You are my world World full of hope Hope you never leave me Me and you are perfect together Together we are strong Strong enough to last Last and first love Love that will never end End of life in each other’s arms Arms so loving Loving every moment Moment after moment of our time Time to leave, it makes me sad Sad turns to happy when I see you again Again, I remember your smile Smile after you make me happy Happy, sad, all emotions Emotions we see each other through Through thick and thin, good and bad Bad turns to good when I’m with you

My alarm blares into my ears and I jolt upright. I check the time—7:30! School starts at 8:00! I was going to be late. I jumped out of bed. I opened my closet door and pulled out a shirt I don’t remember owning, not being able to wear my usual clothes since I hadn’t bothered to do the laundry since I hit my head after falling into that hole in the ground. I had too much of a headache to be responsible.

I pulled out a pair of jeans I could’ve sworn I outgrew and slipped them on without an issue. Now that I was dressed, I went to brush my teeth. I checked the time on my phone—7:40. It had only felt like 3 minutes had passed. If time kept passing at this rate, I would be late for sure.

I searched for my toothbrush, but could only find my brother’s, which was odd since he kept his in the downstairs bathroom next to his room. I didn’t bother looking any harder for it, and supposed mouthwash would be enough. The mouthwash we had was practically spicy, stabbing my mouth as I swished it around. I spit it out and the strong minty scent brought tears to my eyes. I went to turn on the sink to rinse the spat out mouthwash down the drain, only to see the faucet was already on, but no water came out. Strange.

I turned the faucet off and the water poured out. I made a mental note to mention the plumbing issue to my parents after school.

I ran back into my room to slip my shoes on. I check the time again. 7:63. Thank god.

Wait, 7:63? That’s not a real time. I do a double take at the clock to ensure I had read it right. I stared at it and it changed to 7:64 in a matter of seconds. Less than a minute later, it reads 7:65.

I blink in disbelief. I recall all the odd happenings from lately, and realize they all began after I fell into that hole at the park and hit my head.

I had to go back and find out what was in that hole.

I should’ve known it would be a bad idea to visit my grandma’s grave at night. I could hardly see over the mist, and the only light I could see by was the full moon. I gently sat the bouquet on top of the soil which was just beginning to grow grass.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. My body jolted, unaware anyone else would visit at this hour. I turn and I see her. My grandma.

James sat back in his office chair. His closet-sized office was littered with cigarette butts and chip bags, which were scattered all across the floor. His desk had crushed cans and crumbs on it. His steaming coffee cup wafted the bitter cocoa scent into the air. He inhaled deeply as he calmly stared at the screens in front of him.

It was the night shift at the store he worked at. Marco’s Groceries was the popular grocery store among those who lived on this side of town—the “poor” side, as many called it. Marco sold cheap products. They were decent at best. It had three security cameras up, and James had to make sure no thieves came in to rob Marco. It was a simple job, as most people respected Marco and his work. Most of the products sold weren’t worth the effort to steal, anyway, so James saw it as free money. He was even given his own office in the back.

He’d been working there for a few weeks from 12-5 in the afternoon, making sure teenagers weren’t shoplifting, but nothing had happened. Then Marco asked James to work from 11-4 in the morning. He hesitantly agreed after Marco offered him double the pay for working at such late hours.

As he watched the cameras with increasingly heavy eyes, he noticed something behind one of the produce shelves. A few items rattled and fell. James’s eyebrows burrowed and he leaned forward, his chair squeaking as he did so. He looked closer and saw nothing, assuming he had just imagined something.

Then he saw one of the shelves completely collapse. He jumped as he heard the crash through the wall. Apples and oranges rolled away from the site. Bananas were smooshed into the nearby rug. James froze in both confusion and fear. He didn’t know what he should do.

He looked around for a weapon. He remembered Marco had a shotgun in the other office. James grabbed the keys on his desk and shakily stood up. Just as he did, the metal door beside him began rattling. Someone—or something—was banging against it. The pounds were rapid and heavy, far heavier than a person could do. The bangs echoed through the small room, so loud it was almost as if whoever was on the other side was punching James’s eardrums rather than the door.

James back into the wall on the opposite side of the door. His eyes widened in terror and he shot his head to his desk. He spotted his phone and darted to it.

He opened messages and found Marco’s contact. He quickly yet shakily typed out a plea for help.

“Marco, someone broke in and I think they’re trying to kill me” he sent. He shut his phone off and prayed for a response.

Suddenly, the banging stopped. The room was silent except for the thumping of James’s heartbeat and his breaths which seemed so loud he almost held his breath. He swallowed. The door made a small click noise that made James jump so hard his head knocked into the wall. The door slowly creaked open.

On the other side was what could only be described as a shadow, barely visible, but it could be sensed. James felt the energy. He felt the air turn freezing. He felt faint. The shadow was ten feet tall. It began entering the room, having to bend its body to fit under the doorway. It’s arm smacked against the ceiling and it bend its neck into a 90 degree angle. It’s legs crouched and straightened as it creeped into the room.

Is stood still for what felt like eternity. James was completely frozen in fear. The shadow was making eye contact—at least, James could sense that it was. The shadow didn’t exactly have eyes.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow shot one of its long, thin arms to James and wrapped around his neck. He was lifted into the air and his head hit the ceiling. The shadow made an ear-piercing screech that sounded like a shredder being amplified. James felt the warm blood pooling out of his ears and lips. The world turned fuzzy and began spinning. He couldn’t tell if the darkness around him was being caused by his slipping consciousness or by the shadow’s mouth nearing him, but he knew this was the end.

I couldn’t help myself. Riley never told me any secrets. We’ve been best friends for years, yet she remains so secretive. I had to get a better glimpse into her life.

She would be home from work in 10 minutes. I knew her schedule, memorized it after a week. She arrived at her house at 3:40 every day. I would have to be fast.

I searched for the diary. I found it once when I stayed the night at her place, but she grabbed it before I could look inside. Ever since, she’s had it hidden.

I looked under her bed and there it was. I scampered to grab it and flipped through the pages. There weren’t as many entries as I expected, but I came across the most recent one. My eyes widened with shock.

“What would Riley do if she knew I was in love with her?”

She was…in love with me?

I unlocked the door to my house. Well, I tried to. It was, to my surprise, already unlocked. I assumed that meant Lily was here. She comes over all the time. Not that I can complain, I love her company.

I threw my bag down at the end of the hallway and trotted up the staircase. I pushed my door open and saw Lily cross-cross on my floor reading a book. A book with a blue cover with my name on it. My diary!

“Lily!” I shouted with shock. She slammed the book shut and whipped it behind her back. My face reddened and my lungs were suddenly empty. She can’t know my secret.

“Riley, it’s okay,” she consoled. She approached me and reached a hand out to cup my face. I stumbled backward and my head bumped the wall behind me. She cradled my head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to find out this way,” I panicked. This would be the end of our friendship, I just knew it.

She gently pulled my head in closer to her own and our lips met. Then I realized what was happening—she was in love with me as well. Maybe I shouldn’t have kept my secret from her. If I hadn’t, I would’ve learned that her secret was the same as mine.

I shivered as an airy breath left my body, appearing in a cloud of condensation before my face. I readjusted my gloves and approached the vessel. It smelled of smoke and vinegar, the first of the two rising out of the cracks in the metal panels.

“I always told ya aliens are real,” our boss Mikey said. He handed me my clipboard and pen with a paper attached. “But ya never believed ol’ Mikey.”

We’re part of a research company funded by the United States government. Mikey was in charge of running the tasks and making sure we didn’t screw anything up. My job as assistant supervisor was to make important observations and jot down our discoveries. The others were meant to search for evidence and clues as to what this item may be.

Mikey took up this job in hopes of discovering a UFO some day. As a kid, he was obsessed with aliens and extraterrestrial life. I wasn’t so naive. I knew that most likely, this structure was some failed military experiment from a different country—maybe our own.

The other researchers prodded and pulled at the panels and wires that make up the object. One of the people stumbled backward, falling on her back, appearing to have been shocked. As she did, a pathway unfolded from under the main doorway and the structure opened.

“I hope yer good with keepin’ peace between nations” Mikey commented, watching as a shadow in the shape of a tall being appeared in the opening. “‘Cuz we’re about to need a treaty between planets”

A tall, gray, two-legged being stepped out into the sunlight. My blood ran cold. For the first time in my career, I felt fear.

Look around. The world crumbles. We are in shambles. Yet you—you?—are the one who must save us.

Why you? Because you make up the world. Your very existence impacts everyone else’s lives in ways you cannot comprehend. We all suffer because you haven’t saved us.

One person cannot make change. But when this message reaches you—and you, and you, and even you—a change can be made. The collection of ‘yous’ makes up the world. You have to make a difference. It starts with YOU.

The playground was scarce and empty today. Most parents refuse to take their children to the park when it’s raining for fear they may catch a cold, but two children were out playing. Their mother sat on one of the benches, underneath the nearly-dry gazebo which allowed a decent view of the park. The smell of the rain, the cool wind blowing, the occasional mist hitting her skin, and the subtle creaking of the playground equipment was a surprisingly relaxing environment to read it.

Abigail ran up the steps to rush down the slide over and over again, giggling the whole time. Her older sister, Jessica, swung on the nearby swing.

Their mother turned a page of her book, glancing up again to make sure her kids were still alright. She looked back down and continued reading.

Jessica swung higher and higher, shouting at her mother as she did.

“Mama! Mama! Look at me!” She squealed with delight.

“I see,” her mother responded without looking up from her book. She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them with the opposite leg on top.

“Watch me jump off!” Jessica called out. Abigail stopped mid-run and rested her head on the railing to the steps she was on to watch her sister.

“Go sissy go!” Abigail giggled.

“You ready Abby?” Jessica asked her sister, who nodded eagerly. She admired anything her sister did.

Their mother continued reading, her head down.

“One…” She began counting with each swing forward. “Two… three!”

With the final number, she projected her body forward, tumbling to the ground and landing on her left arm. Abigail began clapping and giggling with delight.

Jessica laid face-down for a moment before she slowly rolled over. She began screaming in pain.

“Mama! I hurt my arm!” She wailed. Her mother looked up, then back at her book, then shot her head up again in horror. Jessica’s arm looked twisted at the elbow. It was most definitely broken. She ran to her daughter and crouched down beside her.

“Oh Jessie baby,” she consoled. “We’re gonna take you down to the emergency room alright?”

“No Mama I don’t want to!” Jessica bawled. “I’m scared! Just fix my arm!”

The mother picked up Jessica and motioned Abigail to follow. They dashed for their car and piled in, speeding to the hospital.

I do not know her anymore The girl in my home Who attends my school With the strangest obsession

We once knew each other The only others we could trust Hiding from the dark Seeking the light In solitude amongst each other

Her back turned on me So sudden yet I saw it coming The favorite of the two Encouraged to hate

The enabler died The silver lining shone through For in death lies rebirth A hope she killed But rose again from her leaving

Yet rather than getting closer As many do in the midst of trauma She missed the past And craved my demise

Now when I look into her eyes I don't see who she was I see the girl she is today Hateful, narcissistic, empty She is but a stranger to me

It was all wrong. All of it. Everything they thought was right in their life wasn’t.

Jessie tan from door to door, telling the truth to their neighbors, hoping they’d get some help fixing the damaged world they lived in into one of hope that someone would believe them.

The city everyone lived in wasn’t real, but completely fabricated. Of course, Jessie knew this, they’d worked as part of the experiment to see how people would react in different situations. There was a lot the world didn’t know about, and a select few had always known these things, but these secrets were becoming harder and harder to keep. So the government constructed an experiment across a town to test different possibilities. They would see how the town would react if there was an alien invasion, a nuclear war, religious prophecies coming true, and anything else that could potentially cause mass panic.

Jessie saw this as a good thing. If an outcome turned out dangerous, they would simply erase the city’s memory and start from scratch so nobody remembered the terror that endured. Scientists had figured out memory erasing technology on a small scale, but it wouldn’t work for the whole earth. This way only a select few people would give answers to what the best reaction would be in case any of these situations were to occur.

But now, Jessie learned the truth about the experiment. There was so much pain that went into it. These people had no free will, and any time they tried to live their lives, it would all be completely ruined by another simulation of events. They were convinced it was true. Even though they forgot about it in the end, Jessie discovered that they were still affected by each past experiment. There were still some remains of each memory trapped inside them somewhere, and while they may not consciously remember the events, it affected their fears, nightmares, and impulses. Ultimately, everyone was living in fear without realizing it. The lead scientists also agreed to never release the city from the experiment, confining innocent people to one town forever. After all, the simulation was only the town and nothing more. Anyone who had dreams of traveling would have those dreams crushed.

Once Jessie discovered this awful truth, they informed everyone they knew of it. They didn’t care if it would get them killed for betraying the experiment, they had to save all these people’s lives.

Back in the headquarters of the experiment, Jessie’s boss and a few subordinates were discussing Jessie’s actions.

“What are we going to do?” One woman, a bounty hunter, asked the boss. She walked toward her to come face to face.

“Hunt down the traitor, and bring them back to me alive,” she said. She turned back around and left the bounty hunter to do her work.

Back in the city, Jessie had told nearly everyone of the experiment. The people they’d told were gathered around them, listening to their plan. Their goal was for everyone to escape alive, but they knew that may not happen.

The bounty hunter arrived and aimed a gun to Jessie’s head.

“Come with me or I shoot!” She shouted.

“Get out of here, I’ll stay,” Jessie told the crowd. Everyone scattered and the bounty hunter walked closer. She handcuffed him, and while everyone else had managed to escape, Jessie remained.