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.


reader:) said...
on Nov. 19 2009 at 6:43 pm
I love it. It is extrordiniary and beautifully written.

on Nov. 19 2009 at 5:18 pm
katie_bugg GOLD, Scott Depot, West Virginia
14 articles 14 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"But my heart, it is brighter than all the many stars in the sky"









-Edgar Allan Poe

that was amazing. very well done...

on Nov. 19 2009 at 3:11 pm
emjay1216 SILVER, Eugene, Oregon
6 articles 3 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
Often times, the test of courage is not to die, but to live.
~ Vittorio Alfieri

that. was. beautiful. im speechless. wow.

evie428 BRONZE said...
on Nov. 16 2009 at 8:55 pm
evie428 BRONZE, Ontario, Other
4 articles 1 photo 88 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination."

Wow . . . so beautiful! Made me so sad when I read the last sentance. :( Great writing, I read this again and again!

on Nov. 16 2009 at 7:36 pm
purplegiirl24 BRONZE, Brooklyn, New York
1 article 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I'm not mean; ii jUst tell thee thruth"

ii LOVE iit. amazing piece.

on Nov. 16 2009 at 8:25 am
Rachel_Beth GOLD, Rainsville, Alabama
11 articles 3 photos 19 comments
I loved it. i can relate. beautiful story!

on Nov. 14 2009 at 7:30 pm
writergirl22 SILVER, In, New York
6 articles 0 photos 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Never frown. You never know who's falling in love with your smile." -Anounymous

that was really good! i really liked it.

L-Jay8 said...
on Nov. 13 2009 at 1:29 am
L-Jay8, Melbourne, Other
0 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph, die, like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume,"

- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Absolutely gorgeous! I loved it; keep up the great work...."Laundry is the only thing that should be seperated by colour"....seriously; that's pure genius

BookAddict said...
on Nov. 9 2009 at 5:01 pm
Love this, you so creativley incorrperated new and fresh presentations of old ideas. Keep it up!

on Nov. 6 2009 at 2:44 pm
coffeebean101, Cave City, Kentucky
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people.
-John Lennon

i like this (:

on Nov. 5 2009 at 12:00 pm
MRS.ROCHE SILVER, Panama City, Florida
7 articles 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
NEVER LEAVE THE ONE YOU LOVE FOR THE ONE YOU LUST BECAUSE THE OE YOU LUST WILL LEAVE YOU FOR THE ONE THEY LOVE

this was so good. i love the message you left.. it was so right. Im mixed and my boyfriend is all black. color doesn't matter its who that person is inside

on Nov. 4 2009 at 2:51 pm
rain-rain111 PLATINUM, Roselle, Illinois
28 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
He offered her the world but she said she had her own.

So sweet and heart filled! I like the message she lft her parents.

snc947 GOLD said...
on Nov. 4 2009 at 12:58 pm
snc947 GOLD, Swansboro, North Carolina
15 articles 10 photos 40 comments
I absolutely loved it! The strong message at the ending was wonderful.

on Oct. 31 2009 at 2:38 pm
jaquetem BRONZE, Cincinnati, Ohio
2 articles 4 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
Get up and Raise your Voice!

Oh my gosh, this was wonderful. I wish i could write like this!

stormie. GOLD said...
on Oct. 31 2009 at 9:39 am
stormie. GOLD, Toronto, Other
14 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
ѕcаттεя мε аcяоѕѕ тнε ѕкy; аи∂ juѕт lιкε а ѕтая, ι'll ѕнιиε fоя yоu.♥

amazing. wow. brilliant. fantastic. so true!! loved it!!

auna123 BRONZE said...
on Oct. 28 2009 at 8:35 pm
auna123 BRONZE, Bethel, Alaska
1 article 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten." B.F. skinner

i love it its amazing your so right. people are people all the same. you might look different, act different, or just your different. people shouldn't judge cuz it takes one to know one. i love how you express that in this piece.

on Oct. 28 2009 at 2:41 pm
MayaChristine GOLD, Stocksfield, Other
11 articles 0 photos 28 comments
Absolutely awesome, and totally right.

on Oct. 28 2009 at 11:10 am
very_literary SILVER, Ballwin, Missouri
7 articles 0 photos 46 comments
Great message, I love this peice. It's really good and has a much needed message in it.

on Oct. 28 2009 at 6:11 am
EHunt96 PLATINUM, Swampscott, Massachusetts
32 articles 0 photos 215 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Never give up on something you can't go a day without thinking about."

Amazing!!! Very powerful message!!!

Keep writing! :)

free 2 write said...
on Oct. 21 2009 at 7:10 pm
Lovely simply lovely. I love the last line. Very strong.