Starting Over

Hello! This is a story I want to start writing. There is so many stories dealing with Serial Killers, I thought it would be interesting to see what it was like for the children left behind to deal with their actions.  I would appreciate comments to let me know if you liked it or hated it! 

Dedicated to Kelsie -  Kelsiemariephotography.Blogspot.Com



The sun had begun to rise over the hills of Kentucky. From a distance they truly looked blue. It was times like these when I longed to paint, so I could capture this moment. This would be the last time I would see these hills. I don't regret the choice to leave,  But I think my heart would always long for the hills and the woods around my childhood home. It hadn't always been a place of fear and regret.

I loaded up my Dad's old Chevy blazer. It was a piece of junk but it would get me to my destination. And wasn't too bad on gas.
 Plus he only used it for work, so no bad memories in it. I didn't want to carry anything that was tied to him and his victims.

Though I would miss the scenery and my home. I would not miss the town. After my Father was arrested, the people there felt as if I was a monster too. They'd whisper and point every time I'd leave my home.Once I went to eat at a restaurant and they refused to serve me, the owners niece was also taken by my Father.
Maybe they blamed me for what he did, maybe they blamed me because I didn't catch him quick enough. To tell you the truth, I blamed myself too. How could I be so blind?

I shook my head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. It was over now, He's be executed next month and I have a chance to start my life over.

I placed the key under the front step like I told the realtor I would. But I doubted she'd ever be able to sell it.It was a place where too many horrible things happened, no one would want to live that close to hell.

i didn't look back as I drove away, I couldn't. If I did I'd see them.The memories that portrayed my Father as a good man. A man who gave me gifts and helped me with my homework. The whole time keeping a horrible secret in his garage.
 He did not deserve love, and from what I read he is not capable of love. Maybe I was just a cover? I guess it doesn't really matter now. I haven't spoken to him since the day I turned him in. And he hasn't reached out to me.


My drive was long and tiring, I had too much time to think. To be honest, I really didn't have a destination in mind. I had plenty of money left from my Dad, I could go where ever I wanted. The first thing that came to mind was the beach. I'd love to live at the beach. I had only been there once, when Mom was alive. It was our first and only family vacation.

I listened to the radio, until it changed to two radio personalities debating the death sentence. It made me sick to my stomach. The next station was talking about the 'Kentucky night stalker' also known as Thomas Haynes, also known as my Father. Why did they have to give him a name? Like it was some kind of sick game. Here they were immortalizing the killer instead of the victims.  I shook away those thoughts. I was done with it, I'm leaving the past behind me.

I deserved a life, and I'm going to start living it.

Sunday Dinner

The summer heat felt good on my face, and got warmer and warmer by the minute. But I knew that if I were to step into the shade my bare feet would freeze. That's how it was before noon in Skull Hollow, it would be fifty at twelve and ninety at one. 

The dogs followed me up the road. The gravel crunched under my already dirty feet, and the breeze would blow my hair around, I knew I didn't look great. I hadn't even bothered to put on makeup, My family were the only ones to see me most of the time during the summer, and they've seen me at my worst. 

I walked to the mail boxes and got my Mamaw's paper. I usually got it for her everyday, though sometimes she beat me to it. 

Her home was first home in the holler. It sat on to a small hill, not huge, but big enough so that when the floods come during the spring it didn't reach her home or her car.  She had a fairly large carport on her home, that was never used for cars. It was covered in chairs and a big swing hung off the side. She had made it welcoming. Every Sunday, she would prepare a dinner for the family and then we would all go and sit on the carport and just talk. Looking back I wish I would have appreciated that more. Now a days family's rarely eat together and even more rarely sit on a porch and just talk for hours. But even now, we still do it. Why? Maybe the answer is just so simple: love.  We all there for each other. That made us a close knit family. 

Mamaw was already up, talking on the phone, like usual. Most likely with her sister Gail, who was even more of an early riser than she was. She had a pot of coffee brewing, in preparation for my Aunt Terri who lived next door.  I had always hated the taste of coffee but I loved the smell of it. 

While I waited for Mamaw to get off the phone, I looked through the paper. It wasn't really anything new. More drug arrests in Portsmouth, a break-in in Sciotoville, hardly anything good. That's what this world is coming to. It's easy to forget that the world isn't as nice as it is in the Holler. 

To my delight Mamaw was making her homemade noodles. It was a lot of work for her to make them, but she knew how much we all loved them. They were the best. Now I know everyone always says's their Mamaw's food is the best. But mines really is.  By the time it's done, everybody was there. Mamaw had two daughters and three sons, all were there with their children. All of us kids were growing up, many of us were years apart and we all seemed to have different interests but still we are close. 

Dad was off work today, to my delight. He works at a steel Mill and they work him for every second they can get out of him, and we don't get to see him as much as we like. Sometimes he'd work several doubles in a row, and I'd go a week without seeing him, even though we lived in the same house. But he never complained or quit. He always has been a hard worker, providing for his family has always been a priority in life. 

Today was a nice enough day that most of us chose to eat outside. It was early June and wasn't too hot yet and the hornets were keeping away. I usually just listened when everyone talk, they had ways of making the simplest stories seem adventurous. I loved to hear my Dad tell a story, the way his eyes lit up and his laugh seemed to be infectious. 

Us girls decided to take a walk up the holler, trying to be healthy but that was almost comical considering the big home-cooked, carbed meal we all just consumed. 

The line-up usually consisted of My Aunt, Terri, Missy and Angie and my cousins, Maddie, Cari and Mandy. We'd walk and just chat. We always knew everything about each others lives. The boys, My cousins, were playing basketball. It was just too beautiful to not be outside, enjoying it. 

Sundays in the Holler, Time seemed to slow down. It was the perfect way to end a weekend. 

That way our weeks began and ended with family. 

And at the end of the day, when I crawled in bed one quote came to mind:

Memories at Mamaw's

Dedicated to Dorthy June Coriell 

You know that quote: 'Home is where your story begins'. You hear it in sappy movies and see it on home decorations, It's so over used it seemed to have lost it's meaning. But as I looked over pictures of my childhood and the memories came back, I realized it had a different meaning , a real meaning for me and for my cousins.

Our story began in a small hollow in Ohio, or Holler to those who were fortunate enough to live there. Though the holler is beautiful and full of stories, but it wasn't what shaped our characters. It was each other.

I was lucky that I got to grow up with my cousins and so many of them. It was like already having best friends before you ever made any.  
Now to a lot of people cousins are people you see at family reunions and funerals, people whose name you can't hardly remember.  But my cousins were closer than siblings. And no matter how old we get or how far apart we now live, that will never change.  

Some of my favorite memories were playing in the creek and climbing trees, and taking hikes through tons of thorn bushes, not to mention Most of the time we were barefoot when we did those things. We were tough little kids.

My cousin Cari was our leader, we'd do just about anything she told us to. When we got in trouble it was usually her fault.  My brother, Ben was her second in command, and then there was me and Katie. Katie is Cari's sister, she had a temper and she was my best friend. We were practically inseparable even though she was a bit older.  Later came Trevor, Devyn and Madison they were the babies of the group. But they didn't become fun until they could play outside with us. The seven of us were the ones that actually lived in the holler. But we got to see Mandy, Marissa and Salem on Sundays. Derek and Todd  were older than us and didn't come down as much.

As we all got older, Cari and Katie lived with their mom so they weren't able to be around as much. And Marissa and Salem moved away. So I became the new leader, which really just means I got to be the Mom when we played house. 

We got to visit Marissa and Salem at their new home a few times. And Katie and Cari still came down when they could. No matter how much time passes we'd never forget growing up together and we'd always be close, that made the distance easier. 

Though I am close to all of my cousins; My cousin Marissa is one of my closest friends, she was even in my wedding.  We don't talk much or see each other often, but her and I had always seemed to have a lot in common. She was one of the reasons  I ever started writing, she writes a lot  and she never seems to care what anyone thinks about her or her stories, that really inspired me to start writing my own stories.

Then there is Mandy, she's older than me but we have always been close. She is sweet and a little shy, but she has a great taste in music and she always keeps in touch with me. I wanted to write this part about her, so when she reads it she knows how much I love her.

Though I could fill a book about my wonderful cousins, I don't have the space or time to talk about all of them.
 I just have so many memories of them and things I want to say about them, that I'm just not sure I am portraying them right.
But I found a quote that can help me some it up: 'We didn't realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun'.

Mamaw June- How do you describe a person who stepped up and became whatever you needed? Whether you needed a best friend or a Mother, or sometimes a teacher. She was and is the glue that holds our family together.  While our parents worked, Mamaw would watch us kids during the summer. She gave us kids the best gift anyone could have given us, She forced us to play outside. Rain or shine we were out there either on the carport or in the woods. 

She was always there for us. And no matter if there were five of us or eight of us, it was never too much for her. She always made us feel at home.
 I use to think it was her house that felt homey, but now I think it's her. 

She raised five kids of her own, on little money, her and Papaw Don did what ever they could to provide for their family.  Thanks to her, I got an amazing Father, who works hard to provide for his family and treated us kids with love. He is the person he is today because of her.


Now I have so many Aunts and Uncles I love, but alas I can't talk about all of them. But I do want to talk about two people very close to me. My aunts Angie, Terri and Missy. They all played big roles in my childhood. At a point in my life I found myself without a Mom, but it didn't take long for them to fill that void. They were there if I ever needed them and I'll never forget that.  I may have felt like I lost a mom, but I gained three more. I wish I knew the words to express how much they mean to me, but I've never been great with getting my feelings out. So I hope they read this and understand how much I love them.

As the years past I gained a new Mother, Darla and two new brothers. Though we differed in ages, we all became a family. Now my three brothers have given me the greatest gifts possible: Nieces and Nephews, all differing from ages and looks. And now the holler is theirs to play in!


For awhile now I have wanted to write about my family, just wanting to tell people about how amazing they are. Though I tried my best, I can't quite do them justice. Because of them I have so many memories, that I can only hope to give my children as many.
Thanks for reading! My next update will be more on topic of writing stories:)