“He is more myself than I am. Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same” - Wuthering Heights novel by Emily Brontë

This quote is about love, about two people’s souls being intertwined, being in love with someone to the point you feel each other's pain and joy. When you never want to be away from them, when you want to hold them, hug them, cherish them till you both lose your breath. Love lasts forever just as souls do, even when our bodies rot away into the earth, and we are nothing but ash, our love still burns on. I hope everyone finds that kind of love in friendship, in parenthood or with a partner. Keep reading y’all.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what”

This quote is from my personal favorite novel To Kill A Mocking Bird, a classic historical fiction about a colored man on trial during the height of racism in the South. This quote reminds us that we should never give up on our own morals; even if we know we're going to lose, we should still put our all into it. We could all learn from this quote as I’m sure all of us are guilty of starting a project or a sport or any activity and after only one or two days in it or doing it, we decided we sucked at it and quit even though we had already made the commitment, so I implore all of you next time you think about quitting just because you decided you suck at it to remember this quote and really think about seeing it through.

Morgan had just bought the house down on main street. She loved the old, Victorian style manor with the gargoyle statues and dead rose garden out front, but most of all she loved the angel statue that stood in the front foyer when you walked in. Her first night in the house, Morgan started hearing a weird banging sound around midnight. Scared someone was trying to break into her home, she grabbed the bat near her bed and made her way quietly downstairs, but no one was there. The lights were still off, and the door was shut and locked, but something felt off and the banging was still going. She turned into the foyer looking up…had the statue moved? She thought she might be going crazy until she looked down seeing white scuff marks on the floor made from the dragging cement. She froze, eyes glued to the floor when she saw the first drop then another and another… thick and red. Looking up, the angel’s eyes seemed to have moved, staring right at her as the copper smelling substance started to trail down its eyes as if the statue itself was crying. Stepping back she tried to scream, but it was too fast, snapping her neck with a loud ”CRACK!” Morgan's lifeless body fell to the ground, her eyes losing their color as a bright white light appears above her, then it's gone bringing her body with it.

The tunnel seemed to stretch to infinity, but Sarah knew what was at the end of it, and it terrified her. As the masked men led her further and further down, the feeling of dread filled her as she begged and pleaded with them to let her go, to spare her and pick another, but they didn't listen , didn't even acknowledge her fearful begging. Gripping her tighter as they pulled her to a pair of towering, thick, steel doors, Sarah sobbed, getting worse as she fought their holds. The doors creaked open; the smell of blood and stale pee assaulted her nose, her lunch threatening to make a reappearance from the smell as a pair of glowing, blood-red eyes appeared in the darkness beckoning her. Sarah tried to convince the guards to spare her, to let her live; she’s only 20 and has so much life left to live. The guards’ eyes never wavered from their task as they shoved her into the cold, life ridden cell. Sarah let out a sob of pain as her knees hit the cold stained concrete with a loud painfilled “crack!” The steel doors slammed shut behind her as Sarah's screams filled the space. Slowly, the tunnel fell silent as the air turned metallic, and the guards marched from the tunnel to find the unlucky soul to become its next meal.