POETRY
Prisoner
By: Delila MataraI’ve been stranded here
Longer than I can remember
Never trying to escape
It's what they tell me to do
All I know is that
If I disobey,
They told me I will surely pay
So I sit here
In this very lonely world
Wondering if I will ever be found
They took everything I had
And threw it away
As if I had done something wrong
The walls are hard
And stone cold
Yet the room always seems to overheat
And leave me out of breath
There is no way out,
And if there was
It would take longer than I could imagine
For it is so dark that you cannot see
Your own hand in front of your face
Yet you are forced to hear
Hear all those voices mocking you
But, there is nothing more you can make
When you are a prisoner in your own mindHurricane
By: Delila MataraLost in lust
Intoxicated in desire
Drowning in thoughts
Inhaling worries
Exhaling passion
Pondering about life
While sinking in love
Flying above memories
And craving freedom
Running on time
Stuck on the verge of lies
Wanting to be loved
And hoping to be free
Strands of Dreams
By: Delila MataraDreams are like owls
So big
So curious
So thoughtful
So mysterious
Dreams are like donuts
So sweet
So soft
So delicious
Dreams are like plants
Full of life
Different everyday
Desperate for something
Dreams are like dreams
Not all are the same
They vary in size
But once you get a taste
You can never get enough
Forever Lost
By: Delila MataraI worried everyday
I worried about grades
I worried about friends
I worried about college
I worried about my partner
I worried about my career
I worried about my children
I worried about aging
I worried about funerals
And while I worried about my past
I began to worry that I never lived Courage
By: Akash ShahYou don’t know if you have me
You can’t feel me
You only believe in me
I can feel you
I can move you
You don’t know me
But I know you
I am in you
I help you
I can get you in a bad spot
A good spot
Or a difficult spot
I am
COURAGE
The Edge
By: Bella BovassoWhat do I do?
I’m stuck
There’s no going back
I’m on the edge
The edge of two possible futures
Both lead to the downfall
The downfall of me
If I am to choose one side
The side that leads to fortune and fame
I will corrupt
I’ll be alone
I’ll have to leave the only ones
Who made me
Who I am
Who gave me confidence and strength
I will leave it all for fame
If I am to choose the other side, though
Then I will stay with them
My friends
I won’t corrupt
But what is the purpose
If I have nothing to follow?
No dreams
No place to go
Why should I have confidence?
I will leave my destiny
And all the glory that follows
Both will lead to happiness
Both will lead to downfall
Which is better?
To leave and follow my dream
Or to Cancel my dream
and be with them?
I’m at the edge
The edge of two futures
Both good and bad
What is more wise to choose?
I just can’t decide
I’m on the edge
Crossing The Road
By: Chessie Bovasso Years of joy
Years of sorrow
Years in between
And I have finally moved to the crosswalk
The crosswalk to success
The crosswalk to victory
The crosswalk to life
But the cars don’t stop on this street
And they just keep getting faster
The farther I walk
I start to doubt myself
But crowds of people lay behind me
Pursuing me to proceed
There is no turning back
I look back at life
Before I crossed this street
Lighthearted and joyfully
But the other side grim everywhere
Everywhere except for a path
A narrow path
A wavy path
Over a trench
But still stable
And it hits me
This is where I go
When I cross the street
I will follow the path
To my future
And pass each obstacle along the way
Trees blocking me
Animals attacking me
I will break through
And follow this path
Until there is another road to cross
And another path
Flooding Trauma
By: Chessie BovassoDanger is upon us
Ominous silence encloses the terrain
As danger rises like the sun
The barrier that kept our lives safe
Has finally broken
And intruding nature attacks
The swords are swept from their tall wooden armor stands
Slashing at and crushing people
We stand behind our remaining shields
But they look like they will be crushed
In a matter of time
Some people are cornered by the attackers
And filled with clear fluids
And the souls trapped in them
Poor and small companions
Are swept away obliviously
Hills are living nightmares
As this flood is to us
We drop down the waterfalls
And crash at the very bottom
Lifeless as we are carried upward
By the crowd of soldiers
Their flow seems to be endless
They keep on spreading
Farther and farther
Until they have conquered and destroyed
All of our land
We yearn for freedom
We pray for peace
But the army will not be stopped
Until the hero rises into the sky
Bright and warm
Burning the vicious intruders
And carrying them somewhere far away
We just hope that the hero will appear soon
The Rising
By: Chessie BovassoA place so lost
So covered in chaos
Warriors in white invaded our terrains
Plagues killed and nearly killed many
Invisible swords knocked us back
Army ships covered our lands
Covered them in blackness and oblivion
Then, I saw it
We all saw it
A bright blinding light
A glowing gold man of power and destiny
Rose up into the sky
A ray as his sword
He swiped at invaders
Burning them with searing power
A flying fiery lion
He readied his gun
And shot at the attackers’ ships
To find a place for himself
For everyone
As he brought hues of teal to the sky
Life became colorful
The world, once dormant from the war
Was now rising, yawning, awakening
A rainbow had struck our world
Filling it with a bright warm energy
As I looked up to the sky, I saw the hero with one eye
“Thank you,” I said as I watched him rise into the sky
With warmth, happiness, color, and health
I See a Big, Bronze Penny
By: Gopiga Dass
I see a big, bronze penny in the sky, with its gleam so bright, it hurts my eye
But it is vital for it to exist, otherwise the plants could never perform photosynthesis
I see a yellow, juicy lemon way up high, smiling at me as the clouds go by
It gives plenty of vitamin D to you and you and you and of course, me
I see a jumbo LED lightbulb, that brightens up the Earth
I have been seeing this wondrous sight since the time of my birth.
I see a giant circle, with a radius of 2,282,945,280 feet
I wonder how many light years it will take for us to meet.
I see a flower without petals, blooming in on the vast, endless blue
Isn’t the sky such a pretty, mellow color; I love its light hue.
I see a shimmering yellow candy, way up high, waiting for me to taste
Kick back, slow down, enjoy yourself, why should there be any haste
I see the beautiful sun in front of my eyes,
I think of things to compare it with as the time flies by
A Heart of Ice
By: Selina Lin The queen was bitter.
The queen was cold.
The queen was heartbroken.
The story shall unfold…
She sat up high, way in the mountains,
And looked out to the sea,
Her heart beated fast,
Wondering when when she will be free…
She stayed in her palace,
By her gold, silver, and crystal fountain
An sipped her blood-red chalice
She conquered all the lands,
She sats high in the mountains.
As the world laid in her hands.
She sat on her throne,
Of ice, silver, and gold,
The kingdom won’t pass on.
The queen will never grow old.
The men all came knocking,
Wishing for her hand,
But she was a maiden, alone,
And the sole queen she ruled her land.
Long, long ago,
She once fell hard,
With a handsome young man,
And let down her guard.
The man was cruel,
He yelled at the poor,
Whipped the slaves hard,
And sent them to Death’s door.
But she didn’t notice,
She saw only the fake deeds,
The man sent her presents,
His mind made of greed.
One day she found out the truth.
She rode on the battlefield,
She was a warrior at heart,
Carrying a sword and shield.
The man rode to the enemy’s side,
And greeted the king.
The queen’s heart broke,
As he threw down their ring.
The man shattered her heart,
And threw it on the floor.
He stepped on the pieces,
Their love was gone, no more.
She grew bitter and cold,
Thrown out of paradise.
Her heart turned frozen,
Into a heart made of ice…
The queen was bitter.
The queen was cold.
The queen was heartbroken,
Her story has been told…
The Ending
By: Victoria BorisonnickHere it goes
What started was the beginning
But now is the end
Crying and tears of joy and fear
Moving up to a school across the field
So here we go again
A year of learning
Finally over
A year of making new friends
But here we go the crying and yelling
The hugging and screaming
It's the end and summer break begins
But does everyone forget we will still be here
We may move schools
All the way across the field
But we will be together
So save those tears and screams for later
Because it maybe the end
But there's always a beginningFlipped
By: Victoria BorisonnickThe Moon is my Sun
The Sun is my Moon.
The stars are my clouds
But the clouds are my stars.
The bright sunny day is my dark night.
My right
is your left.
My right is your
wrong.
My up is your down.
My mirror is upside down.
My ground is the sky.
Your sky is my ground
Earth's Secret
By: Victoria BorisonnickThe uncertain air made a vision of dreams,
The imagination was like water,
No certain in what you see.
A copper haze on a summer day made a secret,
The silver waves a hush sound,
The air held it long,
With the trees still and no sound of animal call.
The forest held its breath,
And silence becoming golden,
As the world holds a secret,
No one can tell.
It's hard to tell what is tries to say
Though the wind whispers it so faint
That no one can hear
The flowers that bloom so bright
The trees that go so tall
All no the secret the earth speaks
But not a man not a girl.
For we do not speak language of peace.
Harmony
All the plants know the secret
So it became Earth secret
One where no one can hear
No one knows,
But all wait for the day
That the secret will be revealed
But the earth keeps its secret well hidden
No one will know
And no one knows
FICTION
What is a Successful Life?
By: Kyle Stone It came so suddenly. The knock. I never expected anything like it to happen. But it did. I thought I was the last person to walk this terrain but maybe I’m not. Could there be one more? The knock came again. I started to panic. Until the courage finally came over me to answer the door to the apartment.
“Please be a hot lady, please be a hot lady,” I repeated on my way to the door. I turned the knob, sweat showering my body. I almost jumped back in fear when I opened it. A human being was at the door. Not just one human being, but one tall, African-American woman was at the door surrounding by three men, all in fancy suits. They were in sunglasses.
“I assume wearing sunglasses indoors is trending right now?” I inquire.
“Good evening, Dalton Adams,” the woman says.
“You know my name?” I ask.
“We all know who you are. You thought that you were the last man on the planet didn’t you. Well, you’re not.”
“What are you saying?’ I question. The woman held out both her hands and spoke. In one hand there was a yellow pill and a green pill in the other.
She spoke, “Take the yellow pill and you are thrown back into the real world, without any memories of this reality. Take the green pill and you find out everything….”
“If the Wachowskis were still around you’d be facing a major lawsuit right now,” I say.
“JUST TAKE A PILL!” the woman screams, clearly annoyed. Thoughts flood my mind. My brain becomes a madhouse of mayhem. I take….the green pill.
I wake up. I’m in a bed inside some sort of facility. The woman from before stands over me, glaring down at me.
“Ow,” I complain.
“The world has ended,” she explains.
“Well, duh,” I rudely say.
“But not the way you thought it did.”
“Aliens or zombies?”
“PAY ATTENTION!” Geez this lady is the queen of mood swings. “A distant species arrived on the planet. They destroyed almost everything. They killed billions of humans. They enslaved the remaining humans, took 98% of the remaining population as slaves. They took over the planet. We’re sure they’re called something else, but we call them Ithquaians. The remaining 2% formed a secret society. A rebellion that has been waiting to strike for years. We have been looking for a leader. And we have found one in you. We found many poetential leaders and tested them. We put them into an environment where they were the last person on the planet. We saw how they’d react. You were calm and subtle while everyone else was panicking and insane. You will lead our rebellion against the Ithquaians.”
“So basically,” I begin, “aliens show up, say ‘You are now our slaves’! Remaining humans be like ‘We’d rebel but we’re lazy’. They call the aliens something very hard to pronounce and quiz some smarter than average people to become their leader.”
“Yes, exactly that!”
“Well if there’s anything I can say to that, it’s definitely one big NOPE!”
“We’ll give you some time to make your decision.”
“But I already-“
“Until then,” the woman interrupts, “enjoy deluxe treatment of a slightly less annoying bed and slightly less termite infested food.”
I sighed. “Ok then.”
I take some time to process my thoughts. How is this possible? Now, I cannot tell what is real and what is not real. The world I thought I was in was not real. Is this real? Am I real? Man, that’s deep. I walk into my “deluxe” room. A completely disgusting mess of a place. The bed might as well be on the wall! Still, I begin to process my thoughts on whether to lead this rebellion or not. Fifteen minutes was an eternity before the woman entered my “deluxe” room.
“By the way, I never learned your name?” I inquire.
“Lupita,” the woman states, “my name is Lupita.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you reached your decision?” Lupita asks.
“Are you kidding me? It hasn’t even been twenty minutes!”
“YES or NO?!?!” Lupita screams.
I hesitate before speaking. “What happens if I say no?” I inquire.
“You will aid in our rebellion one way or another. You can either lead the charge or fight in the backdrop. On the computers.”
I process my thoughts. Do I risk my life to do at least something active? Or do I keep my life to do something boring? Either way, I’m taking part in the rebellion. Should I be a moth, having a short yet entertaining life or a cockroach with a long yet boring life? Question marks invaded my nervous system. Two different voices echoed my head. What to choose?
“Ya good?” Lupita says. “It’s been ten minutes.”
“Just give me a couple seconds!”
“YES OR NO?!?!?!?!”
“NO!” I yell. Why did I say that? I wonder. But on the inside, I know that it was the right decision. I don’t want to risk my life to be active. I want a long life. I want to live, I tell myself. Besides, violence is only the answer 49% of the time.
“Okay then,” Lupita states, “we’ll find a new leader.”
As Lupita leaves my cell I ponder about whether I made the right decision. Should I have been short and active or long and bored? What is a successful life? A successful life is an active and long one. But very few can have that life. It’s one or the other. And I pray that my decision about the way I should make my life was the correct one. The General
By: Brendan Aurthur It was 12:00 AM my troops have 10 more hours of training to do before the big mission tomorrow. They are working really hard. They have run through the training area of what we think what the place looks like. This afternoon is the mission and we are getting ready. This morning my troops will have gone through the training area about 46 times. It’s time for us to gear and get ready for the mission when I get a call from the president. He said that my best troop was on a mission for him and was killed by a RPG. Although I was sad the team told me to keep it together and that we still had a mission.
We were in the helicopter going to drop off point and I saw the truck that my friend was in. we got to the drop off point. My friend Sam got out and checked if it was all clear. He took one step and he stepped on a landmine I told him not to move we had to get him off of the landmine so he doesn’t die. First we used water to soften the sand. Then we carefully took the mine out of the sand. Finally we had him take his foot off the mine and through it.
We were all safe then we ran into at least 2 dozen of his troops. The man we are after is Kim Jong Un a dictator from North Korea. We had in tell that he was making nuclear bombs and was going to drop them on America so we have to take him out.There was no question about it we had to take him out.
We are days into this mission and we still haven’t found him. I fear that when we ran into his troop’s one of them got away and told him and his bodyguards and now he is in hiding. But no matter what we will find him. We have been here for three weeks now and we found something that looks like a hide out. So we went in and there was a long hallway. I looked down the hallway and there were only five bodyguards so we took them out and he was there. Since his bodyguards were all died he had no defence so we took him out and the mission was over. It's been one year and now his son decided that he wanted to be a terrorist now. Now I have to gather up my team again and we have to go in. The mission was the same but this time instead of running into 2 dozen of his men we ran into his son and almost 100 of his men. And this time he wanted to talk . So I went up to talk to him we started to talk. But then he pulled out a gun and shot me. But my guys couldn't do anything because he had 100 men on his side and I had 5 guys so he took us as prisoners and tortured us for months. We called for backup
but no one came for 5 months. Then one day in summer we heard gunshots and the door opened and seal team six was there to save us. But something went wrong my teammates were so weak that they didn't make it out. When we got back to the base they made me the 5th member of seal team six.
It's my first day on seal team six and as soon as I got there they told me that we were going to training. But there is one wrong thing with this when I had my own team we went through the same training facility. So it brought back some bad.
It's been a year since I joined seal team six and I'm know the team leader. We got Intel that a few people were captured. So i told my captain that I would take soldiers to get the hostages. Before we left Serg pulled me aside and said “ In case anything goes wrong today I just wanted to say every war needs victims.” “I know Sarge” I said.
We got there and we were going to trade there guys for ours. So I went up to the roof of a building with a .50 cal sniper then suppressed it. I got a great sniping position and put my eye to the scope. When I looked through they were pulling our guys out of a truck and then they pulled out my brother. As soon as I saw my brother I lost my my mind went blank. Then all of a sudden I heard someone say “FIRE”. As soon as I heard that,all I saw was white. The bullet hit me in the chest and it was all because i made stupid decision not to shoot the leader of the group in the head.
It’s been 2 months and they have me in the shooting range 24/7 and I'm working hard really hard. The week they let me back in we had another big call. This time it was the sergeant. He was kidnapped when he was taking a walk in the middle of the night not armed and by gunpoint.
The search started the next morning and it took a long time. But we got Intel that the people who took my brother took the sergeant. We found him being guard by Kim Jong Un’s son. I shoot and missed. When I missed he saw me, I grabbed Sarge and ran. We followed him to a big courtyard. As soon as he turned around he put a clock up to Sarge’s head. The only option I had was to shot through Sarge to kill Kim Jong Un’s son. But as soon as I saw the gun to Sarge’s head I remembered what Sarge said to me “every war needs a victim.” So I put my finger on the trigger and pulled it. The bullet went through Sarge’s body and hit Kim Jong Un’s son in the lungs. He was dead. So I ran over to Sarge and he was dying. His final words to me were “ I guess it was me this time.”
I’m Ed Lean and this is the story of how I lost a friend but gained a victory.
Pet Problems
By: Gopiga DassSunday morning, sun shining, the lazy atmosphere was a canopy over our sweat covered bodies. I put on my flip-flops, grabbed the koi fish food, and plodded down the path to my fish pond. The outside scene was beautiful! Flowers that had every color of the rainbow, the bees were busily buzzing, mockingbirds sang a sweet melody. The day was perfect…too perfect. Something wasn’t right. Something caught my eye and I turned toward the pond. The pond bubbler wasn’t working! I saw my poor fish gasping for air.My fish aren’t breathing, I thought to myself as I rushed to my mom, frantic and in need for help.
By the time I got to my mom, my lungs were screaming. I started to speak to her at a hundred words a second, explaining to her about the bubbler not working, the 6 destitute, fish choking up bubbles, alertly swimming, struggling for survival. My mom, sister, and I all raced to see the fish’s desperate little faces, pleading, Why, why do our lives have to end like this!All the fish were up at the surface, opening their feeble mouths, trying to suck out air from outside the pond, since there were no air bubbles in the pond. Their usually slender and shiny bodies were now sketched with the tensed muscles trying to keep the fish afloat. I couldn’t, I just couldn’t look at my fish in this state of depravity, their innocent lives on a life line, a line about to be cut. Stop thinking dark thoughts and actually start forming a plan, I commanded myself. To make matters even worse, the filter stopped working too, so the pond was getting murky. So we three and the fish sat there in silence for seconds, minutes which felt like eternity trying to figure out a plan. Not a second could be spared for these little fish. I glanced at the now distressed fish. I stared at their beady eyes, their shimmering scales, and their lovely sleek bodies. There was no way I could let my fish friends die, no way! And then, my sister - Brinda broke the silence that had been created.
“I know a way to save the fish!” she triumphantly yelled.
“We could fill a tub with fresh rainwater from the barrel, and then put the fish in the tub. This won’t solve the problems with the air, but will at least give the fish some fresh water,” Brinda explained in her high - pitched squeaky voice.
“Brinda you’re a genius!” I exclaimed with optimism in my voice. I couldn’t believe I had said that.
We then grabbed buckets and started hauling water all the way from the front yard to the backyard and around and back. It was like I was trekking across the Sahara Desert, carrying 20 pound dumbbells in each arm. The mugginess and hot afternoon sun only added to the toil.
#struggle is 4 real. After about few rounds, I collapsed, letting the water in the bucket I was carrying spill all over me. That felt so refreshing.
“I still don’t get why the filter and bubbler stopped working,” my mom said in her frustrated voice.
I could already see the fish giving up on life. A few stopped trying to get air and silently waited for death. One fish, the biggest one, had a hard time staying afloat. It kept turning on its side, ready to close its sorrowful eyes and float to the koi pond. I was about to scream my head off and let tears I have been holding in all morning flood my face. That’s when I saw a yellow, fuzzy dot in the distance. After squinting my eyes shut, I saw that it was a truck, but deep inside, I somehow knew that help, and hope was coming.
“It’s the painters!” I screamed. The people from Sherwin Williams Paint Company were here to paint our house. Wait a second, I thought, maybe they could help us with our fish dilemma. Nah! They’re only painters, what could they do? But I guess I should try anyway.
“Could you please help us with our koi fish pond?” I asked humbly, trying to hide my agitated tone.
“Sure,” he answered and I led him into my backyard to the pond.
The painters checked everywhere for anything that could be causing the problems. The painters were like detectives at a crime scene. Hurry up, I thought to myself. Time was ticking and the fish needed saving. Sweat was trickling down my face, from the tension and the heat. Finally, one guy found the source of the problems.
“Ahha!” he bursted.
I looked at the outlet he was pointing out. The wire that lead to the bubbler and filter wasn’t pushed all the way in.
“Ooohhhh. Oops,” I admitted.
The second I pushed the plug in, the filter and bubbler started working again. I knew it was going to take the fish a few minutes to get back to normal, but they were saved.
“The fish are saved!” I cheered.
“And we learned the reasons for the pond not working,” my mom chimed in.
A series of whoops and screeches of joy followed that.
“So, what walls do we paint?” one painter questioned.
I blinked, snapping back into reality. I remembered it was a hot, sweltering, July day. The flowers had every color of the rainbow, the bees were busily buzzing, and the mockingbirds sang a sweet melody. The day continued on to be pretty normal. Thankfully.
So, how do I reflect on this day in my life? Well, for starters, always check on the pond to see if everything is working. If I had checked the night before, I would have seen the issue and dealt with it then. I would have called the Pond Guys right then (I couldn’t call the Pond Guys the next day because it was a Sunday and they were closed). That would have saved me a lot of stress! I also learned to accept help, no matter who or what it’s coming from. Who ever knew the painters could help us with our fish dilemma? If I would have never asked them, my fish would have been dead by now, and the koi fish pond would be empty. So, welcome help from all directions. If I would have thought about these things, I would have never ended up having pet problems! The Monster
By:Misha Bankulla“Whoa!” exclaimed Raina from the corner of her room. She was sitting up in her bed with the bed light on. A shadow had moved in the dark across the bed light. Raina got up and turned the light on. “Ugh” came a moan from the opposite side of the room. “Raina I’m trying to sleep,” complained Camille, Raina’s one minute older sister. “Yeah, I know, but I saw something move in front of the bed light.”Raina replied. “Yeah...ok” Camille sighed.
When Raina and Camille got up they were super excited because their birthdays’ were in two days. As they brushed their teeth, they heard a scratching noise. Raina said in a muffled voice, “I told you I saw something.” Camille jumped as soon as she heard the little scraping sound. They both turned around but saw nothing. They started searching… and searching for what they had heard.
They were planning on who they should invite to their birthday party. As they did this, a small, flurry, golden colored ball of fur seemed to move behind a desk. “Ahhhhh!! The monster!” the twins screamed in fright. They ran downstairs and told their mom what happened. “Ok let’s go look where ‘the monster’ is” said their mom in disbelief.
As soon as they were upstairs, they looked behind the desk and there it was...the monster. “Awww, it’s so cute!” Raina exclaimed. The little golden poof ball barked. “But where did the puppy come from?”asked Camille. Then a loud noise interrupted.
“Girls...come downstairs.I have an early birthday present for you.” said a surprising voice. “Ok,” replied the girls. They raced down the stairs to see what he had gotten. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw their dad with a surprised expression on his face with a cage with an open door. “Ohhhhhhhhhhh,”Raina and Camille sighed at the same time as they looked at each other. The dog was their birthday present.Before Super Heroes
By: Kyle StoneI’m gonna tell you a story about how superheroes came to be. For a while, they weren’t even super. In fact, they weren’t even heroes! My name is Theophilus, I know a little weird, but for this story, we’ll just refer to myself as Theo. Now, I don’t mean to brag, but I WAS THE FIRST SUPERHERO!!! HA HA! WASN’T YOU! IT WAS ME! HA! Sorry, I….I just….sorry. Anyway, for this story I’m gonna take you back to ancient Greece. How am I still alive in the 21st century at the same age of twenty-one after being born in the BC years? We’ll get to that later. Now, there was a secret city in Greece called Kyrilltopia, named after King Kyrillos. This city was hidden from the rest of Greece and the world, and it was filled with extraordinary people like myself. Everyone in Kyrilltopia has a power. Whether it was King Kyrillos’s incredibly enhanced brain, my best friend Philo’s camouflage, or my own ability to control the element of earth. Other important exposition you should know includes that Philo and I are miners and best friends, the people of my city fear being seen, and Athens and Sparta are currently at war. It all started in a cave, hundreds of miles away from Kyrilltopia (we were able to reach it via teleporting human). I was mining with Phil.
“It could happen any day, Theo. We never know when the man keeping our city invisible to the humans will vanish, and we will be left to be spotted by the humans and killed!” Philo said to me as he broke a piece of gold away from the cave walls.
“I think that we powered beings could take on normal humans in a war,” I replied.
“You are forgetting that we are hopelessly outnumbered ten-thousand to one!”
“Calm down! We are perfectly safe, and the chances of Miltiades just vanishing are low.”
Philo began to speak before the sounds of screaming and thousands of footsteps echoed the cave from above.
“What was that?” Philo asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s go check it out.” I suggested.
“That is a horrible idea! When has checking out a strange noised ever worked out well in one of Sophocles’s plays!?” Philo argued.
“You can camouflage us! Come on let’s go you wuss!”
“This is a very bad idea.”
Yet Philo followed as I climbed out of the cave onto the surface. We hid behind a randomly placed rock as Philo camouflaged me and him like chameleons so that we were almost invisible to anyone else. My heart sank as I saw tens-of-thousands of humans launching themselves at each other, half in blue armor the other half in red. Spears were raised, shields her held up, arrows very fired from bows. A battle was happening right before my eyes. Athens and Sparta had finally snapped. I had to look away when I saw the arrow of a man in blue’s bow pierce through the heart of a man in red, turning the delightful yellow sand into a horrific red puddle of blood. Philo did not look away though. He continued to stare blankly into the terror unfolding before him. This event would change him for eternity.
The sun set in the sky and the moon appeared, until the sun engulfed the moon and retook the sky. I found myself back in Kataotnua, the most famous, busiest marketplace in Kyrilltopia. The streets danced in the sun with hundreds of powered individuals like myself all flocking to get from somewhere stupid to somewhere even stupider. I was purchasing some bread when I heard a voice oh so familiar echo the streets of Kataotnua. It was Philo.
“Citizens of Kyrilltopia, may I have you definite attention.” Everyone continued on as if Philo no longer existed. I looked over to find himself on some sort of stage. He whispered something to a man standing next to him, and then I heard the loudest noise I’ve ever heard.
“ATTENTION!!!!!” echoed into my ears. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over to Philo. He began to spoke.
“Citizens of Kyrilltopia. We all have heard of the dreaded word war. We fear it, despise of it. But now I know the truth of war! It is fighting. Brutal, hatred fueled fighting. Death, blood, anger, and fear engulfed the valley off in the distance! Sparta and Athens are at war. This means, death! Oh so much death! How long is it before this evil spirit controls us? Join me, citizens! And together, we can stop war!”
“How?” someone yelled.
“Simple….we kill those with fearful abilities, those who can start wars by just batting an eye, must die! Who is with me?” I felt like I was the only one in the crowd who did not shout in agreement. I may as well could have been.
The town did not forget about Philo’s statements. While the royalty such as the kings, queens, heirs, and nobles had not yet heard of this sudden outbreak in Kataotnua, the middle and lower classes had Philo’s words permanently lodged into their brains. Many agreed with him that the powerful ones must die before they begin a war. Secret societies were formed, beliefs were taught, plans were put into structure. All in two days’ time. I did not agree. It was wrong just to kill innocent people just because of their special powers! Did the people of Kyrilltopia have no common sense whatsoever? Those exact thoughts were echoing through my brain at every meal since Philo said his first word that day.
“No,” I said out loud.
“YEAH NO!” someone randomly said behind me.
“Shut up,” I replied. I will not stand by Philo, for his thoughts and plans were wrong. Little did he know that by trying to end wars, he was going to end up starting one. I couldn’t just stand there and watch Philo and his allies kill a bunch of innocent human beings just because of their abilities. I had to stop him. But I couldn’t do it alone.
“Here is the plan,” I explained. I had gathered a meeting of myself and seven other people who were all against Philo’s ideas. There was the always funny Thanos, his power was teleportation. Then there was the no-nonsense Yannis; her power was enhanced strength. There was the criminal Antonis; his power was invisibility (always useful for stealing). There was the creative Vasilis; her power was control over all animals. There was the sneaky Kyria; her power was telekinesis (she was also a great actress). And finally, there was the unlikable Argyris; his power was stealing the powers of others nearby. He has always been my arch-nemesis, so working with him would be pretty difficult. I continued, “Philo thinks I am with him, believing that those with strong powers must die.”
“TRAITOR!” Thanos screamed.
“No! No! No!” I begged. “He thinks that I with him when I’m really not.”
“I know, I just wanted to say that,” Thanos replied.
“Whatever. When I learn the plan that Phil has in mind, we will all have our certain duties to carry out.”
“Hah! Duty,” Thanos immaturely interrupted. His annoying statement caused Yannis to pick him up with one hand and raise him five feet off the ground with her strength. Thanos smiled and simply teleported out of Yannis’ grasp.
“Ha!” he laughed. Yannis charged him but within three seconds, Thanos was out of the way with his teleportation laughing like a hyena. Man, don’t we all get along so well.
“GUYS!” I screamed. “THE PLAN!” Thanos and Yannis sat down and I continued. “If we’re going to stop Phil from starting the biggest war in history, we need to get along. You get me?” Everyone nodded yes but Argyris.
“I despise getting along,” he blurted out.
“Well, you’re gonna have to to save the world. And if you’re gonna do that, you need to work together. We all have unique abilities, and if we can put them together, we can do amazing things. Now….here is the plan.”
“Shoot,” Vasilis said.
“So, Philo believes that I am on his side, as I told you. His plan is to sneak into the next City of Power meeting at the Evosmos Building, where all the members of the upper class, most of them with incredible abilities, will be all at once.”
“How does he plan to get inside?” Antonis asked.
“Yeah, that place has more guards than I have brain cells,” Thanos added.
“Well, Philo’s ability is camouflage, which could be a big help. But that won’t be enough, as there is a system surrounding the building that blocks all power usage. Philo’s solution: dig underground. Philo and about four or five of his buddies will make a system of tunnels leading to right under the Evosmos Building. One of Philo’s followers has the power to blow himself up, making a gigantic explosion. He will die in the process, but he is willing to sacrifice himself to a greater cause,” I explained.
“He’s dying for nothing,” Yannis stated.
“Exactly. Our plan is to sneak into the Evosmos and explain to the upper class Philo’s plan and that they need to evacuate,” I told everyone.
“And you expect them to believe that?” Argyris inquired rudely.
“Well….yes and no. Kyria, you’re good at acting, right?” Kyria nodded her head. The next ten minutes was me explaining my genius plan to my allies.
The time came. Two days later, we were right outside the Evosmos, ready to execute my plan. I, Thanos, Yannis, Kyria, Argyris, Antonis, and Vasilis stood together as a group.
“Theo, isn’t Philo wondering where you are?” asked Antonis.
“I told him I was on urgent mining duty, and they needed me immediately.”
“Okay, you guys ready?” Antonis inquired. Everyone nodded yes. “Okay, Vasilis, let’s do this.” A falcon flew over and dashed like a motorcycle to Vasilis’ side. Vasilis spoke to the falcon in words I couldn’t make out, and the falcon left as soon as it came.
“Now we wait,” said Vasilis.
“Geez, what’s taking that slobbering bunch of feathers so long?” Thanos complained.
“It’s only been two seconds!” Yannis screamed.
“It feels like two hours!” Thanos responded. About thirty seconds later, the falcon returned stuck its beak toward Vasilis’ ear.
“It said the guard three blocks east is blocking all power usage behind himself and around the building.”
“You can understand that thing?” Antonis asked.
“Yeah,” Vasilis replied.
“Huh. Let’s move out.” Antonis ordered. We flew three blocks east by using Kyria’s telekinesis to levitate us and herself toward the guard. We arrived a minute later and took cover behind a bush. Vasilis pointed to a guard wearing a red toga and armed with a spear.
“Alright, Argyris. Do your magic,” I told my former nemesis.
“Is he gonna know you’re stealing his powers?” Yannis inquired.
“No, unless someone yells out ‘Hey, idiot! Your powers are being stolen!’.” Ten seconds later, Argyris told us that it was done, and we advanced. Antonis turned us all invisible, and we walked right passed all the ferocious, highly-trained guards who didn’t even realize we were walking by them. We approached the doors of the Evosmos and found them locked.
“Well….that was fun. Let’s prepare for a war,” Thanos whispered. Yannis smacked him on the back of his head.
“Alright, fine,” Thanos whispered. We all grabbed hands, and Thanos teleported us (still invisible) into the building. We walked through the hallways of the Evosmos for a bit, surrounding ourselves in the beauty of the building. Amazing sculptures of gods and goddesses of Greece stood at every inch of the building and the ceiling was made of pure, rich gold. Which I mined for them, not to brag. But we didn’t have time to enjoy the Evosmos’ beauty as we soon approached another locked door. We could hear the voices of a meeting filled with hundreds of upper class men going on inside.
“The doors are made of tranium, the rarest metal on Earth. It prevents anyone from teleporting inside,” I stated.
“So what do we do now?” Argyris asked. We did not plan for this, and we all this might be the end. Until I came up with an idea.
“Yannis, how strong are you?”
“I don’t know. I doubt I can tear through this door,” Yannis explained.
“Vasilis, call back your falcon.” Within three seconds of me saying that, the falcon arrived through the hole in the ceiling and landed like a snowflake onto Vasilis’ arm. I continued, “Thanos, Vasilis, Argyris, and Antonis, go back outside. Vasilis, use your falcon to find a guard with the ability to strengthen powers. Argyris steal his power and use it on Yannis. Then maybe we can get through this door. Oh, and turn them invisible Antonis.”
“Got it,” Antonis stated. They teleported away.
Thanos, Vasilis, Argyris, and Antonis stood invisible behind a bush. Vasilis sent away her falcon. Thirty seconds later, the falcon arrived and squawked into Vasilis’ ear.
“Alright. Guard north of the blacksmith shop,” she explained. The four teleported there. Vasilis spoke, “The fat one.” Argyris concentrated on him and focused on his DNA. Without the guard knowing, he plucked the ability to strengthen powers out of the guard’s body and put it onto his own.
“Got it. Let’s go!” Argyris proclaimed. The four arrived back to where I was, and Argyris worked his magic. All of a sudden, Argyris screamed in pain. The sounds that came out of his body sounded like he was on a torture bed, being stretched out. He all of a sudden collapsed on the ground, unconscious. My companions’ facial expressions transformed from optimistic and confident to torn and pained as our ally dropped like a fly in the middle of the room. It seemed as if the air around us had gotten colder.
“What just happened?” Antonis yelled.
“I have no idea,” I stated, “guess the power was too much for him. We have to keep moving, though. Yannis, you ready?”
“Yep,” she stated. Yannis built up her strength, and she ran into the door like a bull. A big THUD! was heard as the doors toppled to the ground. Yannis, Thanos, Vasilis, Antonis, Kyria, and I ran into a courtroom filled with hundreds of members of the upper class. The crowd erupted in shock as the six of us walked to the center of the room.
“Whenever you’re ready, Kyria,” I said. Kyria’s acting skills would convince the crowd that she wasn’t lying. Very important.
“Upper class! We bring an extremely important message. We promise we are not lying, for we wouldn’t have come all this way! Please listen!” Kyria explained. The room fell silent and all heads turned to the king of Kyrilltopia, King Kyrillos.
“Kill ‘em,” the king stated. Arrows and spears flew at all of us. I swear the tip of an arrow fired by a bow was a millimeter away from my face before it dropped onto the ground. Kyria had used to telekinesis to save all of our butts.
“Listen to us and you will survive! Does anyone here have x-ray vision?” Kyria said.
“Why should we trust you?” inquired King Kyrillos.
“Because we are heroes. And we are super. Does anyone here have x-ray vision?” A hand went up in the crowd a few rows behind the king.
Kyria began, “You! Use your x-ray vision to look down! Tell me if you see a group of people just below us!” The woman who had raised her hand looked down.
“There is a boy! And he is turning red!” she yelled.
“He’s gonna destroy the building!” Antonis exclaimed. “What do we do?” The hundreds of voices echoed through the walls of the Evosmos. Panic, confusion, and craziness filled the air.
“Theo!” Kyria yelled. “You can control the earth! Slam some rocks on them! Drop the floor and soil onto them!”
“I can’t just kill someone!” I screamed.
“He’s doing the wrong thing!” Kyria argued.
“There’s still some good in him!”
“Not anymore. You can sacrifice a few lives to save hundreds.” Kyria was right. I had no choice. I took a deep breath, raised my hands up into the air. Only to slam them down to the ground. I felt the building shake as if an earthquake had just hit. I did it.
“He’s dead! Bodies buried under soil!” the woman from before stated. The crowd what had just had been consumed by hopelessness was now cheering with delight. I had saved them. But why did it feel so wrong? I had killed someone. It’s for the greater good’ I reminded myself. The greater good. Then, I realized what was important. I just saved hundreds of lives. My colleagues and I had just become the first superheroes….
It’s been years since that happened. Argyris died, Philo died. But most importantly, I had saved everyone. Not just I, but Yannis, Kyria, Vasilis, Thanos, Antonis, and even my former enemy Argyris had prevented a war. But we did not completely win. Villains would emerge from the shadows and threaten the city. But I and my friends would save it. We were the first superheroes. A tragedy would eventually occur when a villain would use his power to make me immortal. I could no longer die. If you’re wondering why that’s a bad thing, go read Tuck Everlasting. So now as you read this story on your iPhone or whatever, just know that whenever you pick up a Superman or Batman or Spider-Man comic, remember….you wouldn’t be read those stories if it wasn’t for me….not to brag.
Carl's Story
By: Brendan AurthurThis is the story of a boy named Carl. Carl had a hard life as a young African american boy in the 1920’s. His parents were divorced and he lived with his mom in Washington DC. His best friend was a boy named Martin. They went to the same school and they lived next to each other. When they were kids Carl and Martin’s moms were best friends. They also had the same birth year 1929. Then when Carl's mom died in the 1940 in a car crash Martin’s mom took Carl in. When they grew up martin fought for black rights. Then after one of his speeches Martin was shot and killed. Once he heard about Martin’s death he didn’t go to work for 3 days until his wife convinced him to go back to work. So he did but really didn’t get any work done because he was very sad. But then he had a good idea he would write a book to commemorate Martin. So that is what he did and African Americans got rights after he wrote the book. He named the book The Life Of Martin Luther King Jr.The Search
By: Akash Shah Sitting on the corner of 16th street, a little girl fell to the ground, with tears dripping from her eyes. Her parents ran away from her when she was only two years old. She holds the memory of her parents close within her, hoping they would show up. Kristen is on a journey to find her parents, but she will also go on an amazing adventure with someone very special.
Kristen was two years old when she got separated from her parents. It was cold winter night, a week before Christmas. Kristen was staying with her grandparents since she was two years old in New York. Now she is 12 years old, one more year to stay alone. She always wanted to stay alone, have a sleepover, have parties, and have freedom. She went over her friend’s house for a sleepover. Her grandparents were really scared but her friends convinced them that she would be taken care of. Whenever she went to their houses they searched for her parents. Except today they went to the library and searched for their parents on the online yearbook. They found her dad and his address on a different website. They decided to go the next day to go search for him. They traveled in her older friend’s car. She had a SUV (Toyota), everyone loved the car, it was purple with black stripes. They traveled to Philadelphia to see the woods her grandparents were talking about. All they saw were crystallized snowflakes on lavender trees. They slept at her cousins place that night. Her cousins knew all her friends, they were all tight.
The only reason they were close is because when they were young her cousins would travel to her house. All her friends were always playing with them. That’s how they became close friends, they were tight. But there was one friend and cousin who hated each other. They were enemies. Every time they were together, they played but tried to take out each other. Over time they didn’t get that mad at each other. They actually took therapy with Kristen, not actually therapy. But more of talking to each other, that helped them a lot. They finally got a long, they actually became best friends.
The next day they woke up and set out to search. As they drove in their purple car, they listened to some pop music. They stopped by Starbucks to get breakfast. They split the bill in half. They walked over to the car and sat down. They started rolling. The song “They see me rollin” came on. They started singing the song and were eating the food, Starbucks food. As they were driving throughout the city, they saw a man. The same jacket, same shirt. Same everything. They saw him, they saw Kristen’s dad. They quickly parked the car and jumped out.
“Dad!” Kristen screamed. He looked back and saw Kristen. He didn’t know how she looked but he knew her voice. He started searching, Kristen starting running towards him. They both crashed into each other.
“Dad.” Kristen was crying.
“Baby, is that you, Kristen.” Dad softly cried.
“Yeah Daddy.” She said back.
“Oh honey, I have to take you home.” Dad started quickly saying. Something had happened, bad. He kept looking back and worrying. He looked as if he was in trouble, big trouble. Kristen quickly looked back and saw some men coming her way, mad and scary. Dad had to give them something back. As she turned her head back, Dad wasn’t there anymore. He vanished into the crowd.
Dad owed something to those guys. When he left Kristen he went to them and they helped them get away from some men. Dad and Mom were always targets for some people. They ran all there lives until they reached Philadelphia. That’s where the goons were hiding. Mom and Dad promised them that they would repay them in some way. Their choice was DEATH. They were being hunted.
Kristen headed back to the car. She started sobbing the whole drive. She ran to her aunt and started crying. Then a knock on the door came.
“Who is there!” Kristen’s aunt screamed. It was him, Dad. She looked through the door hole and saw him. She quickly opened the door and brought him in.
“I came in to tell you that you are in danger. You know the guys chasing me, they’re after you.” Dad told her.
“Why, why me.” Kristen said. They saw her in the crowd and saw her talking with Dad. They have the facts and are after her. They want the money, and want to kill Dad, Mom, and Kristen. Mom was still in hiding. They didn’t know where Kristen was living, but they knew where her relatives were.
“Dad, can’t I come with you and then we can figure something out.” Kristen blurted. She thought it was the perfect thought, all together, they are going to be strong. “All for one, one for all”, that was the perfect motto that kept her going. They decided that her idea was not going to work. Dad gave her a plan to stay with her grandparents, safe and away from them. Dad rushed out of the house and jumped in his car. He drove away without saying anything. She knew her parents had a dark secret.
Both of her parents were secret agents. They went on special missions when she was young and always were the best. They didn’t want anyone to know. Her parents acted as engineers, “real job”. All of New York knew them as the number one engineers. As time moved on, they all changed. Then came the time her parents borrowed money from the men. The men were from a dangerous organization called, “S.R.O”, Secret-Russian-Organization.
Her parents did get help from the men but the men did not know who they were in disguise. Her parents got out of the country and traveled to Brazil for a while. The organization had a undercover base in Brazil. “S.A.S”, her parents organization infiltrated them. “S.A.S”, Special-American-Soldier had S.R.O in their hands, they also failed. In Brazil, everyone was safe, no one knew about the base in Brazil.
Kristen was starting to get scared and terrified. Right after her dad left, a knock came on the door. She opened the door, and saw a big bald man. The man quickly grabbed her and bolted out the door. He plopped the door open and threw her in the car. He sat in the driver seat and put his foot on the accelerator. They drove away, her grandmother came to the door and saw the car leave. They both traveled to his hideout in north Philly. Her grandmother called her parents and they left. It was a dangerous car chase, even though her parents were two miles away. Kristen had got a blindfold over her. She sat down in a chair, in a dark room with a small yellow light. Her parents kept driving and were looking.
A sharp thick voice said, “It is nice to see you Kristen.”
“How do you know who I am?”, Kristen asked.
“You and I go way back.”, The man in the white suit said.
“Way back, what does that mean?”, Kristen questioned.
“Get the program started!”, he shouted. The program? Kristen thought. She knew she was in big trouble. Kristen heard feet thudding. Her parents saw the man's car. He grandmother gave them a description. They took out their gun, a Glock. They quietly walked towards the door. They saw some men walking in the hallway. They quickly ran to them and put them to sleep. They heard noises, a girl screaming.
“Kristen.”, They both said. Everyone inside of the room saw a small shadow growing bigger and bigger. They all took out their guns.
Battlegrounds
By: Bella BovassoPrologue
In the light of early noon, a group of wolves stood in the fluorescent green grass. The sunlight was beaming down on the forest, renewed by the spring weather. Wildflowers burst into full bloom, all of their vibrant neon colors flashing, standing out from all the green of the woods. The time was particularly dry for spring, but the wolves knew that the rain would come, dampening the ground.
However, in the light of the sun, standing in the tall grass, stood a hunting party. Adolescent wolves and adults all crouched down quietly, circling their prey; a tall brown deer, a doe, standing in the center, grazing peacefully.
Leading the hunting party was a beautiful, shimmering white wolf, commonly known as Peridot throughout the pack. She was the alpha female, the leader, almost like a queen. Her beautiful green eyes focused mainly on her target.
And behind her stood two wolves; her two children, somewhat of a prince and princess. The eldest son, Storm, had obsidian black fur, black as the night sky. The tips of his ears were snow white, along with his paws. He had calm blue eyes, and was the next leader of the pack.
However, the wolf next to him, his sister, Dema, played a more minor role in leadership. In all honesty, she was perfectly satisfied with that. It only allowed her to be playful and childish at all times. Dema was a wolf whom very much resembled her mother. She had pure white fur, and was a strong, proud alpha, like the rest of her family. Her eyes, however, were a shade of neon blue and bright neon green, and the glowed in the dark, enhancing her vision. Today it was her very first hunt, and now was her chance to prove how strong she could be.
The deer’s ears perked up abruptly, and it then dashed into the woodlands. Peridot was the first to react, then Dema.
“Hurry! It’ll get away!” Dema commanded in a moderately loud voice. The other wolves bolted after it. Dema’s mother, fast as a lightning bolt, was on its tail, with Dema and Storm close behind. The other members followed behind, like a game of follow the leader.
“Scatter!” Dema commanded as her mother watched proudly. Dema was following in her mother’s footsteps, practically doing everything her mother did. Peridot was Dema’s role model, and possibly her closest friend. The wolves scattered to the sides, and were closing in on the deer. They gained up on its flickering white and brown tail. Closer and closer, and faster and faster. As they were about to enter the forest, they dashed with all of their strength. Except not toward the deer. They were almost there. Almost.
Very suddenly, though unnoticed to the three leaders, the other wolves, frightened and in shock, panicked and turned back. Shades of browns and blacks and greys quickly fled toward the nearby river, which a a half mile away from the woods. Meanwhile, in the tangled, dark, and thick green woodlands, the three leaders, Peridot, Storm, and Dema had lost track of the deer.
“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Storm asked, his voice, though, completely calm.
“That’s a possibility, considering that the-” Peridot paused, her face slightly pale and concerned.
“The rest of the hunting party is gone!” Dema realized, horror in her voice.
“Don’t worry, sis’. We will find them. Surely we’ll find them,” Storm reassured his sister.
Suddenly, Peridot’s noise shot up towards the clear blue sky. She seemed to notice thick black clouds covering the sky, thinking that a rainstorm was moving in. However, her mother was very intent, and looked anxious. Seeing this, Dema knew something was definitely wrong. Then she sniffed the polluted air.
“Smoke…” she trailed off, her voice trembling. Horror filled her mind. Where there’s smoke, there’s…
“FIRE!” Storm screamed, bolting off, out of the forest. Dema collected herself, as her mother viciously shoved her, giving her a head start. They applied all of their strength to fleeing from the destructive, scarlet and yellow flames. Plumes of smoke filled the once vacant sky with poison. The flames rising faster filled the forest range the chaos.
“It’s the dry weather! That must’ve caused the fire!” Dema shouted over the crackling leaves as she heavily panted. There was no time for her to catch her breath, nor was there any turning back now. Burning branches crashed onto the ground, smoke was filling the air, harming the lungs of the other animals, who scurried away in terror, trying to flee from the destructive, searing flames.
“Run, Dema! Run, Storm! Faster now! Keep on going! I’ll meet you at the nearest lake!” she tried to shout. However, her voice was drowned out, and in the distance, a noise, one that pierced Dema’s ears, was heard. The tumbling sound of a tree was heard several yards behind the two adolescents. Then suddenly, a loud *THUD* shook the ground, as well a Dema’s weak legs. Her face became pale as the moon, and her eyes widened. Though her mother’s words kept on echoing in her mind, she was half tempted to turn back. However, with the flames only thickening, she was forced to keep going forward.
Then more fear shot through her. Where was her brother? She couldn’t see him anywhere, not through the smoke and flames. Holding onto some hope, however, she decided to proceed flee to the nearest lake, instead of riskily searching for Storm; “He must be there,” she thought. As she approached a fork in the “path,” she again began to panic. She hadn’t been to the lake much, so she chose the safest looking path, the one that lead to the right. And shethought she knew where she was going. She thought.
Running as fast a she could, low to the ground with the fire storm searing her tail and furthermore heating the broken sky, she jumped over burning branches and sizzling leaves, which set fire to the grass. Dema could taste blood as she dashed for her life through the demolished forest, which only a while ago was perfectly fine. Suddenly, an enormous, thick oak tree came tumbling down in front of her. Her reflexes were quick enough to dodge it and leap over it with much grace, even though she had been burnt and weakened. However, she did not look before she lept, and because the tree had blocked her view of the “path,” she didn’t realize what stood before her.
A steep, towering, rocky, and somewhat volcanic cliff stood beneath her. Her eyes widened in a state of shock and horror. A drop, hundreds of feet tall awaited her as gravity began to pull her down. Her front paws flailed out in front of her, as she hit the weak, unstable rocky surfaces of the cliffside. Rocks tumbled down treacherously with her, knocking her around as she plummeted downward. The drop abruptly came to an end, and the rocks created a cloud of dust around her. All the smoke that filled Dema’s lungs, all of the pain from the burns and tumbling rocks, and all of the blows she had taken from each surface she had smashed into on the fall down. All of them added up to a seemingly never-ending pain. Dema coughed violently several times.
“No... more…” she panted, her voice dying out .She saw burning branches and trees. She saw clouds of dust and smoke. But then, she saw something different, less threatening. She saw full grown, green trees, and a clearing sky, blue and white. Her vision blurred, and her eyes fluttered, trying weakly to keep them open. But it wasn’t any help.
“Please....” she muttered weakly out of nowhere. Dema had lost all hope. She had been out on her first hunting trip with her mother and brother, who were nowhere to be found now, and in just a short amount of time, the forest had caught fire, a destructive form of nature, like a phoenix had cursed them, cursed the forest. A loud, high pitched, beeping and buzzing noise rang in her ear like a bell. Her vision blurred up to the point where she could only see faded colors. She felt numb, her heart seemed to be slowing down. Yet somehow, it felt peaceful. Her vision then started to turn dark grey, then black. Then pure darkness. All of the wolves had gather at the lake. All except Peridot and Dema.
Chapter 1
To the Rescue
Up in a nearby mountain, a fine, young, and beautiful leader gazed out at the sky from her cave. She led her pack, the Eastern Pack, and did an impeccable job at it with that. Her fur was gray and red, and she had glowing yellow eyes. Her three sons, Jasper, Snare, who were twins, and the youngest, Gareth had gotten into a skirmish outside of the den, which was stopped when Snare’s left ear tilted toward charred forest that lay miles beyond their home.
“Something wrong, bro?” Jasper asked. He had seen his brother worry about something, but never like this before.
“I feel like there’s something wrong,” Snare answered. Snare was a tall, brawny wolf, with pure grey fur. His eyes were silver, and he was large in stature. He was the older twin, and the oldest of the three sons. His incredible sense of smell and sight allowed him to lead the patrol team. His light pink nose shot up toward the sky, and he sniffed the air.
Jasper was the youngest twin, and the middle child of the family. His fur, like his brother’s, was also pure grey, and he had shining, silver eyes. Though not as bulky as his brother, he had incredible speed. He was light, slender, and lightning fast, and was the scout of the pack. It seemed complicated when telling the difference between the two, but the biggest difference was their senses of smell. While Snare had an incredible sense of smell, Jasper lacked one, though his vision made up for it.
And the youngest son, Gareth, was very different from his brothers. While his brothers had sleek grey fur, his fur was a burnt shade of brown. He had yellow eyes, just like his mother. And he had a pitch black nose. Though not as tall as Snare or Jasper, he was still strong. And while he was teased by his brothers for being the youngest, he cared for them and their foolish antics.
‘Are you picking up something? Or is this a false alarm?” Jasper asked, trying hopelessly to sniff the air.
“Yep, I’m picking something up,” Snare replied, a tone of horror in his voice.
Gareth, who had the greatest sense of smell of the trio, was the first to detect the scent.
‘Smoke!” Gareth shouted, though his voice was drowned out by a more powerful, horror-filled voice of his mother, Korina.
A loud, siren-like howl boomed in the air. The smell of smoke grew more notable, to the point that even Jasper could smell it. Several miles away, Jasper could see a darkened sky, then the flames that came with it. Within seconds, what must’ve been hundreds of wolves gathered at the central area. Upon a tall, sharp rock, Korina handed out commands.
“Everyone, listen to me!” her voice bellowed over the panicking pack’s fearful chatter. She quickly got the entire, undivided attention of the crowd. They stared at her, waiting for a command.
“Snare! Lead the patrol team into the woodland. It’s your job to make sure no other animals were or are harmed. Everybody else, hide in your dens until I signal that it’s alright to come out! If worse comes to worst, and the fire spreads here, flee to the river!”
Everyone gave a slight nod. Mother wolves quickly guided their pups to safety. The patrol team set out quickly. Jasper ran ahead to warn Snare of any obstacles. Snare guided the members of the team to the collapsing woodlands.
‘Stay low to the ground to ensure you don't inhale too much smoke,” Snare commanded. After what seemed to be hours, the team reached the foot of the woods. Wolves rushed into the flame-engulfed woods, dodging branches and leaping over the spreading fire that burned on the ground.
Meanwhile, at the foot of a cliff, Jasper searched for any signs of life. Smoke, ashes, and dust filled the air, but his enhanced vision allowed him to see through most of it. Suddenly, something caught his attention. A silhouette of a seemingly dead body lay at the foot of the cliff, along with some rocks. A cloud of dust and debris surrounded the body of the figure. Jasper gasped and ambled over to the figure. There was a wolf, with white fur stained black, grey, and red from the ashes, flames, and smoke. The wolf’s eyes were shut lightly, and blood trickled out of the wolf’s mouth.
Jasper let out a loud, ear-piercing howl that caught the attention of Snare and the rest of the patrol team.
“Jasper...JASPER!” Snare cried out, trying to detect where the howl was coming from. “Everyone! Stay here, and if if you find something, just howl. If you don’t, return home” Snare commanded as he rushed off to help his brother. Jasper let out another howl, this time even louder. Snare was able to detect his brother’s presence quickly, and saw his silhouette in a fading cloud of dust and debris.
“I thought you’d never get here. Look!” Jasper exclaimed while panting, his throat ached from all the howling.
“Oh no…” Snare breathed heavily, bending down to examine the wolf. “We have to go, now! Otherwise, she might not make it.”
“Then let’s go home, now. We’ll take her to the lake and help her recover,” Jasper suggested, lifting the wolf’s body onto his back.
“I know the way to the lake. Follow me!” Snare commanded as the two brothers set out on their journey home.
The sight of the two brothers’ return was relieving yet horrifying. They were happy to the the twins alive and safe, but were horrified to see the body of a seemingly dead wolf on Jasper’s back. Gareth, who had been commanded to stay back at the pack, looked up and followed his brothers to the lake.
“Boys, what happened? Is everything alright? And is the wolf on your back Ok, Jasper?” Gareth asked, a torrent of questions bursted out of his mouth.
“Not now, little brother. We have matters to take care of,” Snare stated boldly as he ran to the lake, Jasper close behind.
“Stop treating me like a little kid and let me come with you. I’m old enough to handle these things,” Gareth lashed out angrily. Though reluctant, his brothers let him accompany them on their journey to the lake.
They quickly arrived at the lake, the water was still pure blue, and the sky was clearing up. Jasper, relieved to get the weight off of his back, gently place the wolf into the pool of water. Though it was cold, and washed away the blood stains and the ash and smoke stains, she still didn’t wake up. Gareth nudged her thoughtfully and hoped, as did his brothers, hoping that they weren’t about to lose another soul.
I Believe in Aliens
By: Nicole Roche I saw him across the room, and our eyes matched each other. As if our souls had just touched some how. He stood tall, as my tiny body sat low, and we both just looked. My mind had left the world, saw beyond, and everybody got quiet in my head. I was beginning to think that is was love, the thing I had seeked for my whole life. I had never felt love, yet it occurred to me that this might be it. I thought nobody could understand, and I certainly can’t explain it. The tension felt deep of its fiery passion it had created in my head. All my senses and vibes were telling me that he had felt the way my intoxicated mind had been going. It seemed the motion of things had slowed down, and the universe gave a moment in time for us to play out and just stare for awhile. My sister has always said, “Everything happens for a reason.” And now I had finally believed it. It felt like it was just the two of us in our own little world floating in the existence where no human or touch of green was seen. Imagine sitting in a dimmed light room, while drinking coffee, and watching the sun come up as you just talk with someone. The feeling of being absolutely comfortable, and not knowing what is next. Telling things you would never tell another soul. As the sun begins to peek through the curtain, the only thought that crosses your head is how things like these are possible. A "Crash"
By: Douglas Brittion
I’m just a dumb thirteen year old kid. To me, life was one big joke, and quite frankly, I completely blew off reality at one point. One day, we took a vacation to Indiana to visit family, and I was being naive about lots of things. That was, however, until the day we were on our way home, and we happened to get stuck in traffic. Me being me, I simply thought it was bad traffic, so blew it off. That was, until, and I am being honest, heard police and ambulance sirens. I took off my headphones and paused my music. To my horror, it turns out there was a couple of motorists who wiped out on their motorcycles. One guy was being transported onto a stretcher, and he had a pale white neck brace on, and the other guy (or girl) was covered by a black tarp. “I’ve seen that black tarp in cop shows before,” I said quietly ,“and it usually doesn’t mean something good…”
In 2014, a total of around 4,295 motorists were killed in crashes. “But Douglas!” You all scream in my ear, “Why are motorcycle accidents so deadly?!” With my ears bleeding, I sit you all down, put my hands on your shoulders and say, “Let me educate you, children.” So here’s the breakdown: Car crashes don’t typically kill people BECAUSE cars come with at least three safety features; enclosed space, airbags, and that they’re made of metal. Motorcycles, ARE made of metal, BUT they lack the benefit of being enclosed, and riders typically only have gloves, helmets, elbow-pads, and kneepads. This minimal protection means if a motorist rear-ends someone, they’re gonna be slung forward over the handlebars of their bike like a human slingshot. And what happens to things that go up? Yeah, that’s correct. They come down. And a human that probably weighs over 100 pounds is gonna come down hard, probably with a loud thud. And that thud can probably be followed by broken bones, ruptured organs, external bleeding, and or internal bleeding.
After seeing this, I became more… Twitchy, per say, on the road. I wanna reach out and say to anybody who’s family member has either been killed or injured in a motor accident and say that I’m sorry for them. I just wanna also say that this has taught me something, and this changed who I am. The lesson I learned is that you can die. You, can, die, and let me tell you, death, death is the one ultimate thing everyone faces. You can’t stop it, and you can’t change when it will happen.Prologue
By: Bella BovasoDragons are very mighty creatures of myth, lighting the world with bright vibrant oranges, scarlets, and golds that spread throughout the vast greens and browns of woods that spread miles without any relent. However, in the kingdom of Nogard, the fearsome fiery dragons that appear in consistent storybooks are the mightiest of all.
There were three colors for these powerful fiery reptiles that indicated might and age. The first, and the weakest, were the blazing dragons of sunlight gold, with jet black or blood red wings. They always hatched last in the bundles of two to four eggs, and they were very undernourished. They were allowed to help fight wars, but they couldn’t join the strongest ranks, as they were normally too weak. However, they could still be considered the threatening creatures we know dragons to be if they work alongside other dragons of their kind, and their undernourishment couldn’t kill them.
The second color was a neutral, but potentially vibrant, orange, with blue or black wings indicating their neutral health. These dragons were usually the ones that were seen fighting fearsome wars and taking home glory for their blazing tribe, but they too could not join the strongest ranks of military, as their help was needed to phase the invaders on the outskirts of their territory. Nevertheless, these dragons were never looked down upon, and they the second strongest of their species.
Last but certainly not least were the dragons of bright, intimidating, war-like scarlet, with vibrant gold wings indicating that they were the healthiest, mightiest, and eldest of their siblings. These dragons were permitted to join the strongest ranks of military, but they were also allowed to fight alongside the orange Blazing Dragons on the outskirts of their territory. They were not common, as many of them were members of the private guard, which defended the children of royalty, but they were expected to be treated with the greatest of respect when they appeared. These dragons were the strongest of their kind. That was, until The Blazing Symbol was born.
It all started the day of the 399th 120-year eclipse. Candle, a bright gold dragon with jet black wings, was defending the hatchery. All of a sudden, it happened. As soon as the moon blanketed the bright searing sun, an exceptionally large egg, one of royalty, began to glow as if it was the sun’s replacement. Candle moved swiftly out of the hatchery, her obsidian wings invisible in the dark corridors like a shadow at night, until she had arrived at the outdoor pavilion, where the king and queen resided to gaze at the eclipse.
“Something unusual is happening to one of your eggs, your majesties!” Candle shrieked, causing the massive commotion to dim down like a dying fire, with thousands of pairs of eyes now on her.
“Is it the massive, more vibrant scarlet egg, my sister?” Inferno, the king, replied, concerned.
“Yes!” she hollered out of breath and filled with shock and trauma.
“Daimonji, we must follow my sister. Something doesn’t appear to be right about this. No dragon egg has ever hatched on the day of the eclipse before,” Inferno said grimly, but without panicking.
The three nobles fleeted from the pavilion, down several pitch black corridors, until they located the bright beacon light coming from the hatchery. Inferno’s scarlet body glowed with such a blinding red light that Daimonji and Candle were almost blinded as the king stepped toward the glowing scarlet egg. He put his foreleg on the egg, and then gasped with fear and anticipation as the egg suddenly shattered open with a loud, explosion-like, noise.
The newborn dragon was one of a kind. He was almost twice as large as the largest of baby dragons, and his wings and tail were twice as developed, with the devil-like point being sharper than that of the king’s tail at his birth. However, the biggest, and most sacred surprise of all was his color scheme. Instead of being a bright, vibrant scarlet like his father was, he was a jet-black dragon with blood-red wings that glowed almost as bright as the shattered eggshell that he resided from.
Then, a wave of shock and excitement rolled over the three royal dragons, as they had realized what the meaning of this was. About 47,880 years prior to this, a story was passed from the first king about a pitch black Blazing Dragon being born on the 399th 120-year eclipse. It was said that this king would live more than twice as long as the average dragon would, and that on the 400th eclipse, the day he turned 120, any conflict that was ever brought about would be demolished by the dragon’s great wisdom and brute strength. Everything that was told about this mighty dragon seemed like it was a myth that was told to enlighten and enrich the spirits of Blazing Dragons of all ages. Now, however, it seemed like it was always a major part of reality.
However, as the three dragons gazed in awe over the birth of one of the most royal sons in dragon history, a very threatening, familiar voice lurked maliciously behind them.
“Well, well, well,” it said demonically and sarcastically. “What has happened here? Oh wait! It has happened! The Blazing symbol is real!”
A black dragon with a nauseous green face and nauseous green forearms crept out from behind them, making Candle leap and quiver with fear as the dark figure looked down at her weak, golden exterior. His bloodshot and pupiless magenta eyes cast their frozen gaze from the horrified Candle to the newborn son. The bloody magenta gashes on his neck and underbelly were not completely dry, as the guards had struck him quite hard, and they dripped down onto the floor, mixing with the pale stone beneath him.
“Back off, Ocard!” Inferno said with a major touch of rage in his voice as he lunged toward the black and green dragon. “You can no longer deny that it was true, so just leave!”
“I will not allow such myths to be true. I will wreak whatever havoc I please to, regardless of that dragon’s existence!” Ocard scowled with a “prepare for danger” voice. “Besides, i have been preparing for this moment ever since I have known of this atrocious-specimen’s legend.”
Suddenly, with a malicious grin that could kill the devil, he lunged at the newborn dragon, only to be smashed into by Daimonji with all of the orange dragon’s force. Dazed, she grabbed the newborn in her mouth, as a lion would, and fled from the hatchery as Inferno and Candle thrashed out with all of their force at the intruder.
“Go, Daimonji, go!” Inferno shouted as he flung the unconscious invader from a high cliff. Daimonji fled with all of her energy. She winced and recoiled from the painful attack, as Ocard wasn’t the only dragon wounded in the brief fight. The small dragon didn’t cry out in fear. Instead, he just hung there, calm and collected.
Daimonji began to see spots within a short amount of time after the attack. However, she managed to find a safe and secure forest that spread over the massive mountain range below. Without thinking, she dove straight down into a cluster of trees which comforted her fall with a surprisingly soft cloak of leaves. Daimonji looked down at her newborn son. He seemed so contented with the world around him as he proceeded to dive into the world of slumber. With the same jolly and oblivious face, she curled up her thin but strong body in the canopy blanket and dozed off with him.
Seven years passed, and the newborn dragon was now full of life, a surprise for a dragon his age, as most dragons could only speak and walk when they were around twelve. His jet black body shined like obsidian, and his tail had been growing with each passing day. He was almost up to his mother’s shoulders, which was quite a surprise considering that most dragons his age were not tall enough to reach his mother’s knees.
“Mother?” he asked. “Where am I really from? I mean, why do we live in an empty forest?” He was quite the curious dragon, but sometimes, his questions drove his mother up a tree or depressed her greatly. The latter was true for this question.
“Well, son,” Daimonji replied quietly and grimly. “You came from a bright, vibrant, vast, and beautiful kingdom. The Kingdom of the Blazing Dragons, as it was called. We stood at the top of a gorgeous, flat, open mountain, at the very peak. Bright scarlet castles, the color of your wings, lined the open spaces. Skylights brightened the whole area for the guards who worked long, hard, tedious hours, lifting their spirits out of the dreary and gloomy trenches created by the monotonous yet important work. Smaller dragons lined the outdoor premises, and there were pavilions spread all throughout the mountain range where Blazing Dragons would converse and laugh and trade and oh-it was just so wonderful to describe with words. However, when you were born, a carefully thought out invasion commenced. As we gazed in awe at you and your adorable yet mighty face, we were cut off by a vicious dragon, or maybe a hydra, by the name of Lord Ocar-.”
Daimonji paused and quietly and swiftly tilted her head, as if she was seeking something that she had lost for what had seemed like eons. She then proceeded to look down at her son with a why-didn’t-you-do-what-I-told-you-a-million-times-to-do face. “Now sweetie,” she said in a demanding and sweet, but yet anxious voice. “I know that you’re a very powerful dragon. In fact, you are the mighty and noble Blazing Dragon of legend. I also know that with age, comes greater powers to take control of. However, I need you to maintain your powers before the whole place is sleeping in a flaming blanket. You know that the smell of smoke doesn’t benefit the comforts of the woodlands that we reside in.”
“I know Mother,” her son said annoyed. “I know that you want me to know how to maintain my powers so that I may return one day to claim my throne or whatever else there is to know, but that’s not me releasing that smoke.” He was puzzled at first, but then he realized that his mother must know why the forest was emitting a very powerful smoky stench. However, his mother’s reply made him tremble for the very first time.
“It’s not me either,” his mother replied, her knees trembling for the first time since he could remember anything. “That’s why I asked.”
“But mother,” the little dragon below him replied, with a quick, breathless, trembling voice. “If we aren’t creating the blazing, eye-melting heat, and if we aren’t emitting that disgusting smell of smoke, then who is?”
Almost abruptly, his mother’s head perked up and her wings sparked up into a ready stance. Her whole body was like that of a deer’s, and with a voice that hardly seemed like a voice, she tried to shriek, “We have to go, now!”
“Why mother?” her son asked almost mirroring her expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Go! Run, son!” Daimonji whisper-shouted to him.
“But, I don-” her son tried to say.
“GO!” she hollered to him, proceeding to cough through the eerie black sheet that was blanketing the entire brush’s premise.
In near tears, the young dragon sprinted throughout the hillside. He yearned to fly at that exact moment like he never had before. However, as well built and nourished as his body was, his wings were probably the only thing that had yet to develop, bar his devil-pointed tail.
Suddenly, as he reach an open plain on the edge of the hillside, his eyes were nearly melted by the bright burning fiery lights behind him. It looked as if a giant, burning, blinding monster was chasing after him with bright bloodshot gold eyes, and all of a sudden, that became a reality. I giant black and green dragon, about half the size of a tree was roaring out commands. He couldn’t quite exactly translate them, but the young dragon thought that they sounded like, “Attack! He’s right there! Go get him!”
Above the smoky, burning brush, three other dragons, these almost the same, except they were blue instead green, pursued the young dragon . Their teeth shone like bright and blinding diamonds. Bright blasts of fire shot out from directly behind like a bullet, and the twigs that were incinerated exploded in his face. Over the sound of the explosions, the harsh cursing commands seemed to muffle, and the crackling fire circling him like vultures deafened and scorched him. The flame were not those of bright navy blue and periwinkle, but they were piercing, and the little dragon was almost writhing in agony.
As if it was a miracle, a large shadow crept and the gradually spread over the little dragon’s body. However, he had nothing to fear as he was swept away by a giant bright orange dragon that gleamed scarlet and gold and smelled of rotten trees. His mother was quickly fleeting in the hurricane of fire, and with a roar that nearly blew the fire away, she formed a star-shaped scorching figure, set it chasing after the three dragons, and with a single piercing touch of the scorching fiery star, sent the dragons plummeting into the fiery chaos. The fire rose as the three dragon bodies crashed in the flame, and searing bullets burned the young dragon well-built feet and knees.
From what the little dragon could see, Daimonji was panting steam as she fleeted from the flaring storm. As blazing hot as her scales were, she struggled to fly fast enough and high enough to escape, as flaming specks bit her wings like ticks, draining the life out of her, and her scales felt like they were melting. The sounds of his mother’s flapping wings, the outraged dragon’s screaming, and the explosions from the fire storm were muffled by the kindling heat crackling underneath of the little dragon like a shark gaining on a fish.
Suddenly, as they reached an open decline in the mountains, a flashing bright blue light appeared from behind the mother and son, pursuing them both with malicious power, and with an ear-piercing scream, the pulse struck Daimonji, and the young dragon was dropped as she fell into the engulfing, starving fire. Her son rolled down the hill, too weak to get up or care. Burns from the accelerations pierced his scaly skin, and he slowly proceeded to close his eyes. However, when he opened them hours later, he was in a cold trench or a gorge, deep below the scorching mountains, and a bright scarlet red figure was gently clawing at him to wake up.
“Son,” the baritone voice said, echoing in the cool breeze.
“M-Mother?’ the young dragon shivered, confused, freezing, and concerned.
“Mother’s gone,” the voice sniffed. “Much to my regret.” The mighty dragon hid a faint cry. “But with time and under nature’s presence, Father will take over.”
Much to the little dragon’s surprise and shock, a massive dragon of a scarlet so deep it seemed to be made of fire dragged his little dragon into his grasp with his faint gold wings, as if a vortex of light was strongly but lovingly sucking him into its control and grasp.
“F-Father?” the little dragon said confused and frightened. However, he suddenly felt a kick from the tears in his eyes and his voice was screechy and aggressive. “What does that mean? Who are you!?”
“I told you,” his voice bellowed and boomed.
“Father!” He noticed the fear struck in his sun eyes like lightning bolts and he calmed his voice down to make it sound like a bright red angel was staring down at his son.
“Your father.” He had an unstoppable but sad smile on his face that spread like a wildfire and just kept on growing until his mouth was screaming and pleading for mercy.
“Come,” he commanded his son, but with a hint of sad gratefulness in his voice. “Symbol.”
“Who, me?” his son asked, confused but with a growing excitement.
“Yes, Symbol,” he replied. “By the orders of king Inferno!” he then joked.
Symbol, Inferno’s little dragon, suddenly cracked a growing smile. Joy filled his heart, but then the question rose like the sun to him. “To where are we going, Father?”
“Home,” he smiled grimly. “Just like Daimonji hopefully said you would.”
“Yes!” Symbol shouted, his voice echoing loudly, as though the cliffs weren’t enjoying his silliness and wanted to push it back to him. “I mean, let us go home!”
Symbol was nearly breathless when his father grabbed him and yanked him into the air with full force, leaving him what seemed like the all of Nogard to see. Past the bright but partially dead brushes that he had inhabited forever up until now, he saw massive hills and mountains, some whose peaked pierced the cloud with their sword-like tops, and after gaping in awe regardless of his pain, he saw a bright scarlet clearing around the same color of his father above him. Suddenly, his father rose up into the sky as if he was the sun, and the scarlet opening seemed to gain more shape. The scarlet opening was now forming into massive peaks as sharp as the high mountain it stood upon, and the red lines were turning into what looked like very thick red pipes. Then, he realized that those weren’t just peaks, they were castle turrets, and the bright vibrant red pipes were walls to the not-so-small-anymore kingdom. His kingdom.
Several orange, gold, and bright red dragon were swirling around the kingdom walls. Some were chatting and prancing or hanging around and doing nothing. However, the whole kingdom seemed to stop dead in its tracks when the king arrived, and as if it were programmed, everyone in the main pavilion bowed.
“The symbol,” Symbol heard the dragons muttering and, “It’s happening? No more Ocard?”
Normally, his father would have been furious about the slightest of muttering of him or his kin. However, Symbol noticed a slight smile crackling on his face like a rekindling fire. And at that moment, Symbol knew that he was one.
However, his happiness was replaced with sudden excitement and incredible shock as he stared in awe at the kingdom. It was like his mother’s description and even more. He realized that words, even his mother’s wise ones, couldn’t describe the painting of vibrant scarlet and tan brown painted gently across his eyes. Gorgeous castle turrets of vibrant red that shot up into the sky were one all visible corners, but it seemed as if they were everywhere. He couldn’t see farther than the thick, broadening entrance, but as he took gentle steps forwards, taking in his brand new home wordlessly, with dragons now starting to hold out their claws, he suddenly saw the broadening entrance increase into the heart of the pavilion.
He thought that he had seen several dragons around the entrance, scattered, united, and respectful. However, he was proven dead wrong when he had finally arrived awestricken at the center of the pavilion and, apparently, the commotion. Smooth, tan stone roads were cluttered with dragons. Massive sculptures and statues of past dragon kings were planted firmly and proudly in between blacksmiths and armory stores. Outdoor eateries were scattered around every five shops, and on the outskirts of the pavilion, Symbol made out that there were tiny caverns made for every single family of dragons in the kingdom, some being guarded by powerful looking guards.
Although everyone seemed to be occupied at that exact moment, some dragon in the crowd whispered to a peer at his side, and like dominoes, the whisper spread and the dragons bowed one by the near hundreds.
“Your majesties,” they all said in unison.
Inferno grinned joyfully, but with control over his emotions, and knocked symbol with his tail. Without control, Symbol proceeded the saunter alongside of his father. He was walking without knowing it, as his eyes were closed with content joyfulness, until his father stopped him at the edge of the main pavilion.
It still seemed like a welcoming place, but yet it was surprisingly different. It was almost deserted, with only the occasional guard vigilantly defending a family’s cavern, until he had arrived at an unbelievably large, bright scarlet, castle, with stronger walls and barriers, and a door made of thick steel. Two powerful dragon guards, one bright orange in jet black armor that guarded the chests, legs, back, and head crest, the other one stained red in navy blue armor that proudly guarded only the chest and legs. Their faces were stern, earnest, and empty, as if they were staring out into the sky, until they saw the king and his successor. They seemed to move slowly away from the center of the doors as if they were being weakly repelled from it, and then they mightily but at the same time humbly smiled down upon the king and prince.
“Thank you Grizelda and Garnet,” he said with his noble and wise voice never fading, regardless of how small the compliment was.
Symbol stopped, gazing into his father’s eyes. He wanted to be his father’s reflection, his shadow, his everything. So, he stared up at the two young female guards, and, as if he was greeting a king, said. “Yes. Thank you very much for your kindness Garnet and Grizelda.” The two dragons giggled, causing Symbol to pout, “What?”
As he and his father bid the two dragons goodbye, Symbol proceeded to walk along, corridor after corridor. Although the imagery felt like it had been repeating itself, Symbol was not at all bored by the bright scarlet and tan walls and, as his mother had told him about, the skylights bringing light to the potential darkness. She was right. It did make working in the narrow monotonous hallways seem like a treat. Suddenly, the pattern stopped, as if suddenly an engine had broke down suddenly, and with a face that looked as if he had seen a three headed snake, Symbol stared into the proud, marble-floored room.
The hallway stretched out around here, and lead with no regrets to a throne that appeared to be the size of a mountain at first glance. However, the king merely looked at it with a mild sense of pride as he ambled toward a hallway to the right of the throne. Symbol followed along, sauntering puzzledly, but as soon as they reached the end of the hallway, they came to a room with guards on every last tile. Although it was a massive room, it seemed to quiver with fear and cry in comparison to the echoing room behind them, but Symbol was far from the point where he cared about the space. In here, everywhere seemed to be guarded, from the caves to the walls to even the ceilings. However, as he looked to see the words scratched so mightily into the marble ceilings around the cave entrances, he could see why this room was so special. They had the names “Tar”, “Blaze”, and “Gauld” on the tops of them. However, the one that stood loud and proud for the first time was one that marked his name on it. ‘Symbol,” it said with a look of pride.
Then, as if on cue, three small dragons were dragged gently out of their rooms by bright scarlet guards. A stained red one, like Garnet, a pale orange one, and a searing gold one. His siblings, he figured, which made him jump up for joy. The three little dragons, dwarves in his eyes, quietly curled up beside him, and all of a sudden, Symbol found himself smiling uncontrollably at his father, who strongly replied, “Welcome home, son. Welcome home.”
By: Delila MataraI’ve been stranded here
Longer than I can remember
Never trying to escape
It's what they tell me to do
All I know is that
If I disobey,
They told me I will surely pay
So I sit here
In this very lonely world
Wondering if I will ever be found
They took everything I had
And threw it away
As if I had done something wrong
The walls are hard
And stone cold
Yet the room always seems to overheat
And leave me out of breath
There is no way out,
And if there was
It would take longer than I could imagine
For it is so dark that you cannot see
Your own hand in front of your face
Yet you are forced to hear
Hear all those voices mocking you
But, there is nothing more you can make
When you are a prisoner in your own mindHurricane
By: Delila MataraLost in lust
Intoxicated in desire
Drowning in thoughts
Inhaling worries
Exhaling passion
Pondering about life
While sinking in love
Flying above memories
And craving freedom
Running on time
Stuck on the verge of lies
Wanting to be loved
And hoping to be free
Strands of Dreams
By: Delila MataraDreams are like owls
So big
So curious
So thoughtful
So mysterious
Dreams are like donuts
So sweet
So soft
So delicious
Dreams are like plants
Full of life
Different everyday
Desperate for something
Dreams are like dreams
Not all are the same
They vary in size
But once you get a taste
You can never get enough
Forever Lost
By: Delila MataraI worried everyday
I worried about grades
I worried about friends
I worried about college
I worried about my partner
I worried about my career
I worried about my children
I worried about aging
I worried about funerals
And while I worried about my past
I began to worry that I never lived Courage
By: Akash ShahYou don’t know if you have me
You can’t feel me
You only believe in me
I can feel you
I can move you
You don’t know me
But I know you
I am in you
I help you
I can get you in a bad spot
A good spot
Or a difficult spot
I am
COURAGE
The Edge
By: Bella BovassoWhat do I do?
I’m stuck
There’s no going back
I’m on the edge
The edge of two possible futures
Both lead to the downfall
The downfall of me
If I am to choose one side
The side that leads to fortune and fame
I will corrupt
I’ll be alone
I’ll have to leave the only ones
Who made me
Who I am
Who gave me confidence and strength
I will leave it all for fame
If I am to choose the other side, though
Then I will stay with them
My friends
I won’t corrupt
But what is the purpose
If I have nothing to follow?
No dreams
No place to go
Why should I have confidence?
I will leave my destiny
And all the glory that follows
Both will lead to happiness
Both will lead to downfall
Which is better?
To leave and follow my dream
Or to Cancel my dream
and be with them?
I’m at the edge
The edge of two futures
Both good and bad
What is more wise to choose?
I just can’t decide
I’m on the edge
Crossing The Road
By: Chessie Bovasso Years of joy
Years of sorrow
Years in between
And I have finally moved to the crosswalk
The crosswalk to success
The crosswalk to victory
The crosswalk to life
But the cars don’t stop on this street
And they just keep getting faster
The farther I walk
I start to doubt myself
But crowds of people lay behind me
Pursuing me to proceed
There is no turning back
I look back at life
Before I crossed this street
Lighthearted and joyfully
But the other side grim everywhere
Everywhere except for a path
A narrow path
A wavy path
Over a trench
But still stable
And it hits me
This is where I go
When I cross the street
I will follow the path
To my future
And pass each obstacle along the way
Trees blocking me
Animals attacking me
I will break through
And follow this path
Until there is another road to cross
And another path
Flooding Trauma
By: Chessie BovassoDanger is upon us
Ominous silence encloses the terrain
As danger rises like the sun
The barrier that kept our lives safe
Has finally broken
And intruding nature attacks
The swords are swept from their tall wooden armor stands
Slashing at and crushing people
We stand behind our remaining shields
But they look like they will be crushed
In a matter of time
Some people are cornered by the attackers
And filled with clear fluids
And the souls trapped in them
Poor and small companions
Are swept away obliviously
Hills are living nightmares
As this flood is to us
We drop down the waterfalls
And crash at the very bottom
Lifeless as we are carried upward
By the crowd of soldiers
Their flow seems to be endless
They keep on spreading
Farther and farther
Until they have conquered and destroyed
All of our land
We yearn for freedom
We pray for peace
But the army will not be stopped
Until the hero rises into the sky
Bright and warm
Burning the vicious intruders
And carrying them somewhere far away
We just hope that the hero will appear soon
The Rising
By: Chessie BovassoA place so lost
So covered in chaos
Warriors in white invaded our terrains
Plagues killed and nearly killed many
Invisible swords knocked us back
Army ships covered our lands
Covered them in blackness and oblivion
Then, I saw it
We all saw it
A bright blinding light
A glowing gold man of power and destiny
Rose up into the sky
A ray as his sword
He swiped at invaders
Burning them with searing power
A flying fiery lion
He readied his gun
And shot at the attackers’ ships
To find a place for himself
For everyone
As he brought hues of teal to the sky
Life became colorful
The world, once dormant from the war
Was now rising, yawning, awakening
A rainbow had struck our world
Filling it with a bright warm energy
As I looked up to the sky, I saw the hero with one eye
“Thank you,” I said as I watched him rise into the sky
With warmth, happiness, color, and health
I See a Big, Bronze Penny
By: Gopiga Dass
I see a big, bronze penny in the sky, with its gleam so bright, it hurts my eye
But it is vital for it to exist, otherwise the plants could never perform photosynthesis
I see a yellow, juicy lemon way up high, smiling at me as the clouds go by
It gives plenty of vitamin D to you and you and you and of course, me
I see a jumbo LED lightbulb, that brightens up the Earth
I have been seeing this wondrous sight since the time of my birth.
I see a giant circle, with a radius of 2,282,945,280 feet
I wonder how many light years it will take for us to meet.
I see a flower without petals, blooming in on the vast, endless blue
Isn’t the sky such a pretty, mellow color; I love its light hue.
I see a shimmering yellow candy, way up high, waiting for me to taste
Kick back, slow down, enjoy yourself, why should there be any haste
I see the beautiful sun in front of my eyes,
I think of things to compare it with as the time flies by
A Heart of Ice
By: Selina Lin The queen was bitter.
The queen was cold.
The queen was heartbroken.
The story shall unfold…
She sat up high, way in the mountains,
And looked out to the sea,
Her heart beated fast,
Wondering when when she will be free…
She stayed in her palace,
By her gold, silver, and crystal fountain
An sipped her blood-red chalice
She conquered all the lands,
She sats high in the mountains.
As the world laid in her hands.
She sat on her throne,
Of ice, silver, and gold,
The kingdom won’t pass on.
The queen will never grow old.
The men all came knocking,
Wishing for her hand,
But she was a maiden, alone,
And the sole queen she ruled her land.
Long, long ago,
She once fell hard,
With a handsome young man,
And let down her guard.
The man was cruel,
He yelled at the poor,
Whipped the slaves hard,
And sent them to Death’s door.
But she didn’t notice,
She saw only the fake deeds,
The man sent her presents,
His mind made of greed.
One day she found out the truth.
She rode on the battlefield,
She was a warrior at heart,
Carrying a sword and shield.
The man rode to the enemy’s side,
And greeted the king.
The queen’s heart broke,
As he threw down their ring.
The man shattered her heart,
And threw it on the floor.
He stepped on the pieces,
Their love was gone, no more.
She grew bitter and cold,
Thrown out of paradise.
Her heart turned frozen,
Into a heart made of ice…
The queen was bitter.
The queen was cold.
The queen was heartbroken,
Her story has been told…
The Ending
By: Victoria BorisonnickHere it goes
What started was the beginning
But now is the end
Crying and tears of joy and fear
Moving up to a school across the field
So here we go again
A year of learning
Finally over
A year of making new friends
But here we go the crying and yelling
The hugging and screaming
It's the end and summer break begins
But does everyone forget we will still be here
We may move schools
All the way across the field
But we will be together
So save those tears and screams for later
Because it maybe the end
But there's always a beginningFlipped
By: Victoria BorisonnickThe Moon is my Sun
The Sun is my Moon.
The stars are my clouds
But the clouds are my stars.
The bright sunny day is my dark night.
My right
is your left.
My right is your
wrong.
My up is your down.
My mirror is upside down.
My ground is the sky.
Your sky is my ground
Earth's Secret
By: Victoria BorisonnickThe uncertain air made a vision of dreams,
The imagination was like water,
No certain in what you see.
A copper haze on a summer day made a secret,
The silver waves a hush sound,
The air held it long,
With the trees still and no sound of animal call.
The forest held its breath,
And silence becoming golden,
As the world holds a secret,
No one can tell.
It's hard to tell what is tries to say
Though the wind whispers it so faint
That no one can hear
The flowers that bloom so bright
The trees that go so tall
All no the secret the earth speaks
But not a man not a girl.
For we do not speak language of peace.
Harmony
All the plants know the secret
So it became Earth secret
One where no one can hear
No one knows,
But all wait for the day
That the secret will be revealed
But the earth keeps its secret well hidden
No one will know
And no one knows
FICTION
What is a Successful Life?
By: Kyle Stone It came so suddenly. The knock. I never expected anything like it to happen. But it did. I thought I was the last person to walk this terrain but maybe I’m not. Could there be one more? The knock came again. I started to panic. Until the courage finally came over me to answer the door to the apartment.
“Please be a hot lady, please be a hot lady,” I repeated on my way to the door. I turned the knob, sweat showering my body. I almost jumped back in fear when I opened it. A human being was at the door. Not just one human being, but one tall, African-American woman was at the door surrounding by three men, all in fancy suits. They were in sunglasses.
“I assume wearing sunglasses indoors is trending right now?” I inquire.
“Good evening, Dalton Adams,” the woman says.
“You know my name?” I ask.
“We all know who you are. You thought that you were the last man on the planet didn’t you. Well, you’re not.”
“What are you saying?’ I question. The woman held out both her hands and spoke. In one hand there was a yellow pill and a green pill in the other.
She spoke, “Take the yellow pill and you are thrown back into the real world, without any memories of this reality. Take the green pill and you find out everything….”
“If the Wachowskis were still around you’d be facing a major lawsuit right now,” I say.
“JUST TAKE A PILL!” the woman screams, clearly annoyed. Thoughts flood my mind. My brain becomes a madhouse of mayhem. I take….the green pill.
I wake up. I’m in a bed inside some sort of facility. The woman from before stands over me, glaring down at me.
“Ow,” I complain.
“The world has ended,” she explains.
“Well, duh,” I rudely say.
“But not the way you thought it did.”
“Aliens or zombies?”
“PAY ATTENTION!” Geez this lady is the queen of mood swings. “A distant species arrived on the planet. They destroyed almost everything. They killed billions of humans. They enslaved the remaining humans, took 98% of the remaining population as slaves. They took over the planet. We’re sure they’re called something else, but we call them Ithquaians. The remaining 2% formed a secret society. A rebellion that has been waiting to strike for years. We have been looking for a leader. And we have found one in you. We found many poetential leaders and tested them. We put them into an environment where they were the last person on the planet. We saw how they’d react. You were calm and subtle while everyone else was panicking and insane. You will lead our rebellion against the Ithquaians.”
“So basically,” I begin, “aliens show up, say ‘You are now our slaves’! Remaining humans be like ‘We’d rebel but we’re lazy’. They call the aliens something very hard to pronounce and quiz some smarter than average people to become their leader.”
“Yes, exactly that!”
“Well if there’s anything I can say to that, it’s definitely one big NOPE!”
“We’ll give you some time to make your decision.”
“But I already-“
“Until then,” the woman interrupts, “enjoy deluxe treatment of a slightly less annoying bed and slightly less termite infested food.”
I sighed. “Ok then.”
I take some time to process my thoughts. How is this possible? Now, I cannot tell what is real and what is not real. The world I thought I was in was not real. Is this real? Am I real? Man, that’s deep. I walk into my “deluxe” room. A completely disgusting mess of a place. The bed might as well be on the wall! Still, I begin to process my thoughts on whether to lead this rebellion or not. Fifteen minutes was an eternity before the woman entered my “deluxe” room.
“By the way, I never learned your name?” I inquire.
“Lupita,” the woman states, “my name is Lupita.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you reached your decision?” Lupita asks.
“Are you kidding me? It hasn’t even been twenty minutes!”
“YES or NO?!?!” Lupita screams.
I hesitate before speaking. “What happens if I say no?” I inquire.
“You will aid in our rebellion one way or another. You can either lead the charge or fight in the backdrop. On the computers.”
I process my thoughts. Do I risk my life to do at least something active? Or do I keep my life to do something boring? Either way, I’m taking part in the rebellion. Should I be a moth, having a short yet entertaining life or a cockroach with a long yet boring life? Question marks invaded my nervous system. Two different voices echoed my head. What to choose?
“Ya good?” Lupita says. “It’s been ten minutes.”
“Just give me a couple seconds!”
“YES OR NO?!?!?!?!”
“NO!” I yell. Why did I say that? I wonder. But on the inside, I know that it was the right decision. I don’t want to risk my life to be active. I want a long life. I want to live, I tell myself. Besides, violence is only the answer 49% of the time.
“Okay then,” Lupita states, “we’ll find a new leader.”
As Lupita leaves my cell I ponder about whether I made the right decision. Should I have been short and active or long and bored? What is a successful life? A successful life is an active and long one. But very few can have that life. It’s one or the other. And I pray that my decision about the way I should make my life was the correct one. The General
By: Brendan Aurthur It was 12:00 AM my troops have 10 more hours of training to do before the big mission tomorrow. They are working really hard. They have run through the training area of what we think what the place looks like. This afternoon is the mission and we are getting ready. This morning my troops will have gone through the training area about 46 times. It’s time for us to gear and get ready for the mission when I get a call from the president. He said that my best troop was on a mission for him and was killed by a RPG. Although I was sad the team told me to keep it together and that we still had a mission.
We were in the helicopter going to drop off point and I saw the truck that my friend was in. we got to the drop off point. My friend Sam got out and checked if it was all clear. He took one step and he stepped on a landmine I told him not to move we had to get him off of the landmine so he doesn’t die. First we used water to soften the sand. Then we carefully took the mine out of the sand. Finally we had him take his foot off the mine and through it.
We were all safe then we ran into at least 2 dozen of his troops. The man we are after is Kim Jong Un a dictator from North Korea. We had in tell that he was making nuclear bombs and was going to drop them on America so we have to take him out.There was no question about it we had to take him out.
We are days into this mission and we still haven’t found him. I fear that when we ran into his troop’s one of them got away and told him and his bodyguards and now he is in hiding. But no matter what we will find him. We have been here for three weeks now and we found something that looks like a hide out. So we went in and there was a long hallway. I looked down the hallway and there were only five bodyguards so we took them out and he was there. Since his bodyguards were all died he had no defence so we took him out and the mission was over. It's been one year and now his son decided that he wanted to be a terrorist now. Now I have to gather up my team again and we have to go in. The mission was the same but this time instead of running into 2 dozen of his men we ran into his son and almost 100 of his men. And this time he wanted to talk . So I went up to talk to him we started to talk. But then he pulled out a gun and shot me. But my guys couldn't do anything because he had 100 men on his side and I had 5 guys so he took us as prisoners and tortured us for months. We called for backup
but no one came for 5 months. Then one day in summer we heard gunshots and the door opened and seal team six was there to save us. But something went wrong my teammates were so weak that they didn't make it out. When we got back to the base they made me the 5th member of seal team six.
It's my first day on seal team six and as soon as I got there they told me that we were going to training. But there is one wrong thing with this when I had my own team we went through the same training facility. So it brought back some bad.
It's been a year since I joined seal team six and I'm know the team leader. We got Intel that a few people were captured. So i told my captain that I would take soldiers to get the hostages. Before we left Serg pulled me aside and said “ In case anything goes wrong today I just wanted to say every war needs victims.” “I know Sarge” I said.
We got there and we were going to trade there guys for ours. So I went up to the roof of a building with a .50 cal sniper then suppressed it. I got a great sniping position and put my eye to the scope. When I looked through they were pulling our guys out of a truck and then they pulled out my brother. As soon as I saw my brother I lost my my mind went blank. Then all of a sudden I heard someone say “FIRE”. As soon as I heard that,all I saw was white. The bullet hit me in the chest and it was all because i made stupid decision not to shoot the leader of the group in the head.
It’s been 2 months and they have me in the shooting range 24/7 and I'm working hard really hard. The week they let me back in we had another big call. This time it was the sergeant. He was kidnapped when he was taking a walk in the middle of the night not armed and by gunpoint.
The search started the next morning and it took a long time. But we got Intel that the people who took my brother took the sergeant. We found him being guard by Kim Jong Un’s son. I shoot and missed. When I missed he saw me, I grabbed Sarge and ran. We followed him to a big courtyard. As soon as he turned around he put a clock up to Sarge’s head. The only option I had was to shot through Sarge to kill Kim Jong Un’s son. But as soon as I saw the gun to Sarge’s head I remembered what Sarge said to me “every war needs a victim.” So I put my finger on the trigger and pulled it. The bullet went through Sarge’s body and hit Kim Jong Un’s son in the lungs. He was dead. So I ran over to Sarge and he was dying. His final words to me were “ I guess it was me this time.”
I’m Ed Lean and this is the story of how I lost a friend but gained a victory.
Pet Problems
By: Gopiga DassSunday morning, sun shining, the lazy atmosphere was a canopy over our sweat covered bodies. I put on my flip-flops, grabbed the koi fish food, and plodded down the path to my fish pond. The outside scene was beautiful! Flowers that had every color of the rainbow, the bees were busily buzzing, mockingbirds sang a sweet melody. The day was perfect…too perfect. Something wasn’t right. Something caught my eye and I turned toward the pond. The pond bubbler wasn’t working! I saw my poor fish gasping for air.My fish aren’t breathing, I thought to myself as I rushed to my mom, frantic and in need for help.
By the time I got to my mom, my lungs were screaming. I started to speak to her at a hundred words a second, explaining to her about the bubbler not working, the 6 destitute, fish choking up bubbles, alertly swimming, struggling for survival. My mom, sister, and I all raced to see the fish’s desperate little faces, pleading, Why, why do our lives have to end like this!All the fish were up at the surface, opening their feeble mouths, trying to suck out air from outside the pond, since there were no air bubbles in the pond. Their usually slender and shiny bodies were now sketched with the tensed muscles trying to keep the fish afloat. I couldn’t, I just couldn’t look at my fish in this state of depravity, their innocent lives on a life line, a line about to be cut. Stop thinking dark thoughts and actually start forming a plan, I commanded myself. To make matters even worse, the filter stopped working too, so the pond was getting murky. So we three and the fish sat there in silence for seconds, minutes which felt like eternity trying to figure out a plan. Not a second could be spared for these little fish. I glanced at the now distressed fish. I stared at their beady eyes, their shimmering scales, and their lovely sleek bodies. There was no way I could let my fish friends die, no way! And then, my sister - Brinda broke the silence that had been created.
“I know a way to save the fish!” she triumphantly yelled.
“We could fill a tub with fresh rainwater from the barrel, and then put the fish in the tub. This won’t solve the problems with the air, but will at least give the fish some fresh water,” Brinda explained in her high - pitched squeaky voice.
“Brinda you’re a genius!” I exclaimed with optimism in my voice. I couldn’t believe I had said that.
We then grabbed buckets and started hauling water all the way from the front yard to the backyard and around and back. It was like I was trekking across the Sahara Desert, carrying 20 pound dumbbells in each arm. The mugginess and hot afternoon sun only added to the toil.
#struggle is 4 real. After about few rounds, I collapsed, letting the water in the bucket I was carrying spill all over me. That felt so refreshing.
“I still don’t get why the filter and bubbler stopped working,” my mom said in her frustrated voice.
I could already see the fish giving up on life. A few stopped trying to get air and silently waited for death. One fish, the biggest one, had a hard time staying afloat. It kept turning on its side, ready to close its sorrowful eyes and float to the koi pond. I was about to scream my head off and let tears I have been holding in all morning flood my face. That’s when I saw a yellow, fuzzy dot in the distance. After squinting my eyes shut, I saw that it was a truck, but deep inside, I somehow knew that help, and hope was coming.
“It’s the painters!” I screamed. The people from Sherwin Williams Paint Company were here to paint our house. Wait a second, I thought, maybe they could help us with our fish dilemma. Nah! They’re only painters, what could they do? But I guess I should try anyway.
“Could you please help us with our koi fish pond?” I asked humbly, trying to hide my agitated tone.
“Sure,” he answered and I led him into my backyard to the pond.
The painters checked everywhere for anything that could be causing the problems. The painters were like detectives at a crime scene. Hurry up, I thought to myself. Time was ticking and the fish needed saving. Sweat was trickling down my face, from the tension and the heat. Finally, one guy found the source of the problems.
“Ahha!” he bursted.
I looked at the outlet he was pointing out. The wire that lead to the bubbler and filter wasn’t pushed all the way in.
“Ooohhhh. Oops,” I admitted.
The second I pushed the plug in, the filter and bubbler started working again. I knew it was going to take the fish a few minutes to get back to normal, but they were saved.
“The fish are saved!” I cheered.
“And we learned the reasons for the pond not working,” my mom chimed in.
A series of whoops and screeches of joy followed that.
“So, what walls do we paint?” one painter questioned.
I blinked, snapping back into reality. I remembered it was a hot, sweltering, July day. The flowers had every color of the rainbow, the bees were busily buzzing, and the mockingbirds sang a sweet melody. The day continued on to be pretty normal. Thankfully.
So, how do I reflect on this day in my life? Well, for starters, always check on the pond to see if everything is working. If I had checked the night before, I would have seen the issue and dealt with it then. I would have called the Pond Guys right then (I couldn’t call the Pond Guys the next day because it was a Sunday and they were closed). That would have saved me a lot of stress! I also learned to accept help, no matter who or what it’s coming from. Who ever knew the painters could help us with our fish dilemma? If I would have never asked them, my fish would have been dead by now, and the koi fish pond would be empty. So, welcome help from all directions. If I would have thought about these things, I would have never ended up having pet problems! The Monster
By:Misha Bankulla“Whoa!” exclaimed Raina from the corner of her room. She was sitting up in her bed with the bed light on. A shadow had moved in the dark across the bed light. Raina got up and turned the light on. “Ugh” came a moan from the opposite side of the room. “Raina I’m trying to sleep,” complained Camille, Raina’s one minute older sister. “Yeah, I know, but I saw something move in front of the bed light.”Raina replied. “Yeah...ok” Camille sighed.
When Raina and Camille got up they were super excited because their birthdays’ were in two days. As they brushed their teeth, they heard a scratching noise. Raina said in a muffled voice, “I told you I saw something.” Camille jumped as soon as she heard the little scraping sound. They both turned around but saw nothing. They started searching… and searching for what they had heard.
They were planning on who they should invite to their birthday party. As they did this, a small, flurry, golden colored ball of fur seemed to move behind a desk. “Ahhhhh!! The monster!” the twins screamed in fright. They ran downstairs and told their mom what happened. “Ok let’s go look where ‘the monster’ is” said their mom in disbelief.
As soon as they were upstairs, they looked behind the desk and there it was...the monster. “Awww, it’s so cute!” Raina exclaimed. The little golden poof ball barked. “But where did the puppy come from?”asked Camille. Then a loud noise interrupted.
“Girls...come downstairs.I have an early birthday present for you.” said a surprising voice. “Ok,” replied the girls. They raced down the stairs to see what he had gotten. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw their dad with a surprised expression on his face with a cage with an open door. “Ohhhhhhhhhhh,”Raina and Camille sighed at the same time as they looked at each other. The dog was their birthday present.Before Super Heroes
By: Kyle StoneI’m gonna tell you a story about how superheroes came to be. For a while, they weren’t even super. In fact, they weren’t even heroes! My name is Theophilus, I know a little weird, but for this story, we’ll just refer to myself as Theo. Now, I don’t mean to brag, but I WAS THE FIRST SUPERHERO!!! HA HA! WASN’T YOU! IT WAS ME! HA! Sorry, I….I just….sorry. Anyway, for this story I’m gonna take you back to ancient Greece. How am I still alive in the 21st century at the same age of twenty-one after being born in the BC years? We’ll get to that later. Now, there was a secret city in Greece called Kyrilltopia, named after King Kyrillos. This city was hidden from the rest of Greece and the world, and it was filled with extraordinary people like myself. Everyone in Kyrilltopia has a power. Whether it was King Kyrillos’s incredibly enhanced brain, my best friend Philo’s camouflage, or my own ability to control the element of earth. Other important exposition you should know includes that Philo and I are miners and best friends, the people of my city fear being seen, and Athens and Sparta are currently at war. It all started in a cave, hundreds of miles away from Kyrilltopia (we were able to reach it via teleporting human). I was mining with Phil.
“It could happen any day, Theo. We never know when the man keeping our city invisible to the humans will vanish, and we will be left to be spotted by the humans and killed!” Philo said to me as he broke a piece of gold away from the cave walls.
“I think that we powered beings could take on normal humans in a war,” I replied.
“You are forgetting that we are hopelessly outnumbered ten-thousand to one!”
“Calm down! We are perfectly safe, and the chances of Miltiades just vanishing are low.”
Philo began to speak before the sounds of screaming and thousands of footsteps echoed the cave from above.
“What was that?” Philo asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s go check it out.” I suggested.
“That is a horrible idea! When has checking out a strange noised ever worked out well in one of Sophocles’s plays!?” Philo argued.
“You can camouflage us! Come on let’s go you wuss!”
“This is a very bad idea.”
Yet Philo followed as I climbed out of the cave onto the surface. We hid behind a randomly placed rock as Philo camouflaged me and him like chameleons so that we were almost invisible to anyone else. My heart sank as I saw tens-of-thousands of humans launching themselves at each other, half in blue armor the other half in red. Spears were raised, shields her held up, arrows very fired from bows. A battle was happening right before my eyes. Athens and Sparta had finally snapped. I had to look away when I saw the arrow of a man in blue’s bow pierce through the heart of a man in red, turning the delightful yellow sand into a horrific red puddle of blood. Philo did not look away though. He continued to stare blankly into the terror unfolding before him. This event would change him for eternity.
The sun set in the sky and the moon appeared, until the sun engulfed the moon and retook the sky. I found myself back in Kataotnua, the most famous, busiest marketplace in Kyrilltopia. The streets danced in the sun with hundreds of powered individuals like myself all flocking to get from somewhere stupid to somewhere even stupider. I was purchasing some bread when I heard a voice oh so familiar echo the streets of Kataotnua. It was Philo.
“Citizens of Kyrilltopia, may I have you definite attention.” Everyone continued on as if Philo no longer existed. I looked over to find himself on some sort of stage. He whispered something to a man standing next to him, and then I heard the loudest noise I’ve ever heard.
“ATTENTION!!!!!” echoed into my ears. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over to Philo. He began to spoke.
“Citizens of Kyrilltopia. We all have heard of the dreaded word war. We fear it, despise of it. But now I know the truth of war! It is fighting. Brutal, hatred fueled fighting. Death, blood, anger, and fear engulfed the valley off in the distance! Sparta and Athens are at war. This means, death! Oh so much death! How long is it before this evil spirit controls us? Join me, citizens! And together, we can stop war!”
“How?” someone yelled.
“Simple….we kill those with fearful abilities, those who can start wars by just batting an eye, must die! Who is with me?” I felt like I was the only one in the crowd who did not shout in agreement. I may as well could have been.
The town did not forget about Philo’s statements. While the royalty such as the kings, queens, heirs, and nobles had not yet heard of this sudden outbreak in Kataotnua, the middle and lower classes had Philo’s words permanently lodged into their brains. Many agreed with him that the powerful ones must die before they begin a war. Secret societies were formed, beliefs were taught, plans were put into structure. All in two days’ time. I did not agree. It was wrong just to kill innocent people just because of their special powers! Did the people of Kyrilltopia have no common sense whatsoever? Those exact thoughts were echoing through my brain at every meal since Philo said his first word that day.
“No,” I said out loud.
“YEAH NO!” someone randomly said behind me.
“Shut up,” I replied. I will not stand by Philo, for his thoughts and plans were wrong. Little did he know that by trying to end wars, he was going to end up starting one. I couldn’t just stand there and watch Philo and his allies kill a bunch of innocent human beings just because of their abilities. I had to stop him. But I couldn’t do it alone.
“Here is the plan,” I explained. I had gathered a meeting of myself and seven other people who were all against Philo’s ideas. There was the always funny Thanos, his power was teleportation. Then there was the no-nonsense Yannis; her power was enhanced strength. There was the criminal Antonis; his power was invisibility (always useful for stealing). There was the creative Vasilis; her power was control over all animals. There was the sneaky Kyria; her power was telekinesis (she was also a great actress). And finally, there was the unlikable Argyris; his power was stealing the powers of others nearby. He has always been my arch-nemesis, so working with him would be pretty difficult. I continued, “Philo thinks I am with him, believing that those with strong powers must die.”
“TRAITOR!” Thanos screamed.
“No! No! No!” I begged. “He thinks that I with him when I’m really not.”
“I know, I just wanted to say that,” Thanos replied.
“Whatever. When I learn the plan that Phil has in mind, we will all have our certain duties to carry out.”
“Hah! Duty,” Thanos immaturely interrupted. His annoying statement caused Yannis to pick him up with one hand and raise him five feet off the ground with her strength. Thanos smiled and simply teleported out of Yannis’ grasp.
“Ha!” he laughed. Yannis charged him but within three seconds, Thanos was out of the way with his teleportation laughing like a hyena. Man, don’t we all get along so well.
“GUYS!” I screamed. “THE PLAN!” Thanos and Yannis sat down and I continued. “If we’re going to stop Phil from starting the biggest war in history, we need to get along. You get me?” Everyone nodded yes but Argyris.
“I despise getting along,” he blurted out.
“Well, you’re gonna have to to save the world. And if you’re gonna do that, you need to work together. We all have unique abilities, and if we can put them together, we can do amazing things. Now….here is the plan.”
“Shoot,” Vasilis said.
“So, Philo believes that I am on his side, as I told you. His plan is to sneak into the next City of Power meeting at the Evosmos Building, where all the members of the upper class, most of them with incredible abilities, will be all at once.”
“How does he plan to get inside?” Antonis asked.
“Yeah, that place has more guards than I have brain cells,” Thanos added.
“Well, Philo’s ability is camouflage, which could be a big help. But that won’t be enough, as there is a system surrounding the building that blocks all power usage. Philo’s solution: dig underground. Philo and about four or five of his buddies will make a system of tunnels leading to right under the Evosmos Building. One of Philo’s followers has the power to blow himself up, making a gigantic explosion. He will die in the process, but he is willing to sacrifice himself to a greater cause,” I explained.
“He’s dying for nothing,” Yannis stated.
“Exactly. Our plan is to sneak into the Evosmos and explain to the upper class Philo’s plan and that they need to evacuate,” I told everyone.
“And you expect them to believe that?” Argyris inquired rudely.
“Well….yes and no. Kyria, you’re good at acting, right?” Kyria nodded her head. The next ten minutes was me explaining my genius plan to my allies.
The time came. Two days later, we were right outside the Evosmos, ready to execute my plan. I, Thanos, Yannis, Kyria, Argyris, Antonis, and Vasilis stood together as a group.
“Theo, isn’t Philo wondering where you are?” asked Antonis.
“I told him I was on urgent mining duty, and they needed me immediately.”
“Okay, you guys ready?” Antonis inquired. Everyone nodded yes. “Okay, Vasilis, let’s do this.” A falcon flew over and dashed like a motorcycle to Vasilis’ side. Vasilis spoke to the falcon in words I couldn’t make out, and the falcon left as soon as it came.
“Now we wait,” said Vasilis.
“Geez, what’s taking that slobbering bunch of feathers so long?” Thanos complained.
“It’s only been two seconds!” Yannis screamed.
“It feels like two hours!” Thanos responded. About thirty seconds later, the falcon returned stuck its beak toward Vasilis’ ear.
“It said the guard three blocks east is blocking all power usage behind himself and around the building.”
“You can understand that thing?” Antonis asked.
“Yeah,” Vasilis replied.
“Huh. Let’s move out.” Antonis ordered. We flew three blocks east by using Kyria’s telekinesis to levitate us and herself toward the guard. We arrived a minute later and took cover behind a bush. Vasilis pointed to a guard wearing a red toga and armed with a spear.
“Alright, Argyris. Do your magic,” I told my former nemesis.
“Is he gonna know you’re stealing his powers?” Yannis inquired.
“No, unless someone yells out ‘Hey, idiot! Your powers are being stolen!’.” Ten seconds later, Argyris told us that it was done, and we advanced. Antonis turned us all invisible, and we walked right passed all the ferocious, highly-trained guards who didn’t even realize we were walking by them. We approached the doors of the Evosmos and found them locked.
“Well….that was fun. Let’s prepare for a war,” Thanos whispered. Yannis smacked him on the back of his head.
“Alright, fine,” Thanos whispered. We all grabbed hands, and Thanos teleported us (still invisible) into the building. We walked through the hallways of the Evosmos for a bit, surrounding ourselves in the beauty of the building. Amazing sculptures of gods and goddesses of Greece stood at every inch of the building and the ceiling was made of pure, rich gold. Which I mined for them, not to brag. But we didn’t have time to enjoy the Evosmos’ beauty as we soon approached another locked door. We could hear the voices of a meeting filled with hundreds of upper class men going on inside.
“The doors are made of tranium, the rarest metal on Earth. It prevents anyone from teleporting inside,” I stated.
“So what do we do now?” Argyris asked. We did not plan for this, and we all this might be the end. Until I came up with an idea.
“Yannis, how strong are you?”
“I don’t know. I doubt I can tear through this door,” Yannis explained.
“Vasilis, call back your falcon.” Within three seconds of me saying that, the falcon arrived through the hole in the ceiling and landed like a snowflake onto Vasilis’ arm. I continued, “Thanos, Vasilis, Argyris, and Antonis, go back outside. Vasilis, use your falcon to find a guard with the ability to strengthen powers. Argyris steal his power and use it on Yannis. Then maybe we can get through this door. Oh, and turn them invisible Antonis.”
“Got it,” Antonis stated. They teleported away.
Thanos, Vasilis, Argyris, and Antonis stood invisible behind a bush. Vasilis sent away her falcon. Thirty seconds later, the falcon arrived and squawked into Vasilis’ ear.
“Alright. Guard north of the blacksmith shop,” she explained. The four teleported there. Vasilis spoke, “The fat one.” Argyris concentrated on him and focused on his DNA. Without the guard knowing, he plucked the ability to strengthen powers out of the guard’s body and put it onto his own.
“Got it. Let’s go!” Argyris proclaimed. The four arrived back to where I was, and Argyris worked his magic. All of a sudden, Argyris screamed in pain. The sounds that came out of his body sounded like he was on a torture bed, being stretched out. He all of a sudden collapsed on the ground, unconscious. My companions’ facial expressions transformed from optimistic and confident to torn and pained as our ally dropped like a fly in the middle of the room. It seemed as if the air around us had gotten colder.
“What just happened?” Antonis yelled.
“I have no idea,” I stated, “guess the power was too much for him. We have to keep moving, though. Yannis, you ready?”
“Yep,” she stated. Yannis built up her strength, and she ran into the door like a bull. A big THUD! was heard as the doors toppled to the ground. Yannis, Thanos, Vasilis, Antonis, Kyria, and I ran into a courtroom filled with hundreds of members of the upper class. The crowd erupted in shock as the six of us walked to the center of the room.
“Whenever you’re ready, Kyria,” I said. Kyria’s acting skills would convince the crowd that she wasn’t lying. Very important.
“Upper class! We bring an extremely important message. We promise we are not lying, for we wouldn’t have come all this way! Please listen!” Kyria explained. The room fell silent and all heads turned to the king of Kyrilltopia, King Kyrillos.
“Kill ‘em,” the king stated. Arrows and spears flew at all of us. I swear the tip of an arrow fired by a bow was a millimeter away from my face before it dropped onto the ground. Kyria had used to telekinesis to save all of our butts.
“Listen to us and you will survive! Does anyone here have x-ray vision?” Kyria said.
“Why should we trust you?” inquired King Kyrillos.
“Because we are heroes. And we are super. Does anyone here have x-ray vision?” A hand went up in the crowd a few rows behind the king.
Kyria began, “You! Use your x-ray vision to look down! Tell me if you see a group of people just below us!” The woman who had raised her hand looked down.
“There is a boy! And he is turning red!” she yelled.
“He’s gonna destroy the building!” Antonis exclaimed. “What do we do?” The hundreds of voices echoed through the walls of the Evosmos. Panic, confusion, and craziness filled the air.
“Theo!” Kyria yelled. “You can control the earth! Slam some rocks on them! Drop the floor and soil onto them!”
“I can’t just kill someone!” I screamed.
“He’s doing the wrong thing!” Kyria argued.
“There’s still some good in him!”
“Not anymore. You can sacrifice a few lives to save hundreds.” Kyria was right. I had no choice. I took a deep breath, raised my hands up into the air. Only to slam them down to the ground. I felt the building shake as if an earthquake had just hit. I did it.
“He’s dead! Bodies buried under soil!” the woman from before stated. The crowd what had just had been consumed by hopelessness was now cheering with delight. I had saved them. But why did it feel so wrong? I had killed someone. It’s for the greater good’ I reminded myself. The greater good. Then, I realized what was important. I just saved hundreds of lives. My colleagues and I had just become the first superheroes….
It’s been years since that happened. Argyris died, Philo died. But most importantly, I had saved everyone. Not just I, but Yannis, Kyria, Vasilis, Thanos, Antonis, and even my former enemy Argyris had prevented a war. But we did not completely win. Villains would emerge from the shadows and threaten the city. But I and my friends would save it. We were the first superheroes. A tragedy would eventually occur when a villain would use his power to make me immortal. I could no longer die. If you’re wondering why that’s a bad thing, go read Tuck Everlasting. So now as you read this story on your iPhone or whatever, just know that whenever you pick up a Superman or Batman or Spider-Man comic, remember….you wouldn’t be read those stories if it wasn’t for me….not to brag.
Carl's Story
By: Brendan AurthurThis is the story of a boy named Carl. Carl had a hard life as a young African american boy in the 1920’s. His parents were divorced and he lived with his mom in Washington DC. His best friend was a boy named Martin. They went to the same school and they lived next to each other. When they were kids Carl and Martin’s moms were best friends. They also had the same birth year 1929. Then when Carl's mom died in the 1940 in a car crash Martin’s mom took Carl in. When they grew up martin fought for black rights. Then after one of his speeches Martin was shot and killed. Once he heard about Martin’s death he didn’t go to work for 3 days until his wife convinced him to go back to work. So he did but really didn’t get any work done because he was very sad. But then he had a good idea he would write a book to commemorate Martin. So that is what he did and African Americans got rights after he wrote the book. He named the book The Life Of Martin Luther King Jr.The Search
By: Akash Shah Sitting on the corner of 16th street, a little girl fell to the ground, with tears dripping from her eyes. Her parents ran away from her when she was only two years old. She holds the memory of her parents close within her, hoping they would show up. Kristen is on a journey to find her parents, but she will also go on an amazing adventure with someone very special.
Kristen was two years old when she got separated from her parents. It was cold winter night, a week before Christmas. Kristen was staying with her grandparents since she was two years old in New York. Now she is 12 years old, one more year to stay alone. She always wanted to stay alone, have a sleepover, have parties, and have freedom. She went over her friend’s house for a sleepover. Her grandparents were really scared but her friends convinced them that she would be taken care of. Whenever she went to their houses they searched for her parents. Except today they went to the library and searched for their parents on the online yearbook. They found her dad and his address on a different website. They decided to go the next day to go search for him. They traveled in her older friend’s car. She had a SUV (Toyota), everyone loved the car, it was purple with black stripes. They traveled to Philadelphia to see the woods her grandparents were talking about. All they saw were crystallized snowflakes on lavender trees. They slept at her cousins place that night. Her cousins knew all her friends, they were all tight.
The only reason they were close is because when they were young her cousins would travel to her house. All her friends were always playing with them. That’s how they became close friends, they were tight. But there was one friend and cousin who hated each other. They were enemies. Every time they were together, they played but tried to take out each other. Over time they didn’t get that mad at each other. They actually took therapy with Kristen, not actually therapy. But more of talking to each other, that helped them a lot. They finally got a long, they actually became best friends.
The next day they woke up and set out to search. As they drove in their purple car, they listened to some pop music. They stopped by Starbucks to get breakfast. They split the bill in half. They walked over to the car and sat down. They started rolling. The song “They see me rollin” came on. They started singing the song and were eating the food, Starbucks food. As they were driving throughout the city, they saw a man. The same jacket, same shirt. Same everything. They saw him, they saw Kristen’s dad. They quickly parked the car and jumped out.
“Dad!” Kristen screamed. He looked back and saw Kristen. He didn’t know how she looked but he knew her voice. He started searching, Kristen starting running towards him. They both crashed into each other.
“Dad.” Kristen was crying.
“Baby, is that you, Kristen.” Dad softly cried.
“Yeah Daddy.” She said back.
“Oh honey, I have to take you home.” Dad started quickly saying. Something had happened, bad. He kept looking back and worrying. He looked as if he was in trouble, big trouble. Kristen quickly looked back and saw some men coming her way, mad and scary. Dad had to give them something back. As she turned her head back, Dad wasn’t there anymore. He vanished into the crowd.
Dad owed something to those guys. When he left Kristen he went to them and they helped them get away from some men. Dad and Mom were always targets for some people. They ran all there lives until they reached Philadelphia. That’s where the goons were hiding. Mom and Dad promised them that they would repay them in some way. Their choice was DEATH. They were being hunted.
Kristen headed back to the car. She started sobbing the whole drive. She ran to her aunt and started crying. Then a knock on the door came.
“Who is there!” Kristen’s aunt screamed. It was him, Dad. She looked through the door hole and saw him. She quickly opened the door and brought him in.
“I came in to tell you that you are in danger. You know the guys chasing me, they’re after you.” Dad told her.
“Why, why me.” Kristen said. They saw her in the crowd and saw her talking with Dad. They have the facts and are after her. They want the money, and want to kill Dad, Mom, and Kristen. Mom was still in hiding. They didn’t know where Kristen was living, but they knew where her relatives were.
“Dad, can’t I come with you and then we can figure something out.” Kristen blurted. She thought it was the perfect thought, all together, they are going to be strong. “All for one, one for all”, that was the perfect motto that kept her going. They decided that her idea was not going to work. Dad gave her a plan to stay with her grandparents, safe and away from them. Dad rushed out of the house and jumped in his car. He drove away without saying anything. She knew her parents had a dark secret.
Both of her parents were secret agents. They went on special missions when she was young and always were the best. They didn’t want anyone to know. Her parents acted as engineers, “real job”. All of New York knew them as the number one engineers. As time moved on, they all changed. Then came the time her parents borrowed money from the men. The men were from a dangerous organization called, “S.R.O”, Secret-Russian-Organization.
Her parents did get help from the men but the men did not know who they were in disguise. Her parents got out of the country and traveled to Brazil for a while. The organization had a undercover base in Brazil. “S.A.S”, her parents organization infiltrated them. “S.A.S”, Special-American-Soldier had S.R.O in their hands, they also failed. In Brazil, everyone was safe, no one knew about the base in Brazil.
Kristen was starting to get scared and terrified. Right after her dad left, a knock came on the door. She opened the door, and saw a big bald man. The man quickly grabbed her and bolted out the door. He plopped the door open and threw her in the car. He sat in the driver seat and put his foot on the accelerator. They drove away, her grandmother came to the door and saw the car leave. They both traveled to his hideout in north Philly. Her grandmother called her parents and they left. It was a dangerous car chase, even though her parents were two miles away. Kristen had got a blindfold over her. She sat down in a chair, in a dark room with a small yellow light. Her parents kept driving and were looking.
A sharp thick voice said, “It is nice to see you Kristen.”
“How do you know who I am?”, Kristen asked.
“You and I go way back.”, The man in the white suit said.
“Way back, what does that mean?”, Kristen questioned.
“Get the program started!”, he shouted. The program? Kristen thought. She knew she was in big trouble. Kristen heard feet thudding. Her parents saw the man's car. He grandmother gave them a description. They took out their gun, a Glock. They quietly walked towards the door. They saw some men walking in the hallway. They quickly ran to them and put them to sleep. They heard noises, a girl screaming.
“Kristen.”, They both said. Everyone inside of the room saw a small shadow growing bigger and bigger. They all took out their guns.
Battlegrounds
By: Bella BovassoPrologue
In the light of early noon, a group of wolves stood in the fluorescent green grass. The sunlight was beaming down on the forest, renewed by the spring weather. Wildflowers burst into full bloom, all of their vibrant neon colors flashing, standing out from all the green of the woods. The time was particularly dry for spring, but the wolves knew that the rain would come, dampening the ground.
However, in the light of the sun, standing in the tall grass, stood a hunting party. Adolescent wolves and adults all crouched down quietly, circling their prey; a tall brown deer, a doe, standing in the center, grazing peacefully.
Leading the hunting party was a beautiful, shimmering white wolf, commonly known as Peridot throughout the pack. She was the alpha female, the leader, almost like a queen. Her beautiful green eyes focused mainly on her target.
And behind her stood two wolves; her two children, somewhat of a prince and princess. The eldest son, Storm, had obsidian black fur, black as the night sky. The tips of his ears were snow white, along with his paws. He had calm blue eyes, and was the next leader of the pack.
However, the wolf next to him, his sister, Dema, played a more minor role in leadership. In all honesty, she was perfectly satisfied with that. It only allowed her to be playful and childish at all times. Dema was a wolf whom very much resembled her mother. She had pure white fur, and was a strong, proud alpha, like the rest of her family. Her eyes, however, were a shade of neon blue and bright neon green, and the glowed in the dark, enhancing her vision. Today it was her very first hunt, and now was her chance to prove how strong she could be.
The deer’s ears perked up abruptly, and it then dashed into the woodlands. Peridot was the first to react, then Dema.
“Hurry! It’ll get away!” Dema commanded in a moderately loud voice. The other wolves bolted after it. Dema’s mother, fast as a lightning bolt, was on its tail, with Dema and Storm close behind. The other members followed behind, like a game of follow the leader.
“Scatter!” Dema commanded as her mother watched proudly. Dema was following in her mother’s footsteps, practically doing everything her mother did. Peridot was Dema’s role model, and possibly her closest friend. The wolves scattered to the sides, and were closing in on the deer. They gained up on its flickering white and brown tail. Closer and closer, and faster and faster. As they were about to enter the forest, they dashed with all of their strength. Except not toward the deer. They were almost there. Almost.
Very suddenly, though unnoticed to the three leaders, the other wolves, frightened and in shock, panicked and turned back. Shades of browns and blacks and greys quickly fled toward the nearby river, which a a half mile away from the woods. Meanwhile, in the tangled, dark, and thick green woodlands, the three leaders, Peridot, Storm, and Dema had lost track of the deer.
“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Storm asked, his voice, though, completely calm.
“That’s a possibility, considering that the-” Peridot paused, her face slightly pale and concerned.
“The rest of the hunting party is gone!” Dema realized, horror in her voice.
“Don’t worry, sis’. We will find them. Surely we’ll find them,” Storm reassured his sister.
Suddenly, Peridot’s noise shot up towards the clear blue sky. She seemed to notice thick black clouds covering the sky, thinking that a rainstorm was moving in. However, her mother was very intent, and looked anxious. Seeing this, Dema knew something was definitely wrong. Then she sniffed the polluted air.
“Smoke…” she trailed off, her voice trembling. Horror filled her mind. Where there’s smoke, there’s…
“FIRE!” Storm screamed, bolting off, out of the forest. Dema collected herself, as her mother viciously shoved her, giving her a head start. They applied all of their strength to fleeing from the destructive, scarlet and yellow flames. Plumes of smoke filled the once vacant sky with poison. The flames rising faster filled the forest range the chaos.
“It’s the dry weather! That must’ve caused the fire!” Dema shouted over the crackling leaves as she heavily panted. There was no time for her to catch her breath, nor was there any turning back now. Burning branches crashed onto the ground, smoke was filling the air, harming the lungs of the other animals, who scurried away in terror, trying to flee from the destructive, searing flames.
“Run, Dema! Run, Storm! Faster now! Keep on going! I’ll meet you at the nearest lake!” she tried to shout. However, her voice was drowned out, and in the distance, a noise, one that pierced Dema’s ears, was heard. The tumbling sound of a tree was heard several yards behind the two adolescents. Then suddenly, a loud *THUD* shook the ground, as well a Dema’s weak legs. Her face became pale as the moon, and her eyes widened. Though her mother’s words kept on echoing in her mind, she was half tempted to turn back. However, with the flames only thickening, she was forced to keep going forward.
Then more fear shot through her. Where was her brother? She couldn’t see him anywhere, not through the smoke and flames. Holding onto some hope, however, she decided to proceed flee to the nearest lake, instead of riskily searching for Storm; “He must be there,” she thought. As she approached a fork in the “path,” she again began to panic. She hadn’t been to the lake much, so she chose the safest looking path, the one that lead to the right. And shethought she knew where she was going. She thought.
Running as fast a she could, low to the ground with the fire storm searing her tail and furthermore heating the broken sky, she jumped over burning branches and sizzling leaves, which set fire to the grass. Dema could taste blood as she dashed for her life through the demolished forest, which only a while ago was perfectly fine. Suddenly, an enormous, thick oak tree came tumbling down in front of her. Her reflexes were quick enough to dodge it and leap over it with much grace, even though she had been burnt and weakened. However, she did not look before she lept, and because the tree had blocked her view of the “path,” she didn’t realize what stood before her.
A steep, towering, rocky, and somewhat volcanic cliff stood beneath her. Her eyes widened in a state of shock and horror. A drop, hundreds of feet tall awaited her as gravity began to pull her down. Her front paws flailed out in front of her, as she hit the weak, unstable rocky surfaces of the cliffside. Rocks tumbled down treacherously with her, knocking her around as she plummeted downward. The drop abruptly came to an end, and the rocks created a cloud of dust around her. All the smoke that filled Dema’s lungs, all of the pain from the burns and tumbling rocks, and all of the blows she had taken from each surface she had smashed into on the fall down. All of them added up to a seemingly never-ending pain. Dema coughed violently several times.
“No... more…” she panted, her voice dying out .She saw burning branches and trees. She saw clouds of dust and smoke. But then, she saw something different, less threatening. She saw full grown, green trees, and a clearing sky, blue and white. Her vision blurred, and her eyes fluttered, trying weakly to keep them open. But it wasn’t any help.
“Please....” she muttered weakly out of nowhere. Dema had lost all hope. She had been out on her first hunting trip with her mother and brother, who were nowhere to be found now, and in just a short amount of time, the forest had caught fire, a destructive form of nature, like a phoenix had cursed them, cursed the forest. A loud, high pitched, beeping and buzzing noise rang in her ear like a bell. Her vision blurred up to the point where she could only see faded colors. She felt numb, her heart seemed to be slowing down. Yet somehow, it felt peaceful. Her vision then started to turn dark grey, then black. Then pure darkness. All of the wolves had gather at the lake. All except Peridot and Dema.
Chapter 1
To the Rescue
Up in a nearby mountain, a fine, young, and beautiful leader gazed out at the sky from her cave. She led her pack, the Eastern Pack, and did an impeccable job at it with that. Her fur was gray and red, and she had glowing yellow eyes. Her three sons, Jasper, Snare, who were twins, and the youngest, Gareth had gotten into a skirmish outside of the den, which was stopped when Snare’s left ear tilted toward charred forest that lay miles beyond their home.
“Something wrong, bro?” Jasper asked. He had seen his brother worry about something, but never like this before.
“I feel like there’s something wrong,” Snare answered. Snare was a tall, brawny wolf, with pure grey fur. His eyes were silver, and he was large in stature. He was the older twin, and the oldest of the three sons. His incredible sense of smell and sight allowed him to lead the patrol team. His light pink nose shot up toward the sky, and he sniffed the air.
Jasper was the youngest twin, and the middle child of the family. His fur, like his brother’s, was also pure grey, and he had shining, silver eyes. Though not as bulky as his brother, he had incredible speed. He was light, slender, and lightning fast, and was the scout of the pack. It seemed complicated when telling the difference between the two, but the biggest difference was their senses of smell. While Snare had an incredible sense of smell, Jasper lacked one, though his vision made up for it.
And the youngest son, Gareth, was very different from his brothers. While his brothers had sleek grey fur, his fur was a burnt shade of brown. He had yellow eyes, just like his mother. And he had a pitch black nose. Though not as tall as Snare or Jasper, he was still strong. And while he was teased by his brothers for being the youngest, he cared for them and their foolish antics.
‘Are you picking up something? Or is this a false alarm?” Jasper asked, trying hopelessly to sniff the air.
“Yep, I’m picking something up,” Snare replied, a tone of horror in his voice.
Gareth, who had the greatest sense of smell of the trio, was the first to detect the scent.
‘Smoke!” Gareth shouted, though his voice was drowned out by a more powerful, horror-filled voice of his mother, Korina.
A loud, siren-like howl boomed in the air. The smell of smoke grew more notable, to the point that even Jasper could smell it. Several miles away, Jasper could see a darkened sky, then the flames that came with it. Within seconds, what must’ve been hundreds of wolves gathered at the central area. Upon a tall, sharp rock, Korina handed out commands.
“Everyone, listen to me!” her voice bellowed over the panicking pack’s fearful chatter. She quickly got the entire, undivided attention of the crowd. They stared at her, waiting for a command.
“Snare! Lead the patrol team into the woodland. It’s your job to make sure no other animals were or are harmed. Everybody else, hide in your dens until I signal that it’s alright to come out! If worse comes to worst, and the fire spreads here, flee to the river!”
Everyone gave a slight nod. Mother wolves quickly guided their pups to safety. The patrol team set out quickly. Jasper ran ahead to warn Snare of any obstacles. Snare guided the members of the team to the collapsing woodlands.
‘Stay low to the ground to ensure you don't inhale too much smoke,” Snare commanded. After what seemed to be hours, the team reached the foot of the woods. Wolves rushed into the flame-engulfed woods, dodging branches and leaping over the spreading fire that burned on the ground.
Meanwhile, at the foot of a cliff, Jasper searched for any signs of life. Smoke, ashes, and dust filled the air, but his enhanced vision allowed him to see through most of it. Suddenly, something caught his attention. A silhouette of a seemingly dead body lay at the foot of the cliff, along with some rocks. A cloud of dust and debris surrounded the body of the figure. Jasper gasped and ambled over to the figure. There was a wolf, with white fur stained black, grey, and red from the ashes, flames, and smoke. The wolf’s eyes were shut lightly, and blood trickled out of the wolf’s mouth.
Jasper let out a loud, ear-piercing howl that caught the attention of Snare and the rest of the patrol team.
“Jasper...JASPER!” Snare cried out, trying to detect where the howl was coming from. “Everyone! Stay here, and if if you find something, just howl. If you don’t, return home” Snare commanded as he rushed off to help his brother. Jasper let out another howl, this time even louder. Snare was able to detect his brother’s presence quickly, and saw his silhouette in a fading cloud of dust and debris.
“I thought you’d never get here. Look!” Jasper exclaimed while panting, his throat ached from all the howling.
“Oh no…” Snare breathed heavily, bending down to examine the wolf. “We have to go, now! Otherwise, she might not make it.”
“Then let’s go home, now. We’ll take her to the lake and help her recover,” Jasper suggested, lifting the wolf’s body onto his back.
“I know the way to the lake. Follow me!” Snare commanded as the two brothers set out on their journey home.
The sight of the two brothers’ return was relieving yet horrifying. They were happy to the the twins alive and safe, but were horrified to see the body of a seemingly dead wolf on Jasper’s back. Gareth, who had been commanded to stay back at the pack, looked up and followed his brothers to the lake.
“Boys, what happened? Is everything alright? And is the wolf on your back Ok, Jasper?” Gareth asked, a torrent of questions bursted out of his mouth.
“Not now, little brother. We have matters to take care of,” Snare stated boldly as he ran to the lake, Jasper close behind.
“Stop treating me like a little kid and let me come with you. I’m old enough to handle these things,” Gareth lashed out angrily. Though reluctant, his brothers let him accompany them on their journey to the lake.
They quickly arrived at the lake, the water was still pure blue, and the sky was clearing up. Jasper, relieved to get the weight off of his back, gently place the wolf into the pool of water. Though it was cold, and washed away the blood stains and the ash and smoke stains, she still didn’t wake up. Gareth nudged her thoughtfully and hoped, as did his brothers, hoping that they weren’t about to lose another soul.
I Believe in Aliens
By: Nicole Roche I saw him across the room, and our eyes matched each other. As if our souls had just touched some how. He stood tall, as my tiny body sat low, and we both just looked. My mind had left the world, saw beyond, and everybody got quiet in my head. I was beginning to think that is was love, the thing I had seeked for my whole life. I had never felt love, yet it occurred to me that this might be it. I thought nobody could understand, and I certainly can’t explain it. The tension felt deep of its fiery passion it had created in my head. All my senses and vibes were telling me that he had felt the way my intoxicated mind had been going. It seemed the motion of things had slowed down, and the universe gave a moment in time for us to play out and just stare for awhile. My sister has always said, “Everything happens for a reason.” And now I had finally believed it. It felt like it was just the two of us in our own little world floating in the existence where no human or touch of green was seen. Imagine sitting in a dimmed light room, while drinking coffee, and watching the sun come up as you just talk with someone. The feeling of being absolutely comfortable, and not knowing what is next. Telling things you would never tell another soul. As the sun begins to peek through the curtain, the only thought that crosses your head is how things like these are possible. A "Crash"
By: Douglas Brittion
I’m just a dumb thirteen year old kid. To me, life was one big joke, and quite frankly, I completely blew off reality at one point. One day, we took a vacation to Indiana to visit family, and I was being naive about lots of things. That was, however, until the day we were on our way home, and we happened to get stuck in traffic. Me being me, I simply thought it was bad traffic, so blew it off. That was, until, and I am being honest, heard police and ambulance sirens. I took off my headphones and paused my music. To my horror, it turns out there was a couple of motorists who wiped out on their motorcycles. One guy was being transported onto a stretcher, and he had a pale white neck brace on, and the other guy (or girl) was covered by a black tarp. “I’ve seen that black tarp in cop shows before,” I said quietly ,“and it usually doesn’t mean something good…”
In 2014, a total of around 4,295 motorists were killed in crashes. “But Douglas!” You all scream in my ear, “Why are motorcycle accidents so deadly?!” With my ears bleeding, I sit you all down, put my hands on your shoulders and say, “Let me educate you, children.” So here’s the breakdown: Car crashes don’t typically kill people BECAUSE cars come with at least three safety features; enclosed space, airbags, and that they’re made of metal. Motorcycles, ARE made of metal, BUT they lack the benefit of being enclosed, and riders typically only have gloves, helmets, elbow-pads, and kneepads. This minimal protection means if a motorist rear-ends someone, they’re gonna be slung forward over the handlebars of their bike like a human slingshot. And what happens to things that go up? Yeah, that’s correct. They come down. And a human that probably weighs over 100 pounds is gonna come down hard, probably with a loud thud. And that thud can probably be followed by broken bones, ruptured organs, external bleeding, and or internal bleeding.
After seeing this, I became more… Twitchy, per say, on the road. I wanna reach out and say to anybody who’s family member has either been killed or injured in a motor accident and say that I’m sorry for them. I just wanna also say that this has taught me something, and this changed who I am. The lesson I learned is that you can die. You, can, die, and let me tell you, death, death is the one ultimate thing everyone faces. You can’t stop it, and you can’t change when it will happen.Prologue
By: Bella BovasoDragons are very mighty creatures of myth, lighting the world with bright vibrant oranges, scarlets, and golds that spread throughout the vast greens and browns of woods that spread miles without any relent. However, in the kingdom of Nogard, the fearsome fiery dragons that appear in consistent storybooks are the mightiest of all.
There were three colors for these powerful fiery reptiles that indicated might and age. The first, and the weakest, were the blazing dragons of sunlight gold, with jet black or blood red wings. They always hatched last in the bundles of two to four eggs, and they were very undernourished. They were allowed to help fight wars, but they couldn’t join the strongest ranks, as they were normally too weak. However, they could still be considered the threatening creatures we know dragons to be if they work alongside other dragons of their kind, and their undernourishment couldn’t kill them.
The second color was a neutral, but potentially vibrant, orange, with blue or black wings indicating their neutral health. These dragons were usually the ones that were seen fighting fearsome wars and taking home glory for their blazing tribe, but they too could not join the strongest ranks of military, as their help was needed to phase the invaders on the outskirts of their territory. Nevertheless, these dragons were never looked down upon, and they the second strongest of their species.
Last but certainly not least were the dragons of bright, intimidating, war-like scarlet, with vibrant gold wings indicating that they were the healthiest, mightiest, and eldest of their siblings. These dragons were permitted to join the strongest ranks of military, but they were also allowed to fight alongside the orange Blazing Dragons on the outskirts of their territory. They were not common, as many of them were members of the private guard, which defended the children of royalty, but they were expected to be treated with the greatest of respect when they appeared. These dragons were the strongest of their kind. That was, until The Blazing Symbol was born.
It all started the day of the 399th 120-year eclipse. Candle, a bright gold dragon with jet black wings, was defending the hatchery. All of a sudden, it happened. As soon as the moon blanketed the bright searing sun, an exceptionally large egg, one of royalty, began to glow as if it was the sun’s replacement. Candle moved swiftly out of the hatchery, her obsidian wings invisible in the dark corridors like a shadow at night, until she had arrived at the outdoor pavilion, where the king and queen resided to gaze at the eclipse.
“Something unusual is happening to one of your eggs, your majesties!” Candle shrieked, causing the massive commotion to dim down like a dying fire, with thousands of pairs of eyes now on her.
“Is it the massive, more vibrant scarlet egg, my sister?” Inferno, the king, replied, concerned.
“Yes!” she hollered out of breath and filled with shock and trauma.
“Daimonji, we must follow my sister. Something doesn’t appear to be right about this. No dragon egg has ever hatched on the day of the eclipse before,” Inferno said grimly, but without panicking.
The three nobles fleeted from the pavilion, down several pitch black corridors, until they located the bright beacon light coming from the hatchery. Inferno’s scarlet body glowed with such a blinding red light that Daimonji and Candle were almost blinded as the king stepped toward the glowing scarlet egg. He put his foreleg on the egg, and then gasped with fear and anticipation as the egg suddenly shattered open with a loud, explosion-like, noise.
The newborn dragon was one of a kind. He was almost twice as large as the largest of baby dragons, and his wings and tail were twice as developed, with the devil-like point being sharper than that of the king’s tail at his birth. However, the biggest, and most sacred surprise of all was his color scheme. Instead of being a bright, vibrant scarlet like his father was, he was a jet-black dragon with blood-red wings that glowed almost as bright as the shattered eggshell that he resided from.
Then, a wave of shock and excitement rolled over the three royal dragons, as they had realized what the meaning of this was. About 47,880 years prior to this, a story was passed from the first king about a pitch black Blazing Dragon being born on the 399th 120-year eclipse. It was said that this king would live more than twice as long as the average dragon would, and that on the 400th eclipse, the day he turned 120, any conflict that was ever brought about would be demolished by the dragon’s great wisdom and brute strength. Everything that was told about this mighty dragon seemed like it was a myth that was told to enlighten and enrich the spirits of Blazing Dragons of all ages. Now, however, it seemed like it was always a major part of reality.
However, as the three dragons gazed in awe over the birth of one of the most royal sons in dragon history, a very threatening, familiar voice lurked maliciously behind them.
“Well, well, well,” it said demonically and sarcastically. “What has happened here? Oh wait! It has happened! The Blazing symbol is real!”
A black dragon with a nauseous green face and nauseous green forearms crept out from behind them, making Candle leap and quiver with fear as the dark figure looked down at her weak, golden exterior. His bloodshot and pupiless magenta eyes cast their frozen gaze from the horrified Candle to the newborn son. The bloody magenta gashes on his neck and underbelly were not completely dry, as the guards had struck him quite hard, and they dripped down onto the floor, mixing with the pale stone beneath him.
“Back off, Ocard!” Inferno said with a major touch of rage in his voice as he lunged toward the black and green dragon. “You can no longer deny that it was true, so just leave!”
“I will not allow such myths to be true. I will wreak whatever havoc I please to, regardless of that dragon’s existence!” Ocard scowled with a “prepare for danger” voice. “Besides, i have been preparing for this moment ever since I have known of this atrocious-specimen’s legend.”
Suddenly, with a malicious grin that could kill the devil, he lunged at the newborn dragon, only to be smashed into by Daimonji with all of the orange dragon’s force. Dazed, she grabbed the newborn in her mouth, as a lion would, and fled from the hatchery as Inferno and Candle thrashed out with all of their force at the intruder.
“Go, Daimonji, go!” Inferno shouted as he flung the unconscious invader from a high cliff. Daimonji fled with all of her energy. She winced and recoiled from the painful attack, as Ocard wasn’t the only dragon wounded in the brief fight. The small dragon didn’t cry out in fear. Instead, he just hung there, calm and collected.
Daimonji began to see spots within a short amount of time after the attack. However, she managed to find a safe and secure forest that spread over the massive mountain range below. Without thinking, she dove straight down into a cluster of trees which comforted her fall with a surprisingly soft cloak of leaves. Daimonji looked down at her newborn son. He seemed so contented with the world around him as he proceeded to dive into the world of slumber. With the same jolly and oblivious face, she curled up her thin but strong body in the canopy blanket and dozed off with him.
Seven years passed, and the newborn dragon was now full of life, a surprise for a dragon his age, as most dragons could only speak and walk when they were around twelve. His jet black body shined like obsidian, and his tail had been growing with each passing day. He was almost up to his mother’s shoulders, which was quite a surprise considering that most dragons his age were not tall enough to reach his mother’s knees.
“Mother?” he asked. “Where am I really from? I mean, why do we live in an empty forest?” He was quite the curious dragon, but sometimes, his questions drove his mother up a tree or depressed her greatly. The latter was true for this question.
“Well, son,” Daimonji replied quietly and grimly. “You came from a bright, vibrant, vast, and beautiful kingdom. The Kingdom of the Blazing Dragons, as it was called. We stood at the top of a gorgeous, flat, open mountain, at the very peak. Bright scarlet castles, the color of your wings, lined the open spaces. Skylights brightened the whole area for the guards who worked long, hard, tedious hours, lifting their spirits out of the dreary and gloomy trenches created by the monotonous yet important work. Smaller dragons lined the outdoor premises, and there were pavilions spread all throughout the mountain range where Blazing Dragons would converse and laugh and trade and oh-it was just so wonderful to describe with words. However, when you were born, a carefully thought out invasion commenced. As we gazed in awe at you and your adorable yet mighty face, we were cut off by a vicious dragon, or maybe a hydra, by the name of Lord Ocar-.”
Daimonji paused and quietly and swiftly tilted her head, as if she was seeking something that she had lost for what had seemed like eons. She then proceeded to look down at her son with a why-didn’t-you-do-what-I-told-you-a-million-times-to-do face. “Now sweetie,” she said in a demanding and sweet, but yet anxious voice. “I know that you’re a very powerful dragon. In fact, you are the mighty and noble Blazing Dragon of legend. I also know that with age, comes greater powers to take control of. However, I need you to maintain your powers before the whole place is sleeping in a flaming blanket. You know that the smell of smoke doesn’t benefit the comforts of the woodlands that we reside in.”
“I know Mother,” her son said annoyed. “I know that you want me to know how to maintain my powers so that I may return one day to claim my throne or whatever else there is to know, but that’s not me releasing that smoke.” He was puzzled at first, but then he realized that his mother must know why the forest was emitting a very powerful smoky stench. However, his mother’s reply made him tremble for the very first time.
“It’s not me either,” his mother replied, her knees trembling for the first time since he could remember anything. “That’s why I asked.”
“But mother,” the little dragon below him replied, with a quick, breathless, trembling voice. “If we aren’t creating the blazing, eye-melting heat, and if we aren’t emitting that disgusting smell of smoke, then who is?”
Almost abruptly, his mother’s head perked up and her wings sparked up into a ready stance. Her whole body was like that of a deer’s, and with a voice that hardly seemed like a voice, she tried to shriek, “We have to go, now!”
“Why mother?” her son asked almost mirroring her expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Go! Run, son!” Daimonji whisper-shouted to him.
“But, I don-” her son tried to say.
“GO!” she hollered to him, proceeding to cough through the eerie black sheet that was blanketing the entire brush’s premise.
In near tears, the young dragon sprinted throughout the hillside. He yearned to fly at that exact moment like he never had before. However, as well built and nourished as his body was, his wings were probably the only thing that had yet to develop, bar his devil-pointed tail.
Suddenly, as he reach an open plain on the edge of the hillside, his eyes were nearly melted by the bright burning fiery lights behind him. It looked as if a giant, burning, blinding monster was chasing after him with bright bloodshot gold eyes, and all of a sudden, that became a reality. I giant black and green dragon, about half the size of a tree was roaring out commands. He couldn’t quite exactly translate them, but the young dragon thought that they sounded like, “Attack! He’s right there! Go get him!”
Above the smoky, burning brush, three other dragons, these almost the same, except they were blue instead green, pursued the young dragon . Their teeth shone like bright and blinding diamonds. Bright blasts of fire shot out from directly behind like a bullet, and the twigs that were incinerated exploded in his face. Over the sound of the explosions, the harsh cursing commands seemed to muffle, and the crackling fire circling him like vultures deafened and scorched him. The flame were not those of bright navy blue and periwinkle, but they were piercing, and the little dragon was almost writhing in agony.
As if it was a miracle, a large shadow crept and the gradually spread over the little dragon’s body. However, he had nothing to fear as he was swept away by a giant bright orange dragon that gleamed scarlet and gold and smelled of rotten trees. His mother was quickly fleeting in the hurricane of fire, and with a roar that nearly blew the fire away, she formed a star-shaped scorching figure, set it chasing after the three dragons, and with a single piercing touch of the scorching fiery star, sent the dragons plummeting into the fiery chaos. The fire rose as the three dragon bodies crashed in the flame, and searing bullets burned the young dragon well-built feet and knees.
From what the little dragon could see, Daimonji was panting steam as she fleeted from the flaring storm. As blazing hot as her scales were, she struggled to fly fast enough and high enough to escape, as flaming specks bit her wings like ticks, draining the life out of her, and her scales felt like they were melting. The sounds of his mother’s flapping wings, the outraged dragon’s screaming, and the explosions from the fire storm were muffled by the kindling heat crackling underneath of the little dragon like a shark gaining on a fish.
Suddenly, as they reached an open decline in the mountains, a flashing bright blue light appeared from behind the mother and son, pursuing them both with malicious power, and with an ear-piercing scream, the pulse struck Daimonji, and the young dragon was dropped as she fell into the engulfing, starving fire. Her son rolled down the hill, too weak to get up or care. Burns from the accelerations pierced his scaly skin, and he slowly proceeded to close his eyes. However, when he opened them hours later, he was in a cold trench or a gorge, deep below the scorching mountains, and a bright scarlet red figure was gently clawing at him to wake up.
“Son,” the baritone voice said, echoing in the cool breeze.
“M-Mother?’ the young dragon shivered, confused, freezing, and concerned.
“Mother’s gone,” the voice sniffed. “Much to my regret.” The mighty dragon hid a faint cry. “But with time and under nature’s presence, Father will take over.”
Much to the little dragon’s surprise and shock, a massive dragon of a scarlet so deep it seemed to be made of fire dragged his little dragon into his grasp with his faint gold wings, as if a vortex of light was strongly but lovingly sucking him into its control and grasp.
“F-Father?” the little dragon said confused and frightened. However, he suddenly felt a kick from the tears in his eyes and his voice was screechy and aggressive. “What does that mean? Who are you!?”
“I told you,” his voice bellowed and boomed.
“Father!” He noticed the fear struck in his sun eyes like lightning bolts and he calmed his voice down to make it sound like a bright red angel was staring down at his son.
“Your father.” He had an unstoppable but sad smile on his face that spread like a wildfire and just kept on growing until his mouth was screaming and pleading for mercy.
“Come,” he commanded his son, but with a hint of sad gratefulness in his voice. “Symbol.”
“Who, me?” his son asked, confused but with a growing excitement.
“Yes, Symbol,” he replied. “By the orders of king Inferno!” he then joked.
Symbol, Inferno’s little dragon, suddenly cracked a growing smile. Joy filled his heart, but then the question rose like the sun to him. “To where are we going, Father?”
“Home,” he smiled grimly. “Just like Daimonji hopefully said you would.”
“Yes!” Symbol shouted, his voice echoing loudly, as though the cliffs weren’t enjoying his silliness and wanted to push it back to him. “I mean, let us go home!”
Symbol was nearly breathless when his father grabbed him and yanked him into the air with full force, leaving him what seemed like the all of Nogard to see. Past the bright but partially dead brushes that he had inhabited forever up until now, he saw massive hills and mountains, some whose peaked pierced the cloud with their sword-like tops, and after gaping in awe regardless of his pain, he saw a bright scarlet clearing around the same color of his father above him. Suddenly, his father rose up into the sky as if he was the sun, and the scarlet opening seemed to gain more shape. The scarlet opening was now forming into massive peaks as sharp as the high mountain it stood upon, and the red lines were turning into what looked like very thick red pipes. Then, he realized that those weren’t just peaks, they were castle turrets, and the bright vibrant red pipes were walls to the not-so-small-anymore kingdom. His kingdom.
Several orange, gold, and bright red dragon were swirling around the kingdom walls. Some were chatting and prancing or hanging around and doing nothing. However, the whole kingdom seemed to stop dead in its tracks when the king arrived, and as if it were programmed, everyone in the main pavilion bowed.
“The symbol,” Symbol heard the dragons muttering and, “It’s happening? No more Ocard?”
Normally, his father would have been furious about the slightest of muttering of him or his kin. However, Symbol noticed a slight smile crackling on his face like a rekindling fire. And at that moment, Symbol knew that he was one.
However, his happiness was replaced with sudden excitement and incredible shock as he stared in awe at the kingdom. It was like his mother’s description and even more. He realized that words, even his mother’s wise ones, couldn’t describe the painting of vibrant scarlet and tan brown painted gently across his eyes. Gorgeous castle turrets of vibrant red that shot up into the sky were one all visible corners, but it seemed as if they were everywhere. He couldn’t see farther than the thick, broadening entrance, but as he took gentle steps forwards, taking in his brand new home wordlessly, with dragons now starting to hold out their claws, he suddenly saw the broadening entrance increase into the heart of the pavilion.
He thought that he had seen several dragons around the entrance, scattered, united, and respectful. However, he was proven dead wrong when he had finally arrived awestricken at the center of the pavilion and, apparently, the commotion. Smooth, tan stone roads were cluttered with dragons. Massive sculptures and statues of past dragon kings were planted firmly and proudly in between blacksmiths and armory stores. Outdoor eateries were scattered around every five shops, and on the outskirts of the pavilion, Symbol made out that there were tiny caverns made for every single family of dragons in the kingdom, some being guarded by powerful looking guards.
Although everyone seemed to be occupied at that exact moment, some dragon in the crowd whispered to a peer at his side, and like dominoes, the whisper spread and the dragons bowed one by the near hundreds.
“Your majesties,” they all said in unison.
Inferno grinned joyfully, but with control over his emotions, and knocked symbol with his tail. Without control, Symbol proceeded the saunter alongside of his father. He was walking without knowing it, as his eyes were closed with content joyfulness, until his father stopped him at the edge of the main pavilion.
It still seemed like a welcoming place, but yet it was surprisingly different. It was almost deserted, with only the occasional guard vigilantly defending a family’s cavern, until he had arrived at an unbelievably large, bright scarlet, castle, with stronger walls and barriers, and a door made of thick steel. Two powerful dragon guards, one bright orange in jet black armor that guarded the chests, legs, back, and head crest, the other one stained red in navy blue armor that proudly guarded only the chest and legs. Their faces were stern, earnest, and empty, as if they were staring out into the sky, until they saw the king and his successor. They seemed to move slowly away from the center of the doors as if they were being weakly repelled from it, and then they mightily but at the same time humbly smiled down upon the king and prince.
“Thank you Grizelda and Garnet,” he said with his noble and wise voice never fading, regardless of how small the compliment was.
Symbol stopped, gazing into his father’s eyes. He wanted to be his father’s reflection, his shadow, his everything. So, he stared up at the two young female guards, and, as if he was greeting a king, said. “Yes. Thank you very much for your kindness Garnet and Grizelda.” The two dragons giggled, causing Symbol to pout, “What?”
As he and his father bid the two dragons goodbye, Symbol proceeded to walk along, corridor after corridor. Although the imagery felt like it had been repeating itself, Symbol was not at all bored by the bright scarlet and tan walls and, as his mother had told him about, the skylights bringing light to the potential darkness. She was right. It did make working in the narrow monotonous hallways seem like a treat. Suddenly, the pattern stopped, as if suddenly an engine had broke down suddenly, and with a face that looked as if he had seen a three headed snake, Symbol stared into the proud, marble-floored room.
The hallway stretched out around here, and lead with no regrets to a throne that appeared to be the size of a mountain at first glance. However, the king merely looked at it with a mild sense of pride as he ambled toward a hallway to the right of the throne. Symbol followed along, sauntering puzzledly, but as soon as they reached the end of the hallway, they came to a room with guards on every last tile. Although it was a massive room, it seemed to quiver with fear and cry in comparison to the echoing room behind them, but Symbol was far from the point where he cared about the space. In here, everywhere seemed to be guarded, from the caves to the walls to even the ceilings. However, as he looked to see the words scratched so mightily into the marble ceilings around the cave entrances, he could see why this room was so special. They had the names “Tar”, “Blaze”, and “Gauld” on the tops of them. However, the one that stood loud and proud for the first time was one that marked his name on it. ‘Symbol,” it said with a look of pride.
Then, as if on cue, three small dragons were dragged gently out of their rooms by bright scarlet guards. A stained red one, like Garnet, a pale orange one, and a searing gold one. His siblings, he figured, which made him jump up for joy. The three little dragons, dwarves in his eyes, quietly curled up beside him, and all of a sudden, Symbol found himself smiling uncontrollably at his father, who strongly replied, “Welcome home, son. Welcome home.”
I am
Anonymous
I am not a lyrical
genius
I am not the best
writer in the world.
I am not the best
singer
I am not the best
pupil
I am not the most
smart
I cannot put my
thoughts into words
I am not the
best.
I am never going to
be the best.
Honestly no one
is.
But apart from you
learning what I am not
I’m going to tell
you what I am
I am
blonde
I am
funny
I have
intelligence
I have
feelings
I am
human
I mess
up
I
trip
I have
tripped.
It took me a long
time to get up
But I got
up
I have
thoughts
I think that songs
are better than books
I like a
challenge
I hate people
challenging me
I like
change
I hate
leaving
My favorite song
changes by the hour.
That is me.
Most of
it.
The rest is too
confusing to fathom
I
Am
Me
And so are you,
reader.
So if you are
reading.
Pay
attention
Listen to my
words.
If you want
something
Take
it
The world is big
enough to hold all of your dreams
So chase
them
And be
yourself.
The Day
by Justin Freeman
The day you left
I didn’t have a chance
To say goodbye
Because of you leaving
You left a tear in my eye
All I can do is cry
To fuel the love I have for you
Forever
Wishing to see you again
Wanting to start over till the end
People
by Justin Freeman
People in life come in go
They were there to give you a show
To see how you can handle life
People are merely obstacles
You have to pass them to
Say that you have learn
Something’s from experience
Never run from people because you have to
Face them at one point
Take the challenge
Pizza
by Nick Kasander
My life
Is pizza
I can’t describe how it tastes
Cheezy and saucy
Heaven on a piece of bread
You are my life and my love
Pizza
Cheese and bread
My
life
Pizza
Crave my hunger
For your deliciousness
PIZZA PIZZA
PIZZA……
Comfortably Numb
by Taylor Konen
Comfortably numb inside and
out
Comfortably numb without consent
Maybe it’s all in my head
One would think loneliness in our self is caused by
us
Maybe it’s not loneliness,
It’s being pushed
so far you become numb to what you’re feeling
It swallows you whole, drowning without a cause
Drowning in what you have become
The beast inside your heart starts to control your
mind
Darkness endlessly swallows the
night
It’s like a vortex, bringing in everyone and thing in
sight
The vortex sucks you into sleepless nights
A fire was lit into the cold dark
night
Lucky one if you
make it out alive
Stay away from the night
It will swallow you alive
I Feel
by Taylor Konen
One can see but not feel
One cannot feel but see
One cannot fall in love
As one falls faster than the
next
One cannot fly
As the other one soars higher than the
sky
As one falls
The other gets back up
Use Your Imagination
by Taylor Konen
I know a pretty spot
It’s a spot where nothing bad can touch you
The beauty of nature cannot be broken by the sadness we feel
The spot is up high enough to where you can see for miles and miles
Our lives and problems seem so small and seem to disappear as if
They were never there; it’s an escape a home away from home
Each day it reminds me of how some of the best things,
Are some of the littlest and simplest things
Stop to appreciate beauty of nature,
Enjoy the small things,
Try to let it go
Start to learn to
Take a breath
Forgive& forget
Take a moment
To let nature guide you
Endless
by Morgan Lawlor
Love like there is no end.
Ever
Even if you know
there is
Right now you are alive
This is not forever
One day all we know, have known, and ever
will,
will be gone
And what will be the point
If not to love
Enduring Time
by Morgan Lawlor
As circular shapes
connect
Ovals and circles combine to form a delicate
wheel
Each and every
silhouette is unique
Never two of a kind
The sizes of the these forms differ
throughout
Creating something never seen
before
The shades go light to
dark
Dark to light and every color in between
The colors fade together while staying
individual
The blues and reds creating entirely new hues of their
own
They are like
kaleidoscopes
They grow toward
the one who nurtures them
As well as destroys them
When she gets too violent or too
soft
When their drink becomes too heavy or to weak they
Weep and cringe
So dependent on the ones who help them
flourish
But those same people can turn around and rip them up by the
roots
So many kinds
Growing together in a perfect family
They are beautiful and their lives are so
short
But yet they live because that’s the only life they have ever known
They speckle the world
Making it a little bit
better
Each time they wake
Forever living and dying like everything
else
Always stationary
But always changing
Never exactly the same
Like people they are
Going through the cycles
And changing as they do
The Character's Creator
by Morgan Lawlor
I would have taken your place as
tribute
Turned down immortality for
you
I would have killed all the demons of the world to keep you by
my side
Would have died again for you
I could have taken your place if you weren’t so
head-strong
I would have been the doctor that stayed and we would have
traveled the universe
Even given up all
my wishes for just one of yours to come true
But all you did was erase me like I never even lived
As if I wasn’t even worth your
time
And I guess you aren’t worth mine
Hidden Deep
by Morgan Lawler
We ourselves get lost sometimes
Even in our own minds
No one notices
Nor would they care
They are their own
nightmare
We have the ability to create the
world
We want to be a part of
Even if this is only possible in our heads
If it is better than our own
reality
That is where we will be
The ones who do notice when people are
drifting
Are the ones who keep us all
living
Or at least most of the
time
I am not sure if I can tell the difference between my reality and
everyone else’s
Not that it matters
Everyone else may be worse off than I
I can’t tell so I will choose the place I seem
happiest
If that’s not in the real world
Then I guess I’m not
living
And I don’t want to be
I want to be in a world without the
pain
And I soon will be
Two Worlds One Mind
by Morgan Lawlor
Falling Down. Down. Down
Not to be stopped
Nor slowed
Going through the rabbits
hold
Walking In. In. In
Not to be restrained
Nor blocked
Going through the looking glass
Both so familiar, yet so
foreign
One through a hole
One through a mirror
Neither can rest, until they meet their destination
Somewhere deep inside their own imagination
No one can help
No one can know
For they are the only ones
They are their own warriors
They are their own saviors
You Said You’d Never Let Me Fall…
by Carley Sibick
The days have gone by
slower,
Every hour dreading so slow
it’s like the clocks have broken,
My heart aches every time
she talks about you,
I have been replaced, let
down, forgotten,
My eyes have dried
out,
My cries have gone
silent,
It feels like the sun has
fallen out of the sky and there is no more
light,
No more energy to warm up
the Earth,
To put me back together,
piece by piece
Having That Feeling
By: Tucker Ship
From time to time,
The Earth gets depressed
And tired…
To lift the spirits,
It needs… a tone.
Perhaps a melody,
A harmony,
And maybe a foreign symphony.
When the mountain echoes,
The hummingbirds trill,
The monkeys begin to dance
And are filled with thrill.
Tis not paintings,
Tis not literature,
Tis not a subject worth dealing
Because it’s just a feeling…
The Earth gets depressed
And tired…
To lift the spirits,
It needs… a tone.
Perhaps a melody,
A harmony,
And maybe a foreign symphony.
When the mountain echoes,
The hummingbirds trill,
The monkeys begin to dance
And are filled with thrill.
Tis not paintings,
Tis not literature,
Tis not a subject worth dealing
Because it’s just a feeling…
Remember?
By: Stepanie Kosashvili
Remember?
The good day of spring
And how we ran to the swing
You always were here
Holding me near
And saying those sweet words
That I heard.
Remember?
The summer time
That was without any crime
We spent all days outside
Playing,
Swimming,
And taking a ride
That was a good time.
Remember?
The season was changing
And the summer break ending
School came around
And our new year was found.
Remember?
The early winters first snow
When we came to know
That snow can't be that early
And the wind that curly.
Like that from year to year.
Like friends, like besties, like forever.
The good day of spring
And how we ran to the swing
You always were here
Holding me near
And saying those sweet words
That I heard.
Remember?
The summer time
That was without any crime
We spent all days outside
Playing,
Swimming,
And taking a ride
That was a good time.
Remember?
The season was changing
And the summer break ending
School came around
And our new year was found.
Remember?
The early winters first snow
When we came to know
That snow can't be that early
And the wind that curly.
Like that from year to year.
Like friends, like besties, like forever.
True
By: Stephanie Kosashvili
Trust me
I don't want to lie.
You are
My best friend until we die
This is
This life, only mine.
You can
Be always by my side
I swear on my life....
I don't want to lie.
You are
My best friend until we die
This is
This life, only mine.
You can
Be always by my side
I swear on my life....
Alone
By: Taylor Konen
As I look out the window
This is what I see
A thousand eyes are staring at me
Looking through my soul
Like they are looking at a
Mirror they are just staring
I look and see nothing but
Me broken and hurt
People will never see all the hurt
That has been built up inside
Of me the sadness sorrow grief tragedy
They see a mask a cold hard
Mask which always stays on.
It's my blanket of protection
A key piece of me
It's like a painting that never
Gets to see the light people
never see the masterpiece
Rome was not built in a day
Some bridges are shaky and collapse
As time goes on some are built
Strong and stay strong until the end
This is what I see
A thousand eyes are staring at me
Looking through my soul
Like they are looking at a
Mirror they are just staring
I look and see nothing but
Me broken and hurt
People will never see all the hurt
That has been built up inside
Of me the sadness sorrow grief tragedy
They see a mask a cold hard
Mask which always stays on.
It's my blanket of protection
A key piece of me
It's like a painting that never
Gets to see the light people
never see the masterpiece
Rome was not built in a day
Some bridges are shaky and collapse
As time goes on some are built
Strong and stay strong until the end
Music
By: Taylor Konen
Music is like the key to express me
It's the reason I enjoy life
It's as wonderful as meeting Taylor Swift
It's the thing you listen to when you're feeling down
Music helps me not to lose it
Music is the key to the kingdom of joy!
It's the reason I enjoy life
It's as wonderful as meeting Taylor Swift
It's the thing you listen to when you're feeling down
Music helps me not to lose it
Music is the key to the kingdom of joy!
Life
By: Annie Mepisashvili
Life is a battlefield and we're just the soldiers
With our government always there to lead us
And bombs trying to take us down
With our armor always guarding us
But eventually it will fall
Terrible tragedies occur
But you can't let it take you down
Your enemy, always one step ahead of you
No matter if you're wounded or near death
You shall not give up
Blood won't make you fall
It'll make you advance
Your family, scared and counting on you
You will not disappoint them
Not now, not ever
Tonight we shall fight
Tonight we shall live our lives
With our government always there to lead us
And bombs trying to take us down
With our armor always guarding us
But eventually it will fall
Terrible tragedies occur
But you can't let it take you down
Your enemy, always one step ahead of you
No matter if you're wounded or near death
You shall not give up
Blood won't make you fall
It'll make you advance
Your family, scared and counting on you
You will not disappoint them
Not now, not ever
Tonight we shall fight
Tonight we shall live our lives
Be Strong Child
By: Annie Mepisashvili
You know that feeling
In beneath your soul
That feeling where you feel trapped
That the world around you just hates you
That feeling when you realize that , that a nightmare is reality
It breaks you down like a bulldozer
That feeling that makes you feel like your nothing
And that feeling or anger and loneliness is everything
In beneath your soul
That feeling where you feel trapped
That the world around you just hates you
That feeling when you realize that , that a nightmare is reality
It breaks you down like a bulldozer
That feeling that makes you feel like your nothing
And that feeling or anger and loneliness is everything
Friends
By: Annie Mepisashvili
They say friends will never leave you
They say friends will always help you through the toughest times
Well what if they were wrong
That one day your friends will abandon you and leave you suffering
I'll die the day my friends be my enemies
I'll die the day my family turns on me
I'll die the day I'm left on the streets
Pondering about what I did to deserve this
Just know one thing
I'll die the day I become your enemy
I'll die the day I turn on you
I'll die the day I leave you suffering helplessly on the streets
And if I have to I'll die everyday
For you
They say friends will always help you through the toughest times
Well what if they were wrong
That one day your friends will abandon you and leave you suffering
I'll die the day my friends be my enemies
I'll die the day my family turns on me
I'll die the day I'm left on the streets
Pondering about what I did to deserve this
Just know one thing
I'll die the day I become your enemy
I'll die the day I turn on you
I'll die the day I leave you suffering helplessly on the streets
And if I have to I'll die everyday
For you
FICTION
Gift in the Man
by Justin Freeman
There I was standing between my life and friends to choose between. I choose friends
which cost me my life. Death by a gun shot. I was dead on the spot. But earlier
it was just another day at Northern High. I was just another senior with good
grades and a cool attitude. It all changed until I ran into a few bullies
picking on a nerd. I didn’t want the poor kid to go home bruised so I stepped
in. I really didn’t know the kid but I still wanted to help. So I ran over to
help. I recognized the bullies. They were Chad Chambers, Steve Samson, and Clyde
Smith. We were all friends back in kindergarten. I don’t know why they became
bullies. As the kid was about to get jumped, I stood right in front of him.
”Stop! What did,” I turned to the kid being bullied. “What’s your name again
kid?”
“Billy Sham,” he said with a scared look on his face
“Leave Billy alone he didn’t do nothing to you” I said with my fist balled
up.
“Butt out of it Parker, you have nothing to do with this,” Chad said angrily.
It was about to turn into a fight. Chad and I had our hands bawled up in a fist. I had two things
on my mind. How was I going to explain to my mom; what happened and the trouble I was going
to get in. I made a choice. I through the first punch and a fight broke out. Me and Chad were going
at it mono e mono. Billy, Steve, and Clyde tried to stop it but the tension was too high. We kept
hitting each other until I threw one shot to his gut. The fight was over. Chad was on the floor.
“You’re dead “Chad said grieving with pain.
“You have to catch me first” I said.
I left him to get to class. I don’t know why but Billy tagged along. I never
really asked him why he tagged along because I didn’t care. Billy and I were
becoming to be friends after that. As I walked to English class I saw Chad in
the nurse’s office with an ice pack on his mouth. I just kept on going wait for
the principal to call my name on the loud speaker. I arrived in English class
and sat in my seat. I was nervous and scared. I sat through the whole period
waiting for my name to be call but it never happened. I felt relieved Chad did
say anything. After English it was time to go home it was spring break. I was so
happy to get out of that jail they call school. On the bus all I had on my mind
was what Chad meant when he said I was dead. But lucky for me he wasn’t on my
bus so I was safe if Chad was going to do anything. As I reach my stop I saw
Chad outside my door I started to panic. I thought what he was going to do to
me. I walked off the bus.
“Hey…..Chad, what are you doing here?” I said.
I heard nothing so I started to walk toward my house but something stopped me and
it was Chad’s hand and next thing I saw was a fist coming toward my face. I was
knocked out. When I woke up I was tied up in a chair. Billy was in Chad’s hand
with a gun pointed at his head.
“I’m going to kill you James if it’s the last thing I do,” Chad said with
anger.
“Let Billy go and you can do whatever you want this is between me and you leave Billy
out of it,” I said.
Chad sat there and just listened
“If you let Billy go we can settle this.” I said
“Put the gun down Chad” I said with grace. Chad let Billy go and put the gun down.
“Are you ok Billy?” I asked.
“Yes I’m fine,” Billy said scared.
I turned around and I saw Chad run in toward me. My first instinct was to dodge
and punch back but I just didn’t budge. I was standing there still. As soon as
Chad hit me I hit him with the one combo. He didn’t know what hit him. I saw him
the knocked out cold. I walked away Samuel Jackson style from Die Hard 2.
“James turn around” Billy said yelling
I saw Chad with the gun pointed toward Billy. My first action was to save Billy. I
ran toward Chad as fast as I could. As I drew closer I thought about me and my
life. There I stand the choice to save a friend or my life. I choose to save a
friend. I jumped in front of the gun just before it shot. I felt the hot lava
feeling bullet in my chest. I was bleeding rapidly. Everything became blurry and
I was feeling sick. Billy came over to me.
“You are going to be fine,” Billy said crying.
“No I’m not...I’m fading,” I said grieving in pain.
Little did I know Billy called the police before I was shot. They came and as I took my
last breath I saw Chad in cuffs and Billy walking away. Before I died I was
happy for what I did for Billy. I know he was happy to. I finally died by the
rapid bleeding from Chad’s gun shot.
I'm Not Alice
by Emma Dorval
“Alice
never should have left Wonderland…”
What is that? Is that a rabbit…holding a pocket
watch? I rub my eyes, and look again, but he’s still there. What the heck?
I take a step forward, slowly, and he matches my pace, taking a step back. I
frown and take another step forward, as he takes another back. I sigh, and
start running after it, but he turns and dashes away. I follow him through a
forest, pushing past trees and scraping myself on branches. Suddenly, as if out
of nowhere, a large branch appears in front of my face. “Ow!” I yell, losing my
balance and falling. But why don’t I hit the ground? I open my eyes and look
around; I’m still falling. What?
Everything around me is dark, just blackness, until I see something else
falling…or should I say flying? Bookshelves, tables, teacups, chairs, couches,
and even doors are whooshing past my head as I fall down what seems like an
endless hole. A rabbit hole for something much bigger than a rabbit…
What could be at the bottom? I have a feeling I’ll soon find
out, as I see the ground nearing me. I shut my eyes and all too soon I hit the
ground--hard. I open my eyes, blink a
few times, and look around me. All I see is a table and a door. I quickly crawl
to the door, only to find it’s much too small. “Oh, what am I to do now?” I
wonder aloud. This all seems oddly familiar to a story I read once, called Alice
in Wonderland. But if this is Wonderland, why isn’t the door telling me what to
do? And where’s the bottle on the table, the one I’m supposed to drink to be
smaller and fit through the door? “Aren’t you supposed to tell me what to do?”
I ask the door. Automatically I feel stupid. Of course this isn’t Wonderland.
I’m not Alice.
I stand up and look around. There’s gotta be some way to get
out, but how? “You’re mad!” A voice states simply. I jump, and whirl
around.
“Who said that?” I call out. “And I’m not mad, thank you very
much!”
“Of course you are!” The voice exclaims. “You must be mad to
have landed yourself in a place like this. We’re all mad here. You surely know
that, Alice, this isn’t your first time here. We’ve been awaiting your return.
Of course, we didn’t expect it’d take so long, you sure have
changed.”
“I’m not Alice!” I protest.
“Yes you are! We sent the white rabbit specifically to find you,
Alice.”
“Well, I know plenty of people who would follow a rabbit holding
a pocket watch. Doesn’t that seem a
bit odd?”
“Why would it be odd? Rabbits need to tell
time.”
“I mean in the real
world… Oh. I get it.” The thought suddenly hits me. “Of course
this is a joke. Someone in my grade thought that it would be funny to make me
think I landed myself in Wonderland. Because that’s exactly
where a person like me would end up. Who are you? Who told you to do this? It’s
not funny!”
“What on earth are
you talking about, my dear Alice?”
“My name’s Emery!”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Follow
me.”
***
“Where, exactly, are you taking me?” I ask this man, my voice
taking on an annoyed edge. This joke has gotten too far already. I have a
disease. It’s not funny for them to make fun of me for that. But what can I do?
He’s so determined.
“Hush, child. Just keep walking.”
I roll my eyes and follow him, even though, as I’ve mentioned
many times, we’ve been walking for “ages.”
Finally, he stops. It’s so sudden I nearly run into him. “This
isn’t funny!” I yell. “Why’d you bring me here? How’d you know about this?” I
back away from him. No one knows about this, how’d he know? Why am I
here?
He takes a step towards me, and I back away further. “Stay away
from me,” I command, my voice shaking. “Who are
you?”
“All you will find out in due time.”
“No I won’t,” I say firmly. “Because I’m leaving, and you can’t
stop me.”
“Alright, dearie. Good luck finding a way
out.”
“I will find a way," I tell him. “I promise, I will get out of here and figure out whoever put you up
to this!” I turn and run away, trying to blink back tears. How did he know? No
one knows. I never told anyone about the place.
I run back to the place I fell from the rabbit hole, but
something’s wrong. Why is everything so…big? It was definitely small before.
Everything was smaller than me, now it’s significantly larger than me. What is
wrong with this place? Suddenly it hits me like a ton of bricks. It’s a dream.
And I can wake up. I just have to wait. I sit down, prepared to wait as long as
I need. It’s just a dream. Otherwise
he wouldn’t know about the place, because I swear to God I never told anyone. I
sigh, and begin to hum quietly to myself. A few times I try pinching myself, but
it doesn’t work. That’s when a terrible thought comes to me. What
if I’m in the hospital? What if they have me on sleeping drugs and that’s
why I can’t wake up from this horrible dream? My mind starts reeling through all
the possibilities and I hold my head, whispering “Stop,” and realize with horror
that I’m not dreaming. I am crazy.
And that’s when I stand up, and walk back to the building where I saw it happen,
and the Mad Hatter is still standing there, in front of the Palace of Hearts. I
knew I never told anyone about the place. No one…except the people who already
knew me from when I was the Princess of Hearts. Soon I will be the Queen of
Hearts. That’s why Alice never
should have left Wonderland. That’s why I should have never left Wonderland. He
smiles brightly when he sees me.
“Welcome to Wonderland,” he says, “Alice.”Gallagher's Travels: Ghost Ship
By: Joseph Kim
“Beat to quarters, men!” commanded the first lieutenant from the top deck. Almost immediately, the crew began to pick themselves up and got ready for a fight.
These brave one hundred and seventy-five men were a part of the crew of the H.M.S. Judicator. This seventy-four gun second-rate ship-of-the-line was one of England’s pride and joy for they had not lost to any ship- whether it was the Spanish or the French. Many times have there been tough battles and always did they pull through with perseverance and their bravery. Now, another fight awaited them in the east Atlantic as they were to sail back to England. It was approximately 7 AM, and the helmsman has already spotted something in the five days before they were due in their homeland.
Captain Buckingham stared off towards the ships off the starboard bow, which were not even a mile away. The ship rolled rhythmically with the waves as sea foam formed from the pitching and rolling of the Judicator as it chased after them. For a double-decker, the Judicator was a fast ship. It would be a matter of moments before they caught up with the enemy ships. Although, it was a dank summer’s morning and a fog had covered the ocean around them. It was a wonder that Buckingham was able to spot the ships in such conditions. He looked around him and noticed he was a man short. He shouted, “Mr. Gillard!”
“Yes sir!” the man had answered shouting over the sound of the waves.
“Fetch Second Lieutenant Gallagher! I need him topside on the double!” Buckingham commanded.
“Aye, sir” Gillard answered loudly raising his hand to his brow. He ran down below hearing Buckingham call out, “With haste, Mr. Gillard! With haste if you please!”
Gillard ran frantically in search of Gallagher and found him still in his hammock. His face was a slight greenish color and Gillard mused at the groaning the sleeping man was making. Gillard, losing patience, shook Gallagher with one big thrust and he shot up with a confused and drowsy expression upon his unshaved face. Gallagher opened his eyes and asked with a barely audible voice, “Yes, what is it, Mr. Gillard?”
“Apologies, sir,” Gillard said, “but the captain is requesting for you to stand by him on the top deck.”
Gallagher, no longer groaning over his stomach, swung himself off his hammock and said, “I’ll be topside in two minutes time.”
“Right you are, sir,” was his reply as Gillard exited his room. Gallagher had spent two years on the Judicator, but that was only after serving another two years on a frigate called the Dreadnought. There, Gallagher gained his reputation for a calm, commanding officer and was later accepted in the examination for his current rank. But now was not the time for reflecting on his past achievements. The captain wanted him on the deck, and quickly at that. He quickly combed his hair, and, without a trace of anxiety on his face, he ran up the stairs and spotted Buckingham on the top with his telescope in his hands.
“You called for me, sir,” Gallagher said flatly as he gave the courtesy of bringing his hand to his brow. Buckingham tried not to smile, but the humor took the best of him. He chuckled, “Yes, Mr. Gallagher. I’m glad to see you here rather than snoring in your hammock.”
Buckingham noted his lieutenant’s haste in putting on his uniform, as well as beating the dents on his cap. Not only that, the traces of shaving cream that still were on his face, which Gallagher must have tried to shave quickly. He rid himself of these thoughts and looked at the task at hand. He gave his lieutenant the spyglass and said, “I want you to look there- three clicks from the starboard bow. Tell me what you see,”
It only took the man a moment to pinpoint that location and he said, “I am seeing a Spaniard convoy, sir.”
“I believe you are correct, sir,” Buckingham replied, “Now, what do you suppose the lead ship is?”
Gallagher focused the glass towards the approaching ship far off near the Spaniard convoy. He counted the number of guns slowly and answered, “It seems that it has 32 guns sir.”
“Ah, so we are dealing with a fifth class ship-of-the-line,” Buckingham said almost heaving a sigh of disappointment. If only the Spaniards sent something more challenging. The Judicator did not see a ship of their class in a month and it had started to bore the crew with miniscule action and combat. Buckingham watched as his men began to order for fire pails, while others began to pour sand onto the decks. He commanded with his powerful voice, “To your stations men! Make sure you load those cannons properly now!”
Even if they did not reply, his orders were swiftly going amongst the crew, and they sprung into a higher gear- it was the thrill of battle as some would say. The gun ports soon opened and 74 guns began to slowly emerge showing off the ship’s menacing power. Buckingham looked at the crew approvingly, and heard the familiar sound of a distant cannon- no, a whole broadside! He exclaimed, pushing his lieutenants and himself down to the deck, “Get your heads down, lads!”
They complied quickly as the iron shot ripped through the Judicator’s mast and starboard side of the hull. Screams were sounded and the noise of ripping flesh and tearing sinew was imminent. Gallagher looked up from his prone position and could not hear anything but the ringing in his ear. Mr. Gillard began to pull him up and was yelling something to him. Gallagher looked down and saw Captain Buckingham lay unconscious from a timber from the mast above them. The first lieutenant wasn’t breathing; nor did his head look like it was in a comfortable spot.
“Mr. Gallagher, sir!” he finally could hear Mr. Gillard screaming over the sound of their cannons returning fire, “What should we do, sir?!”
“Why are you asking me?” He answered leaning on the railing for support from the dizziness of his head. The swirling of his vision began to clear up, but the motion of the waves began to make him sick to the stomach.
“You are currently the senior officer!” Mr. Gillard replied, trying to keep his cap upon his bald head, “Mr. Wellington is dead, and the captain is out cold.”
The sound of cannons dispersed and Gallagher picked up the captain’s spyglass. He focused the lenses towards the fleeing attacker and flinched. Mr. Gillard, who had not used the spyglass to gaze upon the ships colors, hissed, “Those damned Spaniards- they’ll pay for this.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t a Spanish ship, Mr. Gillard,” Gallagher replied, passing the glass to him with shaking hands, “It’s the French.”
This was horrible indeed. The French were allies with the Spanish, and it would seem as though the convoy would be heading to the main land. This isn’t what I was expecting at all, Gallagher thought bitterly. He looked down to the gun deck and winced at the sight of the wounded and the dying. Many lay motionless while their mates began carrying them below to Dr. Hanson, the ship’s medical doctor. Gallagher had never met him on the field personally, but he knew that his skill saved the lives of the crew in times of need.
“Mr. Gillard,” Gallagher said to his mate, “I need you to ask around to give a full analysis on the ship’s condition. Is this order clear?”
“Aye-aye, sir,” Mr. Gillard answered, with the fingers to his brow. He left swiftly, down to the midshipmen, and started shouting out Gallagher’s orders to everyone. Sighing with desperation, Gallagher retired to his room in the battered and defeated Judicator, which now had left the enemy convoy in shame.
These brave one hundred and seventy-five men were a part of the crew of the H.M.S. Judicator. This seventy-four gun second-rate ship-of-the-line was one of England’s pride and joy for they had not lost to any ship- whether it was the Spanish or the French. Many times have there been tough battles and always did they pull through with perseverance and their bravery. Now, another fight awaited them in the east Atlantic as they were to sail back to England. It was approximately 7 AM, and the helmsman has already spotted something in the five days before they were due in their homeland.
Captain Buckingham stared off towards the ships off the starboard bow, which were not even a mile away. The ship rolled rhythmically with the waves as sea foam formed from the pitching and rolling of the Judicator as it chased after them. For a double-decker, the Judicator was a fast ship. It would be a matter of moments before they caught up with the enemy ships. Although, it was a dank summer’s morning and a fog had covered the ocean around them. It was a wonder that Buckingham was able to spot the ships in such conditions. He looked around him and noticed he was a man short. He shouted, “Mr. Gillard!”
“Yes sir!” the man had answered shouting over the sound of the waves.
“Fetch Second Lieutenant Gallagher! I need him topside on the double!” Buckingham commanded.
“Aye, sir” Gillard answered loudly raising his hand to his brow. He ran down below hearing Buckingham call out, “With haste, Mr. Gillard! With haste if you please!”
Gillard ran frantically in search of Gallagher and found him still in his hammock. His face was a slight greenish color and Gillard mused at the groaning the sleeping man was making. Gillard, losing patience, shook Gallagher with one big thrust and he shot up with a confused and drowsy expression upon his unshaved face. Gallagher opened his eyes and asked with a barely audible voice, “Yes, what is it, Mr. Gillard?”
“Apologies, sir,” Gillard said, “but the captain is requesting for you to stand by him on the top deck.”
Gallagher, no longer groaning over his stomach, swung himself off his hammock and said, “I’ll be topside in two minutes time.”
“Right you are, sir,” was his reply as Gillard exited his room. Gallagher had spent two years on the Judicator, but that was only after serving another two years on a frigate called the Dreadnought. There, Gallagher gained his reputation for a calm, commanding officer and was later accepted in the examination for his current rank. But now was not the time for reflecting on his past achievements. The captain wanted him on the deck, and quickly at that. He quickly combed his hair, and, without a trace of anxiety on his face, he ran up the stairs and spotted Buckingham on the top with his telescope in his hands.
“You called for me, sir,” Gallagher said flatly as he gave the courtesy of bringing his hand to his brow. Buckingham tried not to smile, but the humor took the best of him. He chuckled, “Yes, Mr. Gallagher. I’m glad to see you here rather than snoring in your hammock.”
Buckingham noted his lieutenant’s haste in putting on his uniform, as well as beating the dents on his cap. Not only that, the traces of shaving cream that still were on his face, which Gallagher must have tried to shave quickly. He rid himself of these thoughts and looked at the task at hand. He gave his lieutenant the spyglass and said, “I want you to look there- three clicks from the starboard bow. Tell me what you see,”
It only took the man a moment to pinpoint that location and he said, “I am seeing a Spaniard convoy, sir.”
“I believe you are correct, sir,” Buckingham replied, “Now, what do you suppose the lead ship is?”
Gallagher focused the glass towards the approaching ship far off near the Spaniard convoy. He counted the number of guns slowly and answered, “It seems that it has 32 guns sir.”
“Ah, so we are dealing with a fifth class ship-of-the-line,” Buckingham said almost heaving a sigh of disappointment. If only the Spaniards sent something more challenging. The Judicator did not see a ship of their class in a month and it had started to bore the crew with miniscule action and combat. Buckingham watched as his men began to order for fire pails, while others began to pour sand onto the decks. He commanded with his powerful voice, “To your stations men! Make sure you load those cannons properly now!”
Even if they did not reply, his orders were swiftly going amongst the crew, and they sprung into a higher gear- it was the thrill of battle as some would say. The gun ports soon opened and 74 guns began to slowly emerge showing off the ship’s menacing power. Buckingham looked at the crew approvingly, and heard the familiar sound of a distant cannon- no, a whole broadside! He exclaimed, pushing his lieutenants and himself down to the deck, “Get your heads down, lads!”
They complied quickly as the iron shot ripped through the Judicator’s mast and starboard side of the hull. Screams were sounded and the noise of ripping flesh and tearing sinew was imminent. Gallagher looked up from his prone position and could not hear anything but the ringing in his ear. Mr. Gillard began to pull him up and was yelling something to him. Gallagher looked down and saw Captain Buckingham lay unconscious from a timber from the mast above them. The first lieutenant wasn’t breathing; nor did his head look like it was in a comfortable spot.
“Mr. Gallagher, sir!” he finally could hear Mr. Gillard screaming over the sound of their cannons returning fire, “What should we do, sir?!”
“Why are you asking me?” He answered leaning on the railing for support from the dizziness of his head. The swirling of his vision began to clear up, but the motion of the waves began to make him sick to the stomach.
“You are currently the senior officer!” Mr. Gillard replied, trying to keep his cap upon his bald head, “Mr. Wellington is dead, and the captain is out cold.”
The sound of cannons dispersed and Gallagher picked up the captain’s spyglass. He focused the lenses towards the fleeing attacker and flinched. Mr. Gillard, who had not used the spyglass to gaze upon the ships colors, hissed, “Those damned Spaniards- they’ll pay for this.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t a Spanish ship, Mr. Gillard,” Gallagher replied, passing the glass to him with shaking hands, “It’s the French.”
This was horrible indeed. The French were allies with the Spanish, and it would seem as though the convoy would be heading to the main land. This isn’t what I was expecting at all, Gallagher thought bitterly. He looked down to the gun deck and winced at the sight of the wounded and the dying. Many lay motionless while their mates began carrying them below to Dr. Hanson, the ship’s medical doctor. Gallagher had never met him on the field personally, but he knew that his skill saved the lives of the crew in times of need.
“Mr. Gillard,” Gallagher said to his mate, “I need you to ask around to give a full analysis on the ship’s condition. Is this order clear?”
“Aye-aye, sir,” Mr. Gillard answered, with the fingers to his brow. He left swiftly, down to the midshipmen, and started shouting out Gallagher’s orders to everyone. Sighing with desperation, Gallagher retired to his room in the battered and defeated Judicator, which now had left the enemy convoy in shame.
The Sounds of the Night
By: Cristina Duffy
In the silence of the night, a single sound could be heard. It was the opening of a door, and it closing. After this sound, hushed screams could be heard, but no words able to be made out. A neighbor walks by, sees what house it is, and quickly turns around.
"Where were you!?" A yell could be heard, but only by the one it was aimed for.
"I said I was out, mother! You don't own me!" A weak reply was thrown by the 19 year old Nana.
The crack of a hand on bare skin and a muffled yelp was now heard by the few who wanted to. A nightly occurrence, this was. There really was no way to stop any abuse in the village.
Then, out of the blue, a new, unfamiliar sound resonated from the house. The shattering of glass and a pained scream. The sound of crying and a door swinging open. Hard footsteps on dirt and stone road.
Then, in the square near the house...silence. Near a house further though, muffled sobs and knocks could be heard on a door. This specific door, though, had no doorknob.
"Nan- Nana, what happened!?" Was heard from a blonde man, who now had a crying, bloody woman on his doorstep.
"I-it was h-her, Lucas!" She managed to sputter.
Lucas's eyes shot fully opened, and his sleepiness faded. He hurriedly pulled her into his home, where he saw the full extent of the wounds.
Large glass shards stuck from her left arm and back, and a long cut went from her ear, along her chin, and down to her collar bone on the opposite side of where the cut started.
Lucas cringed when he saw the blood on the white top of her dress. How was he to stitch the cuts up. As if she knew, Nana spoke.
"I don't care if you see me.....just keep me alive...?" She managed to mutter. Too much blood loss, apparently.
Lucas gently pulled the shards of glass from her back and arm. 14 pieces in total. He cringed every time she whimpered in pain. Now was time to stitch up all the cuts, minus the one on her face.
"Um... N-Nana?" He stuttered, his shyness overcoming his need to help his girlfriend.
"Just pull it off me..." She whimpered, her head beginning to lean on the couch from fatigue.
Lucas gulped, then pulled her dress off, leaving her in her undergarments. He proceeded to run and find his mothers old sewing kit.
He ran back to find Nana barely able to stay fully conscious. He strung the needle and swung it through the fire from a candle on the table to rid it of any germs.
"Please don't hate me..." He whispered to her. "This hurts me more than it hurts you... Trust me."
He started stitching the first of the 14 cuts, cringing and looking away while she screeched in pain. He looked back and continued, finishing the first in a minute.
He continued at this pace, finishing after 15 minutes, Nana crying and whimpering in pain the whole time.
Lucas turned her to face him and wiped the bit of blood off her face with her dress, which needed to be washed and stitched up anyways. He pulled the half-naked girl into his lap. She was so cold from the blood loss.
He held her close and whispered sweet nothings into her ear to calm her down. Maybe when she was calm she would say what happened.
He continued to talk, petting her hair as he tried to coax answers out of her.
"Care to tell me what happened...?" He whispered randomly in the midst of the sweet nothings.
She quickly looked up at him, eyes wide. Her body started to shake, but slowly started to answer.
"I-I ran off today...I tried to go to that old shack, but sh-she got to it.... I hid in the forest f-for awhile, but when I came home sh-she was waiting! She never w-waits! She started interrogating me, l-like normal.... But when sh-she hit me...I hit back. For the first time ever, I-I tried to hit b-back! She was m-mad that I took away her p-power over me.... An' she grabbed the glass from the table and threw it at m-me...I ducked, b-but it hit the wall.... All the glass fell all over me...then I came he-here...." She said, tears drifting down her cheeks as she snuggled closer to him, attempting to get warm.
Lucas's eyes were wide, but he grabbed a blanket and wrapped the girl in it. How could someone do something like that to the girl? Especially her own mother. He was well aware that she was....there really was no word to describe her. Bad was only the first relatively nice thing that came to his mind.
He looked down at the girl who had now passed out on his chest, her breathing becoming labored. His heart rate picked up. Was she alright? He picked her up and carefully ran to his room, placing her in his bed.
Her face was pale, any rosiness that had ever been in her cheeks completely gone. She shivered as wheezing was heard in her shallow breaths. His eyes started to tear up for the first time in years. She had lost so much blood, all of it staining the blankets over the couch and his floor. What if she died? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. He didn't know what to do. He looked towards the door, then back at his gravely injured girlfriend. He leaned forward, kissed her on the forehead, then ran as fast as he could to Yado Inn.
The sound of a door being thrown open was heard by everyone in Yado Inn
"TESSIE!" He yelled, not caring that it was almost midnight.
The older woman looked toward him in fright. "L-Lucas? What's wrong...?" She asked, worried something happened with Flint.
"No time to explain, just bring as much medicine for blood loss as you can!" He exclaimed, running toward the counter.
Tessie grabbed some home made medicine and then ran after Lucas. She saw him run into his own home, and noticed blood was on the path, pooled at his doorstep.
She walked in and followed Lucas's voice to his room and saw a terrible sight. Nana with a cut along her face, and some visible stitches on her left arm. She quickly looked up to Lucas, only to see he was looking back at her, a single tear running down his cheek.
She got to work, thankfully she had brought the rest of the medical kit just incase. She put an antibacterial ointment made from herbs on the stitches and wrapped them in bandages. She then managed to wake the blonde girl for a short time to give her a protein medicine that would help with the blood loss. She cleaned the cut on her face and bandaged it up.
"I did the best I could, Lucas. She should be okay, though." She said with a weak smile.
He smiled back and gave her a tight hug, thanking her over and over again. "I...I think you should go now, sorry for taking you from your job..." He muttered sheepishly.
"It's no problem! She may have died if you hadn't gotten me." She said, noticing his face pale, she continued "Have a good night, Lucas." She finished before taking her leave.
Lucas let out a heavy sigh, gently sitting down next to Nana, who's breathing slowly was becoming better.
He smiled, but his eyes were sad. Her mother... He couldn't hurt her. No one could even touch the gossip queen... But the more he thought the clearer the answer became. In Tazmilly, you can leave your home once you're to be married. He was almost 20, which was the normal age to propose...
"Oh god...." He murmured out loud as he realized fully what he wanted to do. Not just because he felt like he had to, but because he actually, truly wanted to. " I have loved her for a long time..." He thought out loud. Maybe this was a sign from the dark dragon to finally ask her.
He let out a soft sigh and looked over to her. Her breathing was almost back to normal, but still her normally rosy cheeks were white, almost a sickly yellow. He moved the hair from he eyes and lightly traced the cut on her chin, being careful not to hurt her.
He slowly got up and went to the kitchen to get water for when Nana woke up. He went to the water jug and started pouring a cup.
"You really love her don't you, bro?" A too familiar voice teased.
Lucas turned around to see the ghost of his brother sitting on the table cross legged. This happened too often, so it didn't bother him too much anymore.
"I really do, Claus...I don't know what to do, though... Her Mom..." He started, but the ghost's look told Lucas to let him speak.
"Listen, bro, if you really love her, just keep her here! She's absolutely nuts for you!" He told his brother, leaning back on his hands.
"But...The rule! She can't leave her mother until she's married!" Lucas exclaimed. His brother rolled his eyes.
"Nooo, she can't leave until YOU propose. Then get married when you two are good and ready. Just no funny buissness~ hehe" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Lucas...?" Nana's weak voice called from the other room.
"Well,that's my cue to get goin'. Good luck, bro!" Claus said before fading into nothing.
Lucas gulped, then went back to the room with the water. He saw her trying to sit up, and he rushed to help her, not knowing if the stitches would rip.
"Be careful, Nana..." He said, piling pillows behind her head. "Here, drink some water." He said, handing the plastic cup to her.
"Thank you..." She said slowly. She drank the cup in seconds, a small smile appearing on her face. "Will you stay here...? Sh-she...what if she follows the blood trail I left...?" She asked, eyes widening in fear.
Lucas sat down next to her and grabbed her hand, attempting to calm her down. "Shhhh...I'll protect you, okay? She'll never hurt you like that again..." He promised.
This caused Nana to look up at him. Fear and sadness were both evident in her normally happy eyes. "How!?She'll come for me! Sh-she'll hurt you too..." She managed to yell before fading out to a soft whimper.
"Well...I was thinking...maybe...." He stopped and looked at her, cheeks flushed a light pink.
"What....are you saying...?" She breathed out slowly, tired from the yelling she had just done before.
"I'm saying...." He took a deep breath. "Marry me." He let out slowly. Before she could even say anything, he continued. "For one, it would get you away from her. We won't do anything until we're both really ready either, so no planning yet. Secondly...I really love you, and this was definitely a sign that I should finally ask, because I've thought of it here and there..... So, what do you say...? M-marry me?" He finished with a shy smile on his freckled cheeks.
A weak smile appeared on Nana's face as a bit of color returned to her still very pale face. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she nodded as quickly as she could, some how managing to sputter an almost silent "Yes, a million times over..."
Lucas smiled back at her and took her hands into his own. He leaned forward and pulled her into an innocent kiss.
She smiled into the kiss and after awhile, pulled away. She scooted closer to him and snuggled up to his chest, her head resting in the crook of his neck. "Goodnight..." She muttered, falling asleep.
Lucas smiled and moved his arm so his head was no longer resting on it, it now resting on the pillow. He closed his eyes and whispered back "Goodnight, Nana..."
"Where were you!?" A yell could be heard, but only by the one it was aimed for.
"I said I was out, mother! You don't own me!" A weak reply was thrown by the 19 year old Nana.
The crack of a hand on bare skin and a muffled yelp was now heard by the few who wanted to. A nightly occurrence, this was. There really was no way to stop any abuse in the village.
Then, out of the blue, a new, unfamiliar sound resonated from the house. The shattering of glass and a pained scream. The sound of crying and a door swinging open. Hard footsteps on dirt and stone road.
Then, in the square near the house...silence. Near a house further though, muffled sobs and knocks could be heard on a door. This specific door, though, had no doorknob.
"Nan- Nana, what happened!?" Was heard from a blonde man, who now had a crying, bloody woman on his doorstep.
"I-it was h-her, Lucas!" She managed to sputter.
Lucas's eyes shot fully opened, and his sleepiness faded. He hurriedly pulled her into his home, where he saw the full extent of the wounds.
Large glass shards stuck from her left arm and back, and a long cut went from her ear, along her chin, and down to her collar bone on the opposite side of where the cut started.
Lucas cringed when he saw the blood on the white top of her dress. How was he to stitch the cuts up. As if she knew, Nana spoke.
"I don't care if you see me.....just keep me alive...?" She managed to mutter. Too much blood loss, apparently.
Lucas gently pulled the shards of glass from her back and arm. 14 pieces in total. He cringed every time she whimpered in pain. Now was time to stitch up all the cuts, minus the one on her face.
"Um... N-Nana?" He stuttered, his shyness overcoming his need to help his girlfriend.
"Just pull it off me..." She whimpered, her head beginning to lean on the couch from fatigue.
Lucas gulped, then pulled her dress off, leaving her in her undergarments. He proceeded to run and find his mothers old sewing kit.
He ran back to find Nana barely able to stay fully conscious. He strung the needle and swung it through the fire from a candle on the table to rid it of any germs.
"Please don't hate me..." He whispered to her. "This hurts me more than it hurts you... Trust me."
He started stitching the first of the 14 cuts, cringing and looking away while she screeched in pain. He looked back and continued, finishing the first in a minute.
He continued at this pace, finishing after 15 minutes, Nana crying and whimpering in pain the whole time.
Lucas turned her to face him and wiped the bit of blood off her face with her dress, which needed to be washed and stitched up anyways. He pulled the half-naked girl into his lap. She was so cold from the blood loss.
He held her close and whispered sweet nothings into her ear to calm her down. Maybe when she was calm she would say what happened.
He continued to talk, petting her hair as he tried to coax answers out of her.
"Care to tell me what happened...?" He whispered randomly in the midst of the sweet nothings.
She quickly looked up at him, eyes wide. Her body started to shake, but slowly started to answer.
"I-I ran off today...I tried to go to that old shack, but sh-she got to it.... I hid in the forest f-for awhile, but when I came home sh-she was waiting! She never w-waits! She started interrogating me, l-like normal.... But when sh-she hit me...I hit back. For the first time ever, I-I tried to hit b-back! She was m-mad that I took away her p-power over me.... An' she grabbed the glass from the table and threw it at m-me...I ducked, b-but it hit the wall.... All the glass fell all over me...then I came he-here...." She said, tears drifting down her cheeks as she snuggled closer to him, attempting to get warm.
Lucas's eyes were wide, but he grabbed a blanket and wrapped the girl in it. How could someone do something like that to the girl? Especially her own mother. He was well aware that she was....there really was no word to describe her. Bad was only the first relatively nice thing that came to his mind.
He looked down at the girl who had now passed out on his chest, her breathing becoming labored. His heart rate picked up. Was she alright? He picked her up and carefully ran to his room, placing her in his bed.
Her face was pale, any rosiness that had ever been in her cheeks completely gone. She shivered as wheezing was heard in her shallow breaths. His eyes started to tear up for the first time in years. She had lost so much blood, all of it staining the blankets over the couch and his floor. What if she died? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. He didn't know what to do. He looked towards the door, then back at his gravely injured girlfriend. He leaned forward, kissed her on the forehead, then ran as fast as he could to Yado Inn.
The sound of a door being thrown open was heard by everyone in Yado Inn
"TESSIE!" He yelled, not caring that it was almost midnight.
The older woman looked toward him in fright. "L-Lucas? What's wrong...?" She asked, worried something happened with Flint.
"No time to explain, just bring as much medicine for blood loss as you can!" He exclaimed, running toward the counter.
Tessie grabbed some home made medicine and then ran after Lucas. She saw him run into his own home, and noticed blood was on the path, pooled at his doorstep.
She walked in and followed Lucas's voice to his room and saw a terrible sight. Nana with a cut along her face, and some visible stitches on her left arm. She quickly looked up to Lucas, only to see he was looking back at her, a single tear running down his cheek.
She got to work, thankfully she had brought the rest of the medical kit just incase. She put an antibacterial ointment made from herbs on the stitches and wrapped them in bandages. She then managed to wake the blonde girl for a short time to give her a protein medicine that would help with the blood loss. She cleaned the cut on her face and bandaged it up.
"I did the best I could, Lucas. She should be okay, though." She said with a weak smile.
He smiled back and gave her a tight hug, thanking her over and over again. "I...I think you should go now, sorry for taking you from your job..." He muttered sheepishly.
"It's no problem! She may have died if you hadn't gotten me." She said, noticing his face pale, she continued "Have a good night, Lucas." She finished before taking her leave.
Lucas let out a heavy sigh, gently sitting down next to Nana, who's breathing slowly was becoming better.
He smiled, but his eyes were sad. Her mother... He couldn't hurt her. No one could even touch the gossip queen... But the more he thought the clearer the answer became. In Tazmilly, you can leave your home once you're to be married. He was almost 20, which was the normal age to propose...
"Oh god...." He murmured out loud as he realized fully what he wanted to do. Not just because he felt like he had to, but because he actually, truly wanted to. " I have loved her for a long time..." He thought out loud. Maybe this was a sign from the dark dragon to finally ask her.
He let out a soft sigh and looked over to her. Her breathing was almost back to normal, but still her normally rosy cheeks were white, almost a sickly yellow. He moved the hair from he eyes and lightly traced the cut on her chin, being careful not to hurt her.
He slowly got up and went to the kitchen to get water for when Nana woke up. He went to the water jug and started pouring a cup.
"You really love her don't you, bro?" A too familiar voice teased.
Lucas turned around to see the ghost of his brother sitting on the table cross legged. This happened too often, so it didn't bother him too much anymore.
"I really do, Claus...I don't know what to do, though... Her Mom..." He started, but the ghost's look told Lucas to let him speak.
"Listen, bro, if you really love her, just keep her here! She's absolutely nuts for you!" He told his brother, leaning back on his hands.
"But...The rule! She can't leave her mother until she's married!" Lucas exclaimed. His brother rolled his eyes.
"Nooo, she can't leave until YOU propose. Then get married when you two are good and ready. Just no funny buissness~ hehe" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Lucas...?" Nana's weak voice called from the other room.
"Well,that's my cue to get goin'. Good luck, bro!" Claus said before fading into nothing.
Lucas gulped, then went back to the room with the water. He saw her trying to sit up, and he rushed to help her, not knowing if the stitches would rip.
"Be careful, Nana..." He said, piling pillows behind her head. "Here, drink some water." He said, handing the plastic cup to her.
"Thank you..." She said slowly. She drank the cup in seconds, a small smile appearing on her face. "Will you stay here...? Sh-she...what if she follows the blood trail I left...?" She asked, eyes widening in fear.
Lucas sat down next to her and grabbed her hand, attempting to calm her down. "Shhhh...I'll protect you, okay? She'll never hurt you like that again..." He promised.
This caused Nana to look up at him. Fear and sadness were both evident in her normally happy eyes. "How!?She'll come for me! Sh-she'll hurt you too..." She managed to yell before fading out to a soft whimper.
"Well...I was thinking...maybe...." He stopped and looked at her, cheeks flushed a light pink.
"What....are you saying...?" She breathed out slowly, tired from the yelling she had just done before.
"I'm saying...." He took a deep breath. "Marry me." He let out slowly. Before she could even say anything, he continued. "For one, it would get you away from her. We won't do anything until we're both really ready either, so no planning yet. Secondly...I really love you, and this was definitely a sign that I should finally ask, because I've thought of it here and there..... So, what do you say...? M-marry me?" He finished with a shy smile on his freckled cheeks.
A weak smile appeared on Nana's face as a bit of color returned to her still very pale face. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she nodded as quickly as she could, some how managing to sputter an almost silent "Yes, a million times over..."
Lucas smiled back at her and took her hands into his own. He leaned forward and pulled her into an innocent kiss.
She smiled into the kiss and after awhile, pulled away. She scooted closer to him and snuggled up to his chest, her head resting in the crook of his neck. "Goodnight..." She muttered, falling asleep.
Lucas smiled and moved his arm so his head was no longer resting on it, it now resting on the pillow. He closed his eyes and whispered back "Goodnight, Nana..."
Submerged
By: Tucker Shipp
Chapter 1
It was a good sunny day, rather a good day to go fishing. Another wave of water rippled past the boat of a fisherman. When he gazed into the sunset, he began to think a little about his life. Jeffrey, the fisherman’s son, admired his dad’s wonder and the glisten in his eyes that made the boy curious, and it was bugging him, almost like a bee sting that won’t go away.
“Father, what intriguing thoughts fill your mind?”
“My dear son Jeffrey, might you have thought that, Atlantis, a wondrous and adventurous world might be right beneath this very boat.”
“Well, no father, I haven’t thought that Atlantis could ever be discovered or explored.”
“My dear boy you must be mistaken. We shall travel down to the bottom of this ocean and see for ourselves that this city of Atlantis is truly real. Can’t you see my boy? Can… you…see it?”
“Well, maybe you’re right, we could, but where could we ever so get the aquatic equipment to establish this expedition?”
“Jeffrey my son, I am glad that you’ve asked such a question. We will go to a market, purchase the equipment required for this mission, find a submarine to use, and then begin the journey.”
“Father, I admire the way you ponder about our little undersea adventure. I agree that we shall commence this operation.”
“Then it’s decided! We will go to the store tomorrow.”
Chapter 2
While the two men have searched and have discovered gear to use underwater, they have yet to find their submarine.
“Father, what is that piece of junk?”
“Piece of junk? It’s an antique, but nothing like it at all.”
“But look at the wood, it’s not sturdy and it’s rustic.”
“But it’s my friend’s submarine. I don’t want to upset him if I refuse his offer.”
“You must, Papa, for it may put our lives in danger as we submerge into the water, and at a pressure so great.”
“I suppose that you are right. The safety measures are starting to appeal to my concerns, now that you have briefed me.”
“So we shall find a better submarine that is tough, will stand up to any obstacles in its way, and will help keep us alive.”
“Now that’s the Jeffrey I know.”
Chapter 3
So now that Jeffrey and his father have a submarine, they are now ready begin their journey of discovery.
“Son.”
“Yes father?”
“I’m thinking of a boy, lost in worry, and he can’t find his way back to his home. He wonders if he would ever have no worries, a free mind, and plenty of courage…”
“What does he do father?”
“He proves himself. He stood up to that challenge and took a chance. And you son, you are that boy. You accepted the challenge I’ve given you, and even though you had high doubts, you still accepted.”
“Why me?”
Jeffrey’s dad quickly changed the subject.
“It’s best we start packing for the expedition, okay?”
“But father…why…why…why?”
Chapter 4
“Okay Jeffrey, it is time to go over the check list…food supplies?”
“Check.”
“Pressure?”
“Check.”
“Chessboard?”
“Check, mate.
“Alright, we are good to go.”
As the two men descend deeper into the ocean, they find new creatures, new materials, new climates, and new organisms so fascinating, but they discard them. They were only looking for Atlantis remember.
”Pa, I’m picking up tall structures on my radar, but I don’t spot any.”
“Ok then, let’s see if it will show up.”
“Uh, Pa I don’t see it, and we’re one hundred meters away from impact!”
“NO! WE WILL WAIT!”
“50 meters.”
“I SAID NO!”
“5…4…3…2…1…Brace for impact!!!”
. . .
There was nothing but only the color of pitch black darkness. Both Jeffrey and his father looked around to see if there was any sign of life anywhere. But all they could hear was the sound of the water rushing through the ocean.
“Great, we’re already 5 minutes into this expedition and we have already crashed. Can this get any worse?”
“I’m sorry my son. It’s my fault. My determination clouded my sense of sanity and got us in this mess.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing really, I’m just mad that we weren’t really able to reach a consensus during our situation. Let’s just focus on getting to Atlantis and getting safe.”
“We have to move quickly though Jeffrey, for we only have 1 gallon of oxygen.”
“I agree. We must get to there in two hours or less.”
“Wonderful, I’m glad that we could reach an agreement.”
Chapter 5
Now, that Jeffrey and his father have come to a decision, they are continuing to proceed to Atlantis.
“But…that…yes…it won’t work…”
“Are you-”
“Jeffrey, quiet!”
“Why can’t you just take your mind off of this expedition?”
“Why can’t I?”
“Well I miss my old father! Can’t we just have a simple conversation without you shouting or screaming?”
“I’m sorry, I have been manipulated by this thought and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I will try to let it go and have a normal conversation.”
“Ok then…”
“Jeffrey look, I-I see something, do you?”
“Yes, does seem as if it’s getting bigger to you?”
“No. That’s because it getting closer!!!”
“RUN!!!”
“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
. . .
It was a good sunny day, rather a good day to go fishing. Another wave of water rippled past the boat of a fisherman. When he gazed into the sunset, he began to think a little about his life. Jeffrey, the fisherman’s son, admired his dad’s wonder and the glisten in his eyes that made the boy curious, and it was bugging him, almost like a bee sting that won’t go away.
“Father, what intriguing thoughts fill your mind?”
“My dear son Jeffrey, might you have thought that, Atlantis, a wondrous and adventurous world might be right beneath this very boat.”
“Well, no father, I haven’t thought that Atlantis could ever be discovered or explored.”
“My dear boy you must be mistaken. We shall travel down to the bottom of this ocean and see for ourselves that this city of Atlantis is truly real. Can’t you see my boy? Can… you…see it?”
“Well, maybe you’re right, we could, but where could we ever so get the aquatic equipment to establish this expedition?”
“Jeffrey my son, I am glad that you’ve asked such a question. We will go to a market, purchase the equipment required for this mission, find a submarine to use, and then begin the journey.”
“Father, I admire the way you ponder about our little undersea adventure. I agree that we shall commence this operation.”
“Then it’s decided! We will go to the store tomorrow.”
Chapter 2
While the two men have searched and have discovered gear to use underwater, they have yet to find their submarine.
“Father, what is that piece of junk?”
“Piece of junk? It’s an antique, but nothing like it at all.”
“But look at the wood, it’s not sturdy and it’s rustic.”
“But it’s my friend’s submarine. I don’t want to upset him if I refuse his offer.”
“You must, Papa, for it may put our lives in danger as we submerge into the water, and at a pressure so great.”
“I suppose that you are right. The safety measures are starting to appeal to my concerns, now that you have briefed me.”
“So we shall find a better submarine that is tough, will stand up to any obstacles in its way, and will help keep us alive.”
“Now that’s the Jeffrey I know.”
Chapter 3
So now that Jeffrey and his father have a submarine, they are now ready begin their journey of discovery.
“Son.”
“Yes father?”
“I’m thinking of a boy, lost in worry, and he can’t find his way back to his home. He wonders if he would ever have no worries, a free mind, and plenty of courage…”
“What does he do father?”
“He proves himself. He stood up to that challenge and took a chance. And you son, you are that boy. You accepted the challenge I’ve given you, and even though you had high doubts, you still accepted.”
“Why me?”
Jeffrey’s dad quickly changed the subject.
“It’s best we start packing for the expedition, okay?”
“But father…why…why…why?”
Chapter 4
“Okay Jeffrey, it is time to go over the check list…food supplies?”
“Check.”
“Pressure?”
“Check.”
“Chessboard?”
“Check, mate.
“Alright, we are good to go.”
As the two men descend deeper into the ocean, they find new creatures, new materials, new climates, and new organisms so fascinating, but they discard them. They were only looking for Atlantis remember.
”Pa, I’m picking up tall structures on my radar, but I don’t spot any.”
“Ok then, let’s see if it will show up.”
“Uh, Pa I don’t see it, and we’re one hundred meters away from impact!”
“NO! WE WILL WAIT!”
“50 meters.”
“I SAID NO!”
“5…4…3…2…1…Brace for impact!!!”
. . .
There was nothing but only the color of pitch black darkness. Both Jeffrey and his father looked around to see if there was any sign of life anywhere. But all they could hear was the sound of the water rushing through the ocean.
“Great, we’re already 5 minutes into this expedition and we have already crashed. Can this get any worse?”
“I’m sorry my son. It’s my fault. My determination clouded my sense of sanity and got us in this mess.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing really, I’m just mad that we weren’t really able to reach a consensus during our situation. Let’s just focus on getting to Atlantis and getting safe.”
“We have to move quickly though Jeffrey, for we only have 1 gallon of oxygen.”
“I agree. We must get to there in two hours or less.”
“Wonderful, I’m glad that we could reach an agreement.”
Chapter 5
Now, that Jeffrey and his father have come to a decision, they are continuing to proceed to Atlantis.
“But…that…yes…it won’t work…”
“Are you-”
“Jeffrey, quiet!”
“Why can’t you just take your mind off of this expedition?”
“Why can’t I?”
“Well I miss my old father! Can’t we just have a simple conversation without you shouting or screaming?”
“I’m sorry, I have been manipulated by this thought and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I will try to let it go and have a normal conversation.”
“Ok then…”
“Jeffrey look, I-I see something, do you?”
“Yes, does seem as if it’s getting bigger to you?”
“No. That’s because it getting closer!!!”
“RUN!!!”
“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
. . .
The Hero's Crash
By: Gabrielle Janovsky
It requires a rare breed of luck for a person to survive the battlefields of Afghanistan. To endure such a feat with a sane and emotionally stable head on your shoulders, was even less common. Damien, a young and brave war veteran, had survived six years of service in the war zones of Afghanistan. At twenty-four years old, Damien had witnessed things many cannot say they have experienced in their entire lifetime. He had watched the lives of many innocent children and women get ruined, whilst taking the lives of their husbands and neighbors. He had killed people, he had watched people suffer; he witnessed the death of his closest friend, but Damien remained alive and remained put-together, allowing him to visit his childhood friend.
It had been after Damien arrived home from deployment that he decided to visit his closest friend, Rodger. Rodger had lived fairly close, but Damien had been too busy with his family to stop over Rodger’s house closer to his arrival. After a few minutes of driving, Damien arrived at Rodger’s house. Don’t get too messed up, Damien. He sighed to himself, but smiled at the same time, reminding himself that he would be seeing his friend again. Damien had missed his best friend and his crazy antics. He began to walk to the door, but a moment before Damien had reached the door, it swung open and out walked Rodger.
“Yo, bro,” Rodger said, trying to keep his cool. Holding back tears of joy, Rodger embraced his childhood friend. Damien laughed in return and patted his pal on the back.
“I am so happy you’re home, dude! Are you happy to be home?” asked Rodger in a half-kidding manner.
“Nooooo, I’m not happy to be home at all, Rodger.”
Rodger smirked at Damien’s sarcasm, “You know we’re celebrating your return, right?”
“I don’t know man, won’t feel right without Leon.” Damien sighed as he remembered their close friend who had been killed during the war.
“He’s with us in spirit, Damien. Now we should go and celebrate your return, Leon would want us to do so!”
“Fine, where are we going?”
“The club, of course!” Rodger grinned widely and walked Damien into his home to get ready for the fun night that lied ahead for the both of them.
After a long night of irresponsible partying, Damien and Rodger began their way home, each having a beautiful woman by their side. Damien stumbled clumsily next to his buddy Rodger and laughed, “I think I’ve had a little too much to drink, mind driving me and this pretty lady home?”
“Totally, uh, man. I got this covered.” Rodger headed to his car and hopped into the driver’s seat of his car. After driving for a good twenty minutes, Rodger began to swerve uncontrollably. “Rodger, what are you doing?” Damien asked from the backseat of Rodger’s car. Before Rodger had a chance to reply, he already took the sharp left turn which drove them off the cliff that killed Damien, the man who beat the odds of war, that night.
It had been after Damien arrived home from deployment that he decided to visit his closest friend, Rodger. Rodger had lived fairly close, but Damien had been too busy with his family to stop over Rodger’s house closer to his arrival. After a few minutes of driving, Damien arrived at Rodger’s house. Don’t get too messed up, Damien. He sighed to himself, but smiled at the same time, reminding himself that he would be seeing his friend again. Damien had missed his best friend and his crazy antics. He began to walk to the door, but a moment before Damien had reached the door, it swung open and out walked Rodger.
“Yo, bro,” Rodger said, trying to keep his cool. Holding back tears of joy, Rodger embraced his childhood friend. Damien laughed in return and patted his pal on the back.
“I am so happy you’re home, dude! Are you happy to be home?” asked Rodger in a half-kidding manner.
“Nooooo, I’m not happy to be home at all, Rodger.”
Rodger smirked at Damien’s sarcasm, “You know we’re celebrating your return, right?”
“I don’t know man, won’t feel right without Leon.” Damien sighed as he remembered their close friend who had been killed during the war.
“He’s with us in spirit, Damien. Now we should go and celebrate your return, Leon would want us to do so!”
“Fine, where are we going?”
“The club, of course!” Rodger grinned widely and walked Damien into his home to get ready for the fun night that lied ahead for the both of them.
After a long night of irresponsible partying, Damien and Rodger began their way home, each having a beautiful woman by their side. Damien stumbled clumsily next to his buddy Rodger and laughed, “I think I’ve had a little too much to drink, mind driving me and this pretty lady home?”
“Totally, uh, man. I got this covered.” Rodger headed to his car and hopped into the driver’s seat of his car. After driving for a good twenty minutes, Rodger began to swerve uncontrollably. “Rodger, what are you doing?” Damien asked from the backseat of Rodger’s car. Before Rodger had a chance to reply, he already took the sharp left turn which drove them off the cliff that killed Damien, the man who beat the odds of war, that night.
The 7th Sense
by Rebecca Gitlevitch
PART I
Chapter 1
This is the first time I look back. Looking back at all my decisions I
ever made. I scream, scream and scream, running fast. I look back and forth.
Looking back to see how far he is from me, then looking forward to see if
anything will get in my way. My heart filled with adrenaline, and I run faster.
Then I entered, entered a dark, scary, black, quiet tunnel. I step into the
darkness leaving all light behind. I bring my right hand up to my mouth and
start biting my nails. Making slow, careful and quiet steps, making sure there
isn't a gap in the ground.
"Uhhh," I breathe in a whisper, afraid that he is not far off. I started
a slow walk, looking around as I walk. Yet I wasn't really looking at anything.
I was looking through darkness.
"Why was I so careful because...” I stopped in my tracks because I heard
something. Why did the lights have to be out today? Out of all the days why
today? After school I always take the abandoned, light up highway tunnel as a
shortcut forever and the lights are always a glowing a soft orange light at the
top corners of the walls. But now it is dark. It’s so dark, so scary.
"Was he here?" I ask myself. I waited and waited, but no sound emerged
from the darkness. I was waiting to wake up in bed screaming. But I didn't. I
distinctly remember dreaming about running into a dark tunnel on January 7th,
2014. But my dream ended there. I guess the rest of this dream is up to me to
finish, if it is a dream at all.
"Is this a dream or is it real life? I usually woke up screaming in my
dark room when I dreamt of this tunnel. I guess maybe it isn't a dream after
all. I don't know anymore. I have re-dreamed so many dreams, so many times that
I just...don't...know." I breathed out those last three words. I kept running
for what felt like hours. I felt the blisters on my feet rub painfully off my
loose shoes. I feel my lungs clasp together and I don't feel my feet anymore. I
am now practically gasping for air, and the fact the air was getting emptier
than ever. I felt dizzy and lightheaded but was determined to get out of this
nasty place. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it! A light! That meant I was
not far from getting out of this place. I picked up my pace. I went from a fast
walk to jogging to running. Then I realized I had not gotten any closer to the
light. It felt as if I was running in place. My heart filled with anger and
dreads I fell and started to cry. I was crying, crying, and crying. The corners
of my eyes were becoming dark and covering the light that I had finally reached.
All was dark after I had tasted a second of lightness. I felt my body no more as
I fell to the ground, falling back into darkness.
Then I thought I heard a voice.
”Are you okay?!?!” I hear someone say. I slowly open my eyelids blinking
rapidly because of the bright daylight. I sit up slowly turning my head and at
the same time rubbing the back of my head as I soak in my surroundings. Looking
around I was on the grass on the side of a black long road. I then look at the person hovering
over me.
”What,” I reply weakly, rubbing my eye.
”Oh dear! This is worse than we thought! She is really dehydrated!" A
second woman says who has short gray hair in a bun, with bright blue eyes and
pink lipstick on. She has a light, knitted purple shirt on with a cat pattern on
it, dark purple bead necklace, and pink, low heels. I turn to her and just stare
blankly.
”And she has been there for a while.” The other lady wearing a green
jacket with a yellow shirt, and tennis shorts up to her knees says as I turn to
look at her too.
”Where am I?” I finally ask.
”Ummm,” The second woman says as she looks down the empty street.
”We are umm, on Private Drive.” The second woman said after squinting her
eyes to look at the street address.
”My name is Rosie and this is Leana." The second woman adds in a high
pitched voice as she points first at herself and then at Leana.
”OH, but you can call me lea or just L.” Leana adds to Rosie. They stand
there next to each other looking at me. I finally remember my manners and say,
“oh dear, where are my manners? I am sorry my name is Sapphire.” I say quietly
and gently. The two women looked and acted as if they were 80 years old but they
sure moved like 60 year olds. After I picked myself up off the green, shiny
grass, Rosie and Lea started walking. I stood there for a moment not sure what
to do and where to go. Then Lea turned back and said, “Well...you coming ummm
Sapphire?” I blink and then start walking.
”How do you know where I live?” I ask them. Rosie turned around and
points to the house next to mine. I blink and realize that they were my
neighbors. I remember my aunt mentioning two women moving into the house next
door.
Chapter 2
I open my white door and walk inside. My aunt comes running toward me
like a race horse. She is wearing her red and white polka dot shirt and a pair
of black jeans under her baking apron.
”I was very, extremely worried about you because you never came home from
school! I called you on your cell, then I called the school to see if you had
detention but they said you left," she stops for a breath and keeps on going,
”Where were you? Why didn't you call? Why are you so late? What happened? Are
you okay? Oh dear I need a paper bag now.”
”I just...got held up in traffic, that's all.” I lie. My aunt knows of
my...secret but she gets worried when I speak of it. She thinks my secret or
problem started when my mom died. But I had this since I was born. She says it's
either because my mom died or because my father is in jail. My aunt and
therapist say that I need to talk more about it so if the subject ever comes up
in a personal conversation I should try and talk about it. So here goes.
I was 7 years old. I was walking on Private Drive after school, like I
always used to do on a bright and sunny day. I remember the tall ever greens
that pass me by slowly as I walk. My mother waits for me outside of the house,
while she walks me to the front door. My father came home, shortly after I
myself arrived home, exactly on January 7th, 2007. As I see his large muscles, strong, fit body
stride into the kitchen with pride, while I am sitting at the kitchen table finishing my noodle soup.
He then looked at my mother washing the dishes, then to my 11 year old sister with love
and then he looked down at me with disgust. My heart was filled with joy, from
that day of school, flushed out of like a kitchen sink. My sister always told me
to ignore it and get used to it. I tried to but he was my father and to know
that I disappointed him was heart-aching. I asked to be excused from the table
after my father sat down. My mother turned around and opened her mouth until; my
father flew out of his chair, standing high and mighty over me like a king. His
face with the biggest frown, opened his mouth and yelled out from the top of
his lungs.
”You did not finish all your soup! You are never allowed to leave this
table! Leave this room without eating everything and putting it in the sink! Now
you have to wait for me and everyone else to finish eating and you will do the
dishes tonight!”
”Martha stop doing the dishes, your daughter will take care of that
today, and tomorrow, and for this whole week!” He yelled toward my mother with
an over powering tone.
"You can also do the laundry and clean this whole house from top to
bottom! Do you understand me you little birdbrain or is it too much for your
tiny, stupid, little brain!" He yells toward me while slapping me real hard with
his right hand. My mother, sister, and I knew then and there that he was drunk.
The part of him yelling was nothing unusual but the over punishment was usually
only toward me and only when he was drunk. My mother then screamed toward my
father, “Bob! Stop right now!” My sister and I looked at each other knowing that, that was a
big mistake knowing my dad was drunk. He slapped her and kept hurting her, and hitting her
in front of me and my sister. My sister then, moving fast, grabbed my arm and
led me out through the door quickly. She was dragging me up the stairs, down the dark empty
hall, and into her room.
”Stay in here,” She whispered. Then she turned off the lights and I just
looked at her while I was crying silently. Tears flowing down my pink cheek like
Niagara Falls. She then sat next to me behind her bed in the dark. We heard the
noise of flesh slapping flesh. Then I heard a loud scream, and there were no
more sounds emerging from the kitchen. My sister picked up her cell and dialed
911. I went out of her room and walked down the stairs to see what was going on.
My mother was lying motionless on the ground in front of me with my father
breathing heavily over her. He looked up to look at me and grabbed me tightly, I
scream. He started slapping me and choking me and throwing me to the ground. In
exactly 9 minutes the police came. As the police officers where running into my
house through the front door, the edges of my eyes were being filled with
blackness and emptiness and it was closing in on me. Then all went black. I
neither saw nor heard anything. The next thing I remember was waking up in a
hospital bed. That’s where I saw my sister sleeping in the light green chair
next to my bed and my aunt talking to the doctor with tears in her eyes. And
that is the story, but it's not my secret. And it didn't stop after that
day...it kept going.
Chapter 3
My sister has a completely different story. She is now 18 and in college.
I am now 14. I realize that I was not dreaming about the tunnel because he was
there. The man who escaped hell, a murderer, and a monster that escaped from
prison and now is after me. That man is...my father. He wants to hurt me again.
But this time I have friends. After my mother died and my father was put into
prison my aunt took me and my sister in. She lived in a complete and utter
different district which meant I had to move. Today is my first day of school
for this year. I walk through the big lobby doors down the filled hallways,
peeking through classrooms, and looking for my locker. It has been 7 years at
that school and I only had three friends. My newest friend is probably my best
friend. I was sitting at the blue, round table outside during lunch one day,
that I always sat at. I was scribbling like crazy in my...special journal, when
a girl put her square, pale tray on the table and sat down graciously but I had
not noticed. I had put my Doctor Who pen down on the page and closed the journal
to take a small bite out of my lettuce, cheese and cucumber sandwich. That's
when I noticed her. I jumped a little with surprise when I saw her. She did not
react back; she just kept drinking her apple juice. She looked up at me and then
down at my journal.
”Lillie's...special...journal,” She slowly read out loud, turning her head to try and read the
cover. I put my hand over it before she could finish reading.
”Sorry, was that too personal...Lillie?” She asked looking away, then looking back.
”My name isn't Lillie...it's Sapphire.” I replied slowly and shyly.
”Oh, then who is Lillie?” She asked embarrassed. I look away from her,
and then remember what my aunt and therapist said so I breathed out a heavy
sigh.
”Lillie is my mother.” I say quickly to get it over with.
”Then why do you have your mothers special journal?” She asked tilting
her head slightly like a dog. I sigh because that was what I was afraid of.
”When she died, in her will she gave me her journal to write to her,” Her mother died
when she was also young so she wrote letters to her mother in the journal. In
her will she said if I ever wanted to talk to her, I could by writing to her.
It's more of a symbolic and personal thing.
“But yeah... ” it was surprisingly how easy it was to tell her this.
”My name is Flora.” She said while smiling.
From then on Flora would always sit next to me and we chitter and chatter
like birds. When I talk about my parents, it was so easy to. She was better than
my therapist. She would always come over my house on Fridays and leave on
Saturday. We had lots of interests and my two other friends liked her. My other
two friends, Clara and David got along with Flora well. We love making music
videos, movies, documentaries, film, photography and writing. When it's just
Flora and I, we love playing pretend. We lose ourselves back into our childhood.
We were outside lying on our backs, next to each other, under the bright stars
in the dark sky.
”So what about your aunt,” Flora asked me this morning.
”What about her? I told you about Aunt Emma before haven't I?” I asked
Flora, while picking up my eyebrows.
”Yeah a little but you never told a story of her. You know how when you
talk about people close to you, you say their age, name and stuff like that, but
when you describe them you make them look like heroes. Some stories are funny,
but some are sad. You never told a story of Emma.” She said waving her arms all
around.
”Oh...”I say, picking my eyebrows up. Not knowing how to respond.
”Well my aunt is my mom's sister. Aunt Emma would always talk about all
the adventures she and my mom would have. How normal shadows from the stars
appear to be monsters chasing them.” My heart started to pound and race. I was
getting really excited.
”My aunt would pretend to be the doctor and my mom would be the
companion. My favorite was the story when they were on an adventure and my mom
met Dave.” I sighed closing my eyes slowly.
”They were running through the deep scraps of the daleks on the planet
dalek asylum. Daleks were like bug eyed robots who only wanted to kill and
exterminate all species that aren't daleks. Running with the power of adrenalin,
from the murderous daleks they just kept going and going. After the doctor, or
my aunt, rescued her faithful companion they starred to run because the daleks
were after them, my mom ran into a cute, tall, blond, blue eyed boy.” I smiled
with my eyes still closed. Flora turned her head toward me and elbowed me
lightly. My eyes flash open and I turn my head toward her.
”Who is Dave? I thought your father's name was Mike.” She asked me.
”Dave is my mom's best friend. They went out once but they ended it
because it was weird. They loved to hangout and go on adventures that aren't
romantic. It got awkward for them. My granddaddy arranged my mom's marriage with
Mike.” I turned away fast, starring up into the stars.
”Dave married Aunty Emma because he promised my mother that he would
always be there for my sister and me. My mom always knew my dad would hurt her
someday protecting us so she asked Dave to watch over us if such an event would
occur. After my mother died Dave told me that he could never, would ever love
any one again, so he tried marrying my aunt. She used to like him when they were
kids but knowing my mom and Dave loved each other, she knew he would never love
her. Over time she grew over him. Sadly, she said no.”
I kept looking at the shining stars above me as I spoke. Flora gazed toward me; you could
see the stars dancing in her eyes graciously.
Chapter 4
It was still dark and I lay with my eyes wide open. I turned over and
over in bed, kicking and turning the cover. It was too cold without the blanket
but it was too hot with the blanket. My head was spinning and I felt so hot. I
had enough and kicked the blanket off. I dragged myself out of bed and fell on
the cold floor, cooling myself. I then put my hand on the knob, turning the
little red arrow to 60 degrees. It didn't take long for the temperature to cool
down. To pass the time I went down the creaking stairs into the hallway, into
the kitchen, turned on the lamp so that there isn’t too much light and poured
myself a small glass of water. I put the cold glass up to my pink lips, and let
the cooling water enter my body. I heard something move, so I rapidly turned my
head. Watching through the empty darkness like an owl.
“Is anyone there?” I asked into the empty darkness that surrounded me.
The lamp began to flicker and stopped. I felt my heart beginning to beat against
my chest strongly. I heard a gentle thump and I thought I saw a shadow
scurry among the darkness that devoured me. I hear another thump
and another. I then and there decided to put the light on. I ran to the
light switch and swiped it up. I welcomed the light with relief and began to
examine the room. I heard a whoosh behind me so I whirled around. I turned sharply
and my eyes fell on my black cat Max.
“Max!” I scream with a slight whimper.
“You literally scared the life out of me.” I add more in a whimper. He
just looks up at me and then runs off. I sigh and grab my glass of water. I
switched the light off in the kitchen and walked up the creaky stairs, my hand
sliding on the rail of the staircase. I enter my room and take a big sigh, cold
at last.
“Much easier to fall asleep…”I breathe in and out heavily.
I take a small sip of my water and place it on my dark blue side table to
the right of my bed. I slip under the covers and closed my eyes. The next thing
I knew I was out. I start falling through a cloud of colors, falling and
falling. I land on my bed.
In my dream I wake up to my white alarm clock beeping and the smell of my
favorite breakfast…waffles. I sniff the air, smiling. I race down the stairs
entering the kitchen rapidly, then I abruptly stop in my tracks, or should I say
Harry Potter slippers. A lady was eating some waffles in my chair.
“Oops, I forgot you sit there!” This strange lady wearing a flower blouse with light
blue jeans dabs a napkin on the tips of her lips and stands up and sits in the
chair next to mine.
“How…” I start to say, but I get interrupted.
“Hi, my name is…Mrs. Franey. Ahem sorry.” She says pausing then smiling awkwardly.
“Okay…” I slowly say.
“Mrs. Franey here is going around the neighborhood, seeing if anyone needs emotional
support.” My aunt explains as she puts a stack of waffles on the table in my spot.
“Emotional support?” I say with one eyebrow raised.
“She is a therapist.” My aunt adds turning around to face me, while at the same time
flipping a waffle.
“I wanted to know if we can see her a few times a week about…” She didn’t finish
because I stopped her.
“No.” I say way to fast.
“I hope I’m not intruding, I know, I mean I understand how uncomfortable it must be
for you sapphire.” She looks at me, standing up and placing her hands together.
“I never said my name is sapphire…” I say starting to back away.
“Didn’t you?” She says. I don’t move a muscle, I just stare. My Aunt then comes in
between me and Mrs. Franey.
“Mrs. Franey told me about all the children she helped and the great things she has
accomplished. We are going to try and see if she can help. I know you don’t
want to talk about it but I think you should. I haven’t told her anything
because I wanted your approval.” My aunt tells me slowly and gently. I look at
her. I want to shout out no. A giant no because how can I trust Mrs. Franey. How
do I know she won’t tell anyone? Then everyone will know, and then people will
see me like I’m insane. I will be so much more different than I already am. On
the other hand, I could dig around some information about Mrs. Franey and who
she is. She could be a good, trustworthy therapist. She also could be the
opposite…
“Fine,” I curtly say and leave. Just walk out the door.
Chapter 5
I lay my head, filled with so many painstaking thoughts, against my pillow. My
arms lay by my side as I stare at my boring and dull ceiling. My head starts
spinning. Questions pop in my head like bullets. Who is she? Why is she really here?
Why me? Can I trust her? Should I tell her? What should I do? They keep running
through my head as I began to wake from my memories. It was too much.
The alarm clock beeped 5:00 loudly in my ear. I sat up; my hair was a porcupine as
usual. Turned my fuzzy blue alarm clock off and placed my feet down on the
floor, one by one. I slowly got up and sleepily went downstairs. The kitchen
was infused with the smell of vanilla and bacon. That only meant one thing,
today was Sunday, and every Sunday my Aunt makes vanilla pancakes and bacon
because I have to go to Mrs. Franey’s for our morning session. My mouth watered
and pulled out my chair and sat down with excitement.
“We will only have a 45 minute session today because our train leaves at 6:30 so we
have to leave her place at 6:00. Hurry and eat your breakfast because we have to
be there at 5:15.” Emma said carrying my plate toward me. My eyes widen and my
tongue sticks out as I grab a knife and fork. She sees me as I look ridiculous
and rolls her eyes before she places the plate before me.
I am about to pounce the deliciousness that was placed before me, when a
thought pops in my head.
“Wait what?” I say abruptly and make my aunt turn suddenly.
“Train?” I ask slowly, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes train. We are going to Washington, D.C. to visit your grandparents. It is their
birthday tomorrow so we want to surprise them today. Your sister will be there
too.” She replies.
“How come I wasn’t told?” I ask very offended. I knew my grandma’s birthday was
tomorrow and I was going to call at an appropriate time but going to visit them
I had not expect. I am happy I get to see them but it’s still a
surprise.
“You’re being told now.” She says sharply, as she turns around smirking. I roll my eyes
and go up the flight upstairs and start packing for the long day trip waiting
ahead for me.
“Let’s go or well be late for your appointment!” My aunt yells at the top of her loud
voice, from the bottom of the stairs. I groan and go to the car.
I sat down the orange, fluffy beanbag that lies in the middle of Mrs. Franey’s
office. The bright sky blue rug was at my feet and her brown leather couch was
at my right. She sat down with a clipboard in her head and a pen in her left ear.
“Hello sapphire” She tells me.
“Let’s start with what’s your week been like?” she asks me.
“It’s been good, same as every week.” I say emotionless because that’s what I say
every week. She sensed that I didn’t want to go through the same thing as
before so she said something that surprised me.
“Why do you hide it?” She says this while looking at me. No, it felt more than that.
It was like she was looking at my soul. I was definitely not letting her look. I
looked away. She and flora both make me feel so comfortable about talking about
it. Mrs. Franey doesn’t know who I really was. I felt like I needed to tell
her. All of a sudden my phone rang. It was Emma. I declined. Mrs. Franey looked
at me like she was observing me, studying me, trying to understand me. I look
at her.
“I feel insecure sometimes.” I pause and take a breath, “I um have three friends. I
have a best friend Flora.” I stop for a second to look at her and she flinches
microscopically at that name. I continued while still looking for her, “Then
there are my two other friends. When I’m around them I feel safe, comfortable,
and normal.” She looks at me stranger even more.
“Normal? Why wouldn’t you feel normal?” She interrupts. I start to sweat a little. I
feel my heart rate increase. I began to panic ever so slightly.
“People at school are always bullying me, calling me names. They call me a weirdo, a
freak, a creep…” I stop and look away. There was a loud banging at the door
that gave a startle.
“SAPPHIRE, come on or we will be late!” I hear my Aunts voice from the other side. Thank
goodness, I was saved.
“I am sorry Mrs. Franey, I forgot that we had to cut the session by 15 minutes
because I am going to visit my Gran-gran.” I say before I rush out the door.
Chapter6
My earphones were tucked in my ear and connected to the phone in my
pocket. At this point I had stopped listening because I was half asleep. I
dreamed that I was at my gran-gran’s house. I have never been there before.
Usually she comes and visits us not the other way around. Was in the room where
they assigned me because we were staying for three days. I swung my suitcase on
the soft, pillow-abducted bed. I began to pull out what was at the top and put
it in the drawers of the dresser. It was made of soft, light wood. Engraved at
the sides were beautiful designs that were very, very ancient. The mirror had
not been cleaned in a very long while because it was dusted to the brim. In the
corner of the mirror I saw the darkest, deepest, scariest shadow in the world.
You couldn’t make anything out of it besides it’s a man. A strong, big man. I
turn around and open my mouth but then I wake up. I fold taking deep breaths.
Emma looks at me.
“Was it a…dream…?” She asks clutching me gently. I gasp for air and nod.
The dream was so terrifying it felt like I was drowning until I was released
from its clutches.
“It’s ok,” Emma says softly.
I arrived to the big, old-fashioned, mansion of a house. I knocked at the giant,
wood, red doors, then the opened by a crack. A man, surpassingly a butler,
peeked his head out and asked how he may help us. Then by a mere distance I
heard someone begin to speak.
“Ronald let them in; they might be my daughter and granddaughter!” It came from another
floor. The butler turned his attention back to us and let us in. A shiver ran
down my spine when I entered the hallway. It was just like in the dream on the
train. My heart began to race because I realized what kind of dream Aunt Emma
was talking about. I didn’t want it to that kind of dream. If so I only have so
little time to prepare myself for what’s coming. Ro9nald the butler took me up
to my room. He bent down and picked my suitcase up, then heading for the
stairs. He gestured me to follow him, so I did. Another man got Emma’s luggage
and took her to her room. I walked into my room. It was dark so I turned on the
lights. I gasped and dropped the bag I was holding. Ronald looked at me
startled. I made a fake smile and made a lame excuse. He shrugged and walked
out. My heart began to race. I have already seen this room. I have seen this
room in my dream on the train. But how could I have possible known how my room
would look. I have never stepped place in this room, in this house, in this place ever
before so how? How did I know what room I would be staying in? How it looked?
And what happens in this room?
I began to think in my head. I shook my head and told myself that I should
ignore it. It is nothing. I open my suitcase that I placed on the bed. I took
out the clothes and placed them in the drawers of a dresser. Then in the mirror
of the dresser I saw a shadow move. I began to panic but I kept myself calm. I
turned around and the shadow began to come closer. The nightmare is going to end
soon. I will wake up on the train in a few seconds. I keep telling myself. The shadow is
breaths away. I closed my eye lids and my shoulders are at my ears. I felt his breath on me.
But nothing happened.
I open one eye. This stranger just stands there still in the shadows.
There is only one window in the room and moonlight entered through it. The man
begins to step forward again, entering the light. I gasp more than before.
It…it’s my dad.
Chapter 1
This is the first time I look back. Looking back at all my decisions I
ever made. I scream, scream and scream, running fast. I look back and forth.
Looking back to see how far he is from me, then looking forward to see if
anything will get in my way. My heart filled with adrenaline, and I run faster.
Then I entered, entered a dark, scary, black, quiet tunnel. I step into the
darkness leaving all light behind. I bring my right hand up to my mouth and
start biting my nails. Making slow, careful and quiet steps, making sure there
isn't a gap in the ground.
"Uhhh," I breathe in a whisper, afraid that he is not far off. I started
a slow walk, looking around as I walk. Yet I wasn't really looking at anything.
I was looking through darkness.
"Why was I so careful because...” I stopped in my tracks because I heard
something. Why did the lights have to be out today? Out of all the days why
today? After school I always take the abandoned, light up highway tunnel as a
shortcut forever and the lights are always a glowing a soft orange light at the
top corners of the walls. But now it is dark. It’s so dark, so scary.
"Was he here?" I ask myself. I waited and waited, but no sound emerged
from the darkness. I was waiting to wake up in bed screaming. But I didn't. I
distinctly remember dreaming about running into a dark tunnel on January 7th,
2014. But my dream ended there. I guess the rest of this dream is up to me to
finish, if it is a dream at all.
"Is this a dream or is it real life? I usually woke up screaming in my
dark room when I dreamt of this tunnel. I guess maybe it isn't a dream after
all. I don't know anymore. I have re-dreamed so many dreams, so many times that
I just...don't...know." I breathed out those last three words. I kept running
for what felt like hours. I felt the blisters on my feet rub painfully off my
loose shoes. I feel my lungs clasp together and I don't feel my feet anymore. I
am now practically gasping for air, and the fact the air was getting emptier
than ever. I felt dizzy and lightheaded but was determined to get out of this
nasty place. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it! A light! That meant I was
not far from getting out of this place. I picked up my pace. I went from a fast
walk to jogging to running. Then I realized I had not gotten any closer to the
light. It felt as if I was running in place. My heart filled with anger and
dreads I fell and started to cry. I was crying, crying, and crying. The corners
of my eyes were becoming dark and covering the light that I had finally reached.
All was dark after I had tasted a second of lightness. I felt my body no more as
I fell to the ground, falling back into darkness.
Then I thought I heard a voice.
”Are you okay?!?!” I hear someone say. I slowly open my eyelids blinking
rapidly because of the bright daylight. I sit up slowly turning my head and at
the same time rubbing the back of my head as I soak in my surroundings. Looking
around I was on the grass on the side of a black long road. I then look at the person hovering
over me.
”What,” I reply weakly, rubbing my eye.
”Oh dear! This is worse than we thought! She is really dehydrated!" A
second woman says who has short gray hair in a bun, with bright blue eyes and
pink lipstick on. She has a light, knitted purple shirt on with a cat pattern on
it, dark purple bead necklace, and pink, low heels. I turn to her and just stare
blankly.
”And she has been there for a while.” The other lady wearing a green
jacket with a yellow shirt, and tennis shorts up to her knees says as I turn to
look at her too.
”Where am I?” I finally ask.
”Ummm,” The second woman says as she looks down the empty street.
”We are umm, on Private Drive.” The second woman said after squinting her
eyes to look at the street address.
”My name is Rosie and this is Leana." The second woman adds in a high
pitched voice as she points first at herself and then at Leana.
”OH, but you can call me lea or just L.” Leana adds to Rosie. They stand
there next to each other looking at me. I finally remember my manners and say,
“oh dear, where are my manners? I am sorry my name is Sapphire.” I say quietly
and gently. The two women looked and acted as if they were 80 years old but they
sure moved like 60 year olds. After I picked myself up off the green, shiny
grass, Rosie and Lea started walking. I stood there for a moment not sure what
to do and where to go. Then Lea turned back and said, “Well...you coming ummm
Sapphire?” I blink and then start walking.
”How do you know where I live?” I ask them. Rosie turned around and
points to the house next to mine. I blink and realize that they were my
neighbors. I remember my aunt mentioning two women moving into the house next
door.
Chapter 2
I open my white door and walk inside. My aunt comes running toward me
like a race horse. She is wearing her red and white polka dot shirt and a pair
of black jeans under her baking apron.
”I was very, extremely worried about you because you never came home from
school! I called you on your cell, then I called the school to see if you had
detention but they said you left," she stops for a breath and keeps on going,
”Where were you? Why didn't you call? Why are you so late? What happened? Are
you okay? Oh dear I need a paper bag now.”
”I just...got held up in traffic, that's all.” I lie. My aunt knows of
my...secret but she gets worried when I speak of it. She thinks my secret or
problem started when my mom died. But I had this since I was born. She says it's
either because my mom died or because my father is in jail. My aunt and
therapist say that I need to talk more about it so if the subject ever comes up
in a personal conversation I should try and talk about it. So here goes.
I was 7 years old. I was walking on Private Drive after school, like I
always used to do on a bright and sunny day. I remember the tall ever greens
that pass me by slowly as I walk. My mother waits for me outside of the house,
while she walks me to the front door. My father came home, shortly after I
myself arrived home, exactly on January 7th, 2007. As I see his large muscles, strong, fit body
stride into the kitchen with pride, while I am sitting at the kitchen table finishing my noodle soup.
He then looked at my mother washing the dishes, then to my 11 year old sister with love
and then he looked down at me with disgust. My heart was filled with joy, from
that day of school, flushed out of like a kitchen sink. My sister always told me
to ignore it and get used to it. I tried to but he was my father and to know
that I disappointed him was heart-aching. I asked to be excused from the table
after my father sat down. My mother turned around and opened her mouth until; my
father flew out of his chair, standing high and mighty over me like a king. His
face with the biggest frown, opened his mouth and yelled out from the top of
his lungs.
”You did not finish all your soup! You are never allowed to leave this
table! Leave this room without eating everything and putting it in the sink! Now
you have to wait for me and everyone else to finish eating and you will do the
dishes tonight!”
”Martha stop doing the dishes, your daughter will take care of that
today, and tomorrow, and for this whole week!” He yelled toward my mother with
an over powering tone.
"You can also do the laundry and clean this whole house from top to
bottom! Do you understand me you little birdbrain or is it too much for your
tiny, stupid, little brain!" He yells toward me while slapping me real hard with
his right hand. My mother, sister, and I knew then and there that he was drunk.
The part of him yelling was nothing unusual but the over punishment was usually
only toward me and only when he was drunk. My mother then screamed toward my
father, “Bob! Stop right now!” My sister and I looked at each other knowing that, that was a
big mistake knowing my dad was drunk. He slapped her and kept hurting her, and hitting her
in front of me and my sister. My sister then, moving fast, grabbed my arm and
led me out through the door quickly. She was dragging me up the stairs, down the dark empty
hall, and into her room.
”Stay in here,” She whispered. Then she turned off the lights and I just
looked at her while I was crying silently. Tears flowing down my pink cheek like
Niagara Falls. She then sat next to me behind her bed in the dark. We heard the
noise of flesh slapping flesh. Then I heard a loud scream, and there were no
more sounds emerging from the kitchen. My sister picked up her cell and dialed
911. I went out of her room and walked down the stairs to see what was going on.
My mother was lying motionless on the ground in front of me with my father
breathing heavily over her. He looked up to look at me and grabbed me tightly, I
scream. He started slapping me and choking me and throwing me to the ground. In
exactly 9 minutes the police came. As the police officers where running into my
house through the front door, the edges of my eyes were being filled with
blackness and emptiness and it was closing in on me. Then all went black. I
neither saw nor heard anything. The next thing I remember was waking up in a
hospital bed. That’s where I saw my sister sleeping in the light green chair
next to my bed and my aunt talking to the doctor with tears in her eyes. And
that is the story, but it's not my secret. And it didn't stop after that
day...it kept going.
Chapter 3
My sister has a completely different story. She is now 18 and in college.
I am now 14. I realize that I was not dreaming about the tunnel because he was
there. The man who escaped hell, a murderer, and a monster that escaped from
prison and now is after me. That man is...my father. He wants to hurt me again.
But this time I have friends. After my mother died and my father was put into
prison my aunt took me and my sister in. She lived in a complete and utter
different district which meant I had to move. Today is my first day of school
for this year. I walk through the big lobby doors down the filled hallways,
peeking through classrooms, and looking for my locker. It has been 7 years at
that school and I only had three friends. My newest friend is probably my best
friend. I was sitting at the blue, round table outside during lunch one day,
that I always sat at. I was scribbling like crazy in my...special journal, when
a girl put her square, pale tray on the table and sat down graciously but I had
not noticed. I had put my Doctor Who pen down on the page and closed the journal
to take a small bite out of my lettuce, cheese and cucumber sandwich. That's
when I noticed her. I jumped a little with surprise when I saw her. She did not
react back; she just kept drinking her apple juice. She looked up at me and then
down at my journal.
”Lillie's...special...journal,” She slowly read out loud, turning her head to try and read the
cover. I put my hand over it before she could finish reading.
”Sorry, was that too personal...Lillie?” She asked looking away, then looking back.
”My name isn't Lillie...it's Sapphire.” I replied slowly and shyly.
”Oh, then who is Lillie?” She asked embarrassed. I look away from her,
and then remember what my aunt and therapist said so I breathed out a heavy
sigh.
”Lillie is my mother.” I say quickly to get it over with.
”Then why do you have your mothers special journal?” She asked tilting
her head slightly like a dog. I sigh because that was what I was afraid of.
”When she died, in her will she gave me her journal to write to her,” Her mother died
when she was also young so she wrote letters to her mother in the journal. In
her will she said if I ever wanted to talk to her, I could by writing to her.
It's more of a symbolic and personal thing.
“But yeah... ” it was surprisingly how easy it was to tell her this.
”My name is Flora.” She said while smiling.
From then on Flora would always sit next to me and we chitter and chatter
like birds. When I talk about my parents, it was so easy to. She was better than
my therapist. She would always come over my house on Fridays and leave on
Saturday. We had lots of interests and my two other friends liked her. My other
two friends, Clara and David got along with Flora well. We love making music
videos, movies, documentaries, film, photography and writing. When it's just
Flora and I, we love playing pretend. We lose ourselves back into our childhood.
We were outside lying on our backs, next to each other, under the bright stars
in the dark sky.
”So what about your aunt,” Flora asked me this morning.
”What about her? I told you about Aunt Emma before haven't I?” I asked
Flora, while picking up my eyebrows.
”Yeah a little but you never told a story of her. You know how when you
talk about people close to you, you say their age, name and stuff like that, but
when you describe them you make them look like heroes. Some stories are funny,
but some are sad. You never told a story of Emma.” She said waving her arms all
around.
”Oh...”I say, picking my eyebrows up. Not knowing how to respond.
”Well my aunt is my mom's sister. Aunt Emma would always talk about all
the adventures she and my mom would have. How normal shadows from the stars
appear to be monsters chasing them.” My heart started to pound and race. I was
getting really excited.
”My aunt would pretend to be the doctor and my mom would be the
companion. My favorite was the story when they were on an adventure and my mom
met Dave.” I sighed closing my eyes slowly.
”They were running through the deep scraps of the daleks on the planet
dalek asylum. Daleks were like bug eyed robots who only wanted to kill and
exterminate all species that aren't daleks. Running with the power of adrenalin,
from the murderous daleks they just kept going and going. After the doctor, or
my aunt, rescued her faithful companion they starred to run because the daleks
were after them, my mom ran into a cute, tall, blond, blue eyed boy.” I smiled
with my eyes still closed. Flora turned her head toward me and elbowed me
lightly. My eyes flash open and I turn my head toward her.
”Who is Dave? I thought your father's name was Mike.” She asked me.
”Dave is my mom's best friend. They went out once but they ended it
because it was weird. They loved to hangout and go on adventures that aren't
romantic. It got awkward for them. My granddaddy arranged my mom's marriage with
Mike.” I turned away fast, starring up into the stars.
”Dave married Aunty Emma because he promised my mother that he would
always be there for my sister and me. My mom always knew my dad would hurt her
someday protecting us so she asked Dave to watch over us if such an event would
occur. After my mother died Dave told me that he could never, would ever love
any one again, so he tried marrying my aunt. She used to like him when they were
kids but knowing my mom and Dave loved each other, she knew he would never love
her. Over time she grew over him. Sadly, she said no.”
I kept looking at the shining stars above me as I spoke. Flora gazed toward me; you could
see the stars dancing in her eyes graciously.
Chapter 4
It was still dark and I lay with my eyes wide open. I turned over and
over in bed, kicking and turning the cover. It was too cold without the blanket
but it was too hot with the blanket. My head was spinning and I felt so hot. I
had enough and kicked the blanket off. I dragged myself out of bed and fell on
the cold floor, cooling myself. I then put my hand on the knob, turning the
little red arrow to 60 degrees. It didn't take long for the temperature to cool
down. To pass the time I went down the creaking stairs into the hallway, into
the kitchen, turned on the lamp so that there isn’t too much light and poured
myself a small glass of water. I put the cold glass up to my pink lips, and let
the cooling water enter my body. I heard something move, so I rapidly turned my
head. Watching through the empty darkness like an owl.
“Is anyone there?” I asked into the empty darkness that surrounded me.
The lamp began to flicker and stopped. I felt my heart beginning to beat against
my chest strongly. I heard a gentle thump and I thought I saw a shadow
scurry among the darkness that devoured me. I hear another thump
and another. I then and there decided to put the light on. I ran to the
light switch and swiped it up. I welcomed the light with relief and began to
examine the room. I heard a whoosh behind me so I whirled around. I turned sharply
and my eyes fell on my black cat Max.
“Max!” I scream with a slight whimper.
“You literally scared the life out of me.” I add more in a whimper. He
just looks up at me and then runs off. I sigh and grab my glass of water. I
switched the light off in the kitchen and walked up the creaky stairs, my hand
sliding on the rail of the staircase. I enter my room and take a big sigh, cold
at last.
“Much easier to fall asleep…”I breathe in and out heavily.
I take a small sip of my water and place it on my dark blue side table to
the right of my bed. I slip under the covers and closed my eyes. The next thing
I knew I was out. I start falling through a cloud of colors, falling and
falling. I land on my bed.
In my dream I wake up to my white alarm clock beeping and the smell of my
favorite breakfast…waffles. I sniff the air, smiling. I race down the stairs
entering the kitchen rapidly, then I abruptly stop in my tracks, or should I say
Harry Potter slippers. A lady was eating some waffles in my chair.
“Oops, I forgot you sit there!” This strange lady wearing a flower blouse with light
blue jeans dabs a napkin on the tips of her lips and stands up and sits in the
chair next to mine.
“How…” I start to say, but I get interrupted.
“Hi, my name is…Mrs. Franey. Ahem sorry.” She says pausing then smiling awkwardly.
“Okay…” I slowly say.
“Mrs. Franey here is going around the neighborhood, seeing if anyone needs emotional
support.” My aunt explains as she puts a stack of waffles on the table in my spot.
“Emotional support?” I say with one eyebrow raised.
“She is a therapist.” My aunt adds turning around to face me, while at the same time
flipping a waffle.
“I wanted to know if we can see her a few times a week about…” She didn’t finish
because I stopped her.
“No.” I say way to fast.
“I hope I’m not intruding, I know, I mean I understand how uncomfortable it must be
for you sapphire.” She looks at me, standing up and placing her hands together.
“I never said my name is sapphire…” I say starting to back away.
“Didn’t you?” She says. I don’t move a muscle, I just stare. My Aunt then comes in
between me and Mrs. Franey.
“Mrs. Franey told me about all the children she helped and the great things she has
accomplished. We are going to try and see if she can help. I know you don’t
want to talk about it but I think you should. I haven’t told her anything
because I wanted your approval.” My aunt tells me slowly and gently. I look at
her. I want to shout out no. A giant no because how can I trust Mrs. Franey. How
do I know she won’t tell anyone? Then everyone will know, and then people will
see me like I’m insane. I will be so much more different than I already am. On
the other hand, I could dig around some information about Mrs. Franey and who
she is. She could be a good, trustworthy therapist. She also could be the
opposite…
“Fine,” I curtly say and leave. Just walk out the door.
Chapter 5
I lay my head, filled with so many painstaking thoughts, against my pillow. My
arms lay by my side as I stare at my boring and dull ceiling. My head starts
spinning. Questions pop in my head like bullets. Who is she? Why is she really here?
Why me? Can I trust her? Should I tell her? What should I do? They keep running
through my head as I began to wake from my memories. It was too much.
The alarm clock beeped 5:00 loudly in my ear. I sat up; my hair was a porcupine as
usual. Turned my fuzzy blue alarm clock off and placed my feet down on the
floor, one by one. I slowly got up and sleepily went downstairs. The kitchen
was infused with the smell of vanilla and bacon. That only meant one thing,
today was Sunday, and every Sunday my Aunt makes vanilla pancakes and bacon
because I have to go to Mrs. Franey’s for our morning session. My mouth watered
and pulled out my chair and sat down with excitement.
“We will only have a 45 minute session today because our train leaves at 6:30 so we
have to leave her place at 6:00. Hurry and eat your breakfast because we have to
be there at 5:15.” Emma said carrying my plate toward me. My eyes widen and my
tongue sticks out as I grab a knife and fork. She sees me as I look ridiculous
and rolls her eyes before she places the plate before me.
I am about to pounce the deliciousness that was placed before me, when a
thought pops in my head.
“Wait what?” I say abruptly and make my aunt turn suddenly.
“Train?” I ask slowly, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes train. We are going to Washington, D.C. to visit your grandparents. It is their
birthday tomorrow so we want to surprise them today. Your sister will be there
too.” She replies.
“How come I wasn’t told?” I ask very offended. I knew my grandma’s birthday was
tomorrow and I was going to call at an appropriate time but going to visit them
I had not expect. I am happy I get to see them but it’s still a
surprise.
“You’re being told now.” She says sharply, as she turns around smirking. I roll my eyes
and go up the flight upstairs and start packing for the long day trip waiting
ahead for me.
“Let’s go or well be late for your appointment!” My aunt yells at the top of her loud
voice, from the bottom of the stairs. I groan and go to the car.
I sat down the orange, fluffy beanbag that lies in the middle of Mrs. Franey’s
office. The bright sky blue rug was at my feet and her brown leather couch was
at my right. She sat down with a clipboard in her head and a pen in her left ear.
“Hello sapphire” She tells me.
“Let’s start with what’s your week been like?” she asks me.
“It’s been good, same as every week.” I say emotionless because that’s what I say
every week. She sensed that I didn’t want to go through the same thing as
before so she said something that surprised me.
“Why do you hide it?” She says this while looking at me. No, it felt more than that.
It was like she was looking at my soul. I was definitely not letting her look. I
looked away. She and flora both make me feel so comfortable about talking about
it. Mrs. Franey doesn’t know who I really was. I felt like I needed to tell
her. All of a sudden my phone rang. It was Emma. I declined. Mrs. Franey looked
at me like she was observing me, studying me, trying to understand me. I look
at her.
“I feel insecure sometimes.” I pause and take a breath, “I um have three friends. I
have a best friend Flora.” I stop for a second to look at her and she flinches
microscopically at that name. I continued while still looking for her, “Then
there are my two other friends. When I’m around them I feel safe, comfortable,
and normal.” She looks at me stranger even more.
“Normal? Why wouldn’t you feel normal?” She interrupts. I start to sweat a little. I
feel my heart rate increase. I began to panic ever so slightly.
“People at school are always bullying me, calling me names. They call me a weirdo, a
freak, a creep…” I stop and look away. There was a loud banging at the door
that gave a startle.
“SAPPHIRE, come on or we will be late!” I hear my Aunts voice from the other side. Thank
goodness, I was saved.
“I am sorry Mrs. Franey, I forgot that we had to cut the session by 15 minutes
because I am going to visit my Gran-gran.” I say before I rush out the door.
Chapter6
My earphones were tucked in my ear and connected to the phone in my
pocket. At this point I had stopped listening because I was half asleep. I
dreamed that I was at my gran-gran’s house. I have never been there before.
Usually she comes and visits us not the other way around. Was in the room where
they assigned me because we were staying for three days. I swung my suitcase on
the soft, pillow-abducted bed. I began to pull out what was at the top and put
it in the drawers of the dresser. It was made of soft, light wood. Engraved at
the sides were beautiful designs that were very, very ancient. The mirror had
not been cleaned in a very long while because it was dusted to the brim. In the
corner of the mirror I saw the darkest, deepest, scariest shadow in the world.
You couldn’t make anything out of it besides it’s a man. A strong, big man. I
turn around and open my mouth but then I wake up. I fold taking deep breaths.
Emma looks at me.
“Was it a…dream…?” She asks clutching me gently. I gasp for air and nod.
The dream was so terrifying it felt like I was drowning until I was released
from its clutches.
“It’s ok,” Emma says softly.
I arrived to the big, old-fashioned, mansion of a house. I knocked at the giant,
wood, red doors, then the opened by a crack. A man, surpassingly a butler,
peeked his head out and asked how he may help us. Then by a mere distance I
heard someone begin to speak.
“Ronald let them in; they might be my daughter and granddaughter!” It came from another
floor. The butler turned his attention back to us and let us in. A shiver ran
down my spine when I entered the hallway. It was just like in the dream on the
train. My heart began to race because I realized what kind of dream Aunt Emma
was talking about. I didn’t want it to that kind of dream. If so I only have so
little time to prepare myself for what’s coming. Ro9nald the butler took me up
to my room. He bent down and picked my suitcase up, then heading for the
stairs. He gestured me to follow him, so I did. Another man got Emma’s luggage
and took her to her room. I walked into my room. It was dark so I turned on the
lights. I gasped and dropped the bag I was holding. Ronald looked at me
startled. I made a fake smile and made a lame excuse. He shrugged and walked
out. My heart began to race. I have already seen this room. I have seen this
room in my dream on the train. But how could I have possible known how my room
would look. I have never stepped place in this room, in this house, in this place ever
before so how? How did I know what room I would be staying in? How it looked?
And what happens in this room?
I began to think in my head. I shook my head and told myself that I should
ignore it. It is nothing. I open my suitcase that I placed on the bed. I took
out the clothes and placed them in the drawers of a dresser. Then in the mirror
of the dresser I saw a shadow move. I began to panic but I kept myself calm. I
turned around and the shadow began to come closer. The nightmare is going to end
soon. I will wake up on the train in a few seconds. I keep telling myself. The shadow is
breaths away. I closed my eye lids and my shoulders are at my ears. I felt his breath on me.
But nothing happened.
I open one eye. This stranger just stands there still in the shadows.
There is only one window in the room and moonlight entered through it. The man
begins to step forward again, entering the light. I gasp more than before.
It…it’s my dad.
The Universe
by Victoria Borisonnik
A cloud
So big
A cloud so high
With a golden glow
And influences so
Three brothers on top of all
Stand for different things
People worship them.
But there are more
That people worship.
Brothers and sisters
All under one Mom and dad.
Stand for different things
In the universe
As a Queen and King
A cloud so high
No one can see
But people still worship
And the cloud has a golden glow
To show
Just how rich it is.
So big
A cloud so high
With a golden glow
And influences so
Three brothers on top of all
Stand for different things
People worship them.
But there are more
That people worship.
Brothers and sisters
All under one Mom and dad.
Stand for different things
In the universe
As a Queen and King
A cloud so high
No one can see
But people still worship
And the cloud has a golden glow
To show
Just how rich it is.
Cat
by Victoria Borisonnik
Sunlight gleam
On the window
As I lay
And warm my fur.
As I lay
I wait
Wait for sounds.
Sounds of the
People.
Who pet me.
Feed me.
And let me
Walk.
Walk to the window
Where I sit on the sill
And warm my fur.
And wait for sounds.
Sounds of the people.
On the window
As I lay
And warm my fur.
As I lay
I wait
Wait for sounds.
Sounds of the
People.
Who pet me.
Feed me.
And let me
Walk.
Walk to the window
Where I sit on the sill
And warm my fur.
And wait for sounds.
Sounds of the people.
Warriors
by Victoria Borisonnik
The sky has fallen into sorrow.
It is no longer crimson gold,
But silver grey.
The sun is going to bed
In between the clouds
His sister is rising
The silver light.
A silver sphere
Of silver lace
With scars from all the challenges she faced.
Still acknowledged as a mystery.
All we know is,
When the night falls
She is there,
To wake the stars
And sing a lovely lullaby
To which all shall fall asleep.
Except for her warriors
Who are awake at night
To make sure the land
Is showered in the moons light.
They stay awake until
The sun is ready to wake
The warriors go to sleep
When they hear the Sun’s warriors rise.
They know that they will protect the
Day.
It is no longer crimson gold,
But silver grey.
The sun is going to bed
In between the clouds
His sister is rising
The silver light.
A silver sphere
Of silver lace
With scars from all the challenges she faced.
Still acknowledged as a mystery.
All we know is,
When the night falls
She is there,
To wake the stars
And sing a lovely lullaby
To which all shall fall asleep.
Except for her warriors
Who are awake at night
To make sure the land
Is showered in the moons light.
They stay awake until
The sun is ready to wake
The warriors go to sleep
When they hear the Sun’s warriors rise.
They know that they will protect the
Day.
Light
by Victoria Borisonnik
Flame
Breath of a dragon
Light of the dark
Fire wild
Like the black unicorn
Flame the only light to give to dark
More confusing than the earth
More mysterious than the sea
And more misleading than the wind
Flicker to the music
Growing larger as the music goes
A flame
Breath of a dragon
Fire as wild as the black unicorn
Can never be mastered
But can be controlled
Until it grows restless
And can no longer be tamed
Breath of a dragon
Light of the dark
Fire wild
Like the black unicorn
Flame the only light to give to dark
More confusing than the earth
More mysterious than the sea
And more misleading than the wind
Flicker to the music
Growing larger as the music goes
A flame
Breath of a dragon
Fire as wild as the black unicorn
Can never be mastered
But can be controlled
Until it grows restless
And can no longer be tamed
Black Magic
by Rebecca Gitlevich
Shatter
And break
...
Step
And tear
...
Take it
Break it
Throw it away
...
It’s not like
You cared
Anyway
...
I fell
And I fall
...
I am big
Then I’m small
...
Depression
Interpretation
...
They all judge
Anyway
...
You took
My heart
And you wrote
Your name
...
Then you crushed it
And threw it in my face
And break
...
Step
And tear
...
Take it
Break it
Throw it away
...
It’s not like
You cared
Anyway
...
I fell
And I fall
...
I am big
Then I’m small
...
Depression
Interpretation
...
They all judge
Anyway
...
You took
My heart
And you wrote
Your name
...
Then you crushed it
And threw it in my face
Say Goodbye
by Rebecca Gitlevich
It rushes past me
I move out of the way
I see her
Lying there
breathless
motionless
colorless
Why her
she was the best
The prettiest
the smartest
the nicest
Yet, she was picked
I ran after her
But they stopped me
grabbed me
pulled me away
Lying on the cart alone
Rushed
Alone
I didn’t even say goodbye
It was time to see her
I was finally allowed
It had been a week
Alone
I alone
She alone
We alone
We apart
Apart from each other
She was asleep
She was sick
she needed me
But
she was too sick
Too motionless
Too much for me
Then they pulled me away
The monitors yelled
Peeping, and peeping
She was gone
And I didn’t even get to say goodbye
Why her?
Why
Why
Why
Voices screamed
People moved around
Ran around
cried around
But to me it was a blurr
Life seemed to happen slowly
in a blurr
Painfully
Alone
People swifted around me rapidly
But all I saw was a blurr
A painful
a slow
blurr
The nurses were blobs
The equipment was a blog
the movement was a blurr
And she was gone
I didn’t even get to say goodbye
Two years later
In the Garden
picking flowers
Why her?
My mother turns
Why did you pick that flower?
Because I thought It was the prettiest
Because it was the best out of all of them
She was the best out of everyone
She was the flower in my hand
I put her in a vase with water
I take care of her every day
watering
replanting
caring
One year later
she stands tall on my window
I look at her
Now I get to say goodbye
I move out of the way
I see her
Lying there
breathless
motionless
colorless
Why her
she was the best
The prettiest
the smartest
the nicest
Yet, she was picked
I ran after her
But they stopped me
grabbed me
pulled me away
Lying on the cart alone
Rushed
Alone
I didn’t even say goodbye
It was time to see her
I was finally allowed
It had been a week
Alone
I alone
She alone
We alone
We apart
Apart from each other
She was asleep
She was sick
she needed me
But
she was too sick
Too motionless
Too much for me
Then they pulled me away
The monitors yelled
Peeping, and peeping
She was gone
And I didn’t even get to say goodbye
Why her?
Why
Why
Why
Voices screamed
People moved around
Ran around
cried around
But to me it was a blurr
Life seemed to happen slowly
in a blurr
Painfully
Alone
People swifted around me rapidly
But all I saw was a blurr
A painful
a slow
blurr
The nurses were blobs
The equipment was a blog
the movement was a blurr
And she was gone
I didn’t even get to say goodbye
Two years later
In the Garden
picking flowers
Why her?
My mother turns
Why did you pick that flower?
Because I thought It was the prettiest
Because it was the best out of all of them
She was the best out of everyone
She was the flower in my hand
I put her in a vase with water
I take care of her every day
watering
replanting
caring
One year later
she stands tall on my window
I look at her
Now I get to say goodbye
Listen To The Heart, Not The Beat
by Delila Matara
What happens when you spin a globe?
It spins and spins and spins
Until it stops to one place…
Kinda like love
You keep looking and looking and looking
Until you kind the one you were looking for
What happens when drop the globe?
It shatters into 1 million pieces
Just like your heart
You keep playing around and drop it
Then it shatters
Can you use tape or glue to fix the globe?
Of course you can
But this time…
You can’t use glue or tape to fix this problem
It spins and spins and spins
Until it stops to one place…
Kinda like love
You keep looking and looking and looking
Until you kind the one you were looking for
What happens when drop the globe?
It shatters into 1 million pieces
Just like your heart
You keep playing around and drop it
Then it shatters
Can you use tape or glue to fix the globe?
Of course you can
But this time…
You can’t use glue or tape to fix this problem
No Place for Fear
by Delila Matara
I’m sorry for not being perfect
I’m sorry for not being worth it
I’m sorry for not having Goldilocks hair
I’m sorry for not treating you with care
I’m sorry for not wearing the perfect clothes
I’m sorry for not having barbie’s nose
But from as far as I can see
Asking for this much
You might be as unperfect as me
I’m sorry for not being worth it
I’m sorry for not having Goldilocks hair
I’m sorry for not treating you with care
I’m sorry for not wearing the perfect clothes
I’m sorry for not having barbie’s nose
But from as far as I can see
Asking for this much
You might be as unperfect as me
Word To The Wise
by Delila Matara
I really want to leave
This really boring place
For everyone here,
Judges people by their gender or race
These adults look at the wrong thing
For why cannot they see?
That it is not the clothes that spoil them
But the electronics
On a computer you may fool them all
And they think your grand and tall
But in real life however
You are rather small
When you are face to face
It’s almost like an invisible race
You think this person will say a squeak?
No, for them it is easier just to retreat
So watch what you say when your having a ball
Because with jut a dial of a call
Where your going orange is the new style
Don’t bully, because where your staying…
You might be stuck there for awhile
This really boring place
For everyone here,
Judges people by their gender or race
These adults look at the wrong thing
For why cannot they see?
That it is not the clothes that spoil them
But the electronics
On a computer you may fool them all
And they think your grand and tall
But in real life however
You are rather small
When you are face to face
It’s almost like an invisible race
You think this person will say a squeak?
No, for them it is easier just to retreat
So watch what you say when your having a ball
Because with jut a dial of a call
Where your going orange is the new style
Don’t bully, because where your staying…
You might be stuck there for awhile
Home Sweet Home
by Rebecca Gitlevich
"I’ve had it Renee!”
“You don’t understand!” I yelled back so loud that all the neighbors on Owl Road must have heard. Junks of tears slid down my red cheeks. My head began to hurt; I felt my face burn like the face of the sun. My anger brewing inside me was going to explode soon like a bomb at war. The tears that covered my face cooled me down. I felt so alone. No one understood what I was feeling. I began to feel so stressed. All the problems in my world began to spin around inside my head like a tornado of depression. It destroyed me. It’s all your fault. You are too dumb. You aren't good enough. Stop procrastinating. FOCUS. You’re so weak. So boring. It’s your fault your parents are miserable. You make your mom cry at the sight of you. Accomplished nothing. Be more like Michelle. Be more like Jessica. Be more like Alex. Be more like this. Like that. So messy. So untidy. So annoying. All you do is complain. Stop acting like you have the worst life ever. Stop being so ungrateful. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!! I began to feel dizzy. The room I was in began to blur. My head throbbed like someone or something is trying to break out. It started to get dark. It started to get cold. I didn't feel my feet. I began to fall. I didn't feel anything before I hit the ground. Next thing I woke up in a bed with tea and biscuits on a side table.
“The doctor said you got so stressed out you began to have an anxiety attack and passed out.” A girl in the corner of the room spoke. I glared at her, and then I scanned the room, confused. Where am I? The room was very plain, there was a green arm chair, and I realized I am wearing a strange white robe. It was a hospital robe, and I am wearing it because I am in a hospital!
“You were whispering while you were out.” She continued. She was studying me, looking at me like an owl or a dog. I tried to speak but nothing came out. I moved my mouth a little, looking like a baby who was trying to copy what their parents were saying.
“Cat got your tongue?” She giggled as she said this. Who was she? What is she doing here?
“Who I am and what my name is is not important. You mumbled something about how your parents are such hypocrites and so hard to talk to.” She continued. It was as if she could read my mind. She smirked. My mouth dropped to the floor. Could she really read my mind? She nodded, still smiling.
“Oh yes I can hear you.” She said smiling even more. WHAT! No that’s impossible! HOW? Am I dead? Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? She giggled.
“It’s hard to explain. I am a therapist here. Kids with similar cases as yours tend to lose the ability to talk or communicate with anyone and not to brag but I would usually be the only one to get them talking. Now what I mean by lose the ability is that kids tend to refuse to talk when they are very able to. The reason kids trust me is because I show them what I can do, starting off with mind reading. I tell you everything that is going on with you, your family, and the doctors. I know what everyone is thinking. Kids tend to trust me because I do everything in their benefits. And no the doctor is not aware.”
My mouth was on the floor below me by the end of her speech. “I...I...” I began to muster words out.
“Shh. Relax. It will come to you.” She said still smiling.
“Wh...Where a...are my...parents...” I stuttered out, breathing deeply because it was so hard to get those words of my tongue. Then the smile vanished from her face as if it was never there.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.” She said looking down.
“What...” I said with a lot more ease than before. But now I began to worry. I wondered what happened while I was out.
“Your parents...they um...” She took a deep breath “They said that they were tired of you being so ungrateful and causing so much trouble. They asked me to tell you that they are sending you to an orphanage.” She gasped for a breath. I was shocked. Not like before. I was...I don't even know what I began to feel. Like the world had just stopped and exploded. That was it. I could handle no more. I broke. I started to fall where I will never fly again. But that wasn't all. I looked at her. She was all fuzzy. I couldn't see. Tears covered my eyes. Just by the fuzzy look upon her I knew there was more.
“I am afraid you are right. I don't want to tell you but I have to...” She paused. “They said to specifically say this: We have tried to put up with your ungrateful complaints, and all your ungrateful problems and this is how you repay us. You keep being ungrateful. Well we are done with you. We are sending you back to the orphanage that we got you from and God help the next family you will be with.” She stopped. She was crying at this point. Tears flew down her face. I began to feel bad for her. I felt bad that my parents made her say that.
“You don't need to be sorry. I just have never had such a bad case as this...” She blurted out before crying even more than before. I could feel that she was not going to talk again for a little while. I began to think of parents and all those awful memories with them. One day, over the summer, my mother walked into my room asking for help. The minute she walks in she yells at me about how my room is so unclean and messy and disgraceful and etc. I wanted to punch a wall. Another time she was yelling at me because of some stupid thing and I said, “OK fine,” and I raised my voice a little when I said it. My mum was about to strangle me. She started yelling at me about how I am always in a bad mood, that I can never raise my voice at her because she is my mum. And so on. Thinking about all this made my head feel hot again and it started to hurt. I realized I was going into another panic attack, when the strange lady ran up to me and gave me an inhaler. I realized that I still didn't know her name. I took the inhaler; nodded, and breathed in the inhaler...stuff...I don’t know. She told me to calm down and that I shouldn't think about that or anything around that for my health. What happened is all I can’t stop thinking about. I'm just so scared that I'm going to fail at school and not have a good future and take my kids to Disneyland and stuff. I am suffocating inside...Please can someone help me.....please.....
“Are you feeling any better?” The woman, whose name I don't know, asks me. I nod.
“I feel a lot better after I called my friend. She helped me. She is the only other person I could talk to besides you.” She smiled. What is her name? I thought then realizing she can read my mind.
“I still won't tell you my real name but you can call me Mrs. Who.” She said
“Alright...Mrs. Who...I wanted to tell you something....” I began to say
“Go on” She then responded. I paused. Trying to accumulate the right order of the words I wanted to say.
“Could you maybe find me another place to stay?” I slowly said breathing deeply in and out between each word.
“Pardon?” She said puzzled.
“I don't want to go back to the orphanage. Is there anyone you know that could take me? Or...” I said, too embarrassed to say the last part. My cheeks became the sudden shade of a rose.
“Or.....” Mrs. Who said nudging me to say what I wanted to say.
“There has to be another way.” I said breathing out quietly. She stood there very surprised. She looked pensively at me.
“Possibly,” She finally concluded, nodding toward me as I began to smile.
“Really?” I said gleaming at this point. She nodded gently toward me. Three knocks on the door scared me. I throw my head around, facing the door. The knob began to turn. The light hitting it and making it shine. A tall man towered over me. It was practically dark by now so the shadows hid his face. The only thing you could see was his lips. They began to move, a deep voice echoing out.
“ Renee?” He bellowed. I weakly raised my arm.
“My name is Mr. Bugle.” He began. I saw in the corner of my eye Mrs. Who moved suddenly.
“Just wait here…” She began speed walking up to Mr. Bugle. He stared at her.
“We have already made a decision. There is no need for you to be here.” She glared at him as she said this. He just stared at her, confused.
“You can leave now. Renee here needs her rest.” She concluded giving him quite a look. He looked uncomfortable.
“I am not here to collect her ma’am. May I have a word outside?” He spoke. Now it was Mrs. Who who looked uncomfortable.
“Mister Bugle...I know you well. You either collect children back to the orphanage or…” She stopped and glanced at me.
“Or...you brought someone with you from the orphanage. You never ask. You either take or bring. So i presume he is here.” She whispered and raised her eyebrow.
“So why ask?” She ended. Her arms resting on her hips. Mr. Bugle nodded and left the room. He whispered something under his breath as he left. I looked up at Mrs. Who. She looked back at me, sighing.
“I will be right back.” She said pointing her finger at me. I was very confused. There was a very loud argument going on, on the other side of the door. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. It was obviously Mr. Bugle because of his low voice and Mrs. Who because of the sassy remarks who were arguing. Unfortunately I didn’t heard the actual conversation. Mrs. Who walked back through the door and I looked at her. Trying to scan her, I could not get much from it.
“Who is here?” I asked her. Observing her reaction, which was inevitably startled as if she forgot I was in the room.
“Its...its...nobody important…” She stammered and looked at back at the door.
“You still want that other offer?” She asked, with what I thought was a bit of hope in the whisper of her words.
“Oh course.” I said, sitting up. She sighed and looked me straight in the eye.
“Its your birth father, outside this very door. It is your choice if you want to go with him or me.” She said rather disappointingly, and glumly. I stared at her, wide eyed. I was about to speak, when she started to smile. I told her the answer but I did it in a way that I knew she could really listen, really connect. I spoke a big word or a small word that no one would ever hear. “Really?” She whispered.
“You don’t understand!” I yelled back so loud that all the neighbors on Owl Road must have heard. Junks of tears slid down my red cheeks. My head began to hurt; I felt my face burn like the face of the sun. My anger brewing inside me was going to explode soon like a bomb at war. The tears that covered my face cooled me down. I felt so alone. No one understood what I was feeling. I began to feel so stressed. All the problems in my world began to spin around inside my head like a tornado of depression. It destroyed me. It’s all your fault. You are too dumb. You aren't good enough. Stop procrastinating. FOCUS. You’re so weak. So boring. It’s your fault your parents are miserable. You make your mom cry at the sight of you. Accomplished nothing. Be more like Michelle. Be more like Jessica. Be more like Alex. Be more like this. Like that. So messy. So untidy. So annoying. All you do is complain. Stop acting like you have the worst life ever. Stop being so ungrateful. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!! I began to feel dizzy. The room I was in began to blur. My head throbbed like someone or something is trying to break out. It started to get dark. It started to get cold. I didn't feel my feet. I began to fall. I didn't feel anything before I hit the ground. Next thing I woke up in a bed with tea and biscuits on a side table.
“The doctor said you got so stressed out you began to have an anxiety attack and passed out.” A girl in the corner of the room spoke. I glared at her, and then I scanned the room, confused. Where am I? The room was very plain, there was a green arm chair, and I realized I am wearing a strange white robe. It was a hospital robe, and I am wearing it because I am in a hospital!
“You were whispering while you were out.” She continued. She was studying me, looking at me like an owl or a dog. I tried to speak but nothing came out. I moved my mouth a little, looking like a baby who was trying to copy what their parents were saying.
“Cat got your tongue?” She giggled as she said this. Who was she? What is she doing here?
“Who I am and what my name is is not important. You mumbled something about how your parents are such hypocrites and so hard to talk to.” She continued. It was as if she could read my mind. She smirked. My mouth dropped to the floor. Could she really read my mind? She nodded, still smiling.
“Oh yes I can hear you.” She said smiling even more. WHAT! No that’s impossible! HOW? Am I dead? Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? She giggled.
“It’s hard to explain. I am a therapist here. Kids with similar cases as yours tend to lose the ability to talk or communicate with anyone and not to brag but I would usually be the only one to get them talking. Now what I mean by lose the ability is that kids tend to refuse to talk when they are very able to. The reason kids trust me is because I show them what I can do, starting off with mind reading. I tell you everything that is going on with you, your family, and the doctors. I know what everyone is thinking. Kids tend to trust me because I do everything in their benefits. And no the doctor is not aware.”
My mouth was on the floor below me by the end of her speech. “I...I...” I began to muster words out.
“Shh. Relax. It will come to you.” She said still smiling.
“Wh...Where a...are my...parents...” I stuttered out, breathing deeply because it was so hard to get those words of my tongue. Then the smile vanished from her face as if it was never there.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.” She said looking down.
“What...” I said with a lot more ease than before. But now I began to worry. I wondered what happened while I was out.
“Your parents...they um...” She took a deep breath “They said that they were tired of you being so ungrateful and causing so much trouble. They asked me to tell you that they are sending you to an orphanage.” She gasped for a breath. I was shocked. Not like before. I was...I don't even know what I began to feel. Like the world had just stopped and exploded. That was it. I could handle no more. I broke. I started to fall where I will never fly again. But that wasn't all. I looked at her. She was all fuzzy. I couldn't see. Tears covered my eyes. Just by the fuzzy look upon her I knew there was more.
“I am afraid you are right. I don't want to tell you but I have to...” She paused. “They said to specifically say this: We have tried to put up with your ungrateful complaints, and all your ungrateful problems and this is how you repay us. You keep being ungrateful. Well we are done with you. We are sending you back to the orphanage that we got you from and God help the next family you will be with.” She stopped. She was crying at this point. Tears flew down her face. I began to feel bad for her. I felt bad that my parents made her say that.
“You don't need to be sorry. I just have never had such a bad case as this...” She blurted out before crying even more than before. I could feel that she was not going to talk again for a little while. I began to think of parents and all those awful memories with them. One day, over the summer, my mother walked into my room asking for help. The minute she walks in she yells at me about how my room is so unclean and messy and disgraceful and etc. I wanted to punch a wall. Another time she was yelling at me because of some stupid thing and I said, “OK fine,” and I raised my voice a little when I said it. My mum was about to strangle me. She started yelling at me about how I am always in a bad mood, that I can never raise my voice at her because she is my mum. And so on. Thinking about all this made my head feel hot again and it started to hurt. I realized I was going into another panic attack, when the strange lady ran up to me and gave me an inhaler. I realized that I still didn't know her name. I took the inhaler; nodded, and breathed in the inhaler...stuff...I don’t know. She told me to calm down and that I shouldn't think about that or anything around that for my health. What happened is all I can’t stop thinking about. I'm just so scared that I'm going to fail at school and not have a good future and take my kids to Disneyland and stuff. I am suffocating inside...Please can someone help me.....please.....
“Are you feeling any better?” The woman, whose name I don't know, asks me. I nod.
“I feel a lot better after I called my friend. She helped me. She is the only other person I could talk to besides you.” She smiled. What is her name? I thought then realizing she can read my mind.
“I still won't tell you my real name but you can call me Mrs. Who.” She said
“Alright...Mrs. Who...I wanted to tell you something....” I began to say
“Go on” She then responded. I paused. Trying to accumulate the right order of the words I wanted to say.
“Could you maybe find me another place to stay?” I slowly said breathing deeply in and out between each word.
“Pardon?” She said puzzled.
“I don't want to go back to the orphanage. Is there anyone you know that could take me? Or...” I said, too embarrassed to say the last part. My cheeks became the sudden shade of a rose.
“Or.....” Mrs. Who said nudging me to say what I wanted to say.
“There has to be another way.” I said breathing out quietly. She stood there very surprised. She looked pensively at me.
“Possibly,” She finally concluded, nodding toward me as I began to smile.
“Really?” I said gleaming at this point. She nodded gently toward me. Three knocks on the door scared me. I throw my head around, facing the door. The knob began to turn. The light hitting it and making it shine. A tall man towered over me. It was practically dark by now so the shadows hid his face. The only thing you could see was his lips. They began to move, a deep voice echoing out.
“ Renee?” He bellowed. I weakly raised my arm.
“My name is Mr. Bugle.” He began. I saw in the corner of my eye Mrs. Who moved suddenly.
“Just wait here…” She began speed walking up to Mr. Bugle. He stared at her.
“We have already made a decision. There is no need for you to be here.” She glared at him as she said this. He just stared at her, confused.
“You can leave now. Renee here needs her rest.” She concluded giving him quite a look. He looked uncomfortable.
“I am not here to collect her ma’am. May I have a word outside?” He spoke. Now it was Mrs. Who who looked uncomfortable.
“Mister Bugle...I know you well. You either collect children back to the orphanage or…” She stopped and glanced at me.
“Or...you brought someone with you from the orphanage. You never ask. You either take or bring. So i presume he is here.” She whispered and raised her eyebrow.
“So why ask?” She ended. Her arms resting on her hips. Mr. Bugle nodded and left the room. He whispered something under his breath as he left. I looked up at Mrs. Who. She looked back at me, sighing.
“I will be right back.” She said pointing her finger at me. I was very confused. There was a very loud argument going on, on the other side of the door. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. It was obviously Mr. Bugle because of his low voice and Mrs. Who because of the sassy remarks who were arguing. Unfortunately I didn’t heard the actual conversation. Mrs. Who walked back through the door and I looked at her. Trying to scan her, I could not get much from it.
“Who is here?” I asked her. Observing her reaction, which was inevitably startled as if she forgot I was in the room.
“Its...its...nobody important…” She stammered and looked at back at the door.
“You still want that other offer?” She asked, with what I thought was a bit of hope in the whisper of her words.
“Oh course.” I said, sitting up. She sighed and looked me straight in the eye.
“Its your birth father, outside this very door. It is your choice if you want to go with him or me.” She said rather disappointingly, and glumly. I stared at her, wide eyed. I was about to speak, when she started to smile. I told her the answer but I did it in a way that I knew she could really listen, really connect. I spoke a big word or a small word that no one would ever hear. “Really?” She whispered.
Controlled
By: Nick Kasander
As I walk towards the large silver and white building, I feel a tingling in my body that is sort of excited but yet nervous. When I applied for the job at Dictation, I didn’t realize how intense it would be, until I read reviews. Dictation is a company where people give advice and answers to questions that people ask on the phone or device. It’s basically the equivalent of Siri on Apple Products. When I went for the interview, the woman was asking me questions so fast that I was almost not able to answer them. She said her name was Cara (if it had a K it would almost be like my name Kristin). Then she asked me some other questions.
“So Kristin how badly do you want this job?” Cara asked me
“I feel like I can handle it and it would be different than what I am used to” I replied.
“What are you used to?” Cara asked
“Slow and meaningless jobs but this one seems like a positive challenge”
“Well it is a challenge Kristin, you got that part right, but this job is demanding-”
I interrupt her “You want to see if I can do it?”
“I want to see if you can handle it, some people become obsessed with this job and their eyes may get damaged from looking at a large screen for a long time” Cara warns me
“You don’t have to scare me, I am perfectly capable of doing this job.”
“You may leave. Please shut the door on your way out” Cara finishes
Two days later from the interview, I was told I got the job and that I start right away. And today is that day, Monday December 6th, 2021. When I walk into the building I go up the elevator to level 11 and I find my working room 1136. When I walk in there is a large-ish tv-like screen and a recording microphone on a table and a white chair. Actually everything is white and silver like the outside of the building. I sit down and the screen starts talking. “Welcome to dictation. Say your full name into the microphone”
“Kristin Roberts” I say.
I read on the screen and it reads “Stephen’s Phone” I guess this who I will be answering questions for.
So I sit and I wait and I wait and I wait and I hear no questions asked until one appears. "Dictation do you know where the closest place to eat is?" Then a list of places popped up on my screen.
I start to talk and I answer “The closest place to eat is McDonalds. It is only 2.3 Miles away”.
“Ok, Thank You Dictation.”
That was it, wow this must be very easy!
But It Wasn’t.
I went into work the next day and I had question after question and I was beginning to think than Cara was right and that this job was too difficult for me. So I thought about it overnight and I decided. I am going to quit.
The next day I walked into Cara’s office and we had a talk.
I began “Cara I really can’t do this job anymore. Now, I am very sorry and I know it is only my third day but I want to quit before something majorly bad happens to my brain.”
“You could have at least told me” Cara replied
“I know but I thought I could handle it but obviously I couldn’t. I hope you can understand.” I said.
“Well I can’t stop you and I’ve seen this happen before so you may leave. Pack up whatever you have in your office and leave, I can’t have another loss.”
“Well Cara I thank you for understanding and I hope you do well with this company.”
“Goodbye Kristin.”
I walk to my office and I grab my little handful of things and start to leave when I think of where I can get a new job.
Oh thats right I can see if the closest McDonald's has a job offering.
“So Kristin how badly do you want this job?” Cara asked me
“I feel like I can handle it and it would be different than what I am used to” I replied.
“What are you used to?” Cara asked
“Slow and meaningless jobs but this one seems like a positive challenge”
“Well it is a challenge Kristin, you got that part right, but this job is demanding-”
I interrupt her “You want to see if I can do it?”
“I want to see if you can handle it, some people become obsessed with this job and their eyes may get damaged from looking at a large screen for a long time” Cara warns me
“You don’t have to scare me, I am perfectly capable of doing this job.”
“You may leave. Please shut the door on your way out” Cara finishes
Two days later from the interview, I was told I got the job and that I start right away. And today is that day, Monday December 6th, 2021. When I walk into the building I go up the elevator to level 11 and I find my working room 1136. When I walk in there is a large-ish tv-like screen and a recording microphone on a table and a white chair. Actually everything is white and silver like the outside of the building. I sit down and the screen starts talking. “Welcome to dictation. Say your full name into the microphone”
“Kristin Roberts” I say.
I read on the screen and it reads “Stephen’s Phone” I guess this who I will be answering questions for.
So I sit and I wait and I wait and I wait and I hear no questions asked until one appears. "Dictation do you know where the closest place to eat is?" Then a list of places popped up on my screen.
I start to talk and I answer “The closest place to eat is McDonalds. It is only 2.3 Miles away”.
“Ok, Thank You Dictation.”
That was it, wow this must be very easy!
But It Wasn’t.
I went into work the next day and I had question after question and I was beginning to think than Cara was right and that this job was too difficult for me. So I thought about it overnight and I decided. I am going to quit.
The next day I walked into Cara’s office and we had a talk.
I began “Cara I really can’t do this job anymore. Now, I am very sorry and I know it is only my third day but I want to quit before something majorly bad happens to my brain.”
“You could have at least told me” Cara replied
“I know but I thought I could handle it but obviously I couldn’t. I hope you can understand.” I said.
“Well I can’t stop you and I’ve seen this happen before so you may leave. Pack up whatever you have in your office and leave, I can’t have another loss.”
“Well Cara I thank you for understanding and I hope you do well with this company.”
“Goodbye Kristin.”
I walk to my office and I grab my little handful of things and start to leave when I think of where I can get a new job.
Oh thats right I can see if the closest McDonald's has a job offering.
Eternal Love
by Jessica Malinsky
Chapter Four
Here Goes Nothing
I opened the gift. It wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was a pocket watch. As I showed the emotion of happiness towards my parents, they knew what I was truly feeling.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Don’t you like the present?” Mom asked.
I hesitated for a moment because I didn’t know how to feel. If I felt happy, then I would be lying about my emotions to my parents. If I felt disgusted by the present, then my parents would think I am a cruel human being who doesn’t care about how important family is by throwing the gift at the ground and crying. But I had a gut feeling that this pocket watch wasn’t safe to use. My gut feeling told me to tell the truth.
“Mom. Dad. I don’t really like this gift. It’s not for me.”
“Oh, okay. Wes, can you tell Jocelyn to come over to take it back?”
“Wait! Actually, I want it back!”
After I exclaimed that to my parents, their faces had the word “proud” written all over. Ever since I possessed the pocket watch, weird things began to happen to me. I began to develop unusual feelings of the body. I never got sick, hurt, or developed strong emotions towards another person. My parents started to question me about how I was feeling at a certain moment and I always responded with an “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” I never really understood why they asked me how I was feeling at every given moment, but on my 21st birthday, my whole life got flipped around.
Chapter Five
The Moment
Fast Forward to 21st birthday
Liam Devlin. That was his name. As you may know I had mixed feelings about him and his state of mind. It turned out he wasn’t such a bad guy. We began to date the day after high school graduation and we continued to date up until my 21st birthday. I’ll tell you what occurred throughout this day. Buckle up because this will be a bumpy ride…
It was the morning of my 21st birthday. My eyes opened to the beautiful view of New York City. I got dressed in a marvelous, green dress which brought out my eyes. The first person I called was Liam. I waited twenty seconds for a response, but I couldn’t hear his voice. I thought maybe this was because of my weird feeling of the body since I got that pocket watch, but it wasn’t. Liam actually forgot my 21st birthday. What a jerk.
I called him three hours later. It was now 12:00. I figured he threw me a surprise party, but I didn’t wake up to ANY surprise. I knew where Liam lived so I figured it was time for me to make a little visit over to his apartment. I drove my Porsche over to his apartment in Manhattan and I rang his doorbell. No answer. I rang his doorbell again. Still no answer. I heard loud volumes of talking in the apartment so I knew something was wrong. I began to knock on his door. No answer. I knocked twice, then three times, then four times, and then five times. STILL NO ANSWER. I tried to call him and no answer. I took the details I knew and put them all together.
1. There is noise coming from inside his apartment
2. He hasn’t answered my calls
3. He hasn’t answered my knocks or ringing of the doorbell
4. He MUST be hiding something that HAS to be SO important on my 21st BIRTHDAY
I used my ninja power to knock his door and I saw him on his couch depressed.
“What is going on?? You haven’t answered my calls or knocks on your door! It’s my 21st birthday for crying out loud! I thought you would be a better boyfriend than this!”
He didn’t answer me. Instead I heard another woman in his apartment answer my questions for him.
“Excuse me? Who do you think you are to come in here and totally interrogate my apartment?”
He didn’t say anything to back me up and I had a feeling why. He was cheating on me this whole time. And the worst part was… his other girlfriend was my… AUNT JOCELYN!
“AUNT JOCELYN?!”
“CECELIA?!”
We both stared at each other in total disgust. Since I had the chance to be face to face with Jocelyn, I wanted to tell her how I really felt.
“AUNT JOCELYN! I don’t know who you are and why you stole my boyfriend, but now that I have the chance to tell you how I really feel, I want to get everything off my chest right now. No ands or buts. Let me speak with no interruptions. Aunt Jocelyn, you have made my life a living nightmare ever since I have received the pocket watch as a gift! It’s some sort of curse because ever since I got that, I felt weird. I haven’t been myself in a long time. My family and EX-BOYFRIEND…”
“EX-BOYFRIEND???” Liam questioned.
“YES, EX-BOYFRIEND! Anyway, my family and ex-boyfriend have asked me plenty of times why I wasn’t feeling myself. I don’t know who you are, but everything is starting to make sense. You probably knew Liam and wanted him to get to know me so you sent him over to my school to stalk me and find more about me. Ever since I met Liam for the first time, he acted so unusual. He knew everything about me and I just met him. It was so weird that he knew my schedule and that we even HAD the same schedule. SUCH A CREEP! You gave me that pocket watch to keep track of time as my life progressed and I don’t know that secret potion or power or I don’t even know what, but I need you to make my life the way it was before! Know that I got that off my chest… LIAM ISAAC DEVLIN! You monster! I thought we had something special. So tell me the truth right now about why you really wanted to get to know me. And don’t dodge curveballs, be honest, and most of all, tell me everything. Don’t leave ANYTHING out of this discussion that is about to happen. And Aunt Jocelyn, please be quiet.”
“Cecelia, I have been waiting for this day to come…” Liam suddenly uttered.
Liam turned away from me and I heard a zip. He turned around and his face was different. Scary even. He was an alien! I was totally surprised and I wanted to run away as soon as possible because anyone that knows me knows I am truly frightened by the idea of extraterrestrials living in space. Liam began to talk in this weird alien voice and said…
“I am actually Rex Neutron from the planet of Auberon. I have come here to do a special report on human being Cecelia Adkins. I have gotten to know Cecelia Adkins just for research. We had nothing special and actually I am a part of my own family. I have a wife and 500 kids of my own. Your Aunt Jocelyn summoned me here to analyze how you live your everyday life. I know this might sound strange, but your Aunt Jocelyn is a special person. I can’t describe it, but she knows to make a person’s life change for the worse or for the better. I used to be Liam Devlin, a normal teenager from the city of Oklahoma. But as soon as I met Jocelyn, we developed feelings for each other at a very young age and as soon as she knew she could be capable of such amazingness, she used it on my as her test subject. She turned me into an alien and she made me go to space to live with my new kind. When she found out that she had a niece, which was you, she summoned me from space to disguise as my old self to go undercover and get to know you. She gave me her pocket watch to place in a special gift box just for you so you could keep track of time progressing throughout your lifetime. But this pocket watch isn’t an ordinary pocket watch, it has powers. Your Aunt Jocelyn placed a special potion onto this pocket watch to give to you. The potion was to make you live forever right when you began to use it. She wanted to see if her potions and special powers worked so as soon as she found out about you, she wanted to have you try this out. She made me deliver this pocket watch to you labeled “from Aunt Jocelyn” and that’s when it all began. I also went undercover in your house. I listened to your parents’ conversations every night and I will tell you everything that they were talking about behind Jocelyn’s back. They questioned who she was and they always complained that she was going to be a bad influence on you, Cecelia Adkins. That’s why they never wanted to tell you about her because then you would hunt her down seeking for unnecessary answers. That’s all you need to know. Oh and you know how you began to develop weird feelings in your body plus you never got sick or hurt? That’s because the potion that Jocelyn tested on you was a “never ending life” potion. So right now you can’t die.”
Oh. My. Gosh. What just happened?!?! I can live forever? This can’t be. To test this theory out, I jumped in front of a car in New York City and I woke up the next day. I woke up with no bumps or bruises. No scratches and most importantly no broken bones. I can actually never die. Wow. I am going to live forever! WOO HOO!
Chapter Six
The End of Something New
So there you have it folks. That’s how I formed into this. A 21 year old who lived forever. I have no one to live with. I have no one to have a life with and I don’t have anything to do in my life besides wonder, “What will I do next?” I guess this is the end of something brand new. No more surprises, no more scares, and no more first experiences of love. I lived through it all. Nothing else will make me live through something I haven’t live through already. The thing is that I can’t trust anyone. Not even my significant others can be trusted. We all go through life wondering, “What will come next for me?” The thing is that nothing will ever come as a shock to me because I know what will happen next.
Death, for me, isn’t optional. And I have learned to accept that. But when I first learned that I was never going to face death, I began to feel joyful. But now I think it’s a curse. I truly want life to be over. Let’s face it, I have no family left and I never had a family of my own so my family died on its own. When you can’t die or escape this world, you see how living forever can change you and it really isn’t a gift, if you think about it. It’s a curse.
Here Goes Nothing
I opened the gift. It wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was a pocket watch. As I showed the emotion of happiness towards my parents, they knew what I was truly feeling.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Don’t you like the present?” Mom asked.
I hesitated for a moment because I didn’t know how to feel. If I felt happy, then I would be lying about my emotions to my parents. If I felt disgusted by the present, then my parents would think I am a cruel human being who doesn’t care about how important family is by throwing the gift at the ground and crying. But I had a gut feeling that this pocket watch wasn’t safe to use. My gut feeling told me to tell the truth.
“Mom. Dad. I don’t really like this gift. It’s not for me.”
“Oh, okay. Wes, can you tell Jocelyn to come over to take it back?”
“Wait! Actually, I want it back!”
After I exclaimed that to my parents, their faces had the word “proud” written all over. Ever since I possessed the pocket watch, weird things began to happen to me. I began to develop unusual feelings of the body. I never got sick, hurt, or developed strong emotions towards another person. My parents started to question me about how I was feeling at a certain moment and I always responded with an “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” I never really understood why they asked me how I was feeling at every given moment, but on my 21st birthday, my whole life got flipped around.
Chapter Five
The Moment
Fast Forward to 21st birthday
Liam Devlin. That was his name. As you may know I had mixed feelings about him and his state of mind. It turned out he wasn’t such a bad guy. We began to date the day after high school graduation and we continued to date up until my 21st birthday. I’ll tell you what occurred throughout this day. Buckle up because this will be a bumpy ride…
It was the morning of my 21st birthday. My eyes opened to the beautiful view of New York City. I got dressed in a marvelous, green dress which brought out my eyes. The first person I called was Liam. I waited twenty seconds for a response, but I couldn’t hear his voice. I thought maybe this was because of my weird feeling of the body since I got that pocket watch, but it wasn’t. Liam actually forgot my 21st birthday. What a jerk.
I called him three hours later. It was now 12:00. I figured he threw me a surprise party, but I didn’t wake up to ANY surprise. I knew where Liam lived so I figured it was time for me to make a little visit over to his apartment. I drove my Porsche over to his apartment in Manhattan and I rang his doorbell. No answer. I rang his doorbell again. Still no answer. I heard loud volumes of talking in the apartment so I knew something was wrong. I began to knock on his door. No answer. I knocked twice, then three times, then four times, and then five times. STILL NO ANSWER. I tried to call him and no answer. I took the details I knew and put them all together.
1. There is noise coming from inside his apartment
2. He hasn’t answered my calls
3. He hasn’t answered my knocks or ringing of the doorbell
4. He MUST be hiding something that HAS to be SO important on my 21st BIRTHDAY
I used my ninja power to knock his door and I saw him on his couch depressed.
“What is going on?? You haven’t answered my calls or knocks on your door! It’s my 21st birthday for crying out loud! I thought you would be a better boyfriend than this!”
He didn’t answer me. Instead I heard another woman in his apartment answer my questions for him.
“Excuse me? Who do you think you are to come in here and totally interrogate my apartment?”
He didn’t say anything to back me up and I had a feeling why. He was cheating on me this whole time. And the worst part was… his other girlfriend was my… AUNT JOCELYN!
“AUNT JOCELYN?!”
“CECELIA?!”
We both stared at each other in total disgust. Since I had the chance to be face to face with Jocelyn, I wanted to tell her how I really felt.
“AUNT JOCELYN! I don’t know who you are and why you stole my boyfriend, but now that I have the chance to tell you how I really feel, I want to get everything off my chest right now. No ands or buts. Let me speak with no interruptions. Aunt Jocelyn, you have made my life a living nightmare ever since I have received the pocket watch as a gift! It’s some sort of curse because ever since I got that, I felt weird. I haven’t been myself in a long time. My family and EX-BOYFRIEND…”
“EX-BOYFRIEND???” Liam questioned.
“YES, EX-BOYFRIEND! Anyway, my family and ex-boyfriend have asked me plenty of times why I wasn’t feeling myself. I don’t know who you are, but everything is starting to make sense. You probably knew Liam and wanted him to get to know me so you sent him over to my school to stalk me and find more about me. Ever since I met Liam for the first time, he acted so unusual. He knew everything about me and I just met him. It was so weird that he knew my schedule and that we even HAD the same schedule. SUCH A CREEP! You gave me that pocket watch to keep track of time as my life progressed and I don’t know that secret potion or power or I don’t even know what, but I need you to make my life the way it was before! Know that I got that off my chest… LIAM ISAAC DEVLIN! You monster! I thought we had something special. So tell me the truth right now about why you really wanted to get to know me. And don’t dodge curveballs, be honest, and most of all, tell me everything. Don’t leave ANYTHING out of this discussion that is about to happen. And Aunt Jocelyn, please be quiet.”
“Cecelia, I have been waiting for this day to come…” Liam suddenly uttered.
Liam turned away from me and I heard a zip. He turned around and his face was different. Scary even. He was an alien! I was totally surprised and I wanted to run away as soon as possible because anyone that knows me knows I am truly frightened by the idea of extraterrestrials living in space. Liam began to talk in this weird alien voice and said…
“I am actually Rex Neutron from the planet of Auberon. I have come here to do a special report on human being Cecelia Adkins. I have gotten to know Cecelia Adkins just for research. We had nothing special and actually I am a part of my own family. I have a wife and 500 kids of my own. Your Aunt Jocelyn summoned me here to analyze how you live your everyday life. I know this might sound strange, but your Aunt Jocelyn is a special person. I can’t describe it, but she knows to make a person’s life change for the worse or for the better. I used to be Liam Devlin, a normal teenager from the city of Oklahoma. But as soon as I met Jocelyn, we developed feelings for each other at a very young age and as soon as she knew she could be capable of such amazingness, she used it on my as her test subject. She turned me into an alien and she made me go to space to live with my new kind. When she found out that she had a niece, which was you, she summoned me from space to disguise as my old self to go undercover and get to know you. She gave me her pocket watch to place in a special gift box just for you so you could keep track of time progressing throughout your lifetime. But this pocket watch isn’t an ordinary pocket watch, it has powers. Your Aunt Jocelyn placed a special potion onto this pocket watch to give to you. The potion was to make you live forever right when you began to use it. She wanted to see if her potions and special powers worked so as soon as she found out about you, she wanted to have you try this out. She made me deliver this pocket watch to you labeled “from Aunt Jocelyn” and that’s when it all began. I also went undercover in your house. I listened to your parents’ conversations every night and I will tell you everything that they were talking about behind Jocelyn’s back. They questioned who she was and they always complained that she was going to be a bad influence on you, Cecelia Adkins. That’s why they never wanted to tell you about her because then you would hunt her down seeking for unnecessary answers. That’s all you need to know. Oh and you know how you began to develop weird feelings in your body plus you never got sick or hurt? That’s because the potion that Jocelyn tested on you was a “never ending life” potion. So right now you can’t die.”
Oh. My. Gosh. What just happened?!?! I can live forever? This can’t be. To test this theory out, I jumped in front of a car in New York City and I woke up the next day. I woke up with no bumps or bruises. No scratches and most importantly no broken bones. I can actually never die. Wow. I am going to live forever! WOO HOO!
Chapter Six
The End of Something New
So there you have it folks. That’s how I formed into this. A 21 year old who lived forever. I have no one to live with. I have no one to have a life with and I don’t have anything to do in my life besides wonder, “What will I do next?” I guess this is the end of something brand new. No more surprises, no more scares, and no more first experiences of love. I lived through it all. Nothing else will make me live through something I haven’t live through already. The thing is that I can’t trust anyone. Not even my significant others can be trusted. We all go through life wondering, “What will come next for me?” The thing is that nothing will ever come as a shock to me because I know what will happen next.
Death, for me, isn’t optional. And I have learned to accept that. But when I first learned that I was never going to face death, I began to feel joyful. But now I think it’s a curse. I truly want life to be over. Let’s face it, I have no family left and I never had a family of my own so my family died on its own. When you can’t die or escape this world, you see how living forever can change you and it really isn’t a gift, if you think about it. It’s a curse.