From the Caregiver's HAErt — Danita LaShelle Jones

“Then you know who we have to call,” a character might ominously say while surveying the preliminary damage. “Who?” another nameless character may ask. The first character will then stare just off-screen as we cut to our protagonist, cluelessly milling around in their regular life seconds before their phone rings.

“What are you doing?” I heard my mother yell through the screen of the kitchen window. Busted! At 8 years old, I was attempting the greatest heist of my life. But unfortunately, I wasn’t five minutes in before I got caught red-handed. “Is that the kite I told you not…

“A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter,” she repeated as she skipped down the street. The animated little girl journeyed down the sidewalk to the corner bodega, repeating that phrase in a catchy cadence after her mother sent her on an errand. When she…

Although I’d prepared for the worst-case scenario, I stared at the ceiling, baffled that I was living what I’d anticipated would happen. Curtain for my play was in four hours, and I was less than 24 hours postpartum after giving birth to our twins. In 2010, after a church in…

For months, a marketing team did an excellent job building up one of the most incredible hip-hop collaborations. Even critics of the genre couldn’t help but wonder what the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show would produce. Finally, after the players returned to their locker rooms and the commentators…

By the late 1980s, it was well known that heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson was a guaranteed win. His signature right hook to his opponent’s body, followed by a right uppercut to their chin, would finish many challengers in the first round. In 1986, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion at…

As a writer, I can’t help but get excited about a good legend. No, not the campfire kind that seeks to terrify children as they stare off into the night. I’m talking about the stories that start as true but become legends when retold, as additional elements make them more…

If you’re ever having a conversation with a film enthusiast, eventually, they will mention the brilliance behind Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws.” In “Jaws,” the fictional town of Amity Island faces growing tragedy when an oversized great white shark starts terrorizing beachgoers. After an incompetent mayor refuses to close the…

“You’re bleeding!” an exasperated character usually pants out to the main character. Then, the main character will open their jacket to reveal a dark red spot on their otherwise white clothing, gasp out a determined, “I don’t have time to bleed,” and continue fighting armed henchmen. In some movies, the…

“It’s how much?” I asked the salesperson in disbelief. “Six hundred and seventy-three dollars,” he repeated, as if it didn’t sound ridiculous. I was baffled. During the summer before my final year of college, I attempted to go “full adult” and buy my first cellphone. The problem, however, was that…

My vision board was complete! Several years ago, after purchasing an overpriced planner, I stared in triumph at the beautiful mural of New Year’s resolutions: Produce and direct two on-stage productions. Finish my screenplay. Go to the gym four days a week. Lose 30 pounds. Host a book signing. Redecorate…

I frantically scrolled through my phone, desperately trying to find the answers. It was official; I was cheating. But I needed to. The host of the show and one of my friends, Kirk R. Nugent, had posed a complicated question to the virtual audience, and because I was on the…