26 June 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3146: I’m in trouble

“Doing hard time grounded is hard, but I share a room with Andrew so it's not so bad, and, the main thing is, even when I'm in trouble, I know my family still loves me, and there is always forgiveness and a chance for me to get it together."

“Man, you just now found that out?”

“Now you know what your cousins in homes where people use drugs all the time go through. That was my reality, and then came foster care.”

“Yeah, they go through that too, George. I guess we should thank God more often that we just get grounded because, it could be way worse – I mean, I think even if my dad and my grandma would get real tired and take me out, they wouldn't do it in a way that would hurt.”

“Yeah, Milton, I feel that way about Papa, and then there's Cousin Harry, who said about his work in the Army, 'We ain't gotta hurt 'em. We just gotta kill 'em.'”

“Yeah, well, like we keep finding out, George, there's levels to all this.”

Nine-year-old George Ludlow and nine-year-old Milton Trent, released from being grounded yet again from their latest misadventures, were voluntarily co-grounding on the Trent porch with books and journals, with their conversation being quietly observed by Milton's mother, Mrs. Melissa Trent.

“How it works over here is, I do have a room by myself, but, Gracie and Velma still come through to make sure I'm good, and Mom and Dad come through to help me understand what I need to be doing instead of whatever it is,” Milton said.

“Yeah, Papa and Grandma come through as well when I'm locked down,” George said. “I mean, the thing is, why get into the same trouble twice when there is so much out here to do?”

That was it for Mrs. Trent, who had to pass the supervision duty to her husband, Sgt. Vincent Trent, who after listening to his wife cracking up and then catching up on what his son and his son's friend were saying, went to find his mother, Mrs. Gladys Jubilee Trent.

“Did you and Pops ever feel like what you were teaching us was not quite what your kids were learning?” he said.

“Yes,” Mrs. Jubilee Trent said, “but, we also realized that your brain wasn't hearing anything we said right anyway, but you were watching what we did, and you were learning all the time, so, no big deal.”

“That's a very Jubilee-of-the-mountain way of looking at the matter,” Sgt. Trent said, “and, ain't it the truth, Mama, ain't it the truth.”