“We did it! Oh my god, I thought we were definitely done for after that last trick he pulled,” Ren screamed, twirling around the square with no care in the world as their long quest finally came to an end. “The way you managed to trick him into giving us his sword was phenomenal! How did you —“ As Ren turned around, he noticed Al’s face getting paler by the second and stopped in his tracks.
Just as he made eye contact with him, Al crumbled to the ground, holding his side. His hand could no longer hide the large amount of blood that was seeping through his clothes. Ren rushed forward to catch him before he could hit his head on the stone-path. Holding him steady, he carefully lowered him to the ground. Al’s eyes were getting heavy and keeping them opened seemed nearly impossible.
“Stay awake! Don’t you dare close your eyes right now, I’m not losing you,” he hurried, tapping his friend’s face as his heart hammered loudly in his ears. He couldn’t hear anything other than Al’s weak pulse and shallow breathing. Clicking his fingers to keep him awake, he ripped his sleeve to put together a make-shift bandage. Ren took hold of Al’s hand, noting how clammy it was, and put it over his heart as he put pressure on his wound. Al’s face held nearly no colour and had noticeable sweat pouring from his face. Al’s lips turned blue as he struggled to take another breath. Ren could hardly see straight anymore and blood, so much blood that it could fill buckets, was blurring his vision.
“You’re gonna be okay, everything is fine. Don’t worry, everything is fine,” he shakily muttered under his breath, one hand pushing Al’s hair away from his eyes.
“It’s okay. I’ll..” Al stopped, taking a shallow breath. “I’ll be fine, and… and you will too.”
Ren finally looked up from the bloody sight and gazed into his eyes. Al’s lips were turned up as he reached up to take hold of Ren’s face.
“We’ll… we’ll see each other again. I promise,” he whispered, staring into Ren’s eyes as he took his last breath.
Ren had held many things in his hands, and he had lost them all.
Walking through the old house, he followed his grandmother’s directions until he finally found the door that made way to a dusty room. In the middle of the room was big enchanting chest that captivated every visitor’s attention. He approached it and verified it was the right chest; the small fire-breathing dragon emblem on the bottom right looked identical to the picture his grandmother had given him. He took out the key she gave him and unlocked the box. As he lifted the cover, a small cloud of dust blew into his face and made him cough into his fist. When the dust finally settled, the first thing his eyes caught onto was a tea-stained letter folded without an envelope. A small piece of translucent tape held the paper closed to outward eyes. Reaching into the chest, he took the letter out and ripped the small sticker holding it close to show its hidden contents. The letters were faded and some of them were coffee-stained, hiding their true meaning. The sides were ripped and wavy as though it had been drenched in water making it impossible to decipher the text; he could only read “Dear Elizabeth…” in the center of the parchment-like paper. As he put it aside, a glimmer caught his eye. A shiny gold goblet was propped on the sides of the chest with a seemingly wine beverage swishing in it. At a closer look, he could see thin vines encircling the goblet, down to the bottom handle, where they bloomed into a golden petunia. With care, he delicately placed the goblet on the desk next to him so the contents wouldn’t spill out. Turning his attention back to the chest, the only thing he could see within the chest were leaves upon leaves of tea resting upon an old grimoire. He brushed away the greens and took hold of the heavy book. The dark burgundy cover seemed to lack a title and when he turned the book around, there still wasn’t anything; the only writing he saw was the publishing house on the bottom center: “Writers and Lovers”. He flipped through the pages and was met with blank, too startlingly white pages, considering the book’s age. He put the grimoire in his bag, alongside a bag of leaves, the goblet, and the letter, and made his way out of the room, locking it behind him.
through the dark you didn’t leave you stayed as close as you could without dying
you held me close shielding me from family thinking you weren’t the most precious to me
against the toxicity you didn’t leave me laughing through it the only way to hide it
through time and time we stayed close studies and work we didn’t let those separate our hearts from those who hurt us
“What?” He shouted through the multitude of sounds and cries going around him. The festival was in full bloom and children were running around tugging on their parent’s hands to get to their favorite stands faster; parents were sitting on benches in front of the ferris wheel waiting for their kids and pigeons were sniffing the ground trying to find the best spot to get as many bread crumbs as possible. Through the crowd, you could see the gigantic statue of a clown looking over the families and their friends. At first glance, the whole place was joyous and it seemed the happiest place on earth at that moment but as he looked closer, he saw the children crying because they didn’t win a toy and couples arguing over an ulterior fight they had before coming to a festival they already had tickets to. He saw teens with deep eye bags having trouble staying up behind their stand waiting for the next moment they could tell a kid they lost the game; the only excitement their day had. Continuing to look, he couldn’t stop seeing all the sadness and tiredness around him until he couldn’t take it anymore and left through the front gate without looking back to the festival fo misery.
As soon as she saw them, she froze. She couldn’t feel her body anymore as her vision targeted the pack of wolves in front of her. Their paws making holes in the ground and their long claws digging in the soil. Seeing their snouts moving and their mouths watering, her eyes went wide. Her hands started trembling and her foot stayed behind, ready to take off. Her heart was pumping so much blood through her head that she felt dizzy and lightheaded. Her backpack seemed filled with rocks as she felt it slid down her back. The blood rushed down from her face when her bag hit the ground and the whole pack of wolves turned to stare at her. She stayed as still as possible when one of them came closer to sniff her. Their snout was leaving a cold trail on her legs and they paused in front of the backpack. A rip made its way through the silence. Not willing to turn around, her feet stayed stuck in place until the pack finally decided to leave her alone.
