Wishes & Curses

The Flame of Loneliness (December Winner)

By Taylor Jones

I lit a candle on a cupcake I bought from the store.

The flame danced like a familiar taunting that brought light to my eyes like he did.

It’s warmth reminded me of a wish I made with seventeen candles rather than one.

He was there holding my hand as I wished for this to be forever.

And as I did he smiled a smile that blinded my mind.

I wasn’t alone

That summer he brought me a flower each day.

He said it would take the place of the time he’d spent away

And I never knew where he went.

But the scent of those flowers filled my lungs with a comforting poison that felt like home.

Although he wasn’t here

I wasn’t alone

That fall he called late at night like he usually had.

He said he’d be home at ten as the music from the bar drowned out the truth behind his words.

Yet the way they left his lips like a promise meant to be kept, I believed him.

So I made his favorite meal, and lit a candle in the center of the table in hopes to light his eyes like he once lit mine.

And when he didn’t come home, I blew out the candle to rekindle a wish I had once made.

Even when tears stained my cheeks

I wasn’t alone.

That winter he packed his things to leave.

He shouted and screamed as if the love he once felt for me

Never existed.

The bruises he’d left on my arms that I used to think was what love truly was

Had felt more painful than ever before.

Because I believed that these marks held me like he once did on my seventeenth birthday when he held my hand.

It was when he left I lit a candle on a cupcake I had bought from the store.

I wished a wish to escape the curse that lit my eyes one year ago.

And when I looked at the flame taunting me like he once had

I realized

I was always alone.

Something Red by Evelyn Reid

Every night, Nicky heard a train as it rattled passed her house, its horn blaring into the night. Every single night, the sound of wheels on old tracks filled the air and every night, Nicky tried to see the light of the train through the trees behind her home. She never did, however, and she didn’t understand how the train could be so close to her house.

The only tracks in the area were about half a mile into the woods behind her home, but they were old. Old and rusty. Also, the tracks had been closed down years ago, before Nicky moved in. The last train on those tracks had crashed. The rails were not up to code, and a section was broken. The train went off the tracks, killing everyone inside. Something odd about this, however, was the fact that they never found the train. The forest around it had been trashed, completely torn apart, but there was no other sign of the train.

Tonight, Nicky had gone out into the woods towards the tracks in order to see the train as it went by. Rather than searching through the trees for a sign of light, she decided to go out to the tracks for the train itself. The train rumbled past at ten forty-five, not a minute early or late, every night. It was currently ten forty. Five minutes to go, and then Nicky would know if the train was using these tracks. They didn’t even connect to any other tracks in the area, having been disconnected when they were shut down. Maybe there were new tracks in the area, but Nicky hadn’t heard anything and the train sounded like it was coming from somewhere around here.

Ten forty-four hit, and Nicky didn’t see a train anywhere. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard a faint rumbling as it grew louder. Looking down the track both ways, she didn’t see a train. There were no lights. She stepped across the tracks to see if there was a light through the trees, thinking maybe there were tracks further into the woods. Seeing nothing, she shrugged her shoulders, assuming there must be new tracks elsewhere. Nicky stepped onto the rails as she began making her way back home, when out of nowhere a bright light shone to her left. The train was loud in her ears as she turned toward the sudden light. The train horn blared, and then the light was gone.

The next morning, before the sun was even up, Nicky’s husband walked downstairs to the kitchen, expecting to see his wife there. She hadn’t been in bed, but the bathroom light was off. However, the kitchen was empty. He called her phone, and got a voice message saying she couldn’t come to the phone, please leave a message after the tone.

Time passed, and nothing else disturbed the rusty old tracks. The sky became tinged with pink and orange as the sun began to rise, peeking over the tops of the trees. As it shone down on the rails, something glossy and dark reflected the light, thickly dripping off the rails. Something wet, shiny, and red.

Haunted Train

Every night, you hear the sound of a train, but the railroad closed down years ago so you go and investigate. You see that it is empty and hasn’t been touched in 5 years. You wonder if it is haunted. So you go back home and wake up in the morning to go explore and investigate. You go in the morning so you look around and see nothing. You start to walk around and see a train that is parked but is empty. So you go on it to see if it is haunted or it is a train people use but don’t tell anyone. You find out that the train is old and it is rusty. So then you think and figure out that people have died there so you run home and hide because the train tracks are haunted. But you also think that it can be mental. You realize that you have been feeling down and think that the sound of the train is fake and it is just mental. So you put in music and calm down and play with your dog and remember to take deep breaths so you can feel better and think of a happy moment in your life. After that day you haven’t been hearing the train and figure that it was just mental and it wasn’t real. You were just feeling down and just remembered that a family member died on that train track and it just haunts you so you remember that and feel down.