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 Feb. 15 2010 at 5:41 pm
polyprincess16 SILVER, Tracy, California
7 articles 0 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

That was amazing. i really loved the quote at the end and its so true. keep on writing bc you can feel all the emotions in your piece!

on Feb. 15 2010 at 4:07 pm
turn_it_up(: SILVER, Overland Park, Kansas
8 articles 0 photos 13 comments
this was amazing. i loved it. (:

on Feb. 15 2010 at 9:34 am
SarClark BRONZE, NC, Connecticut
2 articles 0 photos 534 comments
Omg that was perfect!!

on Feb. 15 2010 at 9:28 am
mandymac BRONZE, Naples, Florida
2 articles 2 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

This is an amazing story, very touching.

Lillie GOLD said...
on Feb. 14 2010 at 1:11 pm
Lillie GOLD, Omaha, Nebraska
16 articles 24 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"My gelding was sold to me as a gentlemen. He is. Whenever we go over a fence, he insists on ladies first."
-Unknown

This is a great piece. One of my favorites, and the quote at the end is the icing on the cake.

on Feb. 13 2010 at 6:05 pm
DallysGrrl PLATINUM, Middlesex, New Jersey
20 articles 0 photos 199 comments
Wow. Wow. I kno its hard 2 write from that point of view-talking lik the reader is 1 doing the actions. Im really impressed. Its really awesome. Really really awesome. If u or nybody else would comment on my work that would b awesome cuz i luv get comments from other writers!!!!

on Feb. 12 2010 at 1:43 pm
JohnnyDeppLover123 DIAMOND, Holyoke, Massachusetts
54 articles 0 photos 146 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
William Shakespeare

Wow that was really good...LIKE SERIOUSLY!!! Just great absolutely wonderful...good job keep up the good work!!! : ]

twiwrite GOLD said...
on Feb. 11 2010 at 2:38 pm
twiwrite GOLD, Modesto, California
14 articles 0 photos 111 comments

Favorite Quote:
none :P

bravo!!!!!!

on Feb. 10 2010 at 12:07 pm
kpayy5 PLATINUM, Nantucket, Massachusetts
48 articles 0 photos 13 comments
Amazing. Just amazing.

on Feb. 10 2010 at 9:59 am
askdmdofpsdo GOLD, Beverley, Other
10 articles 3 photos 44 comments
this is amazing! keep on writing and gooood luck :')

enigma99 said...
on Feb. 8 2010 at 1:49 am
enigma99, D, Georgia
0 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
-Martha Graham-

Excellent! That's all I can say!

Jenny_Bee said...
on Feb. 4 2010 at 7:48 pm
Wow! That is amazing. I like the fact that the character mixed all the laundry piles together and put the quote on top. AWESOME... keep writing!

on Jan. 31 2010 at 12:26 pm
ReneetheGreat PLATINUM, Castle Rock, Colorado
28 articles 3 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Strength does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will."

wow. wow. wow.

on Jan. 30 2010 at 2:53 pm
Kali Sanders BRONZE, Lutz, Hawaii
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
SPEECHLESS

on Jan. 29 2010 at 1:35 am
JacintaT BRONZE, Brisbane, Other
4 articles 0 photos 33 comments
being totally honest here, I have to say this is the best thing I have read on teenink so far. I can't say that anything needs improving, it's perfect.

on Jan. 24 2010 at 10:42 pm
weirdonpurpose SILVER, Georgetown, Texas
6 articles 12 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
art is happening

Bella! Bella! Beautiful! Bravo!

Tatiana BRONZE said...
on Jan. 24 2010 at 7:32 pm
Tatiana BRONZE, New Market, Maryland
1 article 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We must never, never, never give up" -Winston Churchill

Wonderfully written! The last line was especially profound and perfect for the story! I loved it!

on Jan. 24 2010 at 4:14 pm
Scarlet_Quill SILVER, Vancouver, Other
7 articles 0 photos 5 comments
Love your style!

on Jan. 24 2010 at 8:31 am
Adele Campbell BRONZE, Noblesville, Indiana
2 articles 0 photos 11 comments
I loved the ending quote!

on Jan. 16 2010 at 4:19 pm
imnotjaye SILVER, Los Angeles, California
6 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities."
Oscar Wilde
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

being a black girl in a white (but international school) community, this story touches me. it has emotion, opinion, confidence, stubborness and escpecially luv in it. everyone shood stand up for wat they believe in, like the girl in the story stood up to her parents because they being judgmental towards her. you hav great potential as a writer. keep up the great work!!