The snowflakes fell from the sky in a quiet hush, painting the world below in pale white

I wrap your sweater, lambswool blue, around my shoulders, searching for your car in the dying light

The ticking of the clock on the wall matches pace with my heart, racing as the hours clip by

Pacing and looking into the dark night for answers, tears threatening as I try not to cry

The phone comes alive your face filling my screen as your sweater slips to the floor

Your flight is canceled due to the storm, with no hope of seeing you walk through the door

The tears come at last as I break and sob, before spotting your sweater, crumpled below

I lift it into my arms, breathing your scent, comforted just the littlest bit, as I sit before the fireplace glow

As the darkness sank into her veins, she felt the evil take her over. She had wished for death. To feel nothing. To know nothing.

This was a thousand times worse.

She felt everything, all at once.

Most especially the burning thirst in her throat. A fire that could only be quenched by blood.

You came into my life On a warm summer day

With twinkly brown eyes And dimpled grin

Trying not to fall too hard Or too fast Keeping my armored heart at bay

Then the scent of roses filled my life Your hand in mine, so strong So sure, it did me in

And the sky had never looked so blue

The air shifted, turned colder Leaves changing to orange, purple, yellow, and red

Snuggling before a cozy fireplace Warmer still in your borrowed Smelling of you sweater

I tried to give it back You insisted I keep it instead

Picking out pumpkins and Indian corn Feeling that no one else knew me better

And the sky had never looked so blue

Winter came, in a breath of fog and snow Flurries swirling at our feet

Tasting snowflakes on our tongues Melting as we shared the sweetest of kisses

But something changed and Before I knew it My eyes yours would not meet

You drifted out of my life as casually as you entered it Leaving only scars, painful reminisces

And the sky had never looked so blue

Then came the spring and its healing, fragrant blooms, bringing bursts of Color to my world once more

Rounding a corner to find you standing there The light in your eyes as you caught sight of me

Heart beating fast, is it real, will it last Absolutely terrified to reopen that door, unchink the armor

Lilacs lining the path, our hands entwined again Then you pausing, getting down on bended knee

And the sky had never looked so blue.

The desert’s silence heid ancient whispers

Voices of those who had lived and died there

As well as those only passing through

On their way to greener pastures

Never recognizing the oasis before their eyes

If only the looked close enough to see it

I know what they expect. I know what they want me to do. A well-bred lady such as myself should find the choice to never let that woman darken my doorway ever again as easy as breathing.

But I can barely breathe as I think of turning her out, of turning her away. She’s the strongest woman I have ever known but my rejection of her would destroy her and send her to perdition.

No matter that there are those who think she belongs there. For playing the merry widow after the death of my poor dear brother Charles. For stealing the man betrothed to her very own sister. For causing my darling husband Ashley’s heart to be cleft in two, even if he will never leave me and our son for her.

Because I know something he does not know. I am not even sure she realizes it herself. She does not truly love my husband. She loves the ideal and idea of him. She does not know the real him or perhaps she will not allow herself to really see.

That she is more a man than he will ever be. With more courage and determination and love in her heart than I have ever known. All of these things she showed when she saved me and the most precious of all things to me, my boy, Beau.

The hour for Ashley’s party is upon me and I will put on my widest, truest smile for her, my dear Scarlett, and society be damned!

My face aflame on this cold winter’s day

To say nothing of the rest of me

No frost, no ice, no fall of snow, could ever compete

With the blaze that smolders everytime we meet

No wet, no mist, no torrential downpour, could ever hope to drown

Even embers would survive such is their heat

So come let us light the match between us and watch it burn

The first bell rang, sending students, me included, clamoring to various rooms along the hallway. All except for Queen Bee Sarah Watson.

She was still inspecting her already perfect manicure, the tips of her nails as flawlessly white as her shorter than the dress code allowed skirt and chunky-heeled sneakers.

The second and final bell rang out. A few stragglers raced to claim their seats, panting with the effort. Not so Sarah, who floated into the room just as the distinctive sound faded, her seat smack in the middle of the room awaiting her like a throne.

I rolled my eyes, watching the male gaze sweep across her, practically drooling. Until I saw that my best friend, Jake, the literal boy next door, was among them. Okay, so he wasnt drooling. Yet. But the way he was staring was making me feel decidedly uncomfortable.

I tried to tell myself that I didn’t care, that it didn’t matter, that almost everyone fell under Sarah’s spell sooner or later.

I was hoping it would be later for Jake. Or never. Never would have been perfect.

Although why it should bother me in the first place, I could not answer.

We were friends, best friends, and nothing more.

“Liar” my mind whispered and my face grew hot, thinking of a few weeks ago when we’d gone swimming out on Lake Michigan. Jake had been gone most of the summer, helping his grandparents on their farm in Door County. Though Ephraim was only about four hours away from our town of Racine, Wisconsin, he might as well have been on the moon.

Texting had been a poor substitute and hit or miss at that.

But seeing him again on that perfect summer afternoon, his shirt gone and showing off the muscles he’d gained bailing hay and my mouth had gone dry.

It felt like cotton now as our teacher partnered us up to work on essays about how we’d spent our summers. The one before we would turn sixteen.

Jake was paired up with her, Sarah, her perfect blond hair shimmering like gold to her tiny waist. His own hair was slightly darker and as I sat there and watched, she brushed a few strands off of his forehead.

I couldn’t bear to look anymore and pulled my unruly mass of strawberry blond waves into a messy topknot, then turned to my partner to focus on the task at hand.

Later, I stood at our lockers, our usual meeting place, trying to spot him in the crowd. But though it had been a good 60 seconds since our first class had let out, he was nowhere to be seen. I sighed, looking up and then over at the archway where the side hallway merged with the main one, noticing the overly-glittered banner for the Back to School dance.

I shrugged to myself, knowing I wouldn’t be going. Jake wouldnt either. It was a matter of principle and, we’d decided, school dances were the worst.

That’s when i saw him, coming towards me. But he wasn’t alone. Sarah was at his side, beaming up at him. She gestured at the banner.

“I can’t wait for Saturday night,” she cooed, with just a bit of flirty giggle.

Her smile faltered for just a fraction of a moment as she saw me standing there, obviously waiting for him.

“See you later, Jake,” she simpered, giving his well-defined bicep a lingering squeeze before sashaying away into the crowd she reigned over.

Jake watched her go, then smiled as he walked over to me.

“Hiya, Becs,” he said, opening his locker and swapping out his English composition book for Chemistry.

“Hiya, Jake,” I replied and I had every intention of ignoring whatever that had been with Sarah but the words came out before I could stop them.

“So what was all that?” I feigned interest in my newly purchased calculator for Trig class.

“All what? Oh. You mean Sarah?” He grinned, dipping his head and shoukder to lean in closer to me and i could detect his cologne. He looked and smelled like an Abercrombie and Fitch ad.

“Um, yeah.” On the outside, I was playing it cool. On the inside, my heart was racing.

“Oh, nothing much. She asked if I had a date to the dance on Saturday.”

My heart stopped, dreading his next words and the answer to: “To which you said…”

“To which I said ‘no,’ and that’s when she asked me.”

“To which you said…” I am turning into a parrot.

He gives me a look then shrugs, “I told her yes.”

I felt the heat in my cheeks, my fair skin always a dead giveaway to my emotions.

“What?!? You’re going to the dance? You hate dances. And we had plans to go to the lake.”

There’s a moment where he remembers we kinda, sorta had plans for a bonfire with some other friends from our neighborhood.

But he wants me to let him off the hook.

He’s my best friend. I want to, so badly, but I’m hurt and blindsided and angry. Mostly angry.

“I can’t believe you’re ditching us. For a dance! And I really can’t believe you’re going with her!”

Before he can react, I’ve slammed my locker shut and am charging down the hall, away from him.

First chance meeting Then a second glance Each hoping the other Will take the chance

With their heart Then their soul Taking that scary leap Heedless of the toll

Soaring high above the clouds Never sensing the rocks below Forgetting every majestic peak Has valleys with depths so low

Too late to walk away Impossible to unring the bell Wishing you could somehow go Back in time to before you fell

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, the sky awash with pinks and oranges and purples and yellows. Josh and I slowed our pace from our morning run along the shore to take it all in. A seagull flew overhead in a noisy arc, then darted towards the foamy waves.

That’s when I saw it, the glint of something flashing on the water. I stopped altogether, shielding my eyes from the rising sun, peering more closely at the object bobbing like a cork.

“What is it?” Josh asked, stopping as well, stretching his long, tanned legs as he scanned the horizon.

I looked again, then said, almost as much to myself as to him, “It’s a bottle!”

Josh grinned at this, “You’re joshing me.” An old joke between us and I gave him a look.

“No, seriously,” I said, keeping my eyes on the object even as I bent to remove my shoes.

Before he could react, I was in the water, charging towards the bottle.

White house four square bold black shutters elm trees line the front walk

Whose house? My house

See, there’s my name etched on the sidewalk my brother’s name is there, too

Big house noisy house four bedrooms upstairs and one down

Voices shouting laughing calling filling these rooms with sound

Warm house safe house sleeping in the bunk below my sister Mommy and Daddy across the hall

Old house this house with steps that creak when I try to sneak a midnight snack

Beloved house my house see those pencil marks on the kitchen doorframe that’s how tall I was at three and five and nine

Marks that have probably been erased from the doorframe of the kitchen of this house my house

The house that now belongs to someone else