Field Notes

A collection of stories, fragments, inspirations, and reflections from my writing life — including short fiction, behind-the-scenes glimpses of my projects, and the real-life moments that shape the stories I tell.

Game Over (Part 2 of 6)—A young adult contemporary short story

Tio Robby hugs me and then pulls back, searching my eyes with a question he doesn’t have to ask. How is she? I just shrug. We all walk on eggshells when Mom gets like this, like any wrong move could tip her over the edge. It’s only happened twice before, both times because Dad took legal action against her. This time, he’s suing for full custody over something that wasn’t even Mom’s fault. Just one incident at the beach. Mom would never let anything bad happen to me, but all

Ines Ayala

6 days ago5 min read

Game Over (Part 1 of 6)—A young adult contemporary short story

I’m nervous because one decision by you could put my life on a very different and dark trajectory. The judge’s eyes narrow, studying me. My voice shakes, but I keep going. “If you were to decide that my father should get custody, I’d be going from a home where all I know is love and encouragement to a home where nothing is good enough and women are basically second-class citizens. My father doesn’t care so much about what happened at the beach…he just sees this as an opportu

Ines Ayala

Apr 235 min read