Music is Magical
Ciara Colon
THUD, I hear the sound of metal falling off of my end table while I am peacefully laying in my bed. I realize that my window is open and there is heavy wind tonight so something must have fallen off of the table top.
I get up to shut the window and that's when my foot hits a metal key. I was sort of surprised that something so heavy can be knocked off of a table by a gust of wind but regardless I picked it up and was curious as to what it was for.
As I looked at the flat wooden bureau of my dresser and saw an extravagant yet elegant jewelry box that had brass trim all around the edges of it; which were the same as my key. It was intriguing to me yet I was half awake. I am known to have vivid dreams so I decided to leave them next to each other and take a look at them in the morning. I walk back over to my bed and go back into my cozy and fluffy sheets where I have a warm heated blanket.
The sun rises as I see a gleaming light peeking through my blinds awakening me from my slumber. I then get out of bed merely forgetting about everything that took place the previous night. I hoped to just go into the other room and see a plate of strawberry banana pancakes sitting on the table waiting for me. The best way to start my birthday celebration.
Until there was a jewelry box sitting there right before my eyes in front of me. It then hits me that what I thought might be a dream the night before was actually real. As I gripped the sides of the jewelry box and felt all of the delicate details that look like this box was something that belonged inside of a high end store but also something that could be found in a museum.
With the key in my hand, I placeed it in the opening for the key hole and it fits perfectly. Before I begin to think about where this jewelry box is from, a large gust of wind blows in through the window. The same window that I could have sworn that I shut the night before when I was half awake. It seemed to blow all through my room sending a chill down my spine.
Then all of a sudden the jewelry box opens up and a delightful song starts playing. It seems to be something familiar yet something magical and mysterious as it is something no musician has ever created. It seemed like pure whimsy. I look inside the box and there is a ballerina with a slicked back bun and an ornately detailed tutu with gold embellishments on it. As the ballerina spun round and round while the music continued to play.
The wind still coming through the window came in more and more gusts; hard enough to spin me around. I felt out of control and I couldn’t stop spinning. The wind around me began to engulf me and the wind seemed to have a glow; the same glow that you see when you are looking into a sunset right before the sun goes down.
With glimpses of pink and orange creating a beautiful mix surrounding me. It felt like a dream, something that would only happen in heaven. Then I thought to myself, “am I dying?” “Is this what death is like?” Until all of a sudden a green flash surrounded me. Engulfing all of the beautiful pastel colors I saw just moments ago.
This reminded me of the myth that if you look closely into a sunset right as it is setting along the horizon. If you look close enough you will see a green flash. But just for a second because only those who are looking closely enough will see. This is something my mom would always tell me right before I would go to bed. Something that filled my mind with many imaginations and what has led me to be so curious and creative.
After the flash I fell to my knees. I don’t know if I was overwhelmed or just the pure power of the wind that caused me to fall down but I was on my knees. I began to open up my eyes and feel the world around me but then realized that I don’t feel my sleek glossy hardwood floor any more. I see wild brightly colored grass in between my fingers. A level of panic arises in me and I don’t understand how I got here; but what my biggest concern is how am I going to get out. I try to get up but my legs are still trembling since I am built up with fear so I take the palms of my hands and place them in the grass and beg them to push up off of them. As I get up all I see are trees around me. A clam sight; something that could look like it was a painting.
The trees were so tall creating a shadow along the grass but through the leaves were rays of light beaming through. I take two steps as I look around me and all I see are bushes upon bushes with roses on them that are in full bloom. This place looks so beautiful until I look straight ahead. I see a waterfall with crystal clear water pouringing into a pond. I then walk straight ahead closer to it and I see something extremely out of the ordinary; a harp.
This is very odd to me because this forest seems as if it had never been touched by man kind; animals either. This harp is some that looks like royalty would use it; covered in what looked to be solid gold.
The harp reminded me of the one my mom used to have except this one was a lot nicer. My mothers harp had an embellishment on the seat with her initials and engravings along the side of the harp itself. This was a passion of my mothers, before she passed away 8 years ago this fall. I was only 10 when she passed so I still have vivid memories of her, how sweet she was and her other passion to help take care of animals at the veterinarian hospital. She not only took care of me but she took care of my entire family while maintaining a job and having her own hobbies.
I finally gained enough courage to take some steps closer to it after my vivid flashbacks of my mother. I walked up to it one foot in front of another until I was standing right in front of it. I was in shock when I took a closer look and saw ilitials on the seat “LAS” that seemed familiar to me. They were my moms initials. Lucia Aria Smith. My mothers maiden name. I still couldn't believe it, this was my mother's initials I thought to myself, could it be related, could this be my mother's harp and why is it here?
I then take a seat in the engraved stool, close my eyes and feel the strings in between my fingertips. I then began to play just as my mother taught me when I was the same age she learned. I started playing from one song to another. I couldn't seem to stop. My whole body started to become part of the song.
Crunch! I hear wrestling in the bushes and all kinds of animals came out from deer to birds sitting in trees watching me from above as I played on the harp. I never would have expected something like this to happen so I keep playing. the longer I go the more animals come out from hiding. as they watch me from a distance their friends come along and they start to make their way closer to me as if they weren't sure who I was at first but they felt comfortable once I started playing the song. the animals start to walk closer and at this point we are now they have now created an entire circle around me. My heart is in the music. I don't think I can stop until they all start bowing down. They also lower their heads so I stop.
A gust of wind blows right by me making my hair straight back and forth and circles around me until a beautiful woman appears right in front of me, not fully there but it's like a part of the wind almost like an angel. This woman says, “I am proud of you and this is my gift to you, happy 18th birthday my beautiful daughter.” She also tells me how she can't be here that long but whatever I miss her I can open up the jewelry box by turning the key letting the music play and it will take me to this Enchanted Forest or I can play the harp just like she did and be with her always. and whenever I want to go back I just have to play a certain chord and it will take me back to wherever the jewelry box is. This felt like a dream, something that could never be possible yet it felt so right and I was so accepting the animals were on my side and I was able to see my mother once again like I said. a movie.
I then play the particular chord on the harp when the wind comes back again. I see a beautiful sunset glow once more pinks oranges and then a green flash I'm back to standing in my bedroom once again. I am now standing in my room in disbelief at what just took place.
Looking at the time and only seeing that five minutes have gone by. Although I feel like I've been gone for five hours. I make sure everything is in place. My room is all set, nothing else has changed and my jewelry box is sitting there on my Bureau. I walk outside my room to my grandma's voice saying “Breakfast is ready, birthday girl!” So I then walk out to the kitchen, take a seat and I see pancakes and a snack shaped in the heart with bananas and strawberries on the top, my favorite. I think to myself I'll always have my mom with me even though she's never here. I can just play the harp and remember she's always with me.
Dear Liam
Alexa Forsyth
Sitting on the floor, teary eyed Mara wrote the first letter to her best friend of 13 years, Liam, who moved away just a few hours ago. As she wrote the first letter, her vision got blurry and the pen was beginning to slip out of her fingers. Mara watched the new neighbors fill up the driveway that his car was once parked in and watched them through the window of Liam’s old room.
Unlike the house next door, hers remained quiet, like it had forgotten how to function without him. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to write to him quite yet only that she needed to before the silence between their friendship became permanent.
She pressed the pen harder and deeper into the paper, like the words were gonna come out easier.
On July 30th: Dear Liam,
The ink bled more and more, especially those moments where her hand began to shake. These mistakes somehow felt important. It felt real. Liam really did move hours away, and Mara really was sitting there finally writing a letter to him. She swallowed and continued to write the first letter.
Once again, her vision began to blur. She blinked hard, refusing to let a single tear fall onto this paper. Outside, the neighbors continued to move boxes upon boxes of things; new furniture, boxes of clothes, silverware. Mara tried to look away, although her eyes couldn’t go anywhere else. It felt unreal, knowing that her best friend was 1000 miles away rather than 100 feet.
After all the overthinking and staring at the new neighbors, Mara sealed up the letter, making sure there were no tears on the page. She triple-checked the address, zip code and remembered to add a stamp. She eagerly ran downstairs and slipped it in the mailbox while she put the signal flag up.
The next day, she expected her phone to buzz. Obviously not because he received the letter already but because when Liam was still her neighbor, that's how it always was. Whether it was something small or one or the other needed advice. But now that Liam was hours away, the silence seemed heavier than it ever was.
She waited and waited for days for a letter or a text back. He should’ve received it already, right? Days turned into weeks. Mara finally decided that it was time to send another letter.
August 10th came along:
Dear Liam,
I’m sure you received my first letter.
Just like she did before, she reread the address, the zip code, checked that she added a stamp and put it in the mailbox. Mara continued this pattern, eventually it became routine. After homework, when she was bored, when there was a big accomplishment.
Sometimes the letters were long, spilling over with drama. Other times, they were short, a song lyric or when she was missing him extra. No matter what, she mailed every single one.
Eventually, Mara started to add a small symbol on the corner of each envelope along with dates, in case Liam wanted to line them up and see how much time had passed. But, also incase he really wasn’t getting them and she could notice the time. Mara could always imagine him reading the letters and laughing.
Weeks and months continued to pass. Nothing came back. No letter. No text. At first, she made up excuses and gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was always better at communicating in person. Maybe he was still unpacking, meeting new people and settling in.
One afternoon, she sat on the edge of her bed with all of the re-written letters spread out, counting twenty three total. Twenty three. Twenty three stories, all unanswered.
Mara’s chest tightened, it wasn’t sadness though. It was confusion. She grabbed her phone and shakingly typed to Liam: Hey, did you ever get my letters?
A typing bubble popped up, and stayed there for a few seconds. Then it disappeared.
The first letter came back on October 3rd. It was in the mailbox along with ads, random coupons and bills addressed to her mom. She rushed to open it. She ripped open the envelope just to see “RETURN TO SENDER” stamped across the top in bright red ink. Her hands started shaking and her heart dropped. Why would Liam send her letters back after all this time as best friends? She knew she sent it to the right address, she made sure to triple check.
Over the next few days, the letters all came back. “RETURN TO SENDER” stamped across every single one. The only thought circulating Mara’s head was confusion and so many thoughts. Why doesn’t Liam want to talk to me? Does he already have a new bestfriend? Did he forget about me? Mara contemplated texting Liam to ask why he hasn’t gotten back to her. But, after a lot of thinking, she decided against it.
The next day, Mara met the new neighbor, Caleb, at the bus stop. Of course, nothing compared to Liam being next door, but something had to do. “Hi I’m Caleb” he said, reaching his hand out to meet Maras. “Mara.” she coldly replied. The coldness came from the love and miss she had for Liam deep down. As Caleb puts his hand out to greet Mara, she can see in his other hand, a letter. A letter that looked similar to the ones she was sending Liam. Mara pointed to the letter with a confused expression on her face. “What is that? Where did you get that?” Caleb held up the letter, “This? It showed up in our mail. My dad found it, it showed up at our house and he asked me to return it.” Mara ripped it out of his hands. She flipped it around a few times when she realized that it was the letter she sent Liam. Her eyebrows furrowed and she had nothing to say. Mara ran home from the bus stop and opened the letter as soon as she walked through the door. The same thing was stamped on the top “RETURN TO SENDER”. Mara now felt a lump in her throat that made it hard to swallow. This could mean anything, but most importantly, it could mean she would never talk to her best friend again.
Everyday, for the next week, Mara pieced it together like a puzzle. When Liam first moved across the country, the mail system was not up to date. Mail being shipped to the new address got rerouted. Caleb never went through the mail; his parents did. They would throw anything and everything that was not theirs into a pile. But of course, since they just moved there, there was a lot where that came from.
The abundance of letters Mara sent to her best friend simply never reached him. They never even left her neighborhood. That night, Mara cried even more. Not because the letters were lost, but because they weren’t.
Just a few days later, she mailed them. All together. She drove to the post office herself, and made sure multiple times that the clerk stamped and mailed them to the right address. Eagerly, she waited for weeks. Checking the mail for a letter back, looking for a text and checking Liam’s social media.
Eventually, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Her phone was on do not disturb, but ever since Liam moved, she changed her settings to make sure his messages still went through. She didn’t look at the message until she was out of school. It was Liam.
I got your letters.
Then a string of messages started coming through.
I miss you Mara.
By the way, I read every single one of the letters.
How is everything back home?
You NEED to come visit here.
Can we facetime sometime today?
I really thought you were mad at me. LOL.
Mara started crying again. Unlike every other time she cried, this time it was happy tears. She sat down on the edge of her bed laughing through the tears dripping down her cheeks.
That night, she started writing again. Pen and paper.
Dear Liam,
Sometimes silence isn’t personal, it's just in the wrong mailbox…
Finding Home by the Sea
Sam Wood
It was June 20, 2018 when my parents told me it was the time to leave my friends and family to go to a new home. It was late, the house was already getting ready to be someone else’s as I broke down in my room when I had to pack up my favorite things. The hardest part of all was saying my goodbyes to everyone I loved most, I knew everything like the back of my hand, the streets, and friends that made sure they knew I would never forget. Being there and present with everyone felt like my safe place. It felt like if I ever left my life wouldn't be complete anymore.
As the car started to pull out of the driveway I sent out a few text messages to let them know that there would still be texts to them when I made it to the destination. When we arrived it didn't look anything like my small town, my town before had about three stop lights. The city was filled with many different faces and different places. It felt like everyone was watching over me like I was an imposter who didn't belong. The amount of times I got lost felt like too many times to even count going from a small town to a city was one of my hardest things to go through.
At school, I got many different faces from the people surrounding me. Their faces started to be a blur to me because I knew I didn't belong there anyway. Something that made my experience easier was knowing that everyone didn't know where I came from, how old I was, or what I love in life. Being in school was the hardest thing for me to do, I had to sit in classes with strangers who didn't talk to me. Having to make new friends was very hard, it wasn’t a small school. One day my school stuff fell out of my hands and onto the ground. One person helped me and his name was Johnathan, he introduced himself and from that day we became friends.
After school one day my parents told me about a beach near by, ive never been to a beach before so as I made my way over I loved it so much that being at the beach finally became my safe place. When the city feels overwhelming, lay down and just think about how my life has changed. Being at the beach was where I did everything, I would do homework and have lunch, by the end of the night there would be a beautiful sunset that I would watch. It just felt like a place away from home. Looking ahead, I realise that there is nothing but love around me, and feeling that I found the place that was missing in my life. I feel that today looking back, if I didn't move then I wouldn't have the foundation I do now. What felt like the scariest moment was just the beginning of learning about my true self.
One day on a Saturday at 9:00 am I brought Johnathan with me. He met me at my house and picked me up in his beautiful convertible. As I headed out I had my beach bag with my favorite things. I brought a clear jar to fill with seashells so I can have memories with him. We both collected our favorite sea shells and brought them back to my house. As he dropped me off I started to feel a spark between the two of us. We ended up going to the beach everyday together after school.
School was finally over and it was graduation day, I graduated and my choice was to not go to college and Johnathan was thinking the same. As time went on I got a job and was saving all of my money for a new place.
As time has passed I began to notice certain things about myself that I didn't think would ever be possible when moving, I started to feel more like myself and comfortable within me. It became more like a routine than a burden to be out alone and going through the streets alone. The city didn't feel like it was a place that I didn't want to live in anymore; it felt like home away from home. I found comfort in being there. One night Johnathan asked me to be his girlfriend and I ended up staying with him for a while as I was still saving up for my own place. As time went on I had enough money for myself. I had a job at an amazing daycare and a side job at a restaurant at night to keep up with bills. Being able to go for walks before a shift and have quiet moments before work felt like such a reward for me. Being able to hear waves crashing and seagulls in the morning was the most relaxing part of my day and this made me realize getting comfortable in a new place took time.
I learned so much from this experience, at first everything was hard to do. When I first got there everything was forced, forced smile, forced laugh nothing felt genuine. Once I got comfortable with where I was at, I was able to go for morning walks on the beach to clear my mind from everything and have that time to myself. Finding jobs that were fun but also made connections with families and working at the restaurant made me feel just as more comfortable. Being unknown gave me the time and space to be able to grow into what I am today and what has changed me to become a more outgoing person who is ready to take on any new challenges that come my way. The fear I carried with me from my small town to a big city has now changed into confidence because it was new for me and I had a new fresh start.
There were moments knowing I didn't belong made me want to just give up and go back, leaving my hometown was one of the hardest decisions my family had to make. Having to get away from all my friends and family turned into the better. Being able to make that switch was hard for everyone in my family. Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to see my friends anymore unless I flew back to see them. Now that I am comfortable with what has happened I was able to be okay with being alone and clear my head with walks and late nights on the beach with my toes in the sand. The beach felt like a home to me. It reminded me of my life and how there are rocky waves and it can be steady at times and it's never the same everyday. Being able to smell in the salty air was the biggest blessing going there. Having a good book, a soft towel and just myself was one of the most comforting moments in my life that made me really feel that this was a life that was stable and important.
This experience taught me how to face a problem first and to not let a small bump in the road change who I am capable of being. I learned that the home I grew up in was my safe place and where I found my peace and how that was where I had my first steps and first words but being able to make another home feel the same was was a very amazing experience, I was able to make a home that I only had for a year and a half just as comforting. I would have never thought that this is where I would be in a little over a year. Being able to have a routine and have two jobs and afford an apartment alone without the help of my parents really showed how much growth I really had throughout my life. As a person who was always scared to be alone, finding this part in my life where that's the time I enjoy the most defines who I truly am.
The love that I have for my hometown and all the old memories in it will always have a special place in my heart. Those times were unforgettable and I wouldn't change my childhood at all. Growing up and getting out of the small town really showed me that anything can be possible. You just need to get out of your comfort zone and out of your small bubble. As I continue to move on in life I am more proud of myself and how far I have come. I knew that this was only the beginning of the biggest things ahead of me. It takes one small change to get somewhere bigger.
New Girl at Work
Julia Hines
One day, while I was at work, like always. I clocked into the daycare that I work at and I went to the same room as I always do. Once I got into the room I was informed that there was a new worker and she started today. I thought everything was normal. As the day went on I heard from other people she was on her phone most of the time and not helping the teacher or engaging with the students. It was a hot sunny day in the middle of July so we were heading outside around 3 like we always do for afternoon play and pick up.
The kids went to the bathroom, filled up their cups, got all their stuff and lined up. I counted as they walked out, one by one, there were 18 of them. As I was bringing my kids outside and the new girl, Ava, was already there with her students. I said “Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Taylor!” She said “Hi, I'm Ava”. She didn't seem to be happy but I didn't want to judge her off of the first conversation we had. There are 2 parts of the outside area, her class was on the right side and my class was on the left side. I gave them their snack for the afternoon, they ate it, cleaned up and started playing. At this daycare we have a system so we can keep track of how many kids we have. We write all the kids on the same board when we are outside no matter what side they are on. As I said my class had 18 kids and her class was supposed to have 20, I wrote all my kids names on the board and gave the board to her so she could write her kids names.
20 minutes went by the other teacher in my room and I were watching our kids, they were all playing tag. Around this time it was 3:45 Some of our kids were getting picked up so I walked over to the board and erased their names, as I was looking at the board her side said she only had 19 kids, and the only kids that left were my kids.
I called over to her “Ava!! Which one of your kids left??”
She said, “None of them.”
“You're supposed to have 20 kids, you only have 19 on the board!” She lined her kids up to count them, she only counted 19, I thought in my head I knew something wasn't right.
We have 2 gates outside, 1 leads to the parking lot and the other leads to the busy main road, and then the door that leads to inside. I turned around to check to see if the gates were shut, as I turned around I saw the wide open gate, my blood starting fuming.
At this point she had walked away from me, I screamed across the outside area, “AVA, DID YOU OPEN THAT GATE?”
She said, “No,” with a disgusted look on her face.
I ran over to the gate, the one that leads directly to the main road, I couldn't walk out to go check if the kid was out there, the kid missing his name was Cameron, we knew this because we looked at the board and figured out which kid is missing.
I yanked the walkie-talkie out of my pocket and said with a shaky voice, "Cameron from room 3 is missing, can someone come out here and cover me so I can go look for him?"
Our boss, Beth was out there within seconds, once I saw her I ran over to the edge of the road to look for Cameron. At this moment it looked like the cars were going faster than ever. I felt my body shaking as I ran. I saw a little boy across the road. I sprinted across the road yelling his name, “CAMERON,CAMERON,CAMERON!"
He was sitting on the curb in a random parking lot. His head perked up, he was one of my kids in the past so he knew me he had a smile on his face and he looked so excited. As I got over to him I picked him up and had a huge sigh of relief.
I pulled out my walkie talkie again and said, “I found him, we are coming back now!”
“Oh my gosh thank gosh we just called the police and his mom.”
As we walked back across the road safely all of the kids were behind the gate cheering, even though they didn't know what was going on they were still excited to see their friend. Beth ran back inside and called his mom and she was very relieved, at this time the police had already shown up. I saw the police officer standing by the gate with the rest of the kids and I happily told him that we had found the child that was missing.
Now that Cameron was safe and not missing, Beth was asking who was supposed to be watching him, because the most important thing about being a daycare worker at this center is that you must know how many kids you have and you need to keep track of all of them. I knew the rest of this day was going to be crazy.
By this time it was around 4:45, we didn't close until 6, we were all outside. Beth had discovered that the new girl Ava was supposed to be in charge of him when he ran out the gate. She didn't even seem to care, she was just sitting on the bench acting like she didn't do anything. I knew Beth was very upset and Ava was going to be in big trouble. The police were still trying to figure out how he ran out of sight, they looked at the cameras and asked Ava questions. She didn't say much, by her not saying much it was clear that she was not watching the kids the way she was supposed to.
At this point in the afternoon it was my time to go home, I was walking by the office to clock out and I heard Beth talking to another one of the employees saying, “I think I'm gonna let her stay working here." Hearing that sentence as I walked by was jaw dropping because she will get mad at me for silly things and she is going to let a new girl who lost one of the kids on her first day stay employed here.
As I got home and continued my daily routine like always, but in the back of my mind I was still thinking about how she was able to come back to work the next day after what she did.
The next day it was a Friday, I was in a very good mood because Friday means it's almost the weekend and that means no work! I clocked in as always and as I was walking by the office and said ,“Good Morning!!” and kept walking.
Seconds later as I turned the corner Beth said, “Come here Taylor!”
I turned around and walked back into her office. She then told me “I just wanted to let you know that Ava- the new girl will be in your room with you today.” I tried to keep a smile on my face but I knew this was going to be a very long day.
I just said, “Ok sounds good, thanks for letting me know!” and walked out. I walked into my room and got settled and ready for the day, as the kids started arriving we did all the things that we normally would do.
About an hour later Ava walked in, I greeted her friendly and introduced her to the class. She wasn't very talkative but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Throughout the whole day she was on her phone, and barley helped the kids.
During the morning circle she didn't sit with us on the carpet, she sat by the tables and just watched. During art she just stood by the table and only engaged a little bit.
Around lunch time she got called down to the office, I later found out that Beth did not feel like she was a good fit for the job. I don't know how their conversation went but I do know she only returned to get her stuff from my class and then she left.
The days went on and my co-workers and I had heard nothing about the incident. We have monthly staff meetings and ours happened to be the next week. I knew this meeting was going to be about how we need to get off our phones and keep an eye on the kids and make sure they are safe at all times.
It then was Wednesday, the day of the staff meeting. I arrived at the staff meeting that was taking place in one of the other teachers rooms, Beth had a serious look on her face. We all sat down and she started telling us how she is going to be way more strict on the kids safety. Since this one incident we have had no more problems like this, hopefully it says that way.
Gray and Green
Khai Nguyen
My name is Michael Bracken and in the world that I live in, smoke is the only ally you can rely on in this cruel but beautiful world. The cities that we live in look dead from a distance, charred buildings lean into another with broken windows, dark smog is levitating from them. Ash coats everything in a thin layer, any ordinary person would call this place a dead zone but it's really where the only place humanity can thrive now. Walls rise at the city's edge, a jagged barricade of ash and flames that border the contrasting overwhelming cruel plants and greenery that were the foundation of life but now its extinction. Crossing into the ravenous plants without the proper equipment would mean certain death as its spores and vines take over your body for nutrients. Me and my friend Richard are tasked with continuing to expand the borders of our city by slowly burning and cutting through the thick walls and lethal plants in order to keep the corruption in check. Being jolted awake by my alarm clock at 8:00am had the sunrise tickling my face, looking out through the window, vast green landscapes and a crisp blue sky was always waiting there, taunting me. My room was dark and filled with dust that the sunlight would illuminate. I used to remember the stories my mother told me about the forests with clean air and rain that did not sting your lungs, the vast greenery where a child would play that it almost stings just to think about. I kept asking her why the outside was so beautiful yet so dangerous and she told me, “Because parasites always dress themselves as miracles” in a soft gentle tone that undermined the bitter truth. I got my oxygen mask and my work clothes, covered in both dust and leftover vines from yesterday. Opening my apartment door that creaked nonstop, had me wondering why we continued to live despite the cruel twist of fate that was dealt upon us and why I continued to do this job despite knowing that it may be my last morning every time I step out of my home. Suddenly Richard called down to me from the hall, “Yo Michael” he yelled. He jogged over and bumped into me as we made our way to breakfast.
Entering the mess hall you had to be quick to secure food as the food is tasteless and bland. The tables are all covered in a light coat of ash, everything smells like a fire, having to endure the taste of ash in the air and difficulties breathing. Some with their masks on nonstop. I could never waste oxygen if I could help it as it's the most precious resource that our city runs on. Hey, have you heard squad 2 lost contact with us on the southern sector?¨ I overheard someone say in the sea of voices. ¨Again? We lost so many squads already.¨ The other one responded.
After breakfast we would head towards our assigned squad where it consisted of both me and Richard, but also two kids, Jack and Jill. Our population in the city is low and sending out capable personnel would be like a dream but we have to send out children as well to keep the corruption at bay. Despite this cruel decision made by their parents, their eyes seem to still reflect the sunlight of that of the moon. They understand early what it took to survive and are prepared to do so despite their young nature. We were tasked with expanding the southern borders as well as scouting for future fireteams. Heading to the outer walls of the south side the wall of ash towered over us and we were immediately covered in ash by a small gust of wind. Opening the gate the sunlight shined through with a blinding blast of greenery being shot into my eyes. The difference between our city and the outside world is night and day. Although there were vast amounts of smoke in the air that was suffocating the crystal blue sky for miles. Almost like a dream where the sky above is darkened and the floor below, bright and welcoming. The vast overwhelming blinding horizon of green with spores littering the air contrasts with the bright red splatter of blood onto a plant to our right. A cow had attempted to escape from something and now the vines are consuming it, where its heart used to be now has a small glowing plant in place. Its body now radiates the dangerous spores. ¨Michael, hurry up and start burning a path in front of us you idiot¨ Richard barked at me. Hearing that jolted me back to reality as I revved up the flamethrower and unleashed it onto the ground in front of us. We were taking no risk with the plants as they are constantly mutating and evolving to gather more nutrients. The grass and vines would poke into your skin and attempt to suck out the nutrients, as it already had done the cow.
We would march forward slowly, with the two children behind us watching our backs for any abnormal activities. The dark smog filled my vision as Richard was beside me with his flamethrower with the heat slowly being unbearable for our suits, cutting down the tall grass with the hatchet. We continued until we saw a bright red apple that looked scrumptious and crisp, however we knew the sad reality as it is a trap, filled with poisonous spores. The two kids looked at it in envy as Richard told them to stop daydreaming and hurry up. Peeking over the tall grass I saw a hole with spikes made with vines that had a helmet from our city in there. ¨Richard!¨ My arms were tired from holding the heavy flamethrower and from swinging the hatchet at the tall grass to cut it down so it was difficult lifting up my arm to pull the grass back. The two kids saw the apple and then saw the hole of one of the squad members' helmet stuck in there. ¨So that's what happened to the squad sent before us.¨ Richard said coldly. ¨You two understand the danger, as well as the consequence of envy don't you know?¨ He said, couldn't bear to look the two in the eyes. They looked at him for a moment, then at each other and then nodded. ¨Lets hurry up to our goal point on the other side of this forest before it starts to get too dark.¨ I yelled to break the silence. We continued to burn and march forward through the forest with the two kids in the back laying down poisonous seeds to further prevent corruption. Thinking of those two kids made me feel guilty, guilty of the fact that this sad excuse for a world is the world that they were given and thrown into to survive in. Although I never had the experience of enjoying this world as it once was, I want them and all of the people in our city to experience what I never had. My heart sinks thinking of the fact that maybe, burning all of this beautiful nature so that we may survive may not be the right thing. Perhaps we were never supposed to be here in the first place as perhaps we are too stubborn to see that and we live a harsh life. It makes me wonder if living a harsh life is better than living at all.
I kept this train of thoughts going until we finally reached the other side of the forest, the sunlight beamed through the dark smog of smoke and there laid a vast canyon with greenery everywhere. There were no dark areas of smoke to be seen, compared to the city. The air around us felt cooler, more uplifting and not as suffocating as before. Standing on the edge there was a large drop with a river at the bottom that flowed silently, with overgrown vines being laid over it. Looking behind, with flames lit and dark smoke rising to the sky, had me once again question the righteousness that is burning nature so that we as a species may live. Turning back I saw the kids were mesmerized by the sight of the canyon and the sun, with Richard right behind them to ensure that they don't fall. This sight gave me a new perspective on the cruel world that we were given to live in. Maybe with a sight like this once and a while, continuing to push on with our lives and find something to continue living for. The crystal blue sky once suffocated by the smog is now standing there, welcoming us with the vast horizon inhabited by the bright sun. My body full of heavy duty respiration gear felt light as a feather as my heart began to dance with a forgotten happiness thought long lost years ago. The sun began to set as we knew it was time to part ways and head back to the city. Marching back all I could think about was the view and how I felt was vastly different compared to when I was in the city. Heading back to the gates with the night beginning to wake up gave me a new hope for this world covered in ash.
The Famous Friend
Brooke Walker
Briana woke up to the sun peeking in through her light, sky blue curtains. She was living her best life as she had recently moved to the Island of Maui Hawaii after graduation. Growing up, it was just Briana and her mom. Briana didn’t really know much about her father or family. It was not something that her or her mom ever brought up. Briana and her mom were best friends but growing up in the cold state of Michigan, Briana wanted a change that home couldn’t give to her. She truly accomplished a dream when she moved to the warm, peaceful state of Hawaii.
Today, an early Friday morning, meant that she had work at the surf shack at 12. She threw on a floral bikini from her basket, put a change of clothes for work in her bag, grabbed her fresh pineapple out of the fridge for breakfast and she started her quick, 5 minute walk over to the beach. On her way, she dropped off her bag at the surf shack and grabbed her surfboard so she could go catch some waves before work started. Her golden beach waves were bouncing in the light sea breeze meaning that the waves would be a perfect size.
At this point, Briana had been living in Hawaii for about a year and she knew all the locals that enjoyed surfing. Once she paddled out to where the waves were breaking she spotted her regular group of surfers. Slightly further to the right of the group was a girl. She was sitting on her board and she immediately stood out to Briana. This girl definitely was not a regular surfer in the area but Briana knew her from somewhere. Then it clicked, the girl was Kiara, the famous pop singer who had been recently exploding in the LA scene.
She was beyond shocked. Kiara had become one of her favorite artists within the recent months and she had to go meet her.
Briana approached Kiara, keeping it cool. “Great waves today!” Briana started the conversation.
“I know! Much bigger than what I'm used to!” Kiara replied.
Briana kept the conversation flowing, explaining how surprised she was to see one of her favorite singers here at her beach. Kiara explained how she was here to catch a break from the hectic Hollywood life that was causing so much stress and just wanted a few days of peace.
They spent the whole morning getting to know each other while catching the waves. It was crazy how similar they were to each other which made them want to talk even more when Briana had to leave for work.
“How about we meet back up for lunch tomorrow before I head back?” Kiara suggested.
They exchanged instagrams and phone numbers as Briana was leaving for work. Both of them planned to meet up at the local coffee shop for lunch and couldn’t wait to keep talking tomorrow.
Briana's next morning was typical but was full of excitement to meet up with Kiara again. She was at her job at the surf shack and lunch was approaching. She started her walk over to the coffee shop during her break and realized how surreal this all was. Not only was she having lunch with her favorite singer but they were actually really similar. Once they both arrived at the coffee shop, their conversations flowed similarly to yesterday. They even laughed over the fact that their go to coffee orders were the exact same.
Kiara's trip was coming to an end tomorrow afternoon and Briana was extremely sad to hear this. It had only been 2 days but both of them felt as though they had an incredible friendship growing. Although Kiara had a hectic life to return to, she felt as though having a new friend with her would be refreshing and much needed.
As they were wrapping up lunch she asked Briana, “What if you come back with me?”
Briana was confused, “What do you mean? Like the city?”
“It doesn’t have to be long. Just for a few days or until you want to go back ho-”, Kiara couldn’t even finish her sentence before Briana replied, “Girl, you're asking me to come see your life? OF COURSE I want to!” They hugged each other in excitement.
Not only was Briana about to see the behind the scenes life of her favorite singer but she was about to explore her new found friendship at the same time.
After a chaotic day of packing all her necessities, Briana and Kiara flew into the bustling city of Los Angeles via Kiara's shiny private jet. This was the first of the many shocks to Briana on how much Kiara's fame alters her life. Next stop was Kiara's multi millionaire mansion that was sitting atop of the Hollywood Hills. Once they arrived they spent the rest of the day recovering from the travel in Kiara's infinity pool overlooking Los Angeles.
Kiara had no problem making room for Briana to stay in her large mansion which was much too big for just her. Briana was amazed with the size of everything in the house and asked Kiara if this is her first time having a roommate.
“Iv’e had friends stay over for a few nights here and there but nothing ever like this. The only one who has stayed here for a while is my dad because it has always just been me and him so we were super close,” Kiara replied.
“I think we actually might be the same person. I grew up with just my mom so sometimes I let her stay with me in Hawaii for a little bit,” Briana couldn’t believe the amount of similarities they had.
“No way!” Kiara added but Briana could hear a tone of awkwardness in her voice.
She didn’t think much of it, maybe Kiara's personal life wasn’t something she wanted to share so quickly.
The next day they had plans to go to the LA Lakers game. It was part of a plan to show Kiara's fans that she was a sports fan herself. They drove to the game in Kiara's blacked out suv. Immediately when they arrived they had paparazzi all over. Her security guards escorted them through the back entrance of the arena and to their courtside seats. Briana was truly amazed by the amount of heads Kiara turned. Not only that, her fans were already wondering who this best friend of hers was. She had never experienced fame this close up and she thought it was an incredible experience. After the game they went back to Kiara's mansion and enjoyed dinner. By this point, both Briana and Kiara had the feeling they were inseparable as friends but Kiara had something extremely important that she needed to tell Briana.
The sun was setting in for the night and as they watched their shared favorite show Grey's Anatomy, Kiara said, “There is something kind of confusing that I need to tell you”.
Briana listened closely as Kiara went on, “Okay so basically, I think you are my sister.” Briana's face dropped in shock and confusion.
Before she could say anything Kiara continued, “My dad told me a while ago I had a sister around my age and he had heard that she moved to Hawaii. I went on my trip to clear my mind and honestly never expected to end up meeting you. When I realized you weren’t just another fan and it was you, I couldn’t just pass up the opportunity of getting to know you”.
“Wow, I don’t even know what to say,”Briana replied and hugged Kiara while crying.
She was full of so many emotions and questions but she had a feeling of pride knowing she had a sister as great as Kiara.
The two of them spent the next few days soaking in their emotions, growing their relationship and answering all of each other's questions. While they couldn’t make up the time they didn’t have with each other, they wanted to make the most of the opportunity that they now had. Kiara also had something else to figure out: what to tell her fans. Kiara decided that with some more concerts on the horizon she could bring Briana out and shock her fans. When they did this, Briana was a bombshell to the music world and everyone was asking for more of both of them. Interviewers, reporters and paparazzi were obsessed with the story of how they met and both Kiara and Briana grew more popular.
While Kiara's daily life didn't change too much, Briana's life was flipped around. She went from a typical girl after college trying to find herself to being a well known celebrity. Deep down though, neither Kiara or Briana cared about the clout that followed them.
A year later, Kiara returned to the beach that they met at, this time visiting as her sister and not just a traveler. They sat on the beach admiring the sunset together. Words didn’t have to be spoken to know that they both cherished the unexpected bond between them that will never be broken.
Neither of them knew it on the beach a year ago, but this new found friendship was something that both of them needed. Kiara now had an outlet and someone who she could confine in from her stressful Hollywood life. On the other hand, Briana had met someone that truly brought so much excitement into her previously lonely lifestyle.
Wyatt Stranded
Brendan Lee
It was one of the most eventful seasons of the year, and during this time Wyatt was going to reach the peak of his career to become a professional baseball player in his biggest baseball game that would change everything for him. Wyatt had to take a plane to Los Angeles, and during his travel, he was coming up with famous lines he could say once he and his team won the game.
Suddenly at the corner of his eye, he notices the engine was exhaling a black cloud and, then a second after, there was a blinding flash with a deafening explosion, which caused the plane to begin plummeting to the ground. Wyatt was immediately thrown to the floor of the cabin, and then he was thrown around the entire cabin. Wyatt tried his best to find anything to cling onto; however, the force of the spiraling plane prevented him from doing any of that, but in an instant something flew at him, making him lose consciousness. Silence lingered in the air as if everything had come to a stop.
When Wyatt was a kid, he lived with both of his parents and had an older brother. Wyatt was athletic, physically fit for his age, and he was also trained by his dad who used to be in the army to survive by himself if need be. Wyatt was gifted with a good arm; this allowed him to be able to throw balls as fast as 85 mph. Everyone praised him for it; however, his older brother was jealous and one night while Wyatt was sleeping his older brother poured boiling hot water onto him, this jolted Wyatt awake.
In a daze Wyatt scanned his surroundings, layers of leaves rustled with the wind, small rays of light seeped in between the small cracks of the leaves, however he could not hear anything, but the annoying sound of ringing. Wyatt’s entire body ached, riddled with many bruises that covered his body, and sharp throbbing pain that kept nagging at his head. As he tried to stand up he could feel something wrapped around his leg and he noticed that it was a snake, so cautiously he unwrapped it off of himself being sure not to be bitten by it and threw it as far as he could once it was off of him. At that moment Wyatt more thoroughly assessed his surroundings. All of his clothes were ripped and torn up, and he had only survived the crash because he had ended up in the back of the cabin which was suspended by the vines from the trees. Wyatt's chest tightened as he finally realized where he had landed, he was in the middle of a jungle.
Wyatt’s first instinct was to find any other survivors other than himself and yelled out to see if anyone would respond. However the only response he got in return was the humming of insects and chirping of the birds. Wyatt concluded that he was the only survivor, but instead of losing hope he swallowed hard and recollected his thoughts to calm his mind down from panicking. Wyatt knew that he needed to survive and escape this place.
First, he needed to climb up to the wreckage of the plane and scavenge it for anything useful enough for him to survive. Carefully he made his way up trying to not make sudden movements that would cause the wreckage to tip and fall, as he got closer and went inside he could feel the instability and how each step he took shook the entire wreckage. Slowly he looked around for any resources he could take and found a backpack, some granola bars, a reusable water bottle, some clothes, and a first-aid kid. As Wyatt was making his exit he heard one of the vines holding the wreckage up suddenly snap, he and the wreckage came tumbling down with a loud crash. Fortunately luck was on his side as he was able to catch himself by grabbing onto one of the loose vines, but he knew chances like these would not happen again.Wyatt could make out the state of the wreckage, it was more scrap than a cabin now.
While hanging from the vines he thought he could get a more exact location of where he was, but all he saw was the vast and endless trees, however he noticed a small open field in the distance and knew he had to make his way there. So he quickly climbed down and began his journey. Wyatt had to maintain his water constantly to be sure not to use up all his water because he knew nothing of this environment he was in, and he had to stay alert at all times for another sort of danger.
Soon he could hear the faint sound of running water and he made his way over to it and realized it was a stream of water, drinkable water. Wyatt could not hold back his excitement after finding a drinkable water source and quickly ran to it to refill his water and drink it. When he finished refilling his water he noticed that the sun had started to set and realized that he needed to either find shelter or make one himself. Using the branches and big leaves he created himself a small hut, it was not anything too impressive, but it provided him a sense of safety for now. As night came the darkness engulfed him, the humming of the insects grew louder, and Wyatt went into a deep thought. Would he ever be able to get out of this place alive? Wyatt knew he had no time for these thoughts, so to clear it up he thought about his mom, who was sobbing tears of joy at the airport, and about the game that was supposed to change his career for the better.
Sleeping in this environment seemed impossible, he felt the need to stay on guard every second. Morning came in a flash, bags had already formed under his eyes from not being able to get enough sleep. Wyatt knew that it was not an excuse for him to stop and kept persisting forwards.
Soon he learned to adapt to the jungle.. He learned many things, one of which was by observing the creatures of the environment to see which fruits were good to eat and which were not. His body also started to adapt, becoming leaner and sturdier to better traverse through the land.
One day, while searching for food he heard footsteps, but these were not the sound of animal footsteps, they sounded human. Wyatt’s heart started to race, hope flared up inside of him, a hope that he was not the only survivor of the crash, so he quickly ran through the jungle towards the noise to see them. Once he spotted them, they were tall, dark skinned men, and they were covered in weird tattoos, but Wyatt did not care; he wanted to finally communicate with a human being.
However, something in his gut told him to stop, observing them closer he saw that they were dragging another person, and that person being dragged looked like a passenger of the plane, but most of his body seemed like it had been eaten. The bite marks were not from any animal of the jungle, so Wyatt came to the conclusion that these people were cannibals. Fear took over him, he was not surviving in the jungle alone, but with cannibals that would sneak up on him at any moment and eat him for food. Wyatt also realized that the direction they were walking towards was the same area he was trying to go to, that meant that their camp was most likely there. Wyatt knew one thing, and it was to get as far away as possible from this location if he wanted to live.
However he thought about it more, these humans were uneducated so maybe he could try to teach them something new, like baseball. Thinking over it a bit more he decided it was worth a shot, even if he tried to run they would eventually catch up to him and he would be turned to food. He sneaked towards their campsite and spotted their leader and slowly approached them. Once they saw him they were on high alert ready to attack, but Wyatt made sure he was unarmed to show he meant no harm. Wyatt saw one of them walk up, and he assumed that was their leader and the one that came in front sniffed him and gestured for the rest to lower their weapons. It seemed that being in the jungle for a while made his scent smell like one of them. So cautiously he gestured that he would teach them, and showed them the basics of baseball through his actions. After a few months of teaching them and playing with them, their skills were equal to a professional player. In the end Wyatt really never got rescued, however he was able to live with the people of the jungle and teach them the sport he spent his life on.
The Vision
Joshua Gardener
An expedition of the ages, long awaited by the kingdom of the land and its people… an outing that would change the world forever. The land’s hopes and dreams lay in the swords of the knights that came from places big and small, from every corner of the world, with potential and strength as high as the clouds… knights who lay deceased in the very forest of darkness that they were meant to conquer. All but one. A knight whose armor and cloth was covered in splattered blood and dirt. One of his limbs lying somewhere on the battlefield, and the inside of his helmet stained with blood and tears. This was his first ever mission as a knight of the kingdom, his dream.
His dream that was built up from his birth to this moment was in tatters. The knight awoke to a hazy view of his unmoving comrades, and a sea of blood. He trips over bodies as he scatters into the brush before the monsters spot him – body moving only out of instinct and fear, with his mind not forming any solid thoughts. Running a short distance he falls as he has lost a good amount of blood and is gravely injured. Finally able to think straight he ties his loincloth soaked in the blood of comrades and demons and ties it to his arm. In a hoarse voice, muttering an incantation that makes his hand form a faint glow. The crows that had been perched all around him waiting to pick at his remains had likely sensed his impending survival and decided to flap their wings and carry themselves above the trees in search of food leaving behind only a feather or two . After continuing to mutter the incantation with his hoarse voice and laboring his glowing palm onto the injured ligament, the wound begins to heal, slowly closing and expunging the tainted blood in his body as the wound closes very slowly. After what felt like days, and the moon had taken the place of the sun, the knight began to drag his feet under him through the mud and make his way out of the forest.
He went around fifteen minutes before his life was in danger once again, as he heard the brush ahead of him quiver, he tensed his body, biting down hard on his jaw, grasping his sword as tightly as possibly in his hand… a giant winged snake quietly slithers through the bushes, a magic creature. The knight knows he has to strike quick while he’s hidden, using concealment magic, he staggers into the unsuspecting creature but due to his injuries he is too slow to strike the decisive blow, his sword piercing the wind just a half a second too slowly, the snake quickly flaps its wings to evade the blow, and extends its body and attempt to through the helmet and into the nights skull. After a quick exchange of evasions and swings of a bloodstained blade, the knight stood upon the slain magical beast with a sense of triumph, for the second time in his life. It made him think about his days at the knight academy.
The kingdom was a lovely place, with tons of life and love to go around. The capital city was wonderous with many different places and people to visit and meet, and a unity and belief in the kingdom's strength and unity. The demons’ only added to that passion. The knights of the kingdom were the most respected across their kingdom and feared across the world. The knight academy was responsible for curating such a strong force of warriors. The knight back then was nothing more than a boy, a reckless, weak, and untalented boy. He swung his sword over and over thousands of times with sweat burning his eyes and his arms throbbing in pain, sparring with other knight candidates from dusk till dawn.. His hard work paid off, granting him strength and endurance, along with precise movements and focus. But what made the knights extraordinary, was the magic that laid within each and every husk of flesh swinging their swords. This made them husks of potential.
The boy didn’t have much magic flowing through his body, and it wasn’t potent enough to be used to a high level–causing him grief for his dream to be a knight and protector of his home country out of reach. The more days that passed in the academy meant the more the ones around him excelled as he did not. The weakest were removed from the academy, but as the boy had given up everything in his life for his dream, he had given up any thoughts on any other future for himself. The boy's magic was meek but he did what he could, and eventually his removal from the academy became a topic of discussion. He agonized over possible futures during each night, and cursed how unfair the kingdom was, cursed their inability to look past innate talent and look at effort, heart, and loyalty. Days before the great expedition, the boy was called to battle. The participation in the great expedition was something other than a dream now, but a reality. The first time feeling triumph and satisfaction hit him in a wave of ecstasy, but it just made him hungry for more. The need to prove himself to his kingdom and country that he had previously lashed out on in his despair.. made him hungry, hungry for battle–or so he thought.
The scene of death and scent of blood and battle had made the knight physically ill, causing him to remove his helmet and puke after his moment of satisfaction, and passing out from the exhaustion of straining an injured body. He woke up to a sharp pain in his injured ligament, immediately causing his senses to load information into his brain, the pain, the blurry pair of what seemed to be sharptoothed hares eating away at his bloodied injury, and the smell of the forest and blood. He roared at them in a fit of pain and rage causing one of the magic beasts to run away, and the other to lunge at him. Later, after eating the aggressive sharptoothed hare, and healing his ligament once more–he pressed on further in search of the plains.
This cycle of fear and death continued for weeks, as the knight could not cover much distance, and his encounters only hurt him more and more. The knights’ armor had been worn down, with most of it tattered and missing; the battles had been making him more defenseless and he knew it would eventually spell his end as the forest clearing was never in sight, and he even began to believe it never would be. He started to think about his life, and the truth of his dream. With his impending death, realization was brought to the knight; realizing his dream was only a way to prove to himself that he was significant, and mattered to people. He had never truly wanted to protect his country, and he had never truly wanted to be a knight. Just wanted to be important, looked up to, and prove his own worth. These thoughts came to him every time he got hurt and thought about the battle and his predicament, and he would think to himself “Why am I here? Why has this happened to me?”
The more he thought about it, the more he used it to distract himself from the pain, these thoughts became his sole strategy of staying sane; doing something he never did before, questioning himself. The knight, with bloody clothes, a malnourished body, a battered blade, and mind that was trying to accept the actions he has partaken in during his life.. Removed his helmet and dropped it to the ground, and became just a man. Just a man who had come to terms with his life, and had begrudgingly accepted the fact that all he did in his life was run, from family, from friends, and from his own true thoughts and selfishness. In pursuit of a selfish desire that was masked by a valiant dream.
The man pressed on, no longer wishing to put in the effort to warn the kingdom of the knights’ failure–but to die. To join those who supported his foolish dream and his foolish selfishness. His selfish need for approval, and his selfish need to appear just. He cursed his survival, as he did not feel worthy to live, compared to the selfless, brave, and valiant warriors that lost their lives. He didn’t feel worthy of being looked up to, only worthy of the reaper taking him away. He trudged forward through the mud just as he did before, and as he walked with his eyes closed waiting for a sharp pain to wave over his body–he caught a scent of flowers. Immediately opening his eyes, he found himself standing in a clearing, with birds flying above and the cicadas ringing, he felt a conflicting sense of relief and despair. He feels as though he should die but sees hope that he may survive. Hope filling his body for the first time since the battle, the man takes a step into the field, the sun shining down on him; he is overcome with the scenery and the relief that he forgets all about his despair, the innate desire to live rushing over him. But then he sees a splash of blood fling onto the field, right next to him. The man’s vision blurs and he wobbles from side to side, with something tugging his leg–unnoticed by the numbed man, a demonic wolf quickly gnaws off the man's leg and another quickly emerges from the forest and bites his neck. All the man feels in this moment is fear, and sadness, as he is dragged away from the first and only flash of hope in a long time, unwillingly, unfairly. He didn’t want to die, even if he felt he deserved it. He wanted to live.
The man wakes up, with the light illuminating his room coming from the sun peering in from the window. His eyes are blurry, and wet, with tears going down his cheeks and temples. The events in the forest of darkness flood his brain in the snap of a finger. He stayed quietly staring into space in his bed, glancing teary eyed at the armor on the table near the room entrance; and he stood up and walked over to the armor, breathing heavily, his heart beating fast and hard. The man picks up the helmet looking into it, and into himself. A soldier bursts into the room, and says “Be ready to leave the barracks for the battle of the forest of darkness in thirty minutes.” He exits the room and the man looks back at the helmet, with eyes determined to achieve a new dream.
The Secret Behind The Screen
Grace Melnyk
Lily, age 18, lives in Michigan and is a freshman at a community college. She has three older siblings who are all married and have kids. Lily's family are all super close and very outgoing. She is pretty tall, long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and an olive skin tone. Avery, age 18, lives in Texas and isn't attending college due to financial problems. She has 2 siblings, one younger and one older. Avery and her family aren't super close and Avery doesn't really get along with her parents too well due to Avery's behavior and actions. She is tall, short brown hair with minimal highlights, green eyes, and a paler skin tone. November 3rd 2023 3:30pm. Lily added Avery on snapchat after she found her on quick add on snapchat.
November 3rd 2023 4:47pm, Avery added Lily back and they began snapchatting. Lily and Avery started to talk and get to know each other.
Lily started the conversation by asking ¨Where are you from? What college are you going to?¨
Avery was hesitating telling her about college because she is embarrassed about why she can't go to college. Avery answers back, ¨I'm from Waco, Texas and I'm not currently going to college due to financial issues. Wbu?¨
Lily replies, ¨Oooo, I love Texas! We should definitely meet up sometime! I'm currently a freshman at a community college 30 minutes from my house. I'm not loving college right now, I'm having a harder time with making friends but I have a couple close friends here.¨
Before ending the conversation for the day, Avery responded back, ¨Omg yes we should totally meet up sometime!¨
November 15th 2023 8:25pm, Lily was scrolling on tiktok and Avery facetimed her. They talked and talked for hours until 2:15am. Lily has no idea that Avery had just recently killed someone due to anger. Avery has a bad background of drug use and has gone to rehab to hopefully heal and stop the addiction. Nothing works for her and she always ends up going back.
November 18th 2023 1:22pm, Avery texted Lily and wanted to plan to meet up with her. ¨Hey, I was wondering if you would want to meet up in a week or two? You could come here to Texas or I could go to Michigan?¨
Lily opened her message and responded, ¨Hey, yes we totally should! I'm gonna be out of town to see family for Thanksgiving but I will let you know after that and we could plan to meet!¨
Avery ended the conversation by saying, ¨Okay! Keep me posted, I can't wait to meet you in person!¨
Lily went and talked to her parents about wanting to meet up with Avery. Her parents were 100% on board with the idea because there has been a lot of things going on in the news about kids meeting online friends and it turned out they weren't who they thought and things happened.
November 22nd, 2023 11:00am, Lily and her family leave to go out of town and visit family for Thanksgiving. The car ride was 5 hours to her grandparents house. Lily was on her phone when she passed over a tiktok video about a girl in Texas that was a threat. The description of the girl described Avery but Lily didn't want to believe it because she thought their friendship seemed very genuine. Lily was very hesitant to show her parents about it since Lily did really want to go meet Avery.
November 22nd, 2023 1:30pm, 2 ½ hours into the car ride to Lily's grandparents and she hasn't talked to Avery in four days. Lily did end up sharing the post to her parents and it made their decision only get stronger on why she shouldn't meet up with Avery. Lily asked her mom, ¨Should I ask Avery about the post I saw? Or kind of bring it up and ask if she has ever heard of who the girl is?¨
Her mom let out a sigh and turned to Lily's dad. Her mom said, ¨I don't know right now Lily. I would maybe look into it more? But I don't know.¨
Lily spent the rest of the car ride pondering whether she should bring it up to Avery or not. If she should ask about it over the phone or in person.
November 22nd, 2023 4:30pm, 30 minutes left until they arrive at Lily's grandparents. She woke up from her long nap and was feeling groggy with her dry mouth, creaky neck. She blinked fast a couple times to open her eyes and make them less fuzzy.
Lily got out of the car and gathered her bag and went inside to see her family. As she was walking to the door she saw her grandparents waiting for them to walk in the doors with a smile ear to ear. Lily and her siblings go over to her grandparents and give them big hugs.
November 23rd, 2023 8:00am, the sun is beaming through the sheer curtains in the guest room Lily was in. She woke up to the sound of the grandfather clock chiming in the halls. She could smell the yummy food being baked for breakfast. Lily rubs her eyes and reaches out towards her nightstand and unplugged her phone. She checked Snapchat to see if Avery had messaged her since she hadn’t heard from her in a week and was getting a little worried. Still no messages from Avery. The silence was loud. Lily let it go and got dressed so she could go downstairs and hang out with her family since it was Thanksgiving day.
November 23, 2023 8:30am, Lily is downstairs in the living room with her siblings and cousins all talking over each other, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents are all in the kitchen talking around the island. Later that day after dinner, Lily was scrolling on TikTok and came across another video. The girl was described as, dangerous, recovering addict, and also from Waco, Texas. The comments were all warning people of her. Lily didn’t want to believe it. Avery was always so nice and honest towards Lily and never said anything that would be suspicious.
November 25th, 2023 7:30pm, Lily and her family had arrived home after a five hour long car ride. Lily went up to her room to unpack and get ready for bed. She picked up her phone and was surprised to see a message from Avery. It read, “Hey Lily, sorry it’s been a while since we’ve talked. I’ve had so many things going on in my life.”
Lily was relieved to hear back from Avery. She replied back, “No worries, so glad to hear from you!” Avery mentioned meeting up with Lily. Lily didn’t know if she should so she had gone downstairs to her living room and walked to her parents. They agreed and said it would be best for Avery to fly up to Michigan and meet at a coffee shop and her parents would go and stay at a different table so they can keep an eye on them. Lily talked to Avery and Avery agreed.
December 5th, 2023 12:30pm, Avery arrived at the airport and got in an uber to go meet up with Lily. Lily and her parents were waiting at the café. There were so many cars passing by down the busy street. The sidewalks were filled with pedestrians going into shops and restaurants. Lily sat at a table next to the window waiting for Avery to arrive. Meanwhile, Lily’s parents were by the bathrooms at a table so they could keep an eye on them in case anything did happen.
Lily’s stomach dropped when she had seen Avery walking in. She looked exactly like the descriptions from the tiktoks she had seen previously. Lily and Avery greeted each other. Sat down. Talked.
The conversation started out like any other conversation. They started talking about how different Texas was from Michigan, how Avery’s flight here was.
Avery took a deep breath, “There is something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about…” Avery said hesitantly.
Lily’s heart is racing, legs are shaking, and she looks over at parents and nods to Avery.
“You might’ve seen some things online about a girl from Texas,” Avery paused and let out a deep breath.
Lily froze. She went silent.
“I didn’t want to tell you because I wanted to have a friend and someone to go to when I needed to talk.” Avery said with her eyes watery.
“What happened?” Lily asked softly.
Avery took another deep breath staring down at the table. Hands shaking. Feet tapping. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I wasn’t in the right space mentally and physically… I… I… I killed someone…” Avery said anxiously.
Lily stood up. Lily had tears coming down her cheeks. She turned and looked at her parents. She was scared. Confused. Hurt.
“I wish you would’ve just been honest with me.” Lily said.
“I wanted to… trust me.” Avery said. “I didn’t want to lose you as a friend.”
Lily sat back down. Stared out the window. Silence. She didn’t know what to say anymore.
“I’m scared… Right now I don’t think we should be friends until things get better,” Lily admitted nervously.
“I completely understand,” Avery said, saddened as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I will be rooting for you and I am glad we met up and talked in person,” Lily said.
Avery wiped her tears with a napkin.
Lily and Avery got up out of their chairs and Lily walked over towards her parents and hugged them as she cried. Lily and her parents went over to Avery to say bye before they parted ways.
“I am going to be going to rehab again so I can better myself mentally and physically,” Avery said strongly.
Lily nodded and said, “I hope all goes well for you.”
During Lily’s car ride home from the café she stared out the window and realized how relieved and at peace she felt now knowing the truth.
December 5th, 2023 7:45pm, Lily sat up in her bed scrolling through TikTok. A message popped up from Avery.
“I just checked myself into treatment.” Avery said.
Lily responded, “I’m so happy you’re doing this for yourself and I hope everything goes well for you.” The conversation ended there.
Growth will always come to you when you are happy and at peace. Sometimes you need to walk away from things even if you don’t want to. Lily had to walk away from a friendship after finding out the truth about Avery so that she could be at peace.
The Mirror Rule
Sophia Savi
“Crap!” I muttered as I ran into the kitchen table. Again. Navigating around a pitch black room isn't for the weak. I should’ve been sleeping, I know, but I just came down to the kitchen for a glass of water. I had stayed up studying way too late. It was well past midnight by now and the house was eerily silent, as if trying to tell me to go back to sleep. The house was the kind of quiet that made it almost uncomfortable, which should have been my first sign to go back upstairs to my room. No noise, no footsteps. Just the hum of electricity and the faint ticking of the clock down the hall. Although it was dark, I didn't bother turning on the lights. I didn't want to risk waking anyone up, especially at this time of night. I took a few blind, wobbly steps forward, trying not to tip my glass and spill the water as I walked.
Finally, I gave up and stopped in my tracks so my eyes could adjust. So there I was, standing in the dark like an absolute idiot, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A few minutes later, my eyes adjusted, and that's when I realized where I was standing; right in front of the giant mirror that my parents kept in the living room.
“Shit, shit, shit…” This wasn't supposed to happen. I knew the rule; I followed the rule. Rules like this aren't meant to be questioned, right? Until they are.
Don't look. I urged myself. Too late. I was already looking, staring at my own reflection. It looked normal, I looked normal. Same clothes, same body, same tired expression. I almost let out a laugh for being so paranoid, but it died in my throat. Because then it smiled. A big, creepy smile that didn't belong to me. Because I hadn't.
"What the…” my voice trailed off as I caught it in the corner of my eye. My left hand, the one not holding the cup, was moving. But I wasn't. Yet there it was, rising to point at something…behind me?
For as long as I could remember, there has been but one rule in my household; no mirrors after midnight. Weird, I know. But as a kid, I used to think this was normal, that every family played this game. I had my first sleepover with my best friend Claire when I was 8. She came up with this elaborate idea to pull an all nighter. The first one for both of us. So we did. For most of the night, after her parents had both gone to bed, we just played games together on our Ipads. Normal kid stuff. But around 3 am we both got bored, and Claire wanted to give me a makeover.
“Come to my vanity,” she said as she walked over to her vanity, with jammed pack drawers full of beauty supplies and a giant mirror, illuminated by lights all around.
“What are you doing,” I whispered as I grabbed her arm to pull her back. “Don’t you know the rule?” Seeing her confused look, I continued. “The mirror rule. You know, no mirrors after midnight?” I said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Silence. For a minute, we just stood there staring at each other, my hand still on her arm.
“Liv, what are you talking about?” She said after a few moments.
I'm 16 now. But I still remember everything that happened that day; my genuine fear when she moved towards the mirror, the shock when she had no idea what I was talking about. How the embarrassment of her having to explain to me how this game was not normal quickly morphed into confusion and anger. And as I got older, I had to stop believing that it was just a silly family superstition, like avoiding ladders or knocking on wood. I started to notice little things, like how mirrors were rarely brought up in my house. The hushed voices my parents would speak in when discussing the rule, not knowing my siblings and I could hear. How my mom would always glance in the hallway mirror for a moment too long before going up to bed, and how my dad would refuse to shave if it meant having to look in the mirror too late at night. My siblings and I pretended not to see, but we did. We just never questioned; there was never a reason to.
“It’s just a family tradition,” is what my dad would say if we ever asked.
“Mirrrors can play tricks on tired minds,” was always my moms response. We never pushed. But we knew that there was something else; something no one was telling us.
The morning after, I came downstairs at 7 am sharp for breakfast. My mom was in the kitchen, flipping pancakes.
“You look tired.” she commented as I sat down at the table. I was. I hadn't slept at all last night, I couldn't. Not after what happened. I mean, of course I looked behind me at what I was supposedly pointing at. But there was nothing there. And when I looked back at my reflection, it was completely normal. Just staring back at me, motionless, like it hadn’t just altered my whole reality.
“I broke the rule.” I whispered, looking down at my hands that were neatly folded in my lap.
“Liv, you need to speak up.”
“I looked,” I said a bit louder, “after midnight.” Her spatula stopped, midair, midflip. The color drained from her face, and for the first time in my life I saw real fear creep into her usually calculated expression. She didn't yell, didn't panic. Just simply set down the spatula and turned off the griddle, where uncooked batter still sat in blobs.
“That’s why rules exist,” she whispered. I waited, and she continued. “The mirrors don't always reflect what you can see…” she paused. “Sometimes they reflect what's watching.” My hands clenched and I felt my pulse speed up.
“What?” I managed to say after a moment, although I could hardly hear myself over my pounding heart. Her voice wavered slightly as she spoke.
“Sometimes, the mirrors show what can see you, even if you can’t see them.”
I couldn’t sleep that night. I laid awake in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my closet mirror, covered with an extra bed sheet that I had just taped up. I checked my phone. 9:32 pm. Still safe. But I didn't feel safe. Because in the back of my mind, I knew someone, or something, was watching me. I couldn't see it, but I somehow felt it. Eventually, I fell asleep. But still, I woke up just around midnight to a faint rustling sound. My eyes immediately darted towards the mirror. Still covered. But the sheet shifted. And then came a soft tap. And another. And another. Like knuckles on glass. I quickly looked away, but I knew that whatever was on the other side was watching. Waiting.
The Zombies and the Old Man
Joseph LaVallee III
It’s 3 am in 1936 and Old Man Ross wakes. His back cracks with each movement as he gets up from bed. Ross slowly grabs his cane next to his bed and starts walking down the hall to the stairs. Ross makes his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Terry is already there making breakfast and coffee for the Old Man. Ross finishes his coffee while reading the newspaper when Ross laughs, “This war is still happening. Can’t people find a calm way to solve problems?” Ross throws the newspaper and stands up and tells Terry. “Go clean the stables you whiper snaper!” Terry does.
Ross goes down to the basement and holds his cane out. He takes the both ends of the cane and pulls them apart revealing a 1400s Japanese Katana that he starts to sharpen. Ross sits by the sharpener for 2 and a half hours. Old Man Ross finally finishes sharpening the katana and puts it back into his cane. Old Man Ross walks back up the stairs and goes to the front door and opens it. He breathes in the fresh air before sitting in his rocking chair. Danny walks up to Ross and says, “Good morning Boss!” Ross smiles and nods his head. Danny leaves and goes back to the tractor and starts working.
Next to appear is Bell. Bell asks, “Where do we keep the extra food for the animals boss?”
Ross looked up and said in a tone of annoyance, “In the shed Bell where it always is.”
Bell leaves to get the food. Terry walks up and before he can say anything Ross says, “Why are the sheep pens not clean yet”. Terry turns around and heads to the sheep pen to start cleaning it. Ross watches them all work. Ross walks back inside and the phone rings with a military number.
Ross picks up and hears, “Hello I am Lieutenant John Fischer I am talking to warn you that there is an outbreak of zombies spotted in London and we were told to let you know."
Ross responds, “Thank You Lieutenant!” and he hangs up the phone.
Ross sits on the couch and starts reading a book before hearing banging at his front door. Ross rolls his eyes and opens the door. Standing at the door is the sheriff and says, "Morning we have suspicion that you are housing a dangerous weapon in this fine house.”
Ross shakes his head saying, “The only weapon in this house is my 1400s katana I bought from an auction 30 years ago”.
The sheriff looks confused and says “Let me see this weapon."
Ross pulls out the katana from his cane and shows him.
The sheriff looks at the blade and says “This is nice and perfectly legal and you put it somewhere hidden”. Ross puts the sword back into the cane. The sheriff says “Have a good day sir!” and he leaves.
Ross shuts the door and says under his breath “Those dam Kuznetsov imbeciles forget they have weapons everywhere and I don’t call the sheriff because I’m a nice person."
Four and Five years later in 1940 it's July and into May 1941 there were bombing runs happening by German forces. Ross sits in the living room listening to the radio when the person said, “The bombs are getting more and more frequent and our army can’t hold them for longer."
Ross throws a shoe at the radio, turning it off while saying, “Those Germans get on the ground and fight you cowards, stop relying on your stupid planes." There was a knock on the door. Old Man Ross opens the door and sees a man selling elixir.
The man says, “Sir please buy this, it will help with that back pain you got." Ross says, “I don’t do those drinks”.
Ross then remarks, “I haven’t been to a doctor in 40 years since my wife died 32 winters ago."The man leaves afraid of the Old Man and what he does.
Ross shuts the door and yells to Terry, “Go put those NO TRESPASSING signs up on the gate because I don’t like unwelcome guests."
Terry yells ,“Yah Yah Yah boss I’ll do it after I finish this match Fortnite!"
Ross yells back, “That's some mouth you got there kid, time to griddy myself out!"
Terry yells back, “Fine, I will go do it, go take the L grandpa!" Terry gets up and puts the signs up.
Then out of nowhere Bell runs in crying saying,“I’m bleeding I cut my hand on the metal of horse gate!: Ross runs over and patches the wound like he was back in World War 1 as a medic.
As the days go on Ross listens to the radio and hears, “The zombies have spread around the world, the war has added an extra problem.” Ross knows the problems that come with zombies. Ross gets up from his chair and walks to the kitchen to grab his coffee. Ross takes a sip of this coffee before dropping the cup on the ground and it shatters into pieces. Ross goes outside and sits in his rocking chair. Ross sees some zombies walking onto his land and Terry kills them. Ross looks out to the distance and notices there are more and more zombies that enter the farm. Ross smiles and goes back inside to take a nap in his bed. Ross takes a 5 hour nap and wakes up at 6:00 pm and slowly gets up. Ross grabs his cane and walks back downstairs and eats chicken nuggets and smiley french fries for dinner. While at the table he tells the others the story of when he was on the Titanic all those years ago. Ross also explains that is why he does not have a wife anymore and also says his children moved out and have not talked to him since the funeral of his wife and their mother.
Ross continues to explain his life to the people around the table. Until Bell stands and says to Ross, “We don’t care about your boring wife!"
Another voice yells, “CUT! RESET!”
The director Steve Jones says, “Those aren’t the lines you know that you've been an actress for my movies for 5 years come on!"The director sits back in his chair and says
“Ross and Bell talking Take 2 and Action!"
Bell stands and says to Ross, “We don’t care about your bowling life!"
“CUT! RESET!”
Ross fires back, “Where did you find this woman?Ross looks angry at Bell.
The director sits back in his chair and says, “Ross and Bell talking Take 3 and Action!"
Bell stands and says to Ross, “We don’t care about your rowing knife!"
“CUT! RESET!”
Ross yells, “How hard is this one line we gave you this 5 months ago plus an extra 3 days to prepare?" Ross paces around the room. The others sit holding their heads in their hands.
The director sits back in his chair and says “Ross and Bell talking Take 19 and Action!”
Bell stands and says to Ross, “We don’t care about your boring life!"
“CUT!” The director smiles in joy and says, "Finally that's a wrap you all can go home I need a drink!"
Ross’s actor walks away muttering this under his breath. Bell’s actress goes back to her trailer and takes a call from her agent. They talk for about an hour before she hangs up the phone and walks to her car and drives off into the sunset.
The Dead House
Mars Perez
The house was quiet at last. The rubble of what was once a home, crosses laid outside, bells of the church rang in the background, the day was dark with thick, heavy clouds. Two graves stood next to each other, locked away in their own little world of the graveyard. Crosses covered them, locked away, one singular white rose for each. A bottle of holy water on either side, a guard for each.
The house was dead, and finally, so were they.
***
As Leslie Monac stared down into the coffin being gently laid to rest, tears welled in her eyes. She was stiff, cold, and shattered. Her eyes were wide, with those tears that stormed down her cheeks. Murmurs swirled around her. Around the funeral. Around the death of a child that was never coming back. As Priest Lorrel finished speaking, he bowed his head and looked at the grave.
Evelyn Monac.
Priest Lorrel tore his eyes from it, and looked towards Leslie. A simple black dress draped her, a black veil, a rosary, but with a missing piece. A cross. It was missing, the same way a mother was missing her child.
***
As night settled in, people eventually began to shuffle out. Leslie still stood where she did earlier in the day, staring blankly at the headstone. She didn’t quite know what to do. What does one do when their child dies? The candles nearby flickered about, mingling with the flowers that rested atop the grave.
Leslie jumped a bit as Priest Lorrel approached. She wiped her tears from her eyes, and her voice came out hollow and broken, “Pastor Lorrel.” She spoke. Pastor Lorrel looked down at her and nodded.
“Hello, Ms. Monac. We at the church wanted to offer our deepest apologies towards Evelyn. She was a kind and a true follower of Christ our Lord.” Pastor Lorrel spoke solemnly towards her. He gently placed a cross atop Evelyn's little grave. Leslie just nodded her head, as he patted her shoulder. No words could escape her - what words could you even say at a moment like that?
***
As Leslie pushed open the door to her home, the home creaked and groaned. The floorboards ached, and croaked beneath her. A single waterdrop slipped through the second story and landed in front of her. She froze, looking up and noticing the steady drip of water droplets coming from the second story. She gently locked the door behind her and began her descent up the stairs. She pushed open the door to Evelyn’s room, noticing there was a trail of wet foot steps up into it.
Water pooled on the white rug in the middle of the room. The room was dark, the windows drawn, yet she knew this room like the back of her hand. Rose wallpaper coating the walls, a rocking chair in the corner next to the rocking horse, the plush rabbit on the bed that sat on top of the piles of bedding, the closet that stayed closed, stuffed with her favorite clothes, and the lamp next to her bedside table. Still in place, except for the drips of mysterious water on the floor. Leslie crouched to examine the water, extending a shaking hand to feel it. It was cold, and slipped through her fingers.
It slipped through her fingers, the same way Evelyn's dark hair did. The same way Evelyn had slipped from her grasp.
***
When the sun slipped through Leslie's curtains, the house was quiet. She sat there, her black hair in tangles, subconsciously waiting for the childish cry of a “Mama!” from another room. But it would never come. The house sat empty. She stood up, the sheets rustling beneath her. She stood there blankly, her eyes glossed over. Her head suddenly snapped up as she heard the faint sounds of movement from another room.
Leslie threw on a robe, and quickly rushed around the house to investigate. Everything was as it was previously, except for the fact that Evelyn’s bed was not made. It was a mess, as if she had just gotten up.
As if it was lived in. Like she was still there.
Leslie quietly moved like a ghost toward Evelyn’s bed. Her hands trembled as she slowly began to remake Evelyn’s bed to perfection. Yet something was off. She noticed the water pooling all over the bed, staining the sheets and the pillows. Soaked. Yet she quietly carried on, gently making Evelyn’s bed.
***
Dust began to pick up around Leslie as she climbed into an old truck of hers, that had previously been her father’s. She got in, dressed in all black; the hot sun beamed down on her face while she struggled with the truck to start. It roared to life, the engine tired from years of use. She sped away from the farm house, and began on the drive through the backroads.
Pulling up in the thick shade provided by the withered, weeping willows, Leslie came to a halt at her sister's house. The door opened to a dark haired woman, thin statured, with a baby on the hip.
“Leslie?” The woman called, surprised to see her there, squinting. “You wearin’ black in this heat?” She called again, as Leslie glided up the steps.
Leslie's eyes were downcast as she nodded, “May I come in, Amelia?”
Leslie quietly sunk into the couch, watching as Amelia quietly served her tea. Amelia had just set the baby down for a nap, the air slightly damp with sorrow and tobacco.
“How you holdin’ girl?” Amelia asked gently, studying Leslie’s hollow eyes. Leslie let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders rolling back.
“I think I’m losing it. There’s either a pipe burst or.. Something is going on Amelia.” Leslie said somberly. “I’m losing it the same way I lost her.” She added quietly. Amelia shot her a pitying look, rushing to hug her and sit next to her with her own cup of tea. She wrapped her arms around Leslie, hushing her and stroking her hair.
“Hush hush don’ say all of that… you’ll be okay, love.” Amelia said gently.
***
As the night settled in on Leslie's own little farm house, dust picked back up from her truck. Pulling into the driveway, she noticed the front door was open. She cautiously stepped from her truck, pulling the pistol from her glove box.
She shakily raised it up, calling out, “Who’s there?!” her voice rang out.
…
“Who’s there?! I’m not asking!” Her voice rang out again, sharper. “Tell me who’s there I will shoot on sight!” Her voice now came out like a scream, something similar to panic and unease starting to settle into her bones. Leslie approached the house as she was calling. She stood in the doorway, her guard up; on incredibly high alert.
A soft, quiet, gentle little voice called. “Ma?” The voice croaked, the voice cracking and aching with sorrow.
The gun thumped on the ground as Leslie’s arms went to her side.
Her breath went shallow as she let out a quiet “Evelyn?” into the still air. She quickly began to search around her house. “Evelyn?! Evelyn, where are you darling?! Mama’s here, Mama’s here!” Leslie cried out, echoing across the house as she tore the place apart looking for her. “Come back to Mama!” Leslie practically sobbed out, as she ran upstairs and practically broke down the door into Evelyn’s room. She collapsed onto the soaked white rug, curling up into the fetal position as she practically screamed. “Where did you go?!”
As Leslie's scream rang through the house, the water on the floor soaked through her clothes. It soaked through her clothes like how the memories of the room flooded though her. Her wails permeated throughout the house, echoing in sorrow.
***
Leslie jolted awake, the sobs of a child echoing in the house. One that she could recognize a mile away. Evelyn. Moonlight was creeping outside, Leslie’s clothes thoroughly soaked. A thud came from elsewhere, indescribable. She stood up, her head spinning as she gripped onto Evelyn’s old bedframe for support. Her breath was ragged, and she trembled a bit as she did. She looked around the room, shivering as she looked down and let out a quiet sigh. Leslie turned her attention to the door. The hall was dark. Empty. No moonlight shone through, ominously dark. She stepped to the door, hearing a quiet laugh. The cross next to the door was upside down. She swallowed. “I will not let the Devil into any house of mine.” Leslie said quietly as she tried to fix the cross. It would not budge. “Why won’t it move…?” She mumbled, grunting. She huffed, as she heard a quiet, “Mama?” echo from somewhere else. Somewhere beyond.
Leslie quickly ran out of the room, “Evelyn?! Evelyn baby, mama’s here!” She desperately called. She ran down the stairs, looking around frantically. The door suddenly opened. Slamming with the force of nonexistent wind, Leslie screamed.
She sank to her knees. “Lord help me on this lonely night for I’m losing my mind!” Leslie wept, her tears streaming down as she gasped out. She let out another yelp as one of the crosses on her wall clattered to the ground. Another scream ripped from her as photos began to shatter on the ground, crashing. She stood up, grabbed her keys and ran.
***
Leslie’s truck skidded to a halt outside the church. She pounded on the door, sobbing.
An older nun answered the door, her eyebags set deep into her eyes, “May we help you?” She said calmly, studying Leslie’s face.
“Please… Please help me, sister, I need to speak with Priest-” Leslie gushed, being cut off by the nun.
“Priest Lorrel is busy at the moment. But you are welcome to come into the church.” The nun spoke calmly, opening up the door a bit. Leslie’s eyes widened as she took a few steps back, her eyes wild with fear as she shook her head. She returned to her car, starting it desperately.
The next place Leslie pulled into was the sheriff station. She banged wildly on the door. She sobbed as her fists banged against it, as it echoed in the quiet town.
“Help me! Someone, anyone, Lord please!” Leslie cried out, slumping against the door. She shivered, her trembling hands dropping her keys as she went back to her truck. She sped off into the night.
***
When Leslie’s truck returned back home, her windows were shattered. The door was wide open, an ominous invitation into the unknown. Leslie took in a shaky breath as she slithered out of her car seat and towards the house.
It was a wreck. All over there was water, photos were smashed, things overturned and ripped, feathers scattered about. Leslie sucked in a shaky breath, as she looked around. All of her crosses were overturned, hanging upside down tauntingly. “The Devil is in my home.” She said quietly, before a scream ripped through her. “The Devil is in my home!” She sobbed as she collapsed to her knees, before beginning to crawl towards the stairs, she pushed herself up, noticing the wet stairs. She pushed to race up the stairs. The door to her room was open, with an upside down cross shape ripping through her green floral wallpaper. Leslie ripped her attention to hurry to her nightstand that was overturned. She began to tear through it, pulling out a Bible. It was thick, and heavy. It was flooded with water.
Back downstairs, Leslie began to read and cry out, “The Devil I rebuke you from this house! In Jesus’ name I pray to you Lord that you take the Devil away from here!” She called, before a tiny voice spoke up, “You didn’t save me Mama. Where were you Mama?”
Leslie froze, gripping her Bible tightly.
“Evelyn…? Baby where are you?” She called quickly.
“I’m here with you Mama. Always. But I want us to be together.”
***
As the night progressed, and the night grew further, a sheriff's car pulled up outside Leslie’s house.
“Sister Lenore said Ms. Leslie wasn’t right in the head.” Priest Lorrel looked at sheriff Smith. The sheriff grunted as he turned his attention to the house.
“We’ll settle the lady.” Smith sighed as he got out, pistol on his hip. Both men approached, a cold, eerie air settling in around them.
“Ms. Monac?” Priest Lorrel called. “May we enter? Sister Lenore had some concerns?” Laurel called again. Both men looked at each other, before entering.
Upon entering, the house was still a wreck. The first thing to hit them was the burning smell of herbs, flowers, and another indescribable scent. They entered to the sight of lit candles in the parlor.
“Ma’am?” Sheriff Smith called out, poking his head in. They paused for a moment, as Leslie set down her Bible.
“I’m gettin’ my baby back.” Leslie said with a quiet calmness, her hands trembling.
“Well Ms. Monac, we have people worried about you. You don’ seem alright in the head right now. Maybe a verse or two?” Priest Lorrel tried, almost gently.
“That’s not needed. My baby is speaking to me now.” Leslie smiled. The men looked around, noting the upside crosses.
Leslie began to light the candles scattered about, smiling as she did.
“I’m gonna get my baby back. No matter what I ain’t stopping.” She hummed. Laurel stiffened, opening his Bible.
“Leslie, this seems closer to witchcraft than anything… this ain’t holy. It’s the Devil-” He tried one last time, before being cut off by a scream ripping through Leslie. The whites of her eyes showed, as her pupils rolled back. Little red marks of three began to appear on her skin, as she wailed out. An inhumane sound came from her. Smith took a step back, swearing quietly under his breath.
“That’s the Devil himself, Priest…” Smith whispered, quickly drawing his pistol. “No!” Priest Lorrel screamed, flipping open his Bible, as the doors of the house began to creak and groan open, the curtains slamming open, moonlight pouring in. Smith stepped back, his hands shaking as he held his pistol in his hands.
Lorrel desperately looked up, as he frantically flipped through the pages. He looked between Smith, Leslie, and the book.
“Hold her down!” Laurel commanded Smith. Smith lunged forward, attempting to pin Leslie down, but right as he approached she was suddenly lifted from the ground. Her back arched into the air, as foam formed at her mouth. She convulsed as more red welts in patterns of three appeared all over her body.
“Leslie ain’t here with you no more! The Lord can’t find you here!” A deep echo came from Leslie. A sickening laugh came out, one inhumane as her limbs were spread, her hair wildly around her. The candles extinguished as a hush came over the room. All of the doors slammed shut as Leslie was suddenly slammed to the ground. The curtains became drawn, slamming almost as hard as she did.
Leslie laid still. Deathly still. She suddenly arose, her eyes bloodshot and red. Her pupils were blown out. She settled on them, her eyes piercing the men as her gaze was locked onto them.
Lorrel yelled out to Smith, “I need you to fetch the holy water from the truck!” He cried. With trembling hands he lit a candle to be able to read from the book. Smith ran out to the truck, as water began to seep up, soaking the floor up.
“This is the last day she sees the sun. Where mother and daughter will reunite. The child wanted to play with the Devil and paid the price with her soul, drowning. Now it’s the mothers turn.” Leslie’s body announced, as she was lifted again, upside down in the sign of the cross. Her mouth hung open, as a thick, black ooze poured out. Lorrel began his chant.
“‘Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies,’” He grunted out, as the wind picked up. The pages of his book ruffled, as he continued, “‘Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in "our battle against principalities and powers,’” His voice rose as he continued, Sheriff Smith coming in and spraying Leslie with holy water. A sickening burning sound hissed as she screamed, the water burning her skin.
“The Devil ain’t welcome here!” Smith yelled, continuing to throw holy water. “‘Against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places’ Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verse 12.” Lorrel screamed, his voice an echo as it all went silent.
The candle Lorrel was using tipped over. He yanked his Bible back, as the curtains went up in flames. Leslie’s body laid still as Smith kept on spraying holy water on her.
“Smith- Smith, Sheriff, we need to get out.” Lorrel yelled, as Smith turned his attention to him. The sheriff ran out, as the flames rapidly spread. The sun began to break the dark night as Lorrel crouched down towards Leslie.
“I’m so sorry Ms. Monac…” Lorrel whispered. Flames engulfed up to the front door and spread further into the parlor. As something came crashing down in the back, Lorrel silently left. He stepped outside and coughed, the smoke so thick already. He went down the front porch steps. The sheriff's truck was gone, assumingly to get help.
***
Priest Lorrel stood there, watching as the house crumbled. The day was broken, and the light was poured onto the land. The smoke from the house was thick, and heavy. He was reading from the holy book, quiet mumblings as he did. He did the occasional splash of holy water, quietly reading.
“The Devil ain’t welcome here.” Lorrel said quietly.
They were gone, in both body and mind. The house was dead, and so were they.
The Second Chance
Savanna Adamowicz
Scarlett
“Today will be great Scarlett, we’ll finally do it!” my co-star Mateo said before hanging up to drive to the set. As I made my way to the set of my first big movie, I thought about what Mateo had said. We had a couple scenes we had been working hard on to perfect and today would be the day they finally got filmed. Even Shea, my little sister who knew nothing about the movie, was excited for me as I had to overcome my fear of heights for this. Driving through the busy streets of London, I couldn’t wait to get to the quaint little town we built on set. It was so quiet compared to the honking horns, and tons of foot traffic created by tourists in the city. Once I arrived, I quietly went over to hair and makeup so I was ready for when Mateo arrived, mentally preparing myself for the day ahead.
Mateo
“Who was that?” my wife Katerina questions while hovering over me as I hang up with Scarlett.
“Just Scarlett, you know her. I’m getting tired of this Katerina. Every time I discuss work with her, you get suspicious of what I'm doing,” I say, getting more frustrated by the minute.
“Alright Mateo… just get to work.” Katerina hesitantly says backing away.
I hop in my car and drive to set, hoping and praying that everything will resolve itself by the time I get home again. I hop out of the car and head to hair and makeup where I heard Scarlett would be waiting for me. I get dressed and ready, walk on set, and go over the script with our manager. Scarlett walks out, shuffling nervously with her hands behind her back wearing a long, maroon dress that goes down to the floor with brand new Louboutin heels. I’m wearing a nice tailored suit as the first scene of the day is at an elegant restaurant. I knew Katerina would hate this if she had seen it. “You look nice today Scarlett, first things first, get the easier scenes of the day out of the way,” I say as she walks towards me.
Scarlett
“So do you Mateo. I agree. This way we can ease into the day slowly,” I stated as I sat down in the cushioned chairs of the ‘restaurant’. After an hour or two, we got to the part of the night everyone involved was waiting for, the big scene. I have had a fear of heights ever since I was little but when this opportunity came up, I couldn’t miss it. The plan was for Mateo and I to be on a rooftop together, laughing, having fun, and dancing when he eventually lifts me up slightly over the edge. That was the most nerve-wracking thought for the longest time to me. There was absolutely no way that I would trust anybody enough to lift me up on top of the roof, but as I got to know Mateo and we consistently practiced even just the lift, I worked up the courage to finally film it, today.
I attach myself to my safety harness while the Safety Officer makes sure everything is in order. He then comes to make sure I am strapped in correctly. When everything is set to go, Mateo walks on set, looking as relieved as ever. “Hey, what’s going on?” I say. He replies with a smile, “ Oh nothing, just a little argument between Katerina and I, she just called and said she believed me and might come to see me during our lunch break.” I quickly reply by telling him that it was amazing as the director yelled across the set to start the scene.
A playful but romantic scene. That's what our end goal is for this take. Mateo is playfully pushing me while I’m running and hiding behind structures and giggling to myself. We play Hide n Seek and when he catches me behind the door down to the building, he grabs my arm and we start to dance. He sways me back and forth to our characters favorite song before I start to hum it as well.
Mateo
Scarlett and I continue dancing across the rooftop and I notice she hasn’t messed up one bit. She has practiced so hard for this entire scene that I wasn’t worried about it at all. The one thing I have to hope for is that she doesn’t get startled or distracted, other than that I don’t think anything will stop her. Our dance now starts to lead up to Scarlett’s big moment by becoming more serious with small lifts and full turns, but even though I said I was worried Scarlett may get distracted, now i’m worried that maybe I will. I noticed a small ruffle within the back curtain near all the wiring that was being used but no one was supposed to be back there during filming. Maybe there was a technical problem they were trying to fix quietly without interrupting us? As we continued dancing, and more closely approached the end of the scene, I couldn’t help but notice the rustling hadn’t gone away, it only grew. I took one more glance right before I was to lift Scarlett over the roof’s edge, and caught a glimpse of what looked like platinum blonde hair. No one that worked here had that color hair and the only person I could think of was my wife. Before I could stop her, Scarlett started to leap over the ledge just like she was so nervous about before.
Scarlett
I thought I wasn’t ready for this stunt today but I just focused on only one thing, making it perfect. As I began my leap, I noticed that something didn’t feel quite right. It felt as though I was slowly slipping from my harness. The rope that I was connected to came down quicker than I could process what was happening, pulling me out of Mateo's hands halfway over the edge of the roof.
I wake up, confused by what had just happened to me, slowly and carefully standing up. I’m trying to be very cautious because the last thing I think happened was I tripped and I don’t know if I had gotten hurt. As I stood up, I looked at the floor where I just was, only to see my body still laying there, unmoving. Looking around confused and panicked, I had no idea what to do. I stood there, watching people rush towards my body, trying to save me. I hear a loud bang behind me, and I whip around still in a panic. A medium sized cardboard box lies at my feet beneath me and curiously, I open it. The box contains a quick, messy, handwritten note along with a smart watch set to a 24 hour timer. The note read,
Hello Scarlett,
We’ve been expecting you. You have died, if it wasn’t obvious. Figure out why and you get another chance at this life. Say any place or time and we will bring you there.
Another chance at life? What did that mean? I wasn’t completely sure but I was willing to try anything to get out of this strange place in between life and death. I put on the watch and as soon as I do, that timer starts. I start to look around again, just then fully taking in what this means. I’m dead. The paramedics are on the floor unknowingly trying to save my lifeless body while I just stand above them. “Standing around isn’t going to get anything done,” I say in a quiet murmur and start heading around the studio. I look around at each and every little thing I can think of that may have a trace of what had happened just minutes before. All I see are people in a panic with expressions I have never seen outside of TV before written on their faces. I walk over to Mateo, shyly standing off to the side, almost in the film crew’s gear with a grim expression on his face. He looked different from the others, almost as if my death had been his fault but of course it couldn’t have been, even if he had dropped me the rope and harness would have caught me.
At that moment everything came rushing back to me. I thought I had solved the key to everything. I didn’t trip, I must have fallen! I raced up the stairs leading to all the wiring and lights where my harness was supposed to be attached to a sturdy rope that had an almost 0 percent chance of breaking, but when I got there, it was empty. The rope was missing and although I remember the crew attaching me to it, there was no sight of it up here. I didn’t see it on the ground where I lied either leading me to believe there was something more malicious going on than I had thought. I ran back down the stairs with a plan in mind but stopped in my tracks halfway down. On the edge of a railing on the set, there lay half of my rope. It hung off the edge of a planter that was supposed to be on the floor below me in the building. I make my way over to grab it but I am still confused how only half my rope has been found. If it had snapped the other half would still be attached in the crew area above.
I pulled the handwritten letter out of my pocket and read what it said one last time. I could travel anywhere, at any point in time. I decided that even though I trust Mateo with my whole heart, I would go back to before I fell to see if he had seen anything. I close my eyes and the next thing I know, I am looking at both Mateo and I dancing together having the best time. I circle around us, very carefully eyeing anything that looks suspicious and then stop right when I see a rustle in the curtain. I sprint up those crew stairs once more only to see a glimpse of platinum blonde hair running away, with the other piece of rope in hand. The only person I knew with this haiku was Mateo’s wife, unless we hired someone new? What would Katerina have against me? I have always been kind to her and she would have no reason to kill me. I decided to use the special power I was given one more time.
I wake up once more in a room with Katerina talking to someone. “Just Scarlett, you know her. I’m getting tired of this Katerina. Every time I discuss work with her, you get suspicious of what I'm doing,” I hear Mateo say. This must have been right after our first conversation this morning. I thought to myself, does Katerinna think Mateo is cheating on her with me? I look at my timer and only have two hours left. Time goes by much faster than I had realised and I needed to figure this out. Then, I remember a conversation I had with Mateo on set. They had an argument and Katerina was bringing him lunch as an apology. That's how she must have gotten into the set. As I was running out of time I made my decision on the real reason I had died. Suddenly I felt a pen in my pocket and I took that as a sign to write down what I was thinking. I wrote, I have been killed. Katerina, my co-starts wife, cut the rope causing me to fall. She did this all because she thought I was having an affair with her husband. As soon as I finished the last word, I suddenly felt tired and decided to close my eyes again.
I open my eyes, hoping this is finally over, and sit up gasping for breath. I look around and all I can see is paramedics surrounding me head to toe. “Can you see me?” I say worried I may still truly be dead. The woman on my right side replies, “Of course we can, we’re glad you’re back Ms. Scarlett,” and all I can feel is relief. I was alive once again. I had figured out my cause of death. Once taken to the hospital, I feel one more note in my pocket reading,
Congratulations Scarlett. This is your second chance.
I sigh of relief, so grateful that I was given another chance, although still confused on how it truly happened. During my stay, I was visited a couple of times by my good friend Mateo. He truly did feel sorry for what had happened and blamed himself everyday. I told him there was nothing he could have done and it's not his fault he didn’t see her in time. One day, he walked in, flowers in hand and said, “I gave my statement to the police a couple days ago. Today, they arrested her for attempted murder and trespassing on set.” I was so happy I finally got justice for what had happened to me although I’ll always wonder why she felt the need to kill me and what gave me a second chance at the life I barely got to live.
The Howl That Changed Everything
Noah Ortiz-Pedroza
Beneath the bustling city of New York, under all the layers of cracked cement and thick gravel, past the hot mantle of the Earth, was an underworld that regular humans couldn’t begin to picture. This underworld contained countries populated by all monsters imaginable, just as the Earth humans perceived worked, so did this dark yet heartful world. Under New York City was a place named Black Thorne, it rained constantly and held heavy clouds that looked like they could fall from the sky at any moment. Black Thorne was divided into two large counties: Werelandia and Vampland.
The names are self-evident. Werewolves resided in half of the land, while vampires lived in the other. A large gate divided the two vastly distinct towns, it was broken down, sharp, and covered in rustic blood from hundreds of years of war between the two. It had been eighty two years since the last war, the current generations of Werewolves and Vampires follow the unspoken precedent of never approaching the gate. Many small Werewolves feared the stories their Werewolf grandparents would recount about seeing Vampires crawl their way through dirt to get into human Earth, and return with bloodied butchered humans. The same went for young Vampires, who wailed in disgust when an elderly aunt described how barbaric Werewolves look when chasing down their prey. It was discrimination and lie filled folklore at its finest. This was the way their society was built.
Sixteen years ago, Elias Nocturne, and his wife Alessandra, were on a stroll through Vampland. The two were recently married and awed in conversation under the vibrant moon.
“--Do you hear that?” Alessandra whipped her head around left and right, interrupting her husband's mid sentence.
Elias shook his head as he looked around, he shrugged his shoulders. But the sound vibrated through Alessandra’s pointy ears, thudding her eardrum. It sounded like wailing, like a strong cry that begged for attention.
“It’s a baby!” Alessandra gasped. “Someone’s child is crying.”
“Then I’m sure their parents got it.” Elias shrugged once more. “Let’s get home, it’s late.”
“No. They’re alone. I’m sure of it.”
With that, Alessandra ran towards the sound as Elias pleaded for her to stop and followed after her. She fled with great speed, knowing in her heart that something was wrong. However, Elias began to sweat as he sprinted. They were getting too close to the forbidden gate that guarded them from their enemies.
“Alessandra, stop!” Elias yelled out. They were far too close. He didn’t care about the sharp screams he could hear loud and clear now, he just wanted his stubborn wife to halt. And she did. She stared down at the ground, when Elias caught up to her, his heart sunk.
“It’s two newborns.” She whispered as she kneeled down. Two tiny infants wrapped inside a shared thin blanket, plopped right on the dirt, in front of the Vampires’ side of the forbidden gate.
“Oh my.” Elias let out a breath. Alessandra picked up the two newborns, shushing them softly and soothing them with the sway of her arms. “Should we take them to the authorities?”
“No…” Alessandra shook her head furiously. “They’ll be placed in an orphanage. What a horrible and meek life they would grow into…”
Elias raised an eyebrow as he looked over Alessandra’s shoulder. It was two boys, surely twins. He softly smiled–he couldn’t help it, they were quite adorable. “ So what? You want to adopt these two little vampires?”
Alessandra turned around immediately, nodding profusely. “Of course.” She smiled. “This one will be Rowan.” She kissed one boy’s head. “And this will be Eren.” She kissed the other.
Elias and Alessandra raised the twins with pure love and care. There was never a day the boys weren’t coddled and cuddled. As happy as things were, Elias couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that something was to come. Over the next sixteen years, Elias noticed the boys had more hair on their body than most children do. No matter how many times he cut the boys’ hair, it always grew back at a rapid pace. Their fangs weren’t growing the way that Vampires’ fangs grow out. Then one night took a turn.
Alessandra was cooking dinner, while the boys sat with Elias in the living room.
“I told you both to never wander too deep into the woods.” Elias softly spoke as he sat with the boys, scolding them gently. “Werewolves are dangerous. Savages. They kill without reason. You can never go near the gate. You two understand?”
Rowan and Eren nodded, apologizing for the stroll they took near the gate. “We just wanted to see where mom found us.” Rowan gently explained. The two knew they were adopted, but couldn’t care less. As Rowan and Elias conversed, Eren felt an itch in his throat, his mouth water, and an urge to go near the window. Something about the view outside felt so alluring.
“I know, son.” Elias ruffled Rowan’s hair. “But you can’t. Okay? At least not unless you’re with mom and I.” Rowan nodded, oblivious to the fact that his brother was not next to him. Eren breathed heavily, his breath fogging the window as drool dripped from his pubescent mouth. He ogled at the full moon covered by the translucent clouds. Alessandra turned around slowly as she heard the struggling pants of her son.
“Eren?” She walked closer. “Are you o–?”
Eren’s eyes widened when the clouds dissipated away from the full moon. He dropped to the floor and screamed in horrific pain, he watched as his nails forcibly elongated, and all of his teeth morphed into sharp fangs. The parents and brother stood struck, backing away slowly.
“Eren…” Alessandra choked. “He’s not a Vampire.”
Eren continued to scream, fur like a dog rippled out of every pore. He scratched at the wooden floors, his eyes glowed a bright yellow, making Rowan start to cry in fear. He clasped at his father’s hands. “He’s a Werewolf!” He cried. “Am I one? You said they were evil!” Elias was at a loss for words, he clenched Alessandra’s hand.
“Our son.” Elias gasped. “What do we do?” Despite all the warnings and hatred he spewed about Werewolves, the father couldn’t find it in his heart to hate Eren. After all, this was the boy he raised since infancy. All he could see was his son in pain. Meanwhile, Alessandra trembled with tears welling up. She had no answers either. The two could only watch.
Rowan ran to his brother, tears streaming down the young one’s face. Eren was now fully transformed, wailing in sheer shock and terror at the sudden truth that laid evident. His wail transitioned into a deep and loud howl.
“You lied.” Eren growled as he turned towards his parents on all fours. “You said I was like you. A Vampire. But I’m not. I’m a Werewolf, and I am more myself than I have ever felt.”
Rowan shook his head. “You can’t be.” He inched closer to his twin. “Mom and dad said they’re evil…You’re not evil.” Rowan was convinced he was dreaming, hallucinating even.
Eren growled once more as he stared at his adopted parents. He knew in his heart of hearts that he couldn’t call them his parents anymore. Everything was a lie.
“Son–” Elias choked out, taking a step forward but with caution.
“You fear me now. I have done nothing to warrant such.” Eren barked. “Yet you can't even approach me.”
Alessandra remained in place, a hand over her throbbing heart. “No…no. We’re not scared, just surprised…” She took a deep breath as tears trickled down her face. “Please just calm down. Rowan stared in disbelief. He was starting to grasp at this reality, at the realization that he too must be a Werewolf. Elias and Alessandra flinched as Eren took a step closer to the two.
“Just as I thought.” Eren growled. “You raised me with such love. But now you can’t give that same love to me when I have turned out to be different.”
Alesandra shook her head as she hugged herself. “No, that’s not true–!”
“It is.” Eren grunted. “I know what you think of Werewolves. Now, I know what you will always think of me.” He crawled towards the door. “I don’t want to be near your hatred.”
Rowan sprinted closer to him, the boy knew what his twin was about to do. “Eren, stop!” He cried.
“Goodbye.” Eren growled quickly before running at full speed through the wooden door, wood flew in pieces around the living room. Alessandra yelped out for Eren as Elias just stood there, now staring at Rowan. They could hear the sharp howls of the run away boy, and the sounds of the Vampires screaming out from their neighboring homes.
“He’s gone…” Elias cried softly to himself.
Alessandra looked down at Rowan. Rowan looked up worried. “Mom…What do we do now?”
Alessandra took a deep breath as she held her chest. “You’re one of them too…How do we raise a thing like you?” The words alone stung in Rowan’s heart, his ears deafened as his eyes whelmed. His childhood was forever altered. And his mother’s voice no longer held the same softness, it held fear.
A year passed. Rowan was sitting silently at the breakfast table with his parents. Of course they still adored him. However, things had changed. Elias developed the habit of biting his nails, leaving them bloody and uneven. Now, Alessandra insistently tapped her foot to the point the floor vibrated with uneasiness.
“Son…” Elias breathed. “Please shave your hair. File your teeth and nails.”
Overnight, Rowan had grown into his features. A couple days ago he faced the same transformation, Elias and Alessandra held him down and covered his mouth as he resisted the urge to howl at the moon.
“No.” Rowan shook his head. “I don’t want to live in fear anymore. I want to embrace myself.”
Alessandra teared up. “The town will know you’re an other when you step out this door–”
“Other?” Rowan raised his eyebrow.
Alessandra sighed and buried her face in her hands as Elias shook his head and ripped off a hangnail. “Rowan–” Alessandra teared up. “Please understand that this is my first time too…” Rowan looked away, despite the tension he still loved the two who raised him. She continued, “I know you’re in pain, and you must feel immense turmoil…But we have also never faced this before. Our world was turned upside down when Eren changed, and then you. It has been a struggle. Our whole belief system was tested…” She teared up. “It still is, we have been trying to change. We’re just scared of you being hurt. I also don’t know what to do. I just want us all okay.”
Rowan’s heart warmed up a bit again. He has felt so much anger that he never thought to give his parents grace. It was their first time living through this situation too.
“I want my son back.” Elias cried softly. “I want Eren to return.”
Rowan looked up, “Really?”
Elias nodded. “Let’s run away. Darkness knows we would all be persecuted. It isn’t safe enough to come up with a plan…to fight this system. Let’s just…start anew until we can come back here.”
Alessandra smiled. “Yeah, I like that plan.”
Rowan nodded, “Let’s do that.” They waited until the night.
Under the moonlit canopy of the forest, Elias and Alessandra moved silently beside Rowan, their vampire senses sharp as they searched for the runaway son. They found him at the edge of a clearing, torn between fear and defiance, and it was Elias—calm, ancient, and aching with understanding—who spoke first.
“Do you smell him?” Elias whispered as they rushed through the forest. Rowan stepped forward next, his voice shaking but resolute, confessing that no curse, no bloodline, no ancient stigma between vampire and werewolf could change what he and his family felt. Eren listened, eyes glowing with unshed tears, until he finally smelled him. “There!”
They rushed to a tent, a worn down tent that Rowan peered into. Right by the gate that no one visited. There sat Eren looking up with shock, he was ruffled, his hair matted and he smelled a little funky. He growled when he saw his parents, but he was still just a boy at the end of the day, he began to cry when Alessandra hugged him with no hesitation. “What happened to you, son?”
Eren sniffled, “I tried living in Werelandia…But I made no friends, no family. Everyone thought I was weird and talked like a Vampire. I didn’t feel welcome there, or here.”
“I’m sorry, son.” Elias held his face. “We should have found you sooner.”
“Eren, we’re running away.” Rowan smiled. “Come with us. We’ll never be accepted as a blended family, at least not yet…We want to go to the human world to heal first. To spend time together before we think about living in the underworld safely.
“I’d like that.” Eren smiled. “I just want to be together.
As dawn threatened the sky, the family made their choice—to flee together into the human world, where monsters could pass as ordinary and love could exist without war, leaving the forest and its cruel traditions behind. Well, they would have to hide remotely for a bit while they managed their appearance, but humans couldn’t overpower them. They didn’t have the senses to tell who were monsters and who weren’t. And the humans would definitely save the cost of groceries.