Here, students can read creative pieces from other students in the school, including short stories, chapters of longer works, or novellas. If you have a work of fiction - in any genre - that you would like to contribute, or would like to recommend a writer to be showcased, feel free to contact us using the Contact page.
“So, how has your past week been? Have you been going to all of your classes and activities?” the therapist asks.
There is a constant tick tick tick of the clock on the wall. Emma watches the clock and fiddles with a pen in her hand.
“I dunno, classes are fine; everything is fine,” Emma mumbles in response.
“Have you been enjoying your extracurriculars? I know you recently joined stage crew, and you told me you wanted to go to football games this year as well with your friends,” says the woman.
The woman pulls out tissues and places her pen down on the desk.
“Yeah, I’ve been going. I’m just tired,”
Emma takes the pen the therapist just placed down and aligns it with her own, parallel to the desk. She glances at the tissue box but doesn't place her hand on it.
“Tell me about how it's been going,” the woman urges.
“I don't really want to talk today,” Emma answers.
“You don't seem to want to talk any day, Emma. I’m here for you to talk to.” The woman points up at the clock that Emma keeps looking up at. “It's your money on the clock - rather, your mother’s. If you don't want to talk, it's less work for me.”
The therapist picks up the pen from in front of Emma and begins writing on a document between them. There is silence for a while, all the while there's the tick tick tick of the clock. Emma stares at the therapist, tapping her foot. The therapist continues on her paperwork, not giving her another glance.
“Okay is that it?” Emma asks impatiently.
“No, you have to stay here for the full forty-five minutes,” the woman says, still looking down. “It’s been five.”
“In silence?”
“That's up to you.”
“I don't like you,” Emma scoffs.
“I don't care,” the therapist states.
Emma breathes a stream of air out her nose, folds her arms, and rolls her eyes.
“Okay,” Emma interrupts the silence.
“Okay, what?”
“I just feel like I’m always talking, putting on a facade, and I don't want to do it anymore. Why should I be here and answer your questions when I want to be at home, asleep, or literally anywhere else?”
The therapist places her pen down, off to the side, and folds her hands in front of her. She looks Emma in the eyes.
“Hm,” the woman squints.
“‘Hm,’ what?”
The therapist stays silent for a moment.
“Okay, now you’re wasting your own time and mine.” Emma rolls her eyes.
“Why do you do so much?” The therapist finally asks.
“I don't.”
“People will get by without you for a day if you need a break.”
“If I’m not going to places then I’m at home, alone, and what good does that do anyone.” Emma begins to raise her voice.
“What good does it do you to be running around, making everything happen, never allowing time for yourself?” the woman retorts.
“I want to help people. If I’m not helping people, what am I good for?” Emma’s tone sharpens.
“How are you supposed to help people if you’re running on empty?” The woman eggs her on.
“I can't stop helping people because if I stop helping, for even a minute, they will realize they don't need me anymore!” Emma shouts.
There's a pause. A slight smile spreads on the woman’s face before she purses her lips together. The therapist picks up her pen and begins writing. Emma looks at the woman, eyes filled with bewilderment.
“Hello?!” Emma shouts, snapping in the woman’s face, “Anyone home?”
“Emma.” There is a dramatic pause as if she knew something Emma did not. “I think I’ve figured you out.”
“Is that so?” Emma says sarcastically. “What have you figured out?”
“You are defining yourself by what you do, not by who you are.”
Emma stays silent.
“You should be defining yourself by who you are," the therapist said. "The people you should be surrounding yourself with want you to take breaks. You think if you told your friends the way you’ve been feeling that they would think of you as weak. They will not."
Emma looks up at the clock, and the alarm goes off on her phone. In silence, she gets up and grabs her bag. The therapist flips the pen in her hand, gives one more glance to Emma, and continues writing.
“Thanks,” Emma walks out of the office.
“Okay, Valentina,” I said to her as she stared intently into the vast universe ahead of our spaceship. “Today, I’m coming with you on your first mission. Do you remember what it was?”
“Yes,” she replied. “We’re landing on planet Malice to take the Octagon crystal and bring it back to our planet Amara. If we fail to take this crystal, it will be absorbed into the surrounding negativity and disintegrate.”
“Good,” I told her. “I trust you.”
She turned to me and smiled.
“We’re almost there, right?” she asked.
“Correct,” I replied. “It’s the dark planet in the distance.” I pointed. “A long time ago, planet Malice was not planet Malice. It has since been transformed that way by some strange curse of magic. Whatever magic is cursing this planet we will take and toss into the sun to burn and end its hold on this planet.”
“Wow,” she said with some mix of amazement and disgust. “No wonder we need to save the crystal.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty sad how their planet has been declining.”
“Declining?” she asked. “I didn’t know that. What happened?”
“As I said, Planet Malice wasn’t always so sad looking,” I said. “It wasn’t even named planet Malice before. Nobody remembers what it used to be - except me. It used to be very lively and full of creatures. All sorts of plants and animals and lots of water. Since then, the creatures have been slowly dying, and the water has turned black.”
She stared at me in shock for a moment and went silent. Not long after, we landed on the planet.
“We’re here,” Valentina said. “It’s so bleak.”
“I know,” I replied. “But you’ll have to brace for our mission.”
She opened the spaceship door and left. I spoke to her through a special microphone she kept with herself for safety.
“Okay, Valentina,” I said, holding a small microphone to my mouth. “You know where the crystal is, right? It should have a red glow to it.”
I was going to say “an evil red glow,” but I thought the unsightly planet already struck enough fear in her. I didn’t want her to panic.
“Yes,” she said. “I see an object glowing in the distance.”
“Good,” I assured her. “You’re all set with the protection you have from whatever consequential magic the crystal may possess, so don’t be too cautious when you take it.”
“Got it,” she said. “Thank you.”
I always appreciated how Valentina enjoyed my presence rather than wishing she could do things alone. She went silent as she headed in the direction of the crystal. She spoke to me again when the glow of the crystal was right up against her face.
“I have the crystal. How do you want me to lift and transport this?”
“Okay, listen closely,” I said cautiously. “Take the crystal in both hands and gently place it in the pocket in front of your torso. The crystal may be heavy, so be careful.”
There was silence.
“Alright,” she said. “I got it.”
“Good.” I told her. “Just bring it back to the ship and we’ll be good to go.”
She traveled over to the ship and took off her microphone. The smile on her face was brighter than the crystal itself.
“Congratulations, Valentina,” I said proudly. “You’ve completed your first mission of many.”
“Thank you.” Her voice cracked with happiness. She began to take off from the planet when I noticed something strange.
“Valentina,” I said with concern. “Do you see that?”
“Uh,” she said, sharing the feeling with me. “Yeah, I do.”
The ash covering the planet began to dissolve, revealing the greenery underneath. By the time I would have seen the turnout of the planet, we were already on our way home.
“You don’t think the crystal caused all that decay,” I said, questioning the possibility of doing the same damage to our planet. “Do you?”
She paused for a moment. Through her confidence, I saw a hint of fear.
“No,” she said, pretending to be sure of her answer. “I bet the crystal was just holding back a power or something, plugging it up. When we removed the crystal, we freed the life on that planet. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Hopefully, you’re right.”
I couldn’t imagine what she would feel if her first mission was one that destroyed our planet…
We rode in the ship in silence. When we landed, we walked to the Center, where crystals from planets around the universe were stored.
“Now,” I said. “Just place the crystal in the box with the reservation. You’ll know when you see it. I trust you.”
Valentina placed the crystal within its designated box, and we both left for the night.
The next morning, something was seriously wrong…
Ash was building up underneath the Center building. Soft and small ash in massive piles.
The ground was disintegrating. But the worst ash was right over the Octagon crystal. It was glowing a bright and evil red.
It is actively killing the planet, I thought. We couldn’t have this. Millions of creatures live here, if this crystal takes over, all of us will die.
I entered the Center building and put on the crystal equipment. I also put a launching device in the pocket, used just for a problem like this. Just before I lifted the crystal, Valentina entered in her own crystal equipment. She saw the destruction and came to protect it.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“What do you think I’m doing?” I replied. “I’m getting rid of this horrid thing! Look at what it did to the ground! It’s going to kill our planet!”
“No!” she shouted. “I trained so long to get it - I can’t throw it all away now! Not now!”
“Valentina!” I yelled. “Your pride is not as important as your planet! You have to get rid of this thing!”
Just before she could respond, I stole the crystal from her hands and raced outside. I put it in the launcher and sent it to the sun. Valentina was screaming like I just sent her child into the sun rather than a crystal.
“Valentina,” I said, out of breath. “I’m sorry. I had to, for-”
“No.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Do not apologize to me. How dare you?”
“Valentina,” I said. “Wait-”
“No.” She took off the crystal equipment and left.
Afternoon passed. Night passed. Morning passed…Until I thought of something.
If planet Malice changed because of Valentina, I should take her there to see what an amazing change she’s created.
I went to her home to try and speak to her. I rang the doorbell. She answered the door.
“No,” she said immediately. “I don’t forgive you.”
“I know,” I said quickly, jamming my foot in the door so she wouldn’t slam the door in my face. “I wasn’t going to ask you to forgive me. It’s too early, I know.”
“What are you here for, then?” she asked, suspicious.
“I was hoping you’d take another trip with me to planet Malice,” I said. “I’ll drive the ship.”
She was still angry, but I could tell she was considering it nonetheless.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go with you.”
“Great,” I said with my mood improving. “Are you ready now?”
“Uh…I guess?”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”
We climbed into the ship we were in last time and were off to planet Malice. Most of the ride there was silent until I couldn’t take it any longer.
“Valentina,” I said. “I’m sorry for what I did. With your crystal.”
Her response left me a little stunned.
“It’s okay,” she replied. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I really overreacted. You shouldn’t apologize to me. I’m sorry.”
“So,” I said. “We’re good now?”
She turned to me and smiled.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’re good.”
I landed the ship on planet Malice, and we both got out.
“So,” she said. “What did you want to show me?”
“Look around, Valentina,” I said.
Calmer now, she saw greenery and life on the planet that was once dark and empty. Her mouth hung open in disbelief.
“You did this,” I said. “All of this.”
“Thank you,” she said in amazement. “It’s beautiful.”
“Giving up the crystal for this was worth it,” I said, watching birds soar over a clear blue sky. “Wasn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”