Story Time Animated

“Sasha! You took my shoes without permission again! I’m going to end you!” my older sister Clarisse screamed loudly enough for all our neighbors to hear. She was so annoying.She was eighteen and she thought that she was better than all of us. Three of us lived with my mom; there was me, Clarisse and my five-year-old sister Jenna. My dad was in the army and I hadn’t seen him for years.Anyway, I don’t know what Clarisse’s problem was. She had like four thousand pairs of shoes and we had the same shoe size so why couldn’t we share? When she left high school, she got a job at a convenience store and didn’t work more than five hours a day.The strange thing about that was she was loaded! She had the latest iPhone, designer clothes, shoes, expensive jewelry and bought every single thing she felt like buying. How did she make all that selling soda, bubble gum and mopping up floors? One morning I decided to investigate. I pretended to be sick and waited for my mom and little sister to leave. I knew that Clarisse would be home for a while so I stayed in my room and waited for the right time. I could hear her blasting Megan Thee Stallion’s latest song in her bedroom so I figured she was in a good mood.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few weeks, Steve and I noticed that Mom had been acting suspicious, leaving the room when taking calls and taking her phone everywhere she went. She now had a line of worry permanently etched on her forehead. Steve and I wanted to make sure that Mom wasn’t in any danger, especially since she was a detective for the police department.  "Where is she?" I whispered to my brother Steve. "She's in the shower, so you've got about ten minutes,"I smirked. I didn't need ten minutes since I've been hacking computers since I was seven. I connected the phone to my computer and got to work. About two minutes later Mom’s photos from her phone popped up across my screen in the form of a slide show. When it got to the last photo Steve and I gasped. There was Dad standing next to a little girl who was sitting on a chair with a sign in her hand that read "Please help me".Hey, my name is Eli.As soon as I was finished I replaced the phone in Mom’s room. Steve and I focused on finishing our chores to distract us from what we saw, well at least until we were alone. As soon as Mom left for work Steve and I discussed what we saw. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“How could you do this to me? I hate you! I hate you!”I looked up, I was shocked to see my girlfriend Taylor standing over me, I had never seen her looking so angry before. “What are you talking about?”“Don’t try to deny it, I know you’re cheating on me!”I sat up on the sofa, “Taylor, I am not cheating on you!” “So explain why, when I googled your name this photo of you and another girl came up!”I looked at Taylor’s phone, it was a photo of me and Maria.I started laughing.“How can you laugh? Do you think it’s funny to cheat on someone, to break their heart?”“I’m laughing because this is Maria!”“Who is Maria?”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Shoot! Shoot!”The cries from the spectators urged me on. The goal was insight, adrenaline pumped through my veins, giving me the power I needed to keep on running.Just a few more metres and I would be able to hit the target.“Bang”I went down with a thud, a player from the opposite team had brought me down with a tackle. I hadn’t heard her coming from behind and by the time I saw her it was too late. Pain shot through my head as I hit the ground.Growing up I had never been able to hear out of my left ear. My parents told me that it was something I was born with. They had taken me to Doctors when I was very young, but had been told there was nothing that could be done to fix my hearing. It didn’t really bother me, I guess I was just used to it.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Tina, why do you even bother coming to school? Nobody likes you, you’re so ugly!”I put my head down and tried to ignore the hurtful words that were coming from Gina the school bully. She made my life a misery every single day. Why did she have to pick on me? What had I ever done to her? Why couldn’t I be one of the popular girls, then she would leave me alone!I wished I could be someone like Linda Cortez, she was the most famous influencer on Instagram. I idolised her, she was so cool and had millions of followers. I vowed that one day I was going to be just as popular as her.I was quite the computer whizz, I could do almost anything with a computer. If only I could find a way to hack into Linda Cortez’s Instagram account, I could steal all of her followers. I began to play around with a few different codes through my computer. It didn’t take me long before I had found the correct sequence. I tapped it in and went straight into her account. “Ha ha, this is easy!” I thought. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Hey, Olivia, how did your weekend treat you?” Charlie asked as I slipped into the seat next to him.“Better than Mr. Knights’ Math test is going to!” I responded dramatically. Charlie laughed. Mr. Knights was the toughest Math teacher at the school, and his round bald head and glasses that perched on his nose as he looked over them at you was highly intimidating. I checked my watch. I had about ten minutes before Mr. Knights came to class. I needed to go to the bathroom. I pushed back my chair and stood up. By now the other seven boys had arrived in class and the chatter in the classroom was jovial.“Where are you going when class is about to start?” He asked looking at his own watch.“I’m going to the bathroom.” “Hurry back you know if you don’t make it back to class you’ll have to look through the window again to take notes.” I hit Charlie playfully on his shoulder and he laughed. I walked briskly to the bathroom but when I returned I couldn’t help but wonder if my eyes were playing tricks on me. No one was in class! Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I was sitting on the sofa when I heard a loud knock at the door. I went to see who it was and saw a young woman standing there, she looked kinda familiar but I couldn’t place her.“Hello, who are you?”“I’m your sister!”I looked at her in shock, what she had said made no sense at all, my sister had died five years ago!I was really close to my Mom, I couldn’t really remember much about my Dad. My parents had divorced when my sister and I were about three years old. He hadn’t had anything to do with us at all. It used to be the three of us, Mom, me and my sister Holly. That was until the fatal day we lost Holly in a car crash. My life changed forever that day, it seemed like a small part of me died as well. Holly and I were inseparable, we weren’t identical in our looks, but we were like two peas in a pod when it came to our characters and the things we liked. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, you probably have a dad who scolds you when you do something wrong or gives you long lectures about things that don’t really matter. Maybe he has some boring, lame job and does nothing at home but watch television and drink beer. Sometimes he tells pretty awful dad jokes but that’s as bad as it gets. You think you’re pretty unlucky right? Well wait until you hear about MY dad.Now make sure you stay with me because this story gets worse and worse. I’m the only child of a woman named Janet and a man named Felix. When I was ten years old, they made me sit down on the living room couch and had ‘the talk’ with me. No, not the birds and the bees talk. It went like this.“Brian, I am no longer in love with your father. We have decided to go our separate ways. Because you are a boy, we decided that you would live with your father. I am moving to Australia but I will make an effort to see you on birthdays, holidays and other special days.” my mom said.“In other words, we are getting a divorce. It’s when married people are no longer legally obligated to stay together.” my dad added.“Obligated?” I asked, nearly in tears.“Never mind son. Mom is moving out tomorrow.” he replied.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I watched as Lucas walked along the school corridor, he was so handsome and one of the most popular boys in the school. Everyone wanted to date him, including my best friend Julia and me.“Look who it is.” I said to Julia. “Yes and look who’s behind him.” She replied, giggling.I turned to see who she was looking at, it was Dylan. He was one of the ugliest boys in the school, inside and out!Julie and I had agreed a long time ago that we would never fall out over a boy. That’s why we didn’t mind that both of us liked Lucas. But so far neither of us had gotten anywhere with him.“We really need to up our game Julia.” I said. “Of course I want to date him, but if it’s you that he wants to date then I would be fine with that, but it would be terrible if neither of us dated him.”“Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Lisa, what is wrong with you? Why can’t you help Mom? You know she has never asked any of us for anything!” I yelled at my sister.“Exactly! Xara, she never asked for anything so why are you pushing this?”“Because she is your mother, our mother,” Shemar, our older brother, said calmly, “Last year was hard for her. She was sick and because of that she’s behind on her mortgage. If we don’t help her she is going to lose the house.” “She has her two favourite people to help her. I worked hard for everything I have, I wasn’t given anything unlike you two. She doesn’t need me and I don’t need her.”“If it wasn’t for Mom you would have nothing or did you forget who gave you the money to start this company? She sacrificed everything for us!” I screamed. “Get out of my office before I call security,” Lisa sat behind her desk and folded her arms. “Let’s go, Xara,” my brother grabbed my arm before I could lunge at my sister. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Ooh, what on earth have you got on your feet? Those shoes are so nerdy!”At that moment I really wished the ground would open up and swallow me. I was always getting picked on at school by the trendy kids. I couldn’t help it that I loved studying and wanted to get the best grades I possibly could. You see I wanted to be just like my Dad, he is a very famous scientist, in fact he was the man that invented the machine that can clone animals and even humans. One day I would be a scientist too and hopefully just as famous as my Dad. Dad and I had a really special relationship, because we both loved science. My brothers Tom and Andrew were more into sport, and my sister Amy wanted to be a fashion designer. I guess you could say I was Dad’s favourite. I walked past the group of kids that had teased me about my shoes and out of the school gate. I saw my sister waiting for me, “What’s up Neil?” She asked, as she noticed my sad face.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Oh Mum, do I have to drink it?”“Come on Natasha, be a good girl and drink your shake.”“But I’m bored of drinking this!”“Come on, you know it’s good for you.”“Can’t I have an orange juice instead?”“Just drink it ok! Stop messing around, I’m not going to tell you again!!”Wow, Mum looks really angry, looks like I’m not getting out of it.I picked up my protein shake and drank it. When I got to school that morning I went to find my best friend Vicki, she always sat in the same place waiting for me so I wouldn’t get confused looking for her. I tapped my white stick on the ground as I counted the steps in my head. I knew that it would be twenty steps to reach the other side of the playground.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Mom, I don't need you to go on this field trip with me. I'm not five!" I yelled at my mom as she pulled up to my school.After I said it a wave of regret crept over me. My mom looked hurt but she didn't say anything. We got out of the car and walked towards the school.Hi, my name is Lianne."Is that your mom, Lianne?" Troy asked as he pointed towards the dairy section in the supermarket.My friends teased me as I blocked my face and walked quickly out of the supermarket. “Don’t worry about the others,” my best friend Shanice said, “Your mom is just trying to keep you safe in a chaotic world!” she squeezed my hand. I smiled at Shanice but I wished that my mother did not have this crazy obsession with me. Even though I was allowed to go everywhere I was never alone. My mother was either there as a chaperon or she was lurking somewhere in the shadows. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Welcome to your new home. I hope that you enjoy living here. I just wanted to let you know how special you are,” Mrs. Craig smiled at me then gave me a hug. Hi, my name is Tiffany.I had been back at Mrs. Silver’s Orphanage about a year when she called me into the office and said that someone wanted to adopt me. She said that they looked like a nice couple and they didn’t have any children. I thought that at the age of thirteen, nobody wanted to adopt me, boy was I wrong and the thought of having my own space was surreal. That night I had the most restful night I’ve had in a long time. The next day, Mrs. Silver took me to the doctor’s office and I got some blood tests done. I had never been adopted before so I thought that it was standard procedure. As a matter of fact I would have done anything to not be placed with a foster family again. I never knew my mom, and some days I wished she was around and I comforted myself by thinking she probably had a good reason for giving me up, doesn’t every mother?Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I opened my eyes and blinked, the glare from the bright lights above me blinded me for a few seconds. I looked around me, wondering where I could be. It took a while before I realised where I was, I was in a hospital room. I could hear the beep, beeping of a machine that I was wired up to.The last thing I remembered was waving goodbye to my Mum and Dad as they dropped me off at the bus station.I pressed the call button on the table next to my bed, a few seconds later a Doctor and two nurses came into the room.“How are you feeling?” Asked the Doctor.“I’m ok, I think.” I said.“Are you up to seeing your family?”“Yes, yes definitely.”The Doctor went outside, a few minutes later he came back in, but instead of bringing my family, he brought some strangers.“Where are my family?”The Doctor looked at me, “Marcus, this is your family, don’t you recognise them?”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I watched as Emily walked through the cafeteria towards me, everyone stopped to look as she passed them. She was so beautiful, I sometimes had to pinch myself to convince myself I wasn’t dreaming that I was dating her.We had met at school and been together for a couple of years now, she was the perfect girlfriend and I was head over heels in love with her. We were so similar, we even both had the same birthday!“I’m going to miss you so much Chris” Said Emily.“Not as much as I’ll miss you.” I replied.Emily was going on holiday with her parents for two weeks. I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself whilst she was away. We normally spent all of our free time together.“I wish you didn’t have to go.” “It’s only two weeks, it will fly by.”But I didn’t think that way, I felt that the two weeks would seem like two months! Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Heyyyyy,” Sasha ran towards me.“What’s wrong?”“Jack is dead,” she said as she wiped her face. "What? What do you mean dead?" My voice almost to hysteria."Amber just called me and Bruce and Peaches were admitted to hospital this morning." My heart froze. Did this happen because of me?Hey, my name is Cameron. “So do you believe in them?” I asked my mom as I returned Elle, my stuffed elephant, back on the shelf.“Believe in what?” She looked at me confused“You know chain letters like in the movie we just watched.” “Hmmmm, I don’t know I haven’t really thought about it. However, every time I got one it did not hurt to send it to the number of people that were required. I guess it’s more of a “let’s not see if it’s real” type of a situation.”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I sat there with nervous excitement at the table in the restaurant. It was the first time my boyfriend was going to meet my family.We had been dating for a few weeks now and he was everything I had ever dreamt of! He was good looking, funny and one of the most popular boys in the school. I couldn’t believe it when he asked me to go out with him. I just hoped that my family would like him as much as I did. Tom leaned over to me and whispered in my ear“Oh my god you’re not going to believe this, the ugliest girl I have ever seen in my life just walked in!”I turned to see who Tom was looking at.“Who?” I asked him.“Over there!” He said, pointing. “See the girl with the red top on.”The blood drained from my face, Tom was pointing at my identical twin sister!Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I think I was about 5 years old when I realised my Mum was very rich. Before then I thought that everyone lived in a huge house like me, with cooks and maids and a private driver. I guess you would say I lived the perfect life. My mum ran a hugely successful company and one day it would be mine.My friends were always telling me how lucky I was, I agreed with them to be honest. I had everything that money could buy. But there was something missing: my Dad.Mum never wanted to talk about my Dad, I only knew that she had kicked him out of the house when I was about two years old, but I didn’t know why. If I tried to bring up his name Mum just changed the subject. I remember one time Mum got really angry, I was in the lounge and Mum was in the kitchen. My favourite song came on the television, I was singing at the top of my voice, when Mum came running into the room.“Switch that television off Jenna!” She shouted. “You’re just like your father.”I looked at mum in astonishment, she never shouted at me and she definitely never mentioned my Dad. “Why mum?” I asked.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I can’t believe you would do this! That’s it, we’re through!”I stared at my phone, I couldn’t believe what had just happened. My girlfriend Sarah had just dumped me and I had absolutely no idea why! We had been getting on so well recently, I had begun to think that she was the one! I was heartbroken and so confused too. I wondered what could have happened to make her want to leave me.I tried calling Sarah more than twenty times but she just ignored me. I also sent her hundreds of texts but she didn’t reply to any of them. Well she couldn’t avoid me forever, we go to the same college so sooner or later I’m going to bump into her. The following morning when I walked into college I went straight to where Sarah usually hung out with her friends, but she was nowhere to be seen. I searched a few places but eventually the bell went and I had to give up looking and go to class. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Run, Run!” I heard Toby yell from the next aisle. He’d been caught by a security guard. It was a good distraction for me because I had already stolen everything we needed for that night. While everyone else was occupied with Toby, I ran outside and all the way to his small house in the projects.This is where our gang hung out. Yes, I was part of a gang but I’ll tell you more about that later.Toby had been my best friend since we were in preschool. Our grandmas went to the same church so we met in Sunday school. We had a lot in common – for example, we lived alone with our grandmas. When Toby was twelve, his grandma passed away but he didn’t want to go into foster care so he ran away from the officials whenever they tried to find him. Later, he ended up joining a gang because the guys on the block treated him like family. He dropped out of school and started doing things that no kid should be doing really. The gang became like his family and they were practically raising themselves. They all liked to hang out at his house because no one was there to see what was going on. There were no nosy adults.Instead of trying to change Toby’s mind or helping him to do something different, I ended up being sucked into that same gang too.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I saw Tony standing in the cafeteria with a group of his friends, he had been my secret crush for as long as I could remember. My heart was beating so fast at the thought of what I was about to do. I stood there watching him for what seemed like an eternity, trying to pluck up the courage to go and speak to him. His friends said goodbye to him and left, this was my chance, it was now or never. I took a deep breath and walked casually over to him, as I got near to him he looked up and smiled at me.“Hi Tony.” I said, my voice wobbling nervously.“Oh hi Francesca!” He replied. “How are you?”“I’m, I’m good.” I stammered. Tony looked at me questioningly. At first I couldn’t get the words out but eventually I blurted out“Err I wanted to ask you something. Wwwould you like to go to the prom with me?”Tony was just about to answer when I heard a laugh coming from behind me. I turned around to see who it was, it was Sarah, my arch enemy.“Ha ha ha.” She said, laughing. “Are you joking? Tony would never want to go to the prom with someone like you!”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Don’t worry, you guys will fit in fine,” our mom said as she dropped us off in the front of the school.My younger brother, Lucas and I looked at each other with a doubtful look. We waved goodbye.“Are you ready?” I asked. He nodded and I draped my arms casually over his shoulder as we walked through the gates of our new school together. Hi, my name is Noah.As I sat in my first class, I could not help but notice how clean everything was. Nothing was out of place; all tables and chairs were perfectly aligned. Even the pencils on the teacher’s tables were the same size and in a straight line.I watched as children entered class, sat quietly, and waited for the teacher. The bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom. She called the roll, introduced me to the class and proceeded with the day’s lesson.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mom opened the door. It felt as though everything happened in slow motion. The cup in her hand slipped through her fingers. She slammed the door and pushed against it as she struggled to lock it. I stood there, in the middle of the living room, frozen. Hi, my name is Aliyah. If you want to know how we've reached this point, stay tuned!"Did you like the movie?" my dad asked as he unlocked the car."Like? I loved it! Did you see how Amanda's mom jump kicked that thief and her father held him in a wrestling hold? I wish our lives were that exciting!"My mom and dad looked at each other and then chuckled.The next day I walked into the living room while mom was on a call."I told you I'm not interested," my mom said as she spoke to the person on the other end of the phone before hanging up."Who was that?""Oh, just some random salesperson trying to sell me something I no longer want." Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As I lay under my parents bed with my phone in hand ready to record I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. This was an invasion of privacy and my hands trembled at the thought of what I might hear that night. But what I heard was even more traumatizing than the sounds I thought I was going to hear.Hi, my name is Grace.“Hey, why don’t we play a game of truth and dare?” Camille asked and she busted open a pack of potato chips. My parents, dad Wade and stepmother Josie, had long been in bed and my friends and I were having our last sleepover before exams began. Sheets, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and snacks filled the tv room floor that night. Michelle, Alexis, Jodi, Katy and Samantha nodded and agreed that it was a great idea. We did the usual things in truth or dare such as make embarrassing videos, spill our deepest darkest secrets, we even kissed each other but those were all simple compared to the hell that was infringed upon me when I decided to choose dare. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Vonne, wake up,” Dad said as he shook me awake. I opened my eyes and tried to focus on the watch on my hand. It was 5am. Why was Dad waking me up at this hour?“What is it?” I asked annoyed. I sat up and observed the room. Next to my father and older sister, Desiree, were two men.“What’s going on Dad and who are these people?”“Listen, Vonne, I know things haven’t been going right since the death of your mother but if you continue going down this path you’ll end up in jail or dead. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you but this needs to be done.”“Oh, please Dad save me the “This is going to hurt you more than it does me speech”. If you want me to go I’ll just go,” I said as I stood up.Dad placed his hand over his face and cried as Desiree tried to comfort him. The strangers placed a black pillowcase over my head and dragged me from the house as though I was on The Most Wanted list and dumped me into a vehicle. If my dad didn’t want me then I didn’t want him.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s not fair! You always get everything you want! I wanted to date Liam, he’s been my secret crush for months.”I felt terrible, I had no idea that my twin sister Jade had felt this way about Liam. But it was too late, I was dating him now and I really liked him. “But why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her. “If I’d known you liked him I would never have agreed to be his girlfriend.”“I hate you Katie!” Jade screamed at me.“I’m so sorry Jade, but I really like him.” I said.Jade stormed out of the room. It was awful, my twin and I were so close, we were identical twins and had such a close bond. We had never fallen out before, especially not over a boy. If it had been anyone else, I probably would have stopped dating them, but Liam was special. I had never felt this way about a boy before. Jade was just going to have to get used to it. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"What the hell are you?” I asked as I backed away from her but also kept an eye on the other woman in the room. Jessica laughed and ignored my question.“I don’t believe you have ever met Howard, my boss.” Jessica looked towards the kitchen and my eyes followed. Howard stepped out of the kitchen and my eyes grew wide. Standing in front of me was 6 feet and 5 inches of pure muscle and brute strength. His deep voice vibrated off the walls of the small apartment, “Pleasure to meet you, Brian. My name is Howard, Howard Rodriguez.”"What do you want from me?" My eyes frantically looked for an escape route. I expected many things to happen tonight, but this definitely was not one of them. "We want you to work with us," Jessica said as she licked her lips mischievously, “Don’t we Jackie.” Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"This is soooo good," I said as I licked my lips, "You have to give me the recipe." Todd laughed, "It's a family recipe my love, it's a secret." Todd was an amazing cook. He never allowed me in the kitchen and I really didn't mind, being a taste tester was just as important as stirring the pot.Hi, my name is Cherisse. I met Todd about two years ago. When I heard that his family owned a crematorium I was a bit freaked out but I said hey am I really not going to date a guy because he burnt dead people for a living? Todd and I’s relationship was pretty perfect up until the day he got a call from his younger brother, Kendall, while we were having dinner.“What? Are you guys ok?” Todd asked the person on the other end of the phone. He listened for a while then responded, “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and looked at me. “I have to leave,” Todd said. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Ahhhhh!" Lexi screamed and I jumped. She squeezed my hand tightly. I thought she was going to cut off the circulation of my arm. We walked a bit further and the cool breeze on my face let me know that we were outside the haunted house. "Did you girls have fun?" our dad asked. "It was creepy,” Lexi shuddered, “I don't know why Precious always wants us to go there; she can't see anything anyway." I laughed and shrugged, “I like the thrill of it."Hi, my name is Precious. Do you want to hear my story? My bizarre story started as early as my fifth birthday when my parents thought it was a fun idea to have a petting zoo and pony rides. At that age, like most five year old girls, I was obsessed with ponies. My obsession quickly faded when a pony was jolted by a firecracker and I was hit in the face. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Read my lips, I will never go out with you," Trina said as she pushed past me to get to her class.The students close by whispered and smirked as they looked on at my embarrassment. That was a month ago, a lot can happen in a month's time.Hi, my name is Zane. Trina is what we call "a plastic" and she has been my crush since high school. She was always well put together, dated the top jock, and well, on any given occasion she could be really mean. You may ask "Why would you want to be with someone like that?" But the heart wants what the heart wants. I am sure you've liked some questionable people before.One thing I always admired about Trina was that she was a straight-A student. My friends however didn't buy it. They thought that something had to be up for her to get all A's all the time in college since in high school she had a C average. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I looked down at Miguel with a confused look on my face as he knelt on one knee with an engagement ring box in his hand, “What are you doing?” I asked.Hi, my name is Kelly and I’ve got a crazy story to tell.My mother, Laura McKline, introduced me to Miguel when I was just about ten years old. We had recently moved because she got a new job. She wasn’t keen on leaving me home alone so she hired a babysitter. He was eighteen at the time and came highly recommended from wealthy people in our neighbourhood. Being an only child I never saw Miguel as a babysitter but as an older brother. The older I got, the more comfortable I got with discussing topics that I never would with my mom, for example, boys, and I also developed a sort of crush on Miguel as well which I kept well covered for fear that my mom would fire him. Even though Miguel and I built a great relationship over the years I never heard him speak about his family or any friends. I didn’t even know where he lived!Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I opened my eyes but I couldn’t see anything, everything was pitchblack, I tried to sit up but I was tied down by something. That’s when I realised I had been blindfolded. I didn’t have a clue what had happened to me. But I knew one thing, whatever it was it wasn’t good. I heard the sound of a door opening. I couldn’t hear anyone but I could sense that someone was standing over me, watching me. “Who’s there?” I asked, my voice sounded nervous and scared. I could hear two voices, whispering to each other, one was male, one was female. I struggled to free myself from the chains that were holding me down. “Don’t bother trying to escape” Said the male voice. “You’re going to be here for a very long time!”Fear ran through my body at his words, I wanted to cry but I took a deep breath and controlled myself. That’s when the girl spoke to me, I thought I recognised her voice but couldn’t be sure. “Who are you?” I asked again. “What do you want with me?”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We called your mom, she said she forgot but she is on her way,” Mrs Turpin, the ballet teacher informed me. “She’s not my mom,” a ten year old me mumbled under my breath as Mrs.Turpin walked away, “She’s my stepmom.”Hi, my name is Annabelle.My mom and dad went through an awful divorce when I was eight years old. Living arrangements were in favour of my dad while I visited my mother every other weekend.My dad and I had a great relationship until he came home one day when I was ten years old and said that he was married. “You must be the little angel Andrew told me so much about,” Gloria said, batting her eyelashes at my dad. “I think we’ll be great friends.”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My life as a teen was pretty cool. I never had to worry about money, had loads of friends, and did pretty well at school too. Some people said I had it all, all except a dad of course. My dad passed away when I was 12, leaving me and my mom alone, though comfortable.Every morning was similar. I woke up 6AM sharp and went on a run. I’d run a block or two, then swing by the bakery around the corner from our building to get my mom’s breakfast. When I approached my building I saw a woman at the entrance. She was ringing my doorbell and mumbling under her breath. I tapped her on the shoulder and said I was the owner of the apartment, and to my surprise she suddenly hugged me! She then took my face in both her hands and said “My son!”. I heard a record scratch. Son?! I didn’t have a mom! I’d been alone since my dad died! She started telling me about how she left my dad ages ago and only recently found out that he died and her son was alone. I felt bad for her, she made me uncomfortable but then she started crying.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ethan and Sarah walked past me, laughing and giggling to themselves. I could feel my blood boiling inside, what was he doing with her? He should be with me!Sarah had never liked me and the feeling was mutual. I guess you could say we were arch enemies. That's why I hated the fact that she was dating Ethan. Everyone knew that I had always liked Ethan. We had known each other since we were five years old. But we had never dated. When Ethan started going out with Sarah she couldn’t wait to let me know.“Did you hear Belinda? Me and Ethan are official!” She said.I knew she was gloating. I didn’t care what it was going to take, I had to find a way to steal him from her.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As I walked through the halls I realized that something was different. Everyone was staring at me but no one said a word. "Hey, Luke," I said as I stopped by my locker to put my books. Luke was more than my best friend, he was like a brother to me, so when he shook his head, slammed his locker and walked away I knew that something was up.Hey, my name is Richard.I quickly packed my books, closed my locker and followed Luke. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked as I got hold of Luke's arm. Luke shrugged my arm off his and said, "I cant believe that you would do that." Luke stormed off but before I could follow him I saw Claire. Claire was the girl that I had been crushing on since I was ten years old. She was also the Vice President of the school and as of yesterday I was voted the President. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They say that having a hobby as a teenager keeps you out of trouble. But what happens when that hobby turns your entire life upside down?Hi, my name is Tiffany. I hear lots of stories about teenagers who don’t love their parents but my parents were the best. They have always encouraged me to try out new things, they motivate me to do better and we can talk about anything. They are the main reason I tried out for my dance club “Dance with Attitude”. My mom wasn’t very close with her parents. Her mom died when she was six and she grew up with an abusive father. At age sixteen she ran away and built herself from the ground up. She was never told that she was beautiful while growing up so she created and sold beauty products for women. Even though my mother was a self made millionaire you would never believe it. We don’t have the nicest cars or the most expensive clothes. My mother always told me to be humble because you never know where you might end up. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s been fun, but we’re through!”I stared at her, had Amanda really just said those words? “N..no! Please don’t say that!” I pleaded. “I love you.”“Sorry John, I need some excitement in my life.” She said. Amanda picked up her bag and walked out of the restaurant, leaving me sitting at the table all alone. I felt heartbroken, how was I going to be able to live without her?We had only been dating for six months, but I knew she was the one for me.I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the box, I opened it up and looked at the shining diamond ring inside. Only a few minutes ago I had been nervously thinking about how I was going to propose to her, and now my whole world had come crashing down. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I was sitting in the school cafeteria with my friend Louise, it was just your typical boring day at school when Louise suddenly let out a gasp“Where did they come from?” She said.I spun around to see what had caught her attention. My mouth dropped open, I was lost for words. Standing at the entrance were the two best looking boys I had ever seen in my life. They were obviously identical twins, you couldn’t tell them apart. “Wow!” I said “Who are they?” “Hey, I saw them first.” Louise said, laughing.I knew she was only messing around, she already had a serious boyfriend, she wasn’t interested in anyone else.“I’m going to introduce myself to them.” I said, standing up.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sound of sirens pierced through the night air, I knew I didn’t have much time. I reached my hand through the broken glass window and grabbed hold of the gold bracelet. I had never done anything like that before, but I was desperate. Suddenly I heard a car screech up behind me, “Put your hands in the air!” Shouted a male voice.I turned around to see who had spoken. Two police officers were standing in front of me, their guns pointing straight towards me. I had a split second to decide what to do, I could either run for it or give myself up.I was just about to make a run for it when the female officer said,“Joel! Is that you?”“Mum?” I replied. “Dad?!”I couldn’t believe it. My parents were going to arrest me! But then they did something I never expected.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Mrs. Davis got up to answer it, since the staff went home for the night. A few seconds later, Mrs. Davis screamed.Mr White looked at me and said sternly, “Stay here,” before running to Mrs. Davis’ aid. The News Reporter continued talking: “We just got a picture of the prisoner that escaped.”My eyes widened in horror as the picture of the escaped prisoner popped up on the screen. It was Mr. White’s twin brother, William. Hi, my name is Brittany. My heart skipped a beat as I heard a scuffle taking place at the front door. I ran to the back door to prevent myself from being seen by whoever was at the front door. I hid by the first set of bushes that I saw, which were ones directly under my bedroom window.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Tyler, get to the principal’s office right now!” “No Miss! Please, I’m sorry, I won’t mess about anymore.” I said. I couldn’t get detention again, my Dad would kill me. I was always getting into trouble at school, it wasn’t my fault. All the teachers picked on me, especially Miss Jenkins. They said that I was a troublemaker and I disrupted all their lessons, but it wasn’t true! Half the time it was my friends messing about but it always seemed to be me that got caught.I pleaded with her not to give me detention, but she wouldn’t back down. I had no choice but to go to see Principal Matthews. Of all my rotten luck, Alison, the most popular girl in the school, was having a huge party this weekend and I had been invited. If my Dad found out I had got into trouble again there was no way he would let me go. I couldn’t let Dad know I had detention again so I sent Mum a text telling her that I was staying after school for some extra soccer practise, that would explain why I was late home.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click! Click! I sat on my bed huddled with a blanket over my head. Another Saturday night at home. I could not wait to move out of my parents’ house to be on my own. But, here I was, no boyfriend, a job that I didn’t like, and well basically no life. Click! Click! Then I saw it, there it was. The one thing that was going to change my life forever.Hi, my name is Mya. “Being an adult sucks,” I muttered to myself.I was about to switch the tv off when I saw it.“Our next item is a beautiful charm bracelet. This bracelet was made for Lady Victoria, by her fiancé. Rumour has it that this charm bracelet has the ability to grant wishes. At the low cost of $1.00 you can get this steal of a deal. Free shipping and handling if you call the number of the screen right now.”Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Go! Go! Go! Go!” my father shouted at us. We grabbed our belongings and ran to the black car that was parked in the driveway. I grabbed my younger brother’s hand and pulled him to keep up, even though he was as tall as I was. We dove into the car, immediately followed by our parents.“Keep your heads down!” my father yelled as he started the engine. I peeked out the back window at the men dressed in black suits who hopped into another vehicle and pursued us.Hi, there. My name is Samantha. Growing up, my father was hardly ever around because of his job. I would be lying if I said I knew exactly what he did but I didn’t. The only thing I knew was that he worked with the government.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“No, wait! Please why are you doing this? I won’t say anything, I promise,” Sheila pleaded as she tried to get away from Jason’s firm grip. “I know you won’t. Gag her.”Hi, my name is Aaron. Every year my class goes on a field trip. Last year we visited Jamaica, the year before that we visited Tobago, and this year we decided on hiking and camping at Maracus Waterfalls. I am really not too fond of nature but spending seven days with Darla, my crush since I was seven years old, was definitely worth it.Upon arriving at the campsite, late Friday evening, we constructed our tents and sat around a campfire making s'mores. Mr Haynes and Ms Taylor, our chaperones, were briefing us about the rules and what they expected from us on this trip. I looked over at Darla who was sitting with her friends Brooke and Charlotte and their boyfriends Steven and Jason. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"But, mom, this was Sapphire's doll from last year. Why can't I get a new one?" a six year old me whined. This was one of the first Christmases I remembered and it didn't get any better from there.Hi, my name is Willow. This story was a bit hard for me to tell but I decided that it was time to do so.When I was about five years old my mother married a guy named Paul. He had two daughters older than me, Sapphire, ten, and Crystal, 13. When she married Paul we moved out of our dingy apartment and into Paul's house. Sapphire and Crystal did not want to share their room with me so my mother put me in the basement at the age of 5. I was given an old worn out mattress which I placed on the ground and a cardboard box to put my clothes in.When I was about five years old my mother married a guy named Paul. He had two daughters older than me, Sapphire, ten, and Crystal, 13. When she married Paul we moved out of our dingy apartment and into Paul's house. Sapphire and Crystal did not want to share their room with me so my mother put me in the basement at the age of 5. I was given an old worn out mattress which I placed on the ground and a cardboard box to put my clothes in.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I was sitting in the park with my best friend Paula when we heard a woman screaming,“Help! Help! My daughter has fallen into the river! She can’t swim.”I looked at my friend Paula.“We have to help her.” I said, jumping up.I ran to where the woman was standing at the edge of the river, there in the water was a little girl about 3 years old. She was waving her arms in the air and crying. I could see she was starting to go under the water. Her mother was obviously in shock because she was just standing there doing nothing. I dived into the water and swam to the little girl. I grabbed hold of her just as she went under the water. “Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight to me.” I told her.She put her tiny arms around me and I swam to the edge of the river with her on my back. When we reached the bank her mother came and pulled her out. Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Please give that back!” Nina screamed.“Not until you do what I asked!” I replied.“I don’t want to.”I opened her pencil case and broke everything that was inside. I snapped every single pen and pencil in two. My friends cheered and laughed while Nina looked like she wanted to cry. When I was done I pushed it all off my desk and onto the floor.Nina rushed to pick up her broken things and I tapped her on the forehead with my shoe.Anyway, like I was saying, I was pretty much a terrible person. I only picked on the kids who looked different from me. If they were poor, that made it worse. I thought that poor people were so gross. I considered myself to be better than everyone else – especially the foreign kids.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amber walked into the room, she was just as beautiful as I remembered, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She used to go to the same school as me, but when her Dad got a new job they had moved away. I had always had a big crush on her, but she never seemed to notice me.I was so happy when my parents told me that Ambers’ family was moving back to our town. Maybe now I would get a chance to date her.My parents were throwing a welcome back party for Amber and her family. It should’ve been the perfect time for me to spend some time with her, but it seemed like every other boy in town had the same idea. Every time I tried to talk to her another guy would cut in, and they were all showering her with compliments.Visit https://www.storytimeanimated.com/members to enjoy ad free listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.