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.


Lindsey31 GOLD said...
on Mar. 27 2012 at 4:01 pm
Lindsey31 GOLD, Rockford, Minnesota
11 articles 11 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
LIVE life ~ LAUGH always ~ LOVE lots

This is seriously my favorite story I've ever read. You should get a metal or something. Not kidding. You are an amazing writer. This content is so simplistic yet it speaks volumes. If you could turn it into a romance novel and publish it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Brookealee said...
on Mar. 26 2012 at 10:02 pm
Brookealee, Gilbert, Arizona
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments
I was pulled into this piece from the very beginning, and the whole thing proved to be extremely lovely. The ending was eloquent and passionate, and I liked how you used her words to wrap it up. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

Lindsey31 GOLD said...
on Mar. 26 2012 at 4:31 pm
Lindsey31 GOLD, Rockford, Minnesota
11 articles 11 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
LIVE life ~ LAUGH always ~ LOVE lots

This is great! If you want to read an amazing love story, check out "Who is Elliot Swan." You'd love it! Feel free to comment as well. Just check out my page OR see the recently published work. Thanks!

on Mar. 26 2012 at 9:29 am
BlackCloudsLover SILVER, Waterford, Wisconsin
9 articles 4 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel."

Great story(:

Kelsey B. said...
on Mar. 22 2012 at 8:38 am
i really love this. great job.

on Mar. 20 2012 at 2:04 pm
Perfect-Darkness GOLD, Kennebunk, Maine
19 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
One of the hardest things you'll ever have to do is to stop loving someone because they've stopped loving you.

Great Job! I Love it, and the quote is really cool. I definetly know the feeling when your parents don't approve

on Mar. 8 2012 at 7:58 pm
NaomiStatia GOLD, Oranjestad, Other
12 articles 2 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Too many to remember!

OMG!! I love it! Short but sweet. Gets to the point....I LOVE!

on Mar. 4 2012 at 7:53 pm
billgamesh11 BRONZE, Grafton, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 278 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It's always darkest before the dawn." ~Florence and the Machine

Whoa! I love this! I think the last quote is just so perfect for the end of the article! Very original! Great Job and Keep Writing!!! :):):);)

on Mar. 4 2012 at 5:50 pm
kaitlin96 SILVER, Hemet, California
8 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
-Benjamin Franklin

AWESOME piece! Very discriptive!

on Mar. 4 2012 at 2:46 pm
selahoverrated GOLD, Mt Sidney, Virginia
11 articles 0 photos 43 comments
hey this is reaaly good, that is so true about laundry being the only thing seperated by color, great quote.

on Mar. 4 2012 at 1:30 pm
Wanderlust. SILVER, Burke, Virginia
5 articles 0 photos 14 comments
Oh wow....I am fairly new to teenink, and this is the first I've read from the site, and it's brillant. That last quote in the end, so powerful. I adore it :)

on Feb. 28 2012 at 3:22 pm
readaholic PLATINUM, Tomahawk, Wisconsin
27 articles 0 photos 425 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'd rather fail because I fell on my own face than fall because someone tripped me up
~Jhonen Vasquez

Oooo...I checked this out because I saw so many people had it favorited.  Now I can see why...If I may ask, who is the quote by?

CeCe-isMe said...
on Feb. 28 2012 at 1:51 pm
I loved the quote at the end. It is very true. Keep up the good writing!

on Feb. 14 2012 at 9:08 am
MistrBrighterside BRONZE, Bethel, New York
1 article 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Move on. It's just a chapter in the past. But don't close the book, just turn the page." ~ Anonymous

Amazing! Discrimination is intolerable and this story implied that charmingly.

Sk8erGirl said...
on Feb. 12 2012 at 7:38 am
Sk8erGirl, Manchester, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Dance as though no one is watching you, sing as though no one can hear you, love as though you have never been hurt before, live as though heaven is on earth"-Souka

This story is one that I look for almost each time that I come online. It is so true, and I'm happy that someone is writing from this angle. Congrats on getting it in the magazine. It should be :)

on Feb. 11 2012 at 7:36 pm
AndSoItGoes01 SILVER, Reno, Nevada
9 articles 0 photos 147 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The winter I told you icicles are magic, you stole an enormous icicle from my neighbors shingle, and gave it to me as a gift, I kept it in my freezer for seven months. Love isn't always magic, sometimes it's melting." -Andrea Gibson

Great job, i loved the ending! But I have to ask, is this based off a personal experience??? Maybe not all of it, just pieces???? Ok, i'll stop being so nosey, still AMAZING job!!!!!

on Feb. 11 2012 at 2:50 pm
RoseCartier BRONZE, Rockbridge, Ohio
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Doctor doctor, guess what?! Demented people travel in herds!"- me

i like the last line it has so much meaning. its amazing how one sentence can explane every thing that's going on

aem312 BRONZE said...
on Feb. 11 2012 at 11:52 am
aem312 BRONZE, Richmond, Massachusetts
4 articles 0 photos 43 comments
I LOVE the ending, it's so powerful. Great job!

Unknown0_0 said...
on Feb. 11 2012 at 11:42 am
Unknown0_0, Valrico, Florida
0 articles 2 photos 253 comments
Wow, this really is good!

on Feb. 11 2012 at 10:42 am
mammothfrk PLATINUM, Mammoth Lakes, California
21 articles 25 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
This is your life, are you who you want to be?

Im..speechless. This is so good.