My eyes zoom around the kitchen Taking in all the sights to see I crawl around to see every angle Making sure everything is how it should be

That’s when two adults walk into the room They huddle in the corner and whisper I can tell they are hiding from their kids The father whispers something as if to confer

“Have you heard what’s happening?” He said “Out in Afghanistan?” The mother distressed “Yes, it’s bad” Father said, his eyes tearful “I know, it truly is” She digressed

“Bodies scattered, children screaming.” “Buildings burning, blood pouring.” “People taking flight on wheels of planes.” “Taliban hearing the pleas, yet ignoring.”

The fly had heard enough He took off and flew to the airport He boarded a box on its way to Afghanistan He made it, though it was almost cut short

He was off, off to help He was just a fly, he was small But he knew he could do it He had heard it all on the wall

From my window I saw it all. We were all huddled together as the freezing cold rain lashed at the window. The sky was pitch black and you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. Mama, Daddy, Ellie, Thomas and me, Janie. Thomas was wailing and Mama was calming him. Ellie was staring, pudgy little fingers pressed up against the glass, watching the rain splatter. I was just looking around. The laundry room had started to take on water, as it was seeping through cracks in the doorway. It wouldn’t be too long before it came and swallowed us up in the dinning room. And then I saw something out of the window, across the street, just barely. It was a dark and shadowy figure quickly moving from street lamp, to street lamp. Somehow the lights still hadn’t gone out, there were faint little orange blobs across the street, therefore letting me see the figure. All of a sudden a small red car zoomed across the street and the figure jumped inside and the car zoomed away as quickly as it had came. A flashback hit me and when I came out of it I gasped. “Mama?” I whispered with fear in my voice. For I knew who the figure truly was.

It was a dark and stormy night, as it always seems to be in a graveyard. The black clouds were gathering rapidly, the wind howling furiously and the rain was splattering consistently. The weather was obviously not sunny and happy, but neither was the location. The rows and rows of large gravestones, inscribed with messages from loved ones covered the ground like a depressing blanket. The only slightly happy thing was the dead flowers littered around the tombs. There were two particular stones right next to each other that were a little bit smaller and a little bit more faded than all the rest. At precisely midnight the tomb to the left that read:

Maria Rose, Loved by many, especially her mother, father and two sisters.

Started to quiver. All of a sudden it slid to the side and the ground started rumbling as the body hidden beneath the ground arose. “Phew! That feels much better!” She said in a Spanish accent. “I have been cramped up in that ground for way too long!” She looked just like a regular person would with her long black hair and colorful dress covered in flowers except her sound was a sickly gray and her eyes were lifeless. “Edward? Oh Eddie!” She called in a flirtatious voice. The tomb next to her rumbled for a little bit but then stopped. It was completely blank, not even the name was written. “Eddie?” Maria asked tapping the stone. All of a sudden it popped to the side and a handsome man with swept back brown hair and a dark suit clambered out, his pale skin gleaming in the moonlight. “Hello my love.” He said in a smooth voice. “There you are Eddie! I was getting worried!” Maria said embracing him. “Oh I’m alright, my bones just aren’t what they used to be, especially now that they are decomposing.” “Yes, it feels very weird to have my 429 birthday coming up.” Maria said. “I’ve missed you. We only get to see each other every full moon for a few hours! It’s not enough.” “I know. But I enjoy the moments I do have with you, my true love, more than anything possible. While I lie asleep I dream of your touch. When I lie awake I long for your company.” He said. “Oh Eddie you’ve always been such a romantic!” Maria said kissing his cold cheek. Then a single ray of light fell upon Maria’s shoulder. “Ah!” She shrieked, clutching her shoulder as if she’d been been burned. They could see the sun peeking out of the tops of the trees. “Dawn is arising. We must go back into our graves my love.” Edward said sadly. “How has it already been that long!” Maria cried. “Well I will see you in a month my darling.” “It could come soon enough.” Edward said.

All around me I see fires burning, Wars raging furiously, People screaming at each other. The world is broken.

People hate each other for the color of their skin, their gender, how much money they have and even their society. The world is broken.

Religion is a blessing but people turn it into a curse. They shame each other for who I get worship or why. The world is broken.

But I know there is one true God. The God who keeps me safe no matter what and loves me through and through. The creator of everything. And yes, although the world is broken, I know with Jesus I can put it back together.

It was a sure shock What we found when home from our walk

There was blood splattered And glass shattered

All around the room Someone had found their doom

We did not not know who’s blood it was Nor what was the cause

All we saw was our dinner laid out Then my father began to shout

The meat was bloody Just like the body

Lain in the corner was somebody Dead and incredibly bloody

By the meat were bloodstained knives The cause of the end of certain lives

Somebody gasped, it was my brother Somebody fainted, it was my mother

About the murder, we had been mistook We now know to blame it on the cook

I wake up to find myself staring at the floor. I gasp and look around. I’m on the ceiling! But my bed is on the floor! How is this possible? My gravity feels the same as it would on the ground, except I’m hanging off of the ceiling! I rush out of the room and find my little brother standing as still as a chandelier. There is a chandelier next to him. This is crazy! My mom comes in acting completely normal. “Mom!” I shriek. “We’re on the ceiling!” “Yes we are honey.” She says giving me a ‘are you feeling alright’ look. “Why are you acting so normal!” I cry. “We are just on the ceiling!” She says. “It’s not like we’re on Mars!” I groan and go to the window. I find the garden gnomes staring at where I normally would be. I break into a run, searching for something normal. That’s when I start falling I fall in slow motion and right when I hit the ground- I wake up in a sweat. “It was just a dream.” I say reassuring myself. I look frantically around the room and feel relived to find that I am on the ground.

Once upon a time there was a very cliche story. Girl meets boy. Boy falls head over heels. Girl plays hard to get. They end up falling in love. I’m the girl. It was a normal day and Katie was walking to school. She loved walking to school because it gave her time to think. Today she was deciding she wanted a boyfriend. When she arrived at school her friends greeted her and they made their way to class. “Class, we have a new student.” The teacher said. “His name is Sam. Katie, you’ll be his partner this week to ease him into things here. Show him around, help him with schoolwork, you know.” Sam walker over to the empty desk staring all the while at me. Oops, I mean, Katie. “Hi.” He said breathlessly. “Hello.” Katie said, not putting up with any nonsense. After class she showed him to his next class and went to hers as well, which was right next door. After class they met back up in the cafeteria and sat down. “So, your name’s Katie huh?” He said cringing at his own comment. “Yup.” I replied. Uh, I mean, Katie replied. “Do you want to hang out sometime?” He asked hopefully. This was it. It was her chance for a boyfriend! Even though he was a little awkward around her, she liked him! But she was going to play hard to get. “I’m busy most every day.” She said briskly trying to force down the blush that was creeping into her cheeks. “Ok, well what days are you not?” He asked. “I can do Thursday. In two weeks.” She said pulling out her apple. “Oh. You know, I’m just going to get right to the point. You’re gorgeous and I really like you. If you want to go out sometime, I would love that.” The blush came up. “Yeah, ok!” I said.

It was a normal day at the station. Well, as normal as life is as a police officer. I was sitting at my desk eating a jelly donut after an interrogation of a kidnapper when I heard it. “OH MY GOD!” A woman screamed. “It’s from HIM! Sheriff Pierce!” I stood up and dashed to the front room knowing exactly who she was talking about. “Oh thank goodness your here!” Officer Jackson said. “A dog came in with a note from him on his collar! It’s covered in blood. Do you want me to remove it?” “Yes sir.” I say commandingly. “Remove it and bring it to me immediately.” He brought it to me and gave me gloves so I wouldn’t touch the blood. “Here ma’am. No one has read the note all the way yet. We were waiting for you.” “Good. I said and picked up the note. I gasped even though I had already known who it was from. The man we have been hunting for years. 11 murders 34 kidnappings in all and 9 current ones. Right now he is America’s most wanted and he hangs around our area the most. No one had been able to catch him, we have come so close but he always slips through our fingers in the end.

Hello. I know you have been looking for me. This dog knows where I am. But since dogs can’t talk, I suppose you’ll never find me. She takes exact orders from me and you can’t and get all the information you can out of her, but will receive none. You may be wondering what the point of this note even is. It’s the ransom for the 8 kidnapped children. Oh yeah that’s right. It’s 8 now. One of them died. Apparently I didn’t feed it. Well if you ever want to see the precious kids again, (notice the sarcasm I have on precious) you will have to put 100,000,000 dollars cash in Bandits pocket. She’ll know where to take it. If I don’t have them money by next the next full moon, you’ll never see the kids again. (I did a little evil laugh right there by the way.) Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a lot of money but I drive a hard bargain! So you better do it. Or else.

Murder Man

Tears sprang to my eyes. I know police are supposed to be tough but starving a child resulting in death is still devastating. I pass around the note and everyone reads it. The room is dead still and silent. “Your orders ma’am?” Officer Jackson says. “Round up all the cops. We are finding him if it’s the last thing we do.” I say quietly, my voice full of hurt for all of the families and friends of the people he has kidnapped and killed and anger towards that evil man.

The sea of purple and green It swallows anybody that enters The tall grass covers all things seen But there’s one small spot right in the center

The spot where you can see nothing more But little purple flowers and tall, tall grass This can make your heart sore For anyone that will pass

You can’t see a horizon, nor people or homes Nor any animals, birds or even bees Nor any bubbles, water or foam Shockingly, there aren’t even trees

How you get inside, nobody knows But once your in, you can’t get out Just you and the wind that blows There’s no point in crying or giving a shout

The blades of grass dance in the breeze The flowers tumble around It’s always warm and sunny, you won’t freeze You’ll feel so lonely, you can’t make a sound

I woke up one morning to a cloudy, crisp, November morning. I inhaled a bagel and went out for my morning walk. Everything seemed so gloomy and disappointed everywhere I looked. I was still morning the death of my father. Yes, he lived a long and happy life, and yes, now he is in Heaven with Jesus, but I would still rather him be alive. I miss him so much. He died 2 weeks ago at the age of 47 and nobody is grieving him more than my mother. My morning walks wind up to her little flat on the other side of town where I clean, make her breakfast, do the dishes and laundry and draw the curtains. I rarely see her out of bed she just lies there, a lump of sadness hoping the blankets will act as a shield to more grief. After I help her wash her face and change her clothes I leave her house to walk back to mine. Tears roll down my face into puddles of devastation from all of the reminders of him in the house. I brush them away and pull my hair into a ponytail. Daniel, my husband leaves for work in 30 minutes and I want to make it back in time to say goodbye so I walk quickly and briskly past the farm where dad loved raising animals and making ice cream, and honey, and yogurt. Then something crunches under me toes. I bend over and push away the leaves to reveal a small gold key. “What in the world?” I mutter to myself. I pick it up and turn it over in my hands. I gasp, falling into a flash back.

“Now one day when I’m gone, you’ll find this key and it will lead you to the place we both love most.” Dad said. “It’s so pretty!” 9 year old me said holding it.

Once I come to I text Daniel goodbye and I love you and sprint into the gate to the barn. I jam the key in the keyhole to the mysterious shed that Dad never let me into and never answered any questions about. I turn the key and cautiously open the door with a creak. Tears spring to my eyes once they land on the thing in the corner. With a shaking hang I pull out my phone and dial Mom’s number. “Mom?” I say in a hushed tone. “Come to the farm I think there’s something you will want to see.