So there I sat there, my eyes dilated by the darkness in the Crown Movie Theatre, I felt slightly woozy as if I was going to hyperventilate any minute now. I was sitting next to the hottest guy in the entire school, his arm around my shoulders. I wanted to scream with all my might of my excitement. My stomach seemed to have flipped over when I saw him first.

My throat seemed to have closed up and I couldn’t say a word as if I was stung by a wasp. My palms as wet as they’ve ever been. I looked at him every now and then, but strictly pretended to be paying attention to the movie every time he noticed me looking. I looked at his beautifully shaped face. His nose, so straight and a bit curved at the tip. His big eyes, a deep piercing blue. His hair, a silky brown barely reaching his chin. His jaw bone structure so perfect and his neck so long and delicate. He was the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. So I tried to say something, anything possibly, but I couldn’t. He looked at me, and saw that I felt uncomfortable, even though I tried so hard to hide it. I suddenly took out my phone and Boy, was I happy texting was invented. I wrote “Hey what’s up?” but then forgot he didn’t put his phone on silent. It started ringing informing him that he has a new message. The people behind us shushed us and he laughed. He replied to my message saying “Hey, Nothing, you?” and I smiled. I was so shy around him that I couldn’t even talk to him. He knew it too though, he stayed cool about it. He on the other hand, was shy himself. So I don’t really think he thought I was weird for like texting him or anything. So it when on and on texting, and I started to feel awkward again. The whole thing was started to get pretty funny though because we haven’t almost even one word but we were communicating great through texts. Eventually, the “great” movie had ended and unfortunately if you asked me what the movie was about, I couldn’t tell you anything. So the end of the big date had come to an end as well and it was time to go home. The evening was hot, and humid. The sky was not completely dark but almost there. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were shining bright. A typical summer evening in Chicago. His T-shirt and jeans looked so good on him, it was crazy. I wondered what he was thinking right now. He stared down at me, and finally once in my life a boy had to stare down at me, and being 6 feet tall, that was kind of hard to find. It was an incredible feeling, just having him there, so close to me. I could feel his breathing and every wisp of air from his hot breath went on me, and I knew what was coming. We were so close, and I was so thrilled. So there I stood, just looking to his eyes, and they were such a deep blue and I was so lost in them. So there it was, we were so close. My lips an inch away from his. HONKKK! And there, my dad was, at the wrong time and definitely the wrong moment to pick me up. My heart started to beat. My dad looked furious, his eyes raging with anger. He let go of me, and looked at me one last time, sort of sympathetically like he understood.  We said our goodbyes and we left our separate ways. I couldn’t wait to see him again.

So for our first date, we went to the movies. Everybody was bugging me and always telling me to go out with her, what the heck I’ll be nice and give her a chance. She was okay, I guess. Wow, dude all these chicks are into me now and days, but I can’t help it. So I just sat there and put her arm around her. That is what they do these days, isn’t it? She was like so shy towards me. I wish she talked to me more.

Everyone told me she was a cool person and she was friends with all my friends, so why couldn’t she just talk to me? Oh well, whatever. I probably would have liked her more, though. She kept glancing at me every now and then and she thought I didn’t notice. Truth is, I looked a few times too. But I didn’t want it to show. I let my long hair cover one eye so she wouldn’t notice. She was pretty cute, but she didn’t have to know that. I love playing hard to get with girls. None of them ever realized that because I always acted so shy. I acted shy because I knew chicks dug a guy with a sensitive, shy side to him. Someone that can actually understand what they’re talking about. You just nod occasionally and say helpful things and they all of a sudden find you to be the one they’ve been looking for. Females aren’t stupid, it’s just they let their emotions take over their entire body and basically any guy can be liked by a girl, as long as they knew what to say. Smooth talkers, yeah that’s what it is. Wow, I was having a whole entire conversation with myself. Wow this was really getting annoying that she wasn’t talking or saying anything. I just took a glance and looked at her and read her like a book. She was so nervous, she was boiling inside. All of a sudden she took her phone out and started texting me. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back, those “I understand” smiles, even though I thought it was so weird. I mean who texts their date at the movies when your 3 inches away from each other? No matter how nervous you are, you don’t do that. Just plain weird, I can’t believe she did that. To make matters worse, she texted me and my phone wasn’t on vibrate. It did that little “wind chime” sound and everyone turned around to shush me, and gave me dirty looks. I felt pretty embarrassed, actually. I decided not to overreact, so I calmly put my phone on vibrate and texted her back. It went on for a couple minutes, when I realized the movie was over, and well, I missed the whole thing. I guess I didn’t really care, I got to somewhat talk to her, even though it was through texts. We got out of the movie theatre and it was so hot out. It was time to put this date to an end. Once I thought about it though, it wasn’t too bad. I might even ask her out again. Maybe, I’d have to think about it and this time she’d have to talk. I looked at her when we hugged, and I never noticed her eyes until now. They were a light brown, not too bad at all. I leaned in closer and closer by the second but then I heard a honk, and it kind of startled me. It turned out to be her dad, and well I took my hands off her immediately, because well, her dad was not someone to mess with.

I’m in love with this beautiful girl. Her name is Roxy; no words can describe my love towards her. We have been together for about a year and half. I can’t get enough of her beautiful eyes. She the one for me, I plan to be with her until the end of high school. One day she seem so sad, I wonder what was up with her. I talked to her for hours and I got nothing out of it. Then she said the words I never thought that would come out of her mouth.

She wanted to break up with me. I don’t know why but she did. She had the saddest look in her beautiful green eyes. I looked at her asking why? Why now? Everything from then on seem so weird, I wanted to know why she was breaking up with me. I wanted to stay with her and be with her longer and make her happy. She was the one for me. I didn’t want to keep auguring with her cause I knew that would piss her off. I didn’t want to do anything to make her even worse.

She told me her reasons why she wanted to break up with me. I felt so disgusted with myself; I should have known that was the reason. When she told me how she felt I was so depressed. I knew I did it wrong the first time, but the second time went too far. I cheated on her with both of her best friends, well now their not. I broke her heart, and there was no way to heal it. I lost everything, her trust, her love, and even her forgiveness. I never meant to, and yet I did. She was always away, and I’m a normal guy, I have needs. And well her friend was there, all lonely and she needed a friend. And her other friend, well she my best friend, I think since pre-k. Anyway we have these inside jokes, and they just got out of hand. We both lied to Roxy about it, and tried keeping it away from her. Well she found out about everything, she didn’t to me for days, I don’t think she even talked to her friend either.

I felt so uncomfortable talking to her about everything that happened. She didn’t even want to look at me, it was that bad. I felt like killing myself, I never done something so bad like this. To even the person I loved, and cared. I messed up, and I don’t know how to fix it. I made her cry too many time, and I’m done with it. I thought about leaving her after the first time I cheated, so that I didn’t have to hurt her again. Well I screwed up on that again. Roxy deserves someone better then me, really I would give up anything just to make her happy. We broke up, she needed someone better. And I need to learn my lesson.  We went our separate ways, and we left it to that.

Never thought the day would come when Drake and I had to break up. We been together for almost two years, and everything was great between us, until high school came along.  It took me days to bring up the topic to him. Well let’s just say it wasn’t easy. Sitting on my couch at home, talking to him about high school and how it’s different from Oriole Park. We spent hours talking about what we want in life and other things that we want to be good in, and actually have a future. Drake and I are both different in so many ways, for example, I’m Polish and he is Mexican.

Everything seems wrong when I came to realize that.  Everything was different, out of place. We sat for hours and hours. Now and then I stared at him. Wondering if I can really tell him how I feel. I was laughing on the inside, thinking it was a joke. I felt so uncomfortable with him. It seemed that I was different from him. We were both different people in high school. Maturing changed us.

Sometimes I think if it was for the best, and sometimes I think if it was the wrong thing to do. But now it all doesn’t matter. It’s just that I will never forget the position I was put into. Before, during the time period we were dating everything was going great! It was just magnificent! But things started to tumble when we graduated from elementary school. The things I herd, the things I seen. All horrid. From those things my mind went crazy, I changed, but so did he. I would have never thought in a million years that he would hurt me, emotionally. I trusted him too much I guess. He had cheated on me and yet from then on he had changed from the worse. After the second time, I couldn’t trust him; I couldn’t look or talk to him. I felt so dead inside, I cried for hours in the dark knowing that he hurt me bad. He tried so hard to get me back, but nothing work. Nothing went back to normal. All I think about is how he hurt me, how he screwed me over for my best friend.

I don’t know how many times, someone came up to me asking if I was okay. I wish I had a nickel every time I heard that, I’d be rich by today. Everyone thought he was nuts. Cheating on me twice?! Wow some nerve he had. That made it only worse and more uncomfortable for the both of us to talk to each other. Truly to say, the reason why we couldn’t talk in harmony with each other is that I’d possibly kill the guy! Pshhh, my friends too! They all agreed I should have gotten rid of him then and there when I knew something was wrong with the way he looked at me when he had come over.

Hours past by and finally I just said it. I said it was passion, like I was tired of him. He looked at me with a blank stared. I hurt him pretty bad. But wasn’t that the best? He hurt me so bad, it was only fair. The discomfort from that day is still there between us. But hey I don’t need him; my eyes are open for high school.

Walking thru the halls,<br>

An inspiration it had been.<br>

As all the walls were covered,<br>

Head to toe,<br>

In all different colors.

And in golden,

Sparkling frames,

Were those colors,

Which caught your eye.

And you saw the meaning within,

As you’d look and look,

The colors would transform,

Making a masterpiece at hand.

A picture it made,

That means more,

Than just average.

It was art,

It was modern.

But one,

One which wasn’t in a golden frame,

Mesmerized me.

Its geometrical features amused me,

In a way that any other picture couldn’t.

The white and blue,

The black and red,

Even the yellow piece of the picture

Caught the corner of my eye

As I walked past it.

It was unique,

It was art,

It was modern.

Dream Catcher, by Elise Sieck

Going past one by one<br>

Finding one piece of art <br>

Or even a sculpture <br>

That would catch my eye <br>

Looking around, taking my time <br>

Knowing that I will find something

Finally something caught my eye

Big and green, with a devilish look to it

I thought it looked weird at first

But after awhile as I looked into his eyes

I thought WOW!

What an inspiration it was to me

He gives a look so strong

Like no other sculpture would give

His eyes looking evil

His mouth opened wide

Only a head

Only a figure

Standing there looking eye to eye

Understanding every detail about it

Wondering if I should write about it

But what would I write?

I thought and thought,

And then it hit me!

I had seen carvings in it,

As if it had some resemblance to a dragon.

Chinese definitely.

That’s what I would write about

The inspiration that a Chinese sculpture gives,

The creation of a dream someone once had to have,

The hard work put into it,

The beauty of it,

It was art to me.

I float into a silent place

Where mirrors don’t reflect my face

I am forgotten

Just a shadow lines the walls

My body is numb

My mind is in an endless slumber

Finally free from all the emotions that burden me

Here peace isn’t only found in resting but in living

I am free to roam wherever I desire

My oblivious rest is taken by morning

Sunlight pours down on my face

As I sink back into a conscious place

I slip into my worn out case

The streets are filled with affliction

So despondent with no direction

I long for unawareness from this cold chaotic place

The sun goes to rest for yet another night

I go to live in another place,

Deep off into a dream world of Oblivion.

Every Sunday sinners crowd into my home

Like sheep

I listen to the sound of pages of Bibles turning

They come to me for answers

“What is God?”

questioning eternal truths

I choose my victims

Characterized by rolling eyes

Laughter, disbelief, and informality

I silence skeptics

I cut off their tongues

And saw off their limbs

I make a cross from their bones

I criss-cross the bones

And bind them with their tongues

I dig graves in my backyard

Where I place the remains of sinners

I enclose them in a tomb of dirt and worms

I come each day to their graves

And pray to icons of my savior

“rest, soul, within the earth

to return to lands predestined from birth

to free yourself from sin and begin

a life without the constraints of the physical world

upward and above

your soul to be carried by the blessed dove

where all know nothing but love”

On My Way to You, By Labebi Abukatab

Darkness blinds me as the wind blows through my hair.

The wind pushes leaves forward giving me direction.

I can smell your scent in the air and I can almost feel your presence here.

I need your protection so I walk on.

The silence makes me pace faster to hear your voice.

Sounds of my footsteps make me paranoid.

“Are you out there?” I ask but not a sound comes.

We are at different ends but I know we’re still in the same world so I listen.

The trees are taunting my every thought.

Their branches are moving slowly against my back.

They laugh and tell me “You’re not strong enough, you’ll never make it.”

But I can hear you in my mind telling me I am.

The night is so cold that my body turns blue.

The sidewalk leads me closer to you.

A crack in the sidewalk betrays me and I fall.

My feet are blistered, but seeing your face gives me hope so I stand.

My heartbeat slows as I see your face.

I can see you in the light I call home.

This warm feeling of protection starts to shine.

On my way to you I found my strength.

I live day by day

I find enjoyment in the simplest things

With every breath my mind grows clearer

With every morning my spirit glows brighter

Now I sit on the dewy grass

Happy with my surroundings

The breeze tickles my face

The grass sways in unison

I can feel the sunshine

Upon my crossed legs and relaxed arms

It warms my soul

Every muscle untangles

Through my closed eyes I see the world

I become part of its nature

Growing from a seed in the cold, dark ground

My body rises and breaks through the soil

My physique is now a beautiful, tall, strong sunflower

The sun grazes my yellow petals

I grow towards the sun and sway in the wind

Being part of nature is a beautiful feeling

Nothing else matters

Nothing else can touch my spirit

Slowly the image fades

Gradually reality comes

Even as all reality flows back

Even as all pollutants return

The world looks more radiant

I feel more serene

As fairies come together<br>

The four elements are gathered<br>

The energy is one<br>

And the magic begun<br>

<br>

Fairies dance in the air<br>

Making circles round and round<br>

Luring the gods and goddesses<br>

To change the fate of skies<br>

Chanting<br>

“Earth, Wind, Water, Fire,<br>

Spirits, bring me my desire<br>

And lend me your power<br>

To change the season from winter to summer”<br>

<br>

The earth rotates the opposite way<br>

Spinning faster and faster<br>

The seasons change <br>

Creating earthquakes <br>

Roads vibrate open <br>

<br>

From cold to warm<br>

From snow to water<br>

From a bud to a flower<br>

From sun set to sun up<br>

From winter to summer

It was a long time ago that I realized I was different than my fellow classmates. I always got what I wanted. My life was pretty easy going growing up. It annoyed me sometimes that everything around me was so simple.
I would have been so bored if I didn’t know how to play around with my abilities. Sometimes at night I lift myself off the ground and set myself on top of the roof of my house. I enjoy launching into space above my town. I usually take the direction of the Milky Way. The chocolaty clusters are delicious. I also enjoy taking naps in the clouds. The snowy cushion puts me right to sleep.

I’m not an antisocial freak but I usually keep to myself. The silliness and immaturity of people my age irritates me. That’s why when I met this guy in the Cream&Sugar Café I wasn’t very thrilled. He was getting a mocha cappuccino. I was getting my caramel latte. The retarded girl making our coffee switched them and gave me his horrible tasting mint-chocolate mocha. He found it to be amazingly revolting. As I spit it in his face he asked me for my number. I couldn’t say no, I decided, as coffee dripped down his face.

“Emily, it’s for you!” my mom called out from the kitchen in an exciting tone. My mom isn’t used to me going out with guys or anyone even calling me as a matter of fact. I don’t need anyone entertaining me.

I took the phone to my room and picked up. There’s no need for my mom to feel disappointed at me for telling him off.

A masculine voice answered. “Hey, Emily?”
“Yeah, who is this?” I pretended not to know.
“I’m the guy from Cream&Sugar whose face you spit into this morning. I was wandering if we could go out maybe. Are you doing anything tonight?”

Just when I was about to reject the offer I overheard my mom telling my little sister we were having a family movie night this evening. I automatically agreed and asked him where we were meeting. He insisted on picking me up, but I got a bit nauseous when I imagined being a passenger in a trashy car he would most likely be driving, and rejected his offer.

As I walked out the door to meet him I used my “special powers” to put on some clothes. I used my magical mist to spray on perfume. I will play a little. I’m starting to feel bad for him already.

As I neared the ice cream parlor where we chose to meet I noticed the most amazing creature walking on two feet. He was standing there. It looked like the guy I’ve seen earlier this morning, but something changed about him. He looked stunning. The muscular shape stood there waiting for me.

Wow. I’m not used to being awe struck by the opposite sex. Guys never seem to meet my expectations. Eric was definitely an exception.

I automatically changed my makeup in order to look even better than my original sexy self. Good thing I can do that, otherwise I wouldn’t have been very happy with myself. I would have called it disastrous.

As we sat at the park I stared into his eyes. I accidentally brushed his muscular arm with my palm. He seemed unreal. Could it be possible that this guy was more magical than my special abilities?

As he walked me home I realized we were floating on a cloud. This could not be happening. There’s never been a time before that I couldn’t control my powers.

Eric noticed my tenseness. “Don’t worry, I already know your secret Emily.” At that moment the sexiest man alive flew into a stop sign. “I know magic too,” he mumbled out as he laid on the ground. I leaned down to kiss him. It was the first real kiss that I ever had. There was nothing but us and the rainbow of colors bouncing around in my head. Afterward I felt dizzy and higher then I could have ever flown.

When I returned home I realized that I should give all people a chance. Not all people are as bad as I thought. Thank the highest superpower that I met him when I did.

In a moderate home in a small place called Wells Town, lived a fifteen, almost sixteen year old girl named Destiny. Destiny was a small girl, only reaching 5’2 with pale skin that practically glowed in the night. Her hair was midnight black and had dark brown eyes that turned black when she got very emotional. People in the town would call her beautiful but since she wasn’t social, everybody ignored her most of the time.

Destiny wasn’t a part of the popular people and was mostly known as “coffee girl” as she worked in the local café. People would call out just so she can get them a cup of coffee. Destiny went to Wells High, home of the Owls, and her best friend was Tommy Act. Tommy Act was said to be the town’s future actor. He was gaining popularity with each play, and was unknowingly drifting away from Destiny. Other than Tommy Act, Destiny had no friends. She was the loner of Wells High, and lived life in the shadows.

The alarm clock rang in the small but comfy room. There was a bed, a drawer, and a nightstand. On the bed was Destiny, her hand looking for the alarm clock. When Destiny’s hand found the alarm clock, it flung across the room. Destiny woke up with a jump, and saw that her alarm clock was broken. She looked around wondering what happened. She grabbed her beat-up cell phone and saw that it was seven forty-five.

She yelled “Damn, I’m going to be late for school.” She changed her clothes in a second and rushed out of her room. She passed the kitchen when she heard her mom. Her mom yelled out “Honey, I’m not going to be home today, so make something for yourself.” Destiny stopped walking and went into the kitchen. She analyzed her mother and only one thought came to her mind, they didn’t look anything alike. Destiny’s mother had long beautiful brown hair and hazel-honey eyes. Destiny’s mother was not married, so she dated many men. Most of the men were a little scared of Destiny, so Claire wasn’t very fond of her only daughter.

“Mom, you went out last night, why can’t you stay today?” asked Destiny.
Claire brushed away the unspoken comment “I have to work overtime sweetie, you understand.” Destiny became furious by the fact that her mother did not want to stay home, her eyes became darker, and she yelled “No, I don’t understand why you can’t stay home. You never work overtime, unless you’re getting paid for sleeping with your boss; so why can’t you stay home!” Her mother stood up, and pointed her finger at Destiny “You show me some respect Destiny Black!” Destiny grabbed her backpack, walked to the door, said in a quiet voice, “I only show respect to a mother who will love me,” and walked out.

Destiny slammed the door, checked her cell phone, and groaned when she saw the time. She was missing almost all of first period. She began walking faster, her moods were calming down, and her eyes were turning back into dark brown. Destiny saw Tommy with the usual drama people, and decided to surprise him. As she was walking quietly and slowly, she heard their conversations. One girl was saying “Tommy, you’re like the best actor in the whole world.” Tommy chuckled and said “I know, I know.” Then a guy spoke up in an arrogant tone “Yeah, do you know that you won’t get anywhere hanging out with her.” Tommy looked at him innocently but sarcastically “Tell me who, James.” James smiled and only said one word “Black.” Everyone turned their heads; James smirked as he saw Tommy look down. Tommy took a deep breath and said quietly “Everyone knows that I only hang out with her because I pity her.” James shrugged while everyone began talking. No one noticed that Destiny was spying on them.

Destiny was frozen, and tears were coming out of her dark brown eyes. She stood that way until she finally realized that the drama people, including Tommy, had left. She continued walking to school. When she got there, the security guard, chuckled and said “Late again Black.” Destiny just shrugged her shoulders and went up to her second period. When she got to her class, the teacher just looked at her and told her to sit. Destiny usually sat with Tommy, since they both had the same class, but today she sat in the empty seat that was in the front of the class. She looked at Tommy and he patted the empty seat, smiling like nothing was wrong. Destiny showed no emotion and looked away. The bell rang and Destiny rolled her eyes, she could have taken longer coming to school if she knew that class would have been over soon. As she left the room she heard Tommy call out “Hey Des, wait up!”

Destiny ignored him and continued walking to her next class. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and the voice said, “Hey didn’t you hear me? Well anyway why were you late? We could have walked to school together.” Destiny brushed his hand off, ignored him, and continued walking. Tommy looked confused for a second then saw that she was heading towards the stairs. He ran up to her and said, “Destiny what’s your problem? Did you get into a fight with your mom again?” Destiny wanted to cry at that moment. Tommy knew everything about her, so how could he hurt her so much? She took a deep breath and muttered, “Leave me alone.” Then she ran up the stairs, not wanting to talk to Tommy anymore. She heard Tommy come up and follow her, and she hid behind the gym door. Destiny knew that this was a horrible hiding place, and in her head she just kept on chanting, “Please don’t find me, please don’t find me.” Tommy looked around, looked right at her, but continued walking. Destiny was confused, why would Tommy not say something? She looked at her hands and realized that they were not there. She closed her eyes and opened them very slowly. She looked down again, and saw her pale hands.

Destiny stared at her hands with confusion. She remembered the thing with the alarm clock, her hand barely touched it, and it flung across the room. Destiny pondered these things until she heard the bell ring, and cursed knowing that she was late to her next class.

In a dark lonely room

Far in the back

There is a little girl

With an old burnt book in the middle

Candles and spirits surrounding her

The spirits know she is not be alone

She knows many spirits

But she can’t make them talk to her yet

They won’t tell her the truth

They won’t tell her they know about the heartbreak,

and the lies about her father’s death.

And yet nothing

But she can’t get them to speak

She knows what she is doing

She knows how to talk to spirits

She’s trying to talk to one spirit

Her dad

He has been dead for 3 years now

She feels guilty

Before her father died

She refused to talk to him

Before her father died

She got an F on her math test, and he was very upset

They argued and she hung up

She had it with him

Life had had it with him.

But she can’t get hold the one she loves

She looks at her book

She reads every line

She says it six times

“The power between two people

Come together as one”

He will never come

Reporters from all around the world came to see  what was left of the Skokie River. People watched the news, some of them couldn’t believe what had happened, others didn’t care. “It was just a river,” they said. Crowds had gathered by the huge, brown, muddy hole in the ground that was once called the Skokie River. You could even see some scientists studying the dead fish and leftover plants and rocks and garbage. The reason that the river dried up is still unknown. Although some scientists think this was an affect of global warming.

Let’s go back in time when the river still had its water in it. The river had a large population of fish and birds back then. Now let’s go even farther back; the time where nobody knew about the river.

“I’m tired, are we there yet?” asked the small child.

The mother and the father, looking exhausted, didn’t respond.

The child started crying. The Native Americans had been traveling for three days, they ran out of food and water. They were looking for a right place to put out their tent. They felt like they were walking in the desert. Suddenly the little child fainted and fell. The father picked up the child and decided they would have to put out their tent. They put out their tent by a bush. It was evening and the father looked closely at the bush. Than he came inside the tent and told his wife,

“There is a bush outside this tent.”

The wife looked at him confused. So he went on “The bush has poisoned berries…” His wife still didn’t understand what his point was. “Can’t you see we are suffering? We should just eat the berries and end it here. We’ll never survive, who knows how long until we find food and water?” he said calmly and hopelessly.

The wife’s eyes got wide and she shook her head. “No, we cannot do that. I don’t want us to die. We can do this, we can survive.”

The furious husband ignored her.

In the middle of the night, the husband woke up the wife. “Look, there’s a deadly scorpion there, lets not suffer anymore!” he whispered.

“No, have some hope!” the wife said.

“I can’t do this anymore, I swear” he answered.

The frightened wife kept herself from panicking. She made up her mind.

“We will compromise, if we don’t find food or water by the time the sun goes down tomorrow, we…” she broke off with tears running down her cheeks. They went to sleep, or at least they tried falling asleep.

The next day the Native family began their journey again. The wife was watching out very carefully for any signs of shelter, food or water. She was trying not to lose hope and she was trying not to think about what would happen if they wouldn’t find anything. They have been walking the whole day and they were exhausted. The child however was more energetic and was skipping in front of them. The sun was coming down, and both of the parents were worried. They were carried away by their thoughts that they didn’t notice their child wasn’t in front of them anymore. When they finally snapped and realized their child was missing they got a lot more energy. They started to run as fast as they could, calling their child’s name. They suddenly stopped on the top of the hill, and as they looked down they saw their child drinking water from the river. RIVER! They rushed to hug their child and kill their thirst by drinking water. They decided to name the river “Skokie” meaning “hope” in their native language.

A couple hundreds of years later and the river had dried up. For some people it was just a river. For others it was a river of hope and life.

(Skokie doesn’t really mean hope. I made that up.)

I wait for you all night

My porch lit by candlelight

A slight essence of burning incense lingers

I’ve devoted my time to you

I wait for you a second night

I take off my pearl necklace, high-heeled shoes

And light a cigarette

The ashes settle in my lungs and leave me with a cough

I wait for you a third night

I haven’t washed my hair in days

Empty wine bottles surround my porch swing

Candle wax hardens on the wood steps

I wait for you a fourth night

I collect three buckets of tears

But today, I am so far beyond desolation

I am unable to cry

I wait for you a fifth night

My vision has blurred

I lack balance

Insomnia has left me floating

I wait for you a sixth night

My lips are dry, cracked, and bleeding

My ribs poke out of my body

My eyes are bloodshot and filled with puss

I wait for you an entire week

Exactly where you promised to be

You said in my dreams

“Darling, it’s time. I’ll come for you.”

I see you tonight

You are pale and dressed in black

You take my hand

And we walk into the black of night

Ring. Smack. Yawn. Jody woke up and started her daily routine. She stood up and walked up to her window as the chilly morning breeze cooled down her warm body. She watched the sun rise and the Earth waking up from the darkness of the night. As the sun rays grew stronger, the blue flowers began to unfold, followed by pink, then  yellow, and the rest of the meadow welcomed Jody into the new day.

Spider Island was Jody’s favorite summer place. Although it was nothing but a piece of land surrounded by swamp, she liked to believe that it was her asylum; her private island. She built a tree-house in one of the strongest and oldest trees when she was little, and every time she visited her relatives, she always slept in her fortress.

Though the significance of the Spider Island has always been a mystery to Jody’s relatives (and it remained a mystery), to Jody, Spider Island was her entire memory. It is here that she learned about beauty and pain, ease and hardship, importance and triviality.

As Jody laid in her bed once again, she stared at the carved lightening in the ceiling of her room. She remembered exactly how it happened.

“What are you doing?” Young Jody exclaimed when she was ten years old.

“Drawing life,” replied Sasha.

“No you’re not! Silly, it’s lightening!” Jody exclaimed excitedly.

“No, it’s life. It begins in a single collision of two powerful beings. It grows its roots from their intense passion. It progresses slowly showing its majesty and importance to the world around it. Once it fully develops it has many options but can only choose one to make its destiny. It can brighten a day, contribute to survival, bring a smile, or bring terror, destruction, and death. But no matter which one it picks, its presence will be noticed, its contributions accepted, and the lives it’ll touch changed forever. See? We all are little lightening, awaiting our final day and record in the books of humanity. No life is too trivial or too important. No life can be left out; no one can be forgotten. We all are powerful. We all can make or break this world.”

And with the same awestruck stare that she looked at Sasha, Jody once again stared at the lightening remembering the day it took Sasha away.

I sat in the dirt

My back one with the tree bark

Watching the great spectacle

Just as I did every night

With a kiss of cold air

The day turned to evening

The birds tuned their song

To the melancholy voice of the Carillon

A gentle breeze

Lifted leaves off of the ground

They traveled to the sky

The black corner of the earth

I had a candle in my hands

Just as I did every other night

The wax had melted

And drooped down my fingers

The bells rang an eerie melody

A stronger gust of wind

Blew out my candle

And caressed the skin on my neck

The tulips and daffodils

Danced to the wind in the dark of night

The grass no longer stood upright

The trees leaned towards the water

The desolate sounds

Of the Carillon called to me

The wind directed me

Alongside a path of lilies and orchids

And into the swamp

The weeds and moss entangled my feet

They grew along the side of my legs

And reached my neck in a strong grasp

I was unable to move

The leaves danced atop my body

My feet grew roots into the soil

I bent towards the water

And became one with the garden

As I opened my eyes this morning I couldn’t see. I couldn’t see for a while. I couldn’t see until I shut my eyes again. Then I saw images. Of the past. Of the present. Of the future. I saw a big, fat, red creature lying in the arms of a tired woman. I saw a skinny, bony monster crawling on the floor trying to get up. I saw a sad little girl playing in the corner all by herself. I saw the frightened stare of that same girl as she saw her blood for the first time. She never stopped bleeding since.

Jody Sawyer was not your typical stereotyped being. Quite frankly she couldn’t be stereotyped at all. I guess you could call her “it,” since she wasn’t even what many would classify as a person.

Jody spent most of her time being abandoned, unfulfilled, hungry of acceptance. There were days when she felt as though the entire world was crashing in on her. But she kept it quiet. Secret. As though not bringing those faults and mistakes into the broad daylight would protect the earth, and preserve the innocence of the other fat, red creatures.

Jody never sought compassion; she saw it as charity. If there was one thing she hated more than anything in the world, it was charity. She found it degrading, humiliating, and shameful.

Dear Sanity,

I wanted to silence you today. Silence you for good. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t touch you. I couldn’t even come close to you. I wanted to hurt you so bad. I wanted you to feel that same pain that you force me to endure. I wanted to scream in your ear the way you scream into mine. I wanted to shut you out. I wanted to destroy you. But you didn’t let me. You only screamed louder, and louder, and louder, until your scream turned into a shriek so unbearable, that I finally couldn’t hear at all. And then there was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

It was that dark, rainy, and mournful afternoon that made Jody so happy that she couldn’t help but cry. Cry as she looked around and saw a broken apartment building, a dirty mattress, and a pile of snow-white clothes lying on the ground. It was during a day just like today that she discovered this apartment building with a key in the door. She decided to live in it. She turned 16 that night, and it was one of the happiest and frightful nights of her life; she was happy she no longer had to sleep in the cars that someone forgot to lock, but she was scared that the owners of the apartment would come back and call the police.

She remembered her first tour around the apartment. It was a tiny studio with one room, a bathroom, and storage. There was no kitchen; there was nothing. All that she found was a big box in the middle of the room. It was a plastic box measuring 6 feet by 5 feet. It was in this box that she piled a few blankets and made her very first bed. She found a few bricks in the courtyard, and she made her school desk and a chair out of. There was no toilet in the apartment. There was just a hole that she covered with a metal sheet so that the smell didn’t wake her up at night. In a way she was happy that there was no water in the apartment because that way there would be no bills. That way no body had proof she existed.

Dear Sanity,

“I just don’t feel the way I used to” was all he said. Nothing more. Nothing less. And as I stood there, in the middle of the hallway, broken, torn apart I cried. And I cried more. And I cried so much I felt sick. I wondered just how much longer I could cry. I screamed inside. I screamed so loud that everyone turned around staring. But I just sat down. In the middle of nowhere. I sat and cried. Because that was all I could do. My heart was torn from out of my heart, with such brutal force that I couldn’t breathe. I sat there, in the middle of nowhere, heartless, screaming with tears falling down my cheeks, choking me. And I didn’t know how much longer I could go on. All I knew was that it hurt; it hurt a lot. It hurt so much that I felt like I could never get up again. But then again. People always leave.

Jody found herself in a new country just a few years ago, but it wasn’t the move that mode her lonely. It’s the constant disappointment. Whichever way she looked, there was nothing. Always nothing. She dug holes in the ground in search of warmth; she tried clothes on in stores in search of that embrace. But everything she came into contact with didn’t offer any more protection than an abandoned brick lying on the ground.

Every night, before falling asleep she prayed. She prayed for peace, she prayed for unreachable love, she prayed for someone who’d take care of her and offer her warmth that would dry all of her tears and mend her broken heart. But her every prayer ended with “but not mine, but Thy will be done,” and it always just so happened that His will was different from hers. Until one day.

She could’ve sworn that it was the coldest day in her life. She was walking home. He was going towards his car. They started to speak. They said nothing. She walked away. He drove home. Ever since that moment she knew she found something special. She continued seeing him every day. Until one day, when they finally spoke.

Dear Sanity,

I saw him today again and it tore my heart. All I asked was for a few days of serenity. A few days of loneliness. But all I received was a hug and a meaningless kiss. And when he held me, I wanted to stay in his arms forever. And he held me closer and closer, until I gave in again. Then I asked him if there was someone else, and he said he did not know. I asked him once again, and he said yes. And I wanted to scream that very second. Like a tiger I wanted to rip his heart out of his chest the way he destroyed mine. I wanted to tell him to get out of my face. But I couldn’t. Fairy tales don’t exist. There are no happy endings.</td>

Jody was walking home with her eyes closed. She loved the feeling of the cool breeze on her face. She stumbled once or twice, but she boldly moved on as though she was practicing how to move through life. Suddenly, as she opened her eyes, she saw him again. Seth was standing to her left, so still and solitary. She wanted to walk up to him and console him, but then she realized that he was looking at her. She panicked. Not knowing where to hide she continued walking, not looking at him, hoping that if she does not make eye contact, he’ll never speak to her and they’ll remain but a distant hope in her mind.

“So I guess you’ll never say hi, huh?” she heard a boy say.

She looked up, smiled, and walked up to him.

“Hey. What’s up,” she replied.

“I’m Seth,” he said. She said nothing. “Listen, do you need a ride home?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied. “Plus, you have enough people to drive home,” she said as she looked around and saw a crowd of people around them.

Then she walked away. No goodbye. No hug. No final look. She hurried home, with her eyes closed, pretending that he’s already there waiting for her to open the door and welcome them into their home.

Dear Sanity,

I don’t know what to do with myself. I try to break free. I try not to care. But I cannot. I cannot just pretend it never happened. I cannot pretend that his smile does not warm up my heart; I cannot pretend that his touch doesn’t melt my soul. But I can pretend that I’m happy. I can pretend that it doesn’t bother me. I can pretend that seeing him walk away is what I want. I can pretend that I’m happy without him.

As Jody walked into the apartment, she felt the solitude and emptiness of the rooms. They were lonely and dark, almost abandoned. She felt as though her apartment was a direct reflection of her soul. She fell onto her bed. It was cold, distant. She sat upright and looked around. Everything seemed so familiar but nothing made sense.

She closed her eyes. She prayed she could go to sleep but she couldn’t. The image of the tall boy with a smile that touched her was all that she could see. It was him that she felt, and it was him that she was missing.

When Jody woke up the next morning she realized it was a Saturday and that she promised her friend she’d go to a party with her. It was there that she met Tom. As her friends offered her drinks, she chugged them as if they were lemonade. Suddenly she was confronted by her friends. The hungry looks of men; the spiteful looks of women. What no one knew, was that in reality she was filling up her emptiness with the liquor that only further emptied her and slowly broke her barriers. As she emptied her 16th shot, Tom walked up to her. She knew what he wanted, and he knew that she knew also. She felt sick and went to the bathroom. He followed her and locked the door behind her. She started throwing up. She emptied my stomach in about 15 seconds, and started crying suddenly. The precious liquid took away her barriers, but not her sanity. She cried over her screwed up life, complained about her empty heart, criticized her loneliness and softly sobbed “I just want to be loved.”

Jody realized that as she was lying on the floor broken, Tom went through a rapid change too. His intentions changed, and he was suddenly filled with care and understanding. He sat next to her and held her.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered.

“Even a stranger on a street could sometimes use a friend.”

And she believed him.

Dear Sanity,

I can’t do this anymore. I want to say goodbye. His attitude is murdering me. His cold stare is ripping my heart apart. “There’s someone else” is all that I can think of. There’s someone else. I try to keep my cool. Try to pretend that I don’t need him. That he doesn’t matter. But I can’t. Looking at him makes me want to throw my arms around him and tell him how much I love him and how much I wish he’d come back. But I can’t. All I can do is just stand there and look at him with heart full of hope, and eyes full of misery. “Look into my eyes and you’ll see me; Look into my heart and you’ll see you”

The weather outside was frightful. She strolled to school without an umbrella. She never had an umbrella. As she paced through the hallways of the school, she saw many smiling faces, but none of them were of any consolation to her. They all seemed without a substance; without a cause.

She wandered the hallways looking for a purpose. She found none. Until she walked into her art class in which she fondly informed that not only was her art period changed, but so was her lunch period. Another change in her life, as though living in an abandoned apartment with virtually no friends wasn’t enough.

Jody boldly stepped into her new lunch period and looked around. “Great. Not a single person I know. Well, all I have to do is go to my counselor and have it changed back. Not a big deal” she thought. Suddenly her heart stopped as she saw Seth. His tall and superlative figure dominated the room as his radiant smile ensured his position, and in that instant all of her thoughts of changing her lunch period vanished. She sat down so that he wouldn’t notice she was alone. She buried her face behind her books as she watched him curiously.

Minutes passed while she watched his smile appear and disappear every three seconds. As he smiled, she smiled too. She talked to herself, pretending that his moving lips were sending a reply to her. She looked up at the clock and realized it was almost time to go. She looked back at Seth, but he was gone.

“Looking for someone?” she heard.

“Uhh,” was all that she could stutter as Seth sat in front of her.

“I noticed you sitting here. Why is it that I’ve never seen you here before?” He asked

“Oh, I just got switched to this lunch period. I was actually looking for new lunch buddies,” she replied. She never meant to say it. Her heart raced. Was he going to say the words that she longed to hear?

“You want to sit with us? You seem so lonely,” Seth said smiling. He stood up, took her backpack, and started walking. She followed him. As they came closer to the lunch table, she was introduced to all of the members. Their warm welcome made her comfortable, his untainted touch made her feel at home.

A static noise enters my ears

It travels throughout my body

And to the tips of my fingers

As I write

Iridescent notes suspend in my brain

They linger, but fall suddenly

It is an eruption of sound

Like a glass shattering

Into a thousand pieces

That glitter in the moonlit night

Yet it is rhythmic like an ocean tide

It sings along to the beat of my heart

Then stops, but never too abruptly

An aesthetic voice teases me

So faint, almost a whisper at times

At others so loud and certain

I leave my doubts behind

The echoing maelstrom of sound resonates

It rises, climbs mountains

Then gives in

To the downward flow of a waterfall

An enigmatic sound, but so pure

Becomes prevalent

It is sharp like the needle of a syringe

Without ever piercing my skin

But sweetly dancing with the rhythmic beat

A gentle chaos of diverse sounds embraces me

They all conform into an impeccable melody

An unbearable desolation encompasses me

It falls deep into my heart

Yet so solemn that I remain serene

I lay still, unmoving, unable, for this one song.

Sunlight wakes my eyes

So sharp, bright, pure

The air lifts me off the ground

I travel above the trees

Above people, buildings, landscapes

Above all worry, repetition, loneliness

I fly with the birds

In a whirlwind through the sky

Then, the wind shifts and I fall

Towards frozen snow, I fall

I hit the ground with a thud

My bones crack, break,

And pierce through my skin and organs

I dig my fingers into ice and crawl

I am too numb to feel

My fingers bleed

Tiny particles descend from the sky

They are caught for a mere moment

Then melt into my skin

My body concedes all will to fight

At sight of the falling snow

Serenity encompasses my frame.

All throughout my body I lack feeling

Emotions of anguish have left me

My coffin of snow consoles me.

It was the beginning of the universe and Creptor the Creator was essential matter, the essential component. It lurked around in the universe knowing or not knowing that this genderless creator held the power, held the creating key.
Through this blackness space waiting to be filled, colors formed with hues and saturation that would shape the coming minds and different intelligent factors. A future creature will be waiting to learn the distinctive five senses which will be essential in that individual’s life.

…And first there was power given, authority, and strength, which was never strongly
opposed; instead it had caused the result of bliss domination. For this one, this only one could do anything and everything.

As tranquil thoughts filled the air, Creptor the Creator of Evolution said to itself in a strong confident female and male tone, “What have I created?” In a tone that any one could hear, except known to him what surrounded him was absence with deep darkness.

I have known all along who had done this. Creation is what has been created. The first, the very first. I am the only one, sadly enough I can not know how I got here, known to me I had composed myself, my own space, I am my own matters and am the first to matter. No one can document this except, I. No one can do this except, I. I am me and me, myself, and I are very strong indeed. No one can mess with me for there is no one else here. I am a woman and I am a man. And tranquil thoughts as these would fill empty spaces. It was empty spaced like these that would soon be filled, for they would have their fill, a pleasurable fill. It was because it was the only one, I am the first one. No one could know where it came from yet. It was neither the time nor space to know. All that can be told is what has been fulfilled.

The creator prospered throughout this individual space, which no one could tell. This creator had no specific gender that was able to take shape. This individual had been the one transformed from the mist of the explosion and processed. How this one never had the chance, not ever the moment but yet had all the moments in the world. And because of these moments they were able to make all the changes in the world. Little by little, as it continuously prevailed. It was forceful fate; this one was chosen because of the presence that had occurred with its involvement.

What has once been foreign had come. Objects from the start that had their own way because of Creptor the Creator of Evolution; neither male nor female; with all the brains yet no brains.

Creptor the Creator of Evolution lurked through the valleys with its trench coat called Mafia. The continued mystical magic and mayhem engaged the vows that would use the force. Creptor the Creator did not know its tantalizing and powerful force.

This force would create what would be yet to come for civilizations of Homo Sapiens. This would occur on April 14th; a Saturday where a group of super-qualified teens would take over a place called the Botanic Gardens for they were the definition of the outdoor classroom. They were undercover scientists with two professors who with them checked and surveyed the land in progression from wolves, moles, and fleeing and squirming mushrooms. All the scientists wore black outfits and black speckled boxed goggles.

Aboard their yellow submarines they had taken with them instruments such as a stethoscope, which enabled them to predict the ground heart temperature and a thermometer, which measured the size of the land. They also had with them dish washing liquid with two of the gentlest elements: arsenic and plutonium. This helped clean the water of poisonous chemicals and was very healthy for the fish. No wonder when they first were exposed to this they came right to the top, screaming in fishaneski that they wanted more. The scientists didn’t want them to be so repulsive about it so they gave them their fill, which was more of this special feed. This way they would continue to be pacified and always thrived to float to the top.

The 22 scientists did a great job of restoring peace and tranquility in this land.
Every thing here seemed so robotic once before but the Botanic Gardens was the perfect name.

In this land, known as the Botanic Gardens a team of two scientists, Evelyn and Kevin went out in their visible black outfits and black speckled goggles. These outfits were exposed to all of the surrounding inhabitants. They all gazed and awed in amazement at their custom made outfits. The two scientists were proud that they could give them something so special to look at because they are so great, but they had to get on with their mission for they were in search of the images. The images that Creptor had installed in their brains and in their bleeding hearts since the day of their birth. Little did they know that Creptor the Creator had sent them both to capture images that would be able for thousands of people all over the universe to see in a wondrous puzzling amazement.

They would have to think – could this really exist in this dimension? Of course the answer would be a humble yes. But before this would come to pass the scientists, Evelyn and Kevin had to go on their comprehensive search, for this outdoor classroom was in competition. These two scientists one by one snapped shots working as a singular unit. They shot pictures that could be aimlessly and randomly heard all over the universe. The shots they produced captured a daring bold definition with exceeding highlights of their images. Each was more perfect and more studious then the last.

Walking at a sophisticated sciencey pace the two scientists created more new convenient paths, which led straight into the water. They continued to also make curvature paths and then took pictures of this.

At 2:33, Evelyn and Kevin had uncovered what had once been a hay wired legend. They went out on their journey to uncover more truth about the Botanic Gardens and eyed their competitors, reading and scanning their minds for they had learned this strategic capability back in their school. After this had been figured out they had found that the opposing team did not know much. Evelyn and Kevin exchanged glances and walked the path further and using their telepathic skills found skin of a Bonsai tree, which led directly to the Bonsai. They nursed it back to health and thought about who could be so cruel to tamper and taint a poor Bonsai tree that held the power of creating money. It was true that money did grow on trees but the trees had to be of the smallest sort. They desperately needed the sufficient funds anyhow.

To their amazement when they had finished nursing the Bonsai tree and gave it Mineral Water to quench the thirst of the mahogany glazed roots. It spoke and told them that its name was Ginger.

“It’s a girl,” they both exclaimed and then listened in their authentic style with their scientific human ears to uncover the truth about what she would say. Evelyn took notes for she would become a journalist and an artist one day in the near future and also snapped images with Kevin, which would result in, continued completed photos of high efficient quality and paying attention to details with consistency. Ginger told them that a destructive mole holding a guitar impacted with squished asparagus and sassafras grass had caused this chaos. Ginger explained that the mole torpedoed the guitar with its clenching fits and swung it at her and tried to steal the cash flow that was growing inside her which would soon sprout. The mole had then scurried away terrified and dug a hole with her guitar and squished asparagus and sassafras grass. Ginger continued to thank Evelyn and Kevin for their good deeds and gave them the cash flow that they needed to pay off their scientific school debt. They both thanked Ginger, the Bonsai tree and were amazed that they would still have money left over after calculating their expenses with the automatic calculator installed in the camera.

They gathered the equipment and walked in the way that they came which was now up the trail. Suddenly a bird flew over their head and spoke to them.

Kevin said, “Look at that, he’s speaking French.”

But alas alas it was not French at all, it was a rare dialect of Portuguese which this Bird spoke. The Bird flew away and they both experienced a head banging moment of self-indulgence. This was common for scientists of this prototype, especially since they were part of the Outdoor Classroom League for they were private undercover scientists. Evelyn slurred her words and Kevin slurped his tongue. This was part of the secret code #894.

After this, they reflected on what they had discovered and kept this secret to themselves. This day had showed them a lot about nature and of what a more perfect place this had become better than a decrepit yet intrepid wolf with the color of cobra chaos written on the side of his forehead in a most elegant manuscript. This day was made possible by Creptor the Creator who would forever more change the lives of scientists in black outfits and black speckled boxed goggles everywhere, such as Evelyn and Kevin.

Ablaze, ablaze… what was ablaze? How did you pronounce it? How was it spelled? What was it really? How could this be perceived? This is what the people of the world would come to ask. About this as well as other questions, for they would develop at first in the beginning an indecisive not yet known process. This was because Creptor the Creator did not want them to advance so quickly, he wanted them to wait until they were ripe, so to speak. Then those clutching question with an utmost containment of contamination could be spilled in gel like capsules could be answered in harmony. Then they would receive their glorious fill, for then it would truly be their time. This Creptor knew, but it would take them a while to consume this process and many trial and error cases would occur. These individuals would not yet come to know the aspect and mechanism of that meaning.

An initiation of launching occurred and it was disputed, out of the ground, out of the prehistoric hovels, it crawled, and it spewed from space to space, never taking a breather. It made erratic mind-pinching piercing sounds, but however there was still something about it that made it bend.

It was because of Creptor that this plausible creature had been created. It was made in the focus and image of itself, but Creptor wanted to see what an image it would really look like, if it separated its genderless self into having two different genders and to see how compatible they were. This was its experiment, which was encased on us. We were not shown any other paths from our past. All that was able for the people of a society to execute was to perform the part, the way it was sought. This was not instructed because it was of our natural distinctiveness and somehow this fit naturally and was too our own approval. All we could do is proclaim themselves in achieving to living it out, and consume the forces of harmony.

Next, there was a turpentine swine, an utmost creature of choice, followed by a voluptuous, an equal utmost creature of choice within its broad yet sufficient spectrum. It too perceived its own found style, which was one that lurked the progression of the new found land. Other creatures were at constant gesticulations and this was seen and envisioned in their brain and in the observer. Life was associable and plausible. They were now mended into shape and becoming what they never knew they could be.

To Creptor, there was always a consistent and constant flow of information. There was no ceasing and there was no ending, an ongoing invisible cycle had been gathered. Creptor was one in the universe and its time-line would forever reach that in existence. This was given from Creptor.

All that was in existence was to know the bundles of joy along with the turntables of suffering. Creptor did not want to deceive them, but wanted to show them a homogeneous example in experiencing what it went through. And long behold, with the joy and suffering it wanted them to all share and entice in this, something that it could never do, but then again could do because they were all interrelated.

It continued to lurk in an omnipresent style and was reproachable by whimsical findings. Being able to perceive in the jurisdiction of this creation made it continue to feel neither remorse nor reminiscence. They all had come forth to discover that they could have possessions, which they were able to migrate and mitigate in the seas and sand of this land.

Day by day, night-by-night, hour by another enclosed hour, the key was turned, once filthy hands turned door knobs in the sky waiting for a lurking and clutching moment when it was swell to continue to creep in style…

And then the process happened again in style. There was a new moon, which sparkled. Some times it would be captivated as a piercing blue, other times a mellow yet passive looking yellow, to some it seemed translucent, while to others it was solid titanium white. These were the elements captivated in our eyes. Each explained the experience in which he or she did convey seeing the moon, matter filled with gushy light inside. It was the ultimate natural soothing night-light, but the question was: Who had seen more and who had heard more?

Chapter 8 of Bloodthirst (novel in progress)<br>

*previously in Bloodthirst: Khristian, one of the three Necromancer Brothers attempted to enter a town connecting to a port. After a confrontation with the guard, Khristian explains how the man is lucky it is just him and neither of his brothers. The guard attacks Khristian, and was murdered as a consequence. Khristian now hurries to find out the information he seeks in the town before too much conflict arises.*

Sad at the thought of what he had to do to the guard, Khristian slowly walked into town. His mission was a simple one, find someone in the town with more intelligence than common sense, and extract the information about multiple murders from him. Walking around, keeping alert, but letting his eyes wander, Khristian noticed a few displayed items that peaked his interest. He crossed a table of supposed mysterious amulets, sighing at the fact that he knew they were absolute garbage.

Walking through an alley to shorten the amount of time it took to find the scholar, Khristian was confronted by a thief, no older than the age of 14. Khristian confronted the boy, “Step any closer and I assure you that you will pay”. The boy, eyes fixated on Khristians’ satchel, quickly rushed in. It was a feeble attempt, as Khristian was quicker and palm-struck the boy in the face. Flying backwards, the thief landed with a sickening crunch, grabbing the boy by the throat, Khristian lifted him up, threw him against a wall and created necrotic bindings to keep the child there.

Venturing into an open street again, Khristian wished he could repent for his actions, but he knew that no god could offer a saving grace to his kind. Approaching a small store that had a large scroll symbol above the door, Khristian looked cautiously for any guards on patrol. Knocking, he could hear movement from the inside. “Scholar” Khristian said in a soft voice, “I am a traveler from far away; I wish to speak with you”. The door slowly creaked open, and an older man appeared. The scholar was a slender man, in his 60s.

Cautiously, the elderly man looked around outside, pondering on who this new face was.

“Alright, come in, come in” the man ushered Khristian inside. Gazing around, Khristian was amazed to see the mass amounts of books in the small building. From the floor to the ceiling, sprawled over tables, there were pieces of literature. Rifling through a nearby parchment, Khristian, in an attempt to break the silence, tried to make a small joke. “Hmm” he pondered out loud. “Enjoy reading?” he said, with a smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood for now. “Books never judge, they only say facts”. The man said, scurrying around the room. He was a very peculiar man, “why so neurotic?” Khristian pondered. “Come, come, sit, sit” the elderly man ushered Khristian to a chair, sitting, Khristian kept his hand on a dagger hidden in his cloak. Keeping a wary eye on Khristian, the man walked to the other side of the table. “My name is Hul. My father was a famous scholar, unrivaled in this entire region.” “I have heard of your work” Khristian replied, Hul still not letting his guard down. “Now, since we both know that you know I am no fool, please cut to the real reason why you are requesting my knowledge”. Chuckling, Khristian knew that this man would not be able to be simply tricked into giving out information. “Honestly” Khristian started. “I have heard rumors of a few attacks in this area recently, and I wanted to check them out, I wish to seek out any and all information on this type of killing”. Nervously looking around the room, Hul’s gaze was focused on the window. “Not long ago, nigh a fortnight, it has been told that a band of thieves attacked a merchant caravan. Apparently, there was another predator in the surrounding forest; it attacked the thieves.” He paused. “None of the men knew what hit them, I have never heard of such carnage being unleashed upon humans”.

“I have” Khristian replied slyly. Suddenly, there came a pounding on the door. “Who is there?” Hul asked nervously. “It is the vanguard. We have witnesses and know that a murderer is in your home” a strong voice came from the other side of the door. While Hul warily made his way to the door, there was a slight sound of footsteps running up the stairs. As soon as Hul touched the doorknob, the guard kicked it in. Several guards immediately came flowing inwards, demanding to know where the wanted criminal is. Hearing the footsteps running up the stairs, the guards drew their weapons and gave chase. Sensing the pursuers below, Khristian shoved small desks and bookshelves down the stairs.

“Damn It!” Khristian shouted. Ignoring the shouts below, Khristian dashed towards a window. Lowering his shoulder, he leapt through it, landing past two guards, and kept his momentum going with a roll. Sprint down the road, Khristian looked back to see guards rushing out the door. Swearing under his breath, “these guys look bad. I really don’t want to try my luck this time.” He said. Turning, he began to run again, pushing civilians out of his way. Running at full speed, he could still hear the sound of approaching footsteps. “I’m fast, I know I’m fast; but I have no clue as to how they are gaining on me so quickly.” He thought, turning the corner into an alley. Running halfway down the alley, he soon realized that it was a dead end. Looking back, the guards were filling in the entrance to the alley. Reinforcements had been called, as their original number had been increased by twenty. “Catch Him!” the captain of the squad yelled. Moving in slowly, the guards readied for a fight. “You have no where to turn, murderer”. “Aye, I am outnumbered, but that does not mean that I am caught just yet.” Khristian said, crouching down. One of the guards mocked, “That wall behind you is nearly ten feet high”. “Once again” Khristian interrupted him. “You people really do not give me enough credit”. Sprinting, Khristian planted a foot on the wall, jumped, and kicked his other foot off the adjacent wall. Quickly, he made his way up the wall, nearly being struck by a few of the weapons that the guards threw at him. Flipping over the top of the wall, Khristian held onto the ledge, and used his feet for support. Just before dropping, Khristian raised his hand, and raised the middle finger, with a dagger flying just a few inches above it.

Landing quietly, Khristian could still hear the cursing of the guards from the other side of the wall. Walking calmly across the street, he knew that he would have to hide for a little while, just to disperse the guards and send them in different directions. Walking across the street, Khristian climbed atop a fence, and made his way up to the roof of a building. Laying there, keeping silent and catching his breath, he could hear the frantic guards below. “They really are fast” Khristian chuckled to himself.

Time soon passed, and the sun began to fade. “There is no way I can escape on foot; they strengthened the borders not long after I entered. I must escape on a ship of some sort.” He thought to himself. Lifting his head just enough to see over the side, Khristian noticed that the coast was clear. Silently, he crept down, and headed towards the docks.

Moving through the shadows, Khristian crept closer, until he started to hear the call of birds that dwelled near shore. Walking out into the open, he quickened his pace. “You are good, but just not good enough” a voice called from behind him. Turning, Khristian was met by the entire guard force that had been chasing him before. “I am impressed” Khristian said, drawing his dagger. “Not many have been upgraded from thorn in my side to pain in my ass”. “Shut it, scum!” one of the guards yelled, rushing at Khristian. The guard was met with a lethal kick to the midsection. “We know your kind, freak” the captain said, “So; we’ve decided to unleash a little…something”.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the ground, and Khristian looked around nervously. He preferred to know his surroundings and situations, both of which he was only left to guess. The thunderous noise came closer, and he could hear the shouts of guards. Guards came into his view, struggling to pull something in on chains. Soon, Khristian could see their “something”. With awe, he stared at the monstrosity that they pulled. The beast resembled that of a human, but was nearly twenty five feet tall. It’s tied arms were massive, the size of mighty oak trunks. With a roar, the beast grabbed a chain, and swung a guard through the air. Kicking another guard, the monster made its way towards Khristian.

“I don’t know what this is, but it will be defeated” Khristian said, charging necrotic power into his hands. Sticking one arm out, he drew his other arm like a bow. Releasing, there was a quick beam of green lightning that few and struck the beast in the chest. Khristians’ smirk quickly faded when he saw that the bolt had no effect on the beast. The creature began to quicken its pace, into a jog. While moving towards Khristian, the beast grabbed a tree and pulled it from its roots. “Whoa!” Khristian yelled as he barely dodged the clubbing attack. Rolling, he dodged another attack. Charging energy into his fist, Khristian ran up to the beast, jumped onto its’ back, and ran up to the head. “Die” Khristian said, as he plunged his fist into the beasts’ head. No sooner as his attack hit, the monster batted him off. Landing hard against the ground, the monster grabbed Khristian in one of its gigantic hands. Now being squeezed to death, Khristian desperately struggled to get free. “Sorinth!” he cried, and a burst of energy was released from his body, injuring the monsters’ hand.

“Damn” he thought, “I hate using that, drains too much energy”. Picking up a handful of dirt, Khristian ran in, jumped over a swing from the massive arm, and threw the dirt in the eyes of the monster. “Cheap, but effective” he said bluntly. It was at that time that Khristian noticed something about the monster. “The chains” his mind screamed at him. Running, Khristian rolled underneath the monsters’ legs, and jumped at a chain. While the monster was blindly stumbling around, swinging wildly, Khristian created binds between the chains that were attached to the monsters’ arms, legs, and neck. Unsheathing his dagger, Khristian ran at the creatures back, jumped, and, while midair, slashed the creature atop its’ head. While the monstrosity roared, Khristian made his move. A flurry of kicks drove the beast back towards the waters’ edge. “Not working fast enough” he thought, now charging up his power into his hands once again. Unleashing quick bursts of energy, the green projectiles so rapid it appeared as a solid line. The beast was being pushed back bit by bit, closer to the water. The moment the monster was hovering on the edge, Khristian ran towards it, spun a few feet short of the creature, and delivered a vicious mid level kick. The already reeling beast was sent back just enough to go over the edge, and into the icy sea waters below. Khristian gasped for air as he watched the abomination sink lower. Clawing for air, the chains prevented any hope of movement for the monster, and its’ last gasp of air escaped its lungs.

My brother was born on September 15th

And I hated him right away

When he first came home I kicked him in the head

When he was one I pushed him off the bed

When he was two I stuffed him in our sink

When he was three I cut off a piece of his hair

When he was four I kicked him off of a chair

When he was five he started school I was sure to make him look like a fool

When he was six I convinced him that he was a girl

When he was seven I taught him to bake and to twirl

When he was eight I let my dog eat all his clothes

When he was nine I let him paint his toes

When he was ten I didn’t take him to practice so his team lost a game

When he was eleven at the zoo I told him to touch a lion’s mane

When he was twelve I washed his lucky shirt

When he was thirteen I made him wear a skirt

When he was fourteen I told his first date he had an STD

When he was fifteen he decided to fight back

When he was sixteen he decided to move out

When he was seventeen he decided to make my life hell

When he was eighteen he learned to do it well

When we first met

We were indestructible<br>

We did everything together<br>

You were my other half<br>

We were like sisters<br>

I lived at your house

And you at mine

You taught me

How to be street smart

I taught you

How to be good natured

Our fights started small

Were about nothing at all

At first you didn’t return

my cds and clothes

unless I begged you

Time went by

We got into fights

Unlike the others we’ve had.

You destroyed my clothes

Broke my phone

Fought with me over boys

When you got to know my crush

You thought you could have him

You moved to the countryside

and learned what it was like

to be surrounded by cornfields

far away from everything

that used to be close

I stayed in the city

and got used to late night driving

noisy cars, speed bumps

crowded buildings and impossible parking

but I never got used

to not having a drive-way

We see each other

Once in awhile

But it’s not the same

We play it off

Like nothing ever happened

But it was done

We will move on