8 October 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3250: mean no harm

“Why is it that the people who say 'I don't mean no harm, but...' are the ones that harm you the most with what they have to say?”

“Because people try to deceive themselves about what they are trying to do, and they can always fool themselves, baby. The thing is not to let them fool you.”

18-year-old Vanna Trent was talking with her father's mother, Mrs. Gladys Jubilee Trent, also known as Grandma Jubilee.

“Oh, I just hung up and blocked,” Vanna said, “because no – if I want advice I'm not taking that off of anybody my age when I have you, my Stepforth grandparents, and my parents. Heck: even my baby sister Gracie sometimes has better sense than some of my fellow teenagers and that's just scary. Peer pressure is real but so is realizing that most of my peers don't have anything I want in my life.”

“If there is a good thing the Lord is bringing from the pandemic,” Grandma Jubilee said, “it is that we are getting time to settle down outside the crowd and think about our lives, at every age. It is really important, when we come out of this, that we add back to our lives only the activities and people that are truly for us.”

“Yeah, I'm really seeing that, but it is sad,” Vanna said. “You know you come into high school thinking you have friends, and then life happens and you find out your friends don't even know what a friend is – we just all came into high school together and thought we were going to be together forever.”

“Forever is a long time, Vanna,” Grandma Trent said as she reached out her arms to her granddaughter. “Better leave those expectations with the Lord Who will be with us forever. We're just people, and a lot of people are also trifling. You are doing well to let go of the ones who are not right for you early on; that will leave room for the Lord to add the right people to your life.”