stare blankly at a piece of paper, pencil in hand. You write a quote that has been in your heart from the minute your parents told you that you were making a big mistake. It's short, but it's all you need to say.

You head down the hall to the laundry room. Your mom has piles of clothes on the floor, organized by color. You grab bits from every pile and toss them to the middle, creating a mound no longer separated into lights and darks.

Green, yellow, red, blue, black, white – all heaped into one huge pile. You lay your message on the top. It doesn't say who you're with or where you're going, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out.

“Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color.”



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This article has 455 comments.


on Oct. 15 2010 at 3:37 pm
Inkinmyveins21, Spotsylvania, Virginia
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
This is amazing! I'm soo glad you showed me this story amlee1212!

on Oct. 15 2010 at 12:44 pm
nefariouslyme, Richland, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 72 comments
This is true.

on Oct. 15 2010 at 11:16 am
RyanTaylor SILVER, Columbia, South Carolina
7 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
Why care when you dont?

this is rly gud. the mom reminds me of my own

on Oct. 6 2010 at 7:45 am
amlee1212 BRONZE, Spotsylvania, Virginia
3 articles 0 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I'll love you forever or find something better..."

This is truly amazing. I love this article so much. I think everyone should read this and understand that if you love someone, color should not matter. Fantastic job, I really just want to re-read this over and over again!

on Oct. 5 2010 at 10:05 pm
communicativedistractions PLATINUM, Fall City, Washington
25 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I miss you like an alcoholic misses toothpaste."

Last line is amazing :)

on Sep. 23 2010 at 5:39 pm
Whisperheart BRONZE, Ashburn, Virginia
1 article 8 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world..."~Taylor Swift
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Wow, this was a great piece. At first I thought it was just going to be some ordinary story about how much someone likes their boyfriend, but by the time I got to the end I loved it! The quote really pulls the entire thing together, and I like how the quote is placed on top of a pile of laundry. Great work.

on Sep. 23 2010 at 4:27 pm
yogagurl BRONZE, Marathon, Florida
2 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A true friend is somene who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

this is so awesome! i love the creativity! plus the quote is really cool! awesome job!

on Sep. 23 2010 at 3:51 pm
silence-is-loud GOLD, Chicago, Illinois
10 articles 0 photos 135 comments

Favorite Quote:
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE- MUHAMMID ALI

woowww.... i love how creative this story is. it tells a powerful story, without exactly saying what you mean. ammaaazzziiiinnnggg <3

. said...
on Sep. 23 2010 at 1:38 pm
i love this(:

on Sep. 23 2010 at 9:58 am
ilovetinkerbell GOLD, Raytown, Missouri
13 articles 0 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be yourself!!!

this is very good. i am sorry for you. i am very glad that my parents aren't like that. You are right about the laundry. Only laundry can be seperated by color. If you keep thinking this way, one day you will change the world. Good luck. You are in our prayers. :)

on Sep. 23 2010 at 9:45 am
vikesfan28 GOLD, Genoa, Nevada
14 articles 0 photos 28 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm still a geek on the inside, that's the important thing.









-Wierd Al Yankovic

At the beginning I didn't think it was very impressive.  Once the author decides she is going to leave, the story takes off!  In the end, it was breathtaking!

on Sep. 23 2010 at 8:04 am
theclair22 BRONZE, Seoul, Other
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
Wow. Amazing comparison!

on Sep. 14 2010 at 7:43 pm
ThatClarinetPerson SILVER, Tequesta, Florida
8 articles 0 photos 226 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life. Don't talk to me about life."
~Marvin the Paranoid Android (from the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series)
Statistical analysis suggests that i am probably in tune with someone
(hahahahaha! I love this cause i'm never ever ever in tune >o

gosh that was cheesy :) if i was going to comment again, i would say that there's no point in saying anything because everyone else has already said it and it would be redundant :) seriously, thought. great work.

on Sep. 7 2010 at 9:56 am
DiamondsIntheGrass GOLD, Martinsville, New Jersey
14 articles 1 photo 278 comments

Favorite Quote:
Worry is simply a misuse of the imagination.

thats really deep.  love how the quote brings everything together.  can you take a look at my work? thanks.

leila12 BRONZE said...
on Sep. 5 2010 at 6:24 pm
leila12 BRONZE, Lexington, Nebraska
1 article 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Take too many pictures, laugh a lot, love like you've never been hurt, because every 60 seconds you spend being upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back."

this is amazing!!! eventhough its so short it really touches you.

whitwhit said...
on Sep. 5 2010 at 5:49 pm
whitwhit, Mt.vernon, Missouri
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
That is soo good.

lyssa28 BRONZE said...
on Sep. 1 2010 at 7:17 pm
lyssa28 BRONZE, Las Vegas, Nevada
2 articles 0 photos 89 comments
Oh my gosh. i was speechless when i read this. this is so amazing. I was so touched. Im glad my parents arent like that. My mom is white and my dad moved here from mexico when he was 21.

heeeeeyou said...
on Sep. 1 2010 at 6:57 pm
bee-you-tea-ful.

on Sep. 1 2010 at 6:28 pm
This is sooooo well written and amazing. I have to agree with everyone that the final quote was amazing.

whatever... said...
on Sep. 1 2010 at 5:40 pm
I agree!!! I also agree with everyone else that your quote was AMAZING!!! I would never have been able to come up with that! Nice Work!!!