The field stretched out in front of me for miles ahead. My boots hit the ground with a loud thud, my breath filed my lungs but the pain was enough to make me slow down to a near jog.

The man was behind me, getting closer and closer with each step. Panic rose in my chest and the path continued to grow longer in my eyes. There was no where to hide, I could only run and hope that white cottage at the end will be my saviour.

“Keep running Rose, keep running” his voiced crawled all over me like an unpleasant bug. I looked back to see him smiling with his yellow teeth and swinging his machete like a toy.

My face was wet, from the mist and from the tears now streaming down my cheeks. My legs hurt, my lungs are on fire and the cottage is so close yet so far.

I should’ve listened to my grandmother when she said not to go in the woods. I was a damn ignorant fool. I am going to be sick.

But the fear of being caught gave me a rush, my feet kept on moving and my lungs kept on inhaling and exhaling oxygen. But it wasn’t enough.

His hand wrapped around my arm in a painful grip. His yellow smile now even wider. His stench infiltrated my nostrils, making me gag. A horrible mix of rotting flesh and spoiled eggs. I wasn’t going to give up, I am not going to die like this.

“Oh you’ll die alright” he read my thoughts and crushed any hope I could have, before moving closer to my cheeck and licking away my tears. I was shaking so much. My breaths came in short and panicked. I looked at him then, his dark eyes looking me over and his tongue running along his lips. What a sick man.

Before he could lean in to harras me further, I stomped on his toes and my elbow connected with his nose. He let go and I ran. I ran, I ran, I ran.

The white cottage right in front of me, relief flooded me. I slammed on the oak door. But nothing. No one came out to help me. I hand gripped my shoulder and I knew it was the end.

Muriel sat on the stone bench, her white gown flowing elegantly down her golden legs. She sat there waiting with roses in her hair, waiting for her lover to claim her as his bride.

But the groom never arrived. Was he dead, did he get hurt or did he simply not love her enough? Muriel’s sorrow and rage took over, she reached for every man that walked past, in the hopes it’s her lover. But when their faces didn’t match, she carved out their hearts so they could feel her pain.

So don’t go in the willow gardens at night. Muriel will rip your heart out like her lover ripped hers.

Philip stoop atop the platform, realising that sometimes, he can say no. Sometimes, you don’t need to take the bet. Sometimes, it’s okay to just look boring. But, he is who he is.

The rainbow of creatures that stood in front of him, blinking and waiting, did nothing to ease his nerves. The faces of some making him realise that, he, a simple man with one eye, was nothing special. But a bet was a bet and he was going to deliver.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Monsters and monstresses. I won’t stand here and promise you things I will achieve if you choose me. Realistically, I won’t deliver them. However what I will say, is that I am one of you.” The silence was deafening, but he wasn’t getting booed at yet, so that had to be something. “I am one of you, so I know what we want. Not what these pretentious rich people think we want.” He was breaking out in a sweat now. His heart pounding louder than his thoughts. He should’ve prepared a speech. “What we want, is some freedom to roam the skies. We want freedom to use our spaceships to leave Rongu and explore the universe. What we want is freedom.”

Creatures started to nod. That was good right? Philip’s confidence slowly growing, his voice rising with passion. “So, what I will say, is as president of Rongu, I will allow spaceships to leave as they please. For creatures to roam the skies as they please. At the end of the day, what else are we meant to do?” Loud roars and cheers erupted.

The sight was unreal, the setting suns created a backdrop worthy of art. This is when Philip realised, it was worthy taking the bet of winning the presidential election.

She gripped the ancient relic tightly, feeling the power run through it. The wind around her roared, her eyes shut tightly, her hair almost ripping from her skull.

Then silence.

She stood in the cave, the relic gone. What just happened? She thought loudly.

She went to grab her torch, but it wasn’t where she dropped it. Quickly she realised she didn’t need a torch. The cave was illuminated by millions of tiny lights, dancing within the cave walls in shades of blue and green.

She made her way out of the cave, the old rugged path was now smooth like freshly laid tarmac. But what truly took her breath away was what lay outside of the cave.

TW: topic of abortion and loss

June 21st, 2001 Today I found out I am pregnant. I did the test and the lines didn’t even need a minute before staring back at me.

I’m too young, I’m only 19. I’m going to make an appointment, first thing tomorrow.

June 28th, 2001 I couldn’t do it. I had to go for a scan since my cycle is irregular and thats when I saw the heartbeat. I will make it work somehow, I told the dad of the baby and he simply pretended not to know me. It’s just me and the little bean against the world.

September 19th, 2001 I completely forgot to write in here, I have been so tired. The taste of spaghetti now tastes sour, no one ever told me your sense change so much whilst pregnant.

September 25th, 2001 I have a bump now, somewhat small but it’s there, my parents are actually quite excited to be grandparents. Little bean will be so loved.

October 8th, 2001 Decided to find out the gender, little bean will be a boy! Little bean is due in January, might be sharing a birthday together.

October 27th, 2001 I keep getting cramps, apparently it’s normal but I feel awful.

January 8th, 2002 It’s my birthday today. My little bean didn’t make it to his birthday. I knew I was too young to be a mother, it was foolish of me to think I would be able to do it alone.

Today was the first morning, Sarah was to feed her neighbor's cat, Whiskers, while they were on vacation. As she entered their home, using the spare key they left her, she found a note on the kitchen table that read, "Give Whiskers the medicine in the blue bottle."

Scanning the counter, she saw a blue bottle and mixed the liquid into Whiskers' food, watching as the cat eagerly devoured his meal. Moments later, Whiskers began to stagger and convulse, his eyes wide with distress.

Panicking, Sarah called the vet, her heart pounding. The vet arrived swiftly, administering an antidote and rushing Whiskers to the animal clinic. After a tense wait, the vet emerged, his face stern but relieved.

"Whiskers will be okay, but he had a close call," the vet said.

He followed Sarah back to the kitchen to investigate. Opening a cabinet, he pulled out another blue bottle, this one clearly labeled "Whiskers' medicine."

The first blue bottle had been a cleaning solution, left out by mistake. Sarah's face paled as she realized the gravity of her error. The misunderstanding had nearly cost Whiskers his life, leaving Sarah devastated by her mistake and more cautious than ever.

I was awakened by the unforgiving sun rays pouring in through the skylight. My room, which felt like it was in the Amazon forest rather than in a country cottage south of Oxford, needed some fresh air. So I stretched my half-dead body and swiftly flicked the latch before pushing open the window and letting a light breeze roam the stuffy room. I loved my room, I was always a believe of bigger isn’t always better. My room was big enough to hold my creaky double bed, a chair, dresser and the free standing full body mirror.

Since I was half way up, I decided to jump out of bed, my feet meeting the fluffy pink carpet that covered parts of the wooden floor. I rubbed my eyes and removed the book that folded over the the alarm clock to see it’s only 11am. I could go back to sleep, I have absolutely no plans for today. But I did promise mum to go to the park with her and Jodie later. I used an old receipt as a book mark and placed the book on the open shelf of my nightstand.

I let out a deep sigh and the I made my bed, my pillows thrown in the location my head usually fell and I covered the crumpled duvet with the thick crochet multicoloured blanket I made last year. I was very proud of that blanket, it took a year to make.

I grabbed my towel and my navy dressing gown from the white chipped door before making my way down the steep stairs and almost slipped entering the shower. Once I was squeaky clean and my eyes stayed open for longer than 4 seconds, I made my way back to my room. I threw my body into the door (since it had the tendency to not open well due to the old hinges) and I placed my towel on the back of the yellow chair next to the oak dresser.

I grabbed some clothes and took my time putting them on whilst I scrolled through my phone. Now that my usual morning scroll was complete, I grabbed my brush and started to tame my blonde locks. I looked in the mirror, smiling slightly at the goofy pictures of my and my friends clipped onto the string lights surrounding the frame of the mirror and in the corner of my eye I noticed that mum has taken my dirty dishes from under my bed. I will definitely be hearing about that on our walk to the park later.

I began humming, the breeze tickling my face and the fresh air filling my lungs. I dried my hair using a diffuser before I applied the various oils that were half open, creating sticky puddles on my dresser. I made a mental note to clean it, later. Before leaving my room for the day, I grabbed the pile of clothes from the floor that I elegantly peeled off last night after a heavy day of reading and threw them in the over-filled washing basket behind the door.

Taking a final glance at my room, I debated changing the colour of the walls again. My current motif was yellow and pink, but I’m starting to debate i should add a great accent somewhere in there. I’ll think about it on the walk.

Linda was holding Phoebe whilst she was breathing into a paper bag trying to calm herself down. In and out, in and out, in and out. Wendy was pacing, her dark locks bouncing with every step she took whilst on the phone “we don’t CARE that the cake isn’t ready, we need a cake for the wedding!” She screamed down the phone.

It was all in shambles, how did her perfect wedding become such a mess in a space of 48hours thought Phoebe. It was definitely a sign not to get married to Phillip, it had to be. Linda kept stroking Phoebes long blonde hair, more to calm herself down rather than Phoebe before offering to go grab them all a bottle of wine.

5 minutes after she left, Rita came in, dripping water from her coat that she acquired from the storm outside. Phoebe looked at her, still hyperventilating and Rita looked into her brown eyes and murmured “the venue is flooded”. Phoebe passed out. Rita and Wendy looked at each other then quickly scrambled to get her feet up and put the fan on to Phoebe to cool her down.

Phillip hesitantly knocked on the door of his future wife’s room and let himself in before seeing his fiance laying on the floor with her feet up. The confusion must’ve been visible on his face because Rita looked up with her blue eyes, her red fringe falling in her eyes and simply said “the venue got flooded, so she passed out. Also the cake won’t be here tomorrow, the ovens in the bakery are all electric so the power cut has caused a back log of cakes”.

Phillip swiftly moved to pick up Phoebe and placed her in the 4 post bed. Her golden locks falling all over the silky pillows she insisted on having so she doesn’t break out before the wedding. He was the luckiest man alive and he is going to make this wedding happen no matter what.

Rita and Wendy awkwardly stood waiting for Philip to finish his thoughts. He turned to them, his green eyes still in deep thought and then he clapped his hands “this is what we are going to do” was all he could say before getting interrupted by Linda who came back with not one but two bottles of Prosecco “I’m back! What did I miss?”.

Jamie ran across the rain covered streets, more than excited about all the candy he is going to eat after tonight. He will go as Spider-Man, his granny made the costume herself, so it’s going to be perfect.

His blond soggy hair was starting to get into his eyes but he carried on running, until he saw a shadowy figure in the distance. It stopped him in its tracks. He couldn’t make out who it was, it was only a small town but this figure was hunched and tall, not like anyone he knew. The figure sensed him staring and turned around with its umbrella clutched in its hand protecting it from the rain.

Jamie gasped “that’s the best costume I’ve ever seen!”. No wonder he couldn’t figure out who it was! He walked towards the costumed mystery person, appreciating the mask that seemed to fit like second skin. The mask was pale and the eyes hollow, the person even put in white contacts to truly bring everything together. The figure smiled at him, before pulling out a blue butterfly from its trench coat.

“Take this and keep it safe” rasped the mystery person to Jamie before handing him the blue butterfly. Jamie shivered as the cold hands passed him the butterfly, but then he was in awe.

The butterfly was alive and not flying away. He took a closer look at the butterfly and its wings seemed to be detailed with lines of gold. Before he could turn around and say thank you, the mystery person was gone.

After the best Halloween ever, walking around with his parents and friends and getting lots of candy, Jamie fell asleep still wearing his Spider-Man costume.

The next day, Lynn, Jamie’s mum, went to wake him up, but all she discovered was a blue butterfly on his night stand, with no trace of Jamie anywhere to be seen.

Elanor crouched behind the tall grass of the frozen meadows, breathing hard. She had to escape. She had to. The ground slick under her boots has already slowed her down and took her precious breath away, she couldn’t run anymore. The beast, mocking her in a sick way, took its time to prowl across the meadow, digging its claws into the ice covered mud. Elanor knew the beast could see her, those yellow eyes have been locked in on her ever since she started running. For her own peace of mind she continued to lay low whilst taking in her surroundings and catching her breath. The open meadow stretched far towards where she came from, the old cottage house that now lay in a rubble. She looked behind her to see a fallen tree laying across a rapid river. She didn’t have many options, so she took a big breath, potentially her last and pushed herself off the ground and then she ran. She ran towards the fallen tree, not as fast as she’d like but she still ran and then she heard the beast snarl behind her and the thud of its paws against the ground as it ran towards her. She didn’t dare look back. Elanor climbed over the roots of the fallen tree, her hands stinging in pain from the rough bark and the cold and then she jumped into the freezing river.

The current simply too strong for her to be able to make it across, Elanor could only fight to stay above the freezing water. The rough water pulled her down the stream until its mouth opened to the sky. She couldn’t do much except pray that she survived the fall. Elanor felt the wind and the spray of water right before hitting the bottom of the waterfall. She was so weak and so tired she barely made it to the surface. Her lungs burned and her body was stiff, it took all she had to get to the edge of the river and to crawl out. No sign of the beast anywhere near. She could at last rest, on the frozen grass. She stretched her arms over her head and simply lay there, frozen and tired until she found the will to live again.