Dad delivers the news to me moments before someone dies. Dad passed away more than twenty-five years ago, and since his passing, he visits to tell me about people I know who are on the brink of death. …

I knew you in my dream. A Miracle Called Ava: I am a Believer, but being spiritual and having visions or “seeing” things is different. No, I’m not Nostradamus re-incarnated. I don’t have insight into when the world will end, and I don’t know when we will have world peace…

"Stop crying, or I will give you something to cry about," yelled my father. I'm confused. I thought the hiding I had just received was something to cry about. Angrily wiping the tears off my face, I looked at him with a combination of hurt and defiance. "You'd better wipe…

I can’t breathe — I walk to the shops, my nostrils filled with the stench of teargas and burning tires. At seven years old, I’m too young to understand that my skin colour is not celebrated in this world. All I know is that I can’t breathe. …

The time when anonymous calls were not creepy. I hastily put down the receiver and berated myself for being unable to speak to him again. Why would he notice someone like me? …

My daughter, Robyn, fell in love when she was nine — The First Meeting: There she sat, the ugly duckling amongst the beautiful ones. Her mom was a gorgeous poodle, and her siblings inherited her looks. Everyone who came to fetch a puppy ooh’ed and ahh’ed the moment they laid eyes on the fluffy, white-haired bundles. Then they would see her…

Yep, that heading belongs to me. (Family kisses don’t count.) I have been 16 for nine months already, and no one (well, no one I thought was even remotely nice, least of all the boy I was crushing on had asked to kiss me, yet) Yikes! What is wrong with…

Sixth Sense: The unease I was feeling had been with me for a week now. It was so loud in the pit of my stomach that I was beginning to feel annoyed. The practical side of me was at odds with the spiritual, intuitive side. Generally, the spiritual side wins…

The Voice Inside: The Imprisonment: People who have been incarcerated for years often don't know what to do with their lives once they're set free. It's overwhelming because they've changed and so has the world. They find technology strange and feel inadequate because they don’t know what to do with…