The bus has been delayed 10 minutes I will be late But still enough time To be on time

Yet it’s irritating Completely and utterly infuriating A matter out of my control Always leaves me exasperated

But it’s alright I have time No need to get upset As it’s best to just let Your mind have a rest

I don’t know what I feel anymore. At first it was fear. Gut wrenching, intense, painful. Those were the words I would use to describe the feelings of my past self. I couldn’t come to terms that I would die. Dying itself was something I feared. I feared that I wouldn’t get to do anything I dreamed of. Perhaps I’ve come to accept it. I don’t fear death anymore. I see it as a relief from my illness. Every step I take, every breath I take, almost anything I do, is so painful.

I often catch myself looking out the window in a daze. My thought are empty. I wish I could say that I started to see the beauty of life now that my time is near. They often say that’s what happens, but it could be further from the truth. I find myself realizing how it was just the opposite. I started to see my family member with their fake smiles. They just wanted to get on my will. The friends that I used to have pretending they cared for me. It looked like they couldn’t wait until I died. And as I looked out this window I see more and more things that makes me feel disdain.

Overall, I’m not sure what I feel anymore. I’m here just for the sake of existing. Yes, perhaps that would be a good way to sum up how I feel.

“What is this?” Ash asked with curiosity.

“Oh you’ll see. Just taste it,” Daisy encouraged.

“Alright,” he responded hesitantly, looking at the strange drink in front of him.

He hesitantly sipped the drink. A sweet taste erupted in his mouth and he pulled back in surprise.

“That is liquid sugar,” he declared.

“No it’s not. It’s called a milkshake. It’s meant to be sweet,” Daisy said.

“You mean to say you drink this?” Ash asked.

“Not all the time obviously. It’s more of a treat,” Daisy said. “How is it that you’ve never had a milkshake before?” Daisy asked.

Ash though for a minute. Should he answer honestly? “They don’t have these where I’m from,” he said. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It’s just that did not come from this world or timeline.

“That’s too bad,” Daisy said looking sad. “Well it looks like we’ll just have to try a lot of other stuff too in order to make up for all the stuff you missed,” she added.

Ash groaned. As long as it was not like that liquid sugar he just drank, it would be fine.

“How could you do this, Kaiden?” Lyra asked, her lip beginning to tremble.

He raised an eyebrow and sighed. “How could I do this? I mean it was really simple if I’m being honest,” Kaiden began to say.

“Stop that! Stop with your snarky jokes…” Lyra said her chest heaving and her head hung low. “I-I thought we were friends. What happened? How could you leave us like this? How could you betray us?” Lyra asked, her voice beginning to crack.

“We were never friends. I just used you all until I didn’t need you anymore,” Kaiden said, his voice showing no hint of remorse.

“That’s not true Kaiden. I know it’s not. I know…I know you’re not this type of person!” Lyra exclaimed.

“You don’t know me. None of you did,” Kaiden said.

“So you mean to tell me that everything was a lie? That all the memories you and I and the rest of our friends made together were fake?” Lyra asked, almost pleading for it to not be true.

“That person is gone. He was never real,” Kaiden said.

“That’s not true,” Lyra said, a tear breaking free.

“Kaiden sneered, “Oh really?”

Lyra took a deep breath, “Please tell me Kaiden. What happened? You are part of our family and nothing will change that! Please come back. Don’t go over to their side! They, well I don’t know what they told you, but you can’t believe them. You know. You’ve been with us and seen the horrors that they have done…It’s not something that you would ever do. You have too much of a kind heart!”

“Oh be quiet,” Kaiden said. “I suppose it doesn’t even matter if I tell you anymore. You’re going to have to die eventually,” he said.

“What do mean by that?” Lyra asked hesitantly. She didn’t to want to know the answer to that question.

“You know exactly what I mean, Lyra,” Kaiden said.

“No…” Lyra began to say, disbelief on her face.

“I am one of those people that you are talking about. Of course I had to act to get you all to believe.” He said watching the shock on Lyra’s face. He continued, “And it must have paid off as you guys never realized anything. You guys practically handed over all the information we needed. It was far too easy.”

Lyra stared at him motionless.

“The deaths of your people were your own fault,” Kaiden said. “Let this be lesson on why you shouldn’t trust outsiders, Lyra,” Kaiden.

Tears streamed down her eyes as her body shook. She looked up, straight into Kaiden’s eyes, her tears still falling down her face and smiled, causing him to flinch. “Perhaps you’re right, Kaiden. Maybe we trust to easy, but everything you did…It was you. You can, no, you are a good person. I know one when I see it. If this is what you need to do, then do it, but you will be considered a traitor Kaiden. However, remember that you once had a home here. Remember that…I still believe in you.”

He took a deep breath trying to regain himself, but his hands began to tremble. He turned around and walked away from the trembling person that he once knew. He whispered quietly, his voice unsteady, as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words, “I’m not a traitor. I was never on your side.”

The salty breeze Brushes past my face The warm sand beneath me Grounds me to this earth

Not a single person to be seen Across this vast beach It’s just my thoughts and me

My thoughts are intrusive Always there reminding me Of the things I did wrong And can never do right

But here on this empty beach My intrusive thoughts are kept at bay And the turmoil in my head Seems to quiet down

A thought crosses my head This must be what peace is

“Your crown is made of the people’s bones and hunger,” I sneer, staring straight into the eyes of the haughty man.

“Stop this at once!” he demands, his voice filled with authority. Yet his eyes filled with fear give him away.

“And that throne your sitting on? It hardly belongs to you,” I spit out voicing the anger of many.

“How dare you?” The king says, a hand gripped onto the side of his throne, as if making sure it was still there.

A chuckle sounds from the younger man standing in front of the king. “How dare I? How completely laughable. The people agree with me. And have you forgotten? I have as much claim to this throne as you do. Isn’t that right father?”

“Y-You are merely an illegitimate child. You have no right to call me that. You have no right to claim this throne!” the king roars in anger.

“Oh, but who’s going to stop me? I’ve made it this far already,” the younger man said, his lips curling into a smile.

“G-Guards!” the king yells, looking around in a frenzy.

“I would suggest you draw your sword lest you die a death of no honor. Well it doesn’t really matter does it? You’re going to die either way,” the younger man said as he strode forward with his hand on the hilt of his sword and a dangerous smile on his face.

“Hello, can see me?” I call out to the person next to me. I wave my hands in front of their face, trying to get their attention.

Have I become a ghost? My mind wonders if I really have, no one can see me. I woke up today…and I wasn’t there! I looked on the mirror, but I could not see myself. I tried to get other people’s attention, but they can not see me.

I groan and flop down to the ground. I guess I must have died in my sleep.

“You have gained the power of invisibility,” a mysterious voice says in my head.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask the voice in my head. “And are you in my head or am I really going crazy?”

“You have been given the power of invisibility. I can not show myself now, so I must communicate telepathically,” the voice sounds.

“Are you kidding me?” I ask. The voice does not answer. “I’ve been invisible my whole life, this is hardly a superpower! Why couldn’t I have been given something else!” I scream to no one. After all, no one even knew I existed. People didn’t even know I was in the same class as them, and never saw me. In fact, my presence is so nonexistent that I could probably rob a bank without anyone noticing. Invisibility was not a power I needed and now I can’t even figure out how to turn visible. “Curse you voice in my head!” I exclaim.

Cut the white wire I say through the walkie-talkie The signal is unsteady And my voice sounds garbled.

What was that I can’t hear you The signal isn’t coming through.

I said cut the white wire Only the white wire Our situation is dire Please cut the white wire.

Im trying to cut the right wire But it is ever so important That I know the color of the wire.

The white wire Never the red wire I call out once more Unable to wait anymore.

Okay! I’ve cut the wire Now we’re fine Am I right?

That’s great I say with relief Only to look at the screen And see the timer going at full speed.

Which wire did you cut? I ask with impatience. For now we have less time Than we did at the beginning.

The red wire of course For you said the right wire Was the red wire It’s always the red wire!

I sigh It looks like we’re all going to die.

“Promise me you won’t laugh at me,” I ask my friend already regretting my telling her anything.

“Does this have something to do with why your late?” She asks.

I glare at her.

“I won’t. I promise,” she says, the corner of her lips already beginning to turn up slightly, threatening to let out a laugh at any moment.

“I…” I begin to say, hesitating.

“You…” my friends says, trying to get me to continue.

I take a deep breath and blurt out, “I got on the wrong bus and ended up in a random place, but I was too embarrassed to ask anyone so I was just walking around, but than I tripped over a dog, and oh my gosh…I was so worried that I took off running with the dog, asking everyone where the nearest veterinarian clinic was, but while I was running….” I take a deep breath and continue, “I ran right through someone’s photo shoot for their wedding and ruined their wedding pictures, but I didn’t stop running until I reached the nearest clinic that an old lady happened to point out to me as I was helping her cross the road. And when I got to the clinic they said they would find the owner and that I could leave, but when I left it starting raining and so I took off running again to the bus stop but the road was so slippery that I slipped and kicked someone in the face but I didn’t want a lawsuit or something on my hands so I hopped on the bus and ended up back home somehow,” I finish nearly out of breath.

My friend doubles over in laughter, even tearing up from how hard she’s laughing.

“You promised,” I whine.

“Only you would be able to do this, and it’s not even the first time it’s happened,” my friend says wiping the tears from her face.

Desperate. My heart beats fast and my breath is ragged. I turn around with anticipation and worry as I run forward. Please let there be an escape from this place.

The gnarly trees with their twisted roots try to trip me and prevent me from leaving. The fog shades my vision and I cry out in frustration. This whole forest is trapping me within.

Would it be cruel to wish for aid? For it was my own fault that we got trapped here. Now only I remain.