Empty of hope. Absent of sound. A child's laughter, a babies cry, a mother's comforting words, non-existent, at least not here. Where buildings once stood, nothing. Where cars once rode, nothing. Where the sun once shined, shedding light on a vibrant, bustling city, nothing. Gone. Blocked.

Destruction even fled, finished its job....

An unheard whisper

dissolves in the air,

swallowed

by darkness.

Its nullified sound—

heard no longer—

as the sun hides away,

turning color into black.

Gone is music,

noise,

and laughter.

Palpable is the quiet.

Emptiness I can feel—

like the day has died,

left the moon in mourning,

hiding its bright light,

turning the world

on mute....

A knife removed

from my skin -

A battle

fought within.

Calmness.

A breath.

once fully submerged,

Air where water used to fill.

I inhale once more.

The plight -

gone.

The mother,

crying,

her hair a mess.

Your son -

I killed -

I get off my chest.

...

Waves of calloused skin crease his forehead, pressing down on sunken, hollow eyes. Sad eyes — a well of liquid tar — set against the backdrop of a bloodied wall of nothingness. His back, hunched and rounded, a mountain looming over a fragile figure. His legs shiver from the coldness of his own heart — broken, but still beating. His breath, ragged, as air squeezes from his lungs and slips into the ...

Wet. Cold. Afraid. I hear them behind me, closing in—moments away. Waves slam into the boat, threatening to plunge me deep into the freezing abyss below. I paddle faster. My hands, littered with cuts, stain the brown wooden handle red.

I continue forward. Heart pounding. A gunshot rings out. My arm, hit. Blood, everywhere. I scream, the pain is too much. I can feel my grip loosen, slowly letting g...

Silence is palpable. It suffocates. It deafens. Silence smells of nothing, tastes like nothing, leaves you feeling like nothing. The outsider lives in silence. His lonely body forgotten, left in darkness. ...

Nearly three hours ago, I met him. His cold eyes stared blankly into the distance. He didn't notice me yet; his mind was preoccupied with the downtown streets one hundred feet below. I could sense his longing, his desire to finally start living, though there was little I could do.

I walked over to the edge of the roof, the wind nudging me forward, encouraging me to help. I was scared—terrified of ...

My eyes dart around the white room. Its blank, bleak, boring walls, suffocate me, consume me. My head bangs onto the table. The walls turn green. That's better. Again. My head slams back onto the smooth surface of the table. I begin to keel over. The walls become a darker shade. Amazing. One more time. I feel hot liquid dribble down over my eye and slowly run down my cheek and off my face as it la...