The sharp scent of rotting fish corroded the dank, stone space around her. Above, she could hear the calls of men and stomps of boots against the wooden floors of the upper deck; the chorus of noise only worsened her growing headache as she searched her mind for a plan of escape, only to be left empty of an idea yet again.

Her chains clung tight to her wrists, pinning her into the wall to be hun...

Minds fall away

Thoughts float astray

Our life and strife in tandem

They all exist no more

Views shift askew

Memories born anew

Our mindless dance in dreams is

The beauty of the sleep

Sense turns to dust

Worry starts to rust

Archaic and of no use

They all exist no more

Eyes closed to view

While souls see the truth

The wonder of worlds unknown

The beauty of the sleep...

“My king, I implore you to reassess such a decision,” Lord Cowel demanded, his brows knitted in a knot on his face. The majority of the royal court seemed to hold similar expressions of frustration as they sat around a long table in the court room, the young king at the end of it.

“And I _demand_ you to cease your ramble,” his majesty responded with a scowl, tapping a finger on the wooden top of ...

They’d both came to kill the king.

And they were both sure of the other’s intentions as they stood face to face, occupying the same hiding spot in the shadows behind the throne.

“Leave now, or else I’ll kill both you _and_ him,” the woman of the two threatened in a harsh whisper; she _needed_ to solidify her place in society as Queen, and she’d worked too relentlessly to be stopped now.

“Like...

I could feel my heart _beat_ out of my chest, the palpable feeling of it drawing my breath short. I gasped for air, each desperate _huff_ hurting my chest. My nails drew red marks into skin and bone as I clenched the core of my body. My free hand reached desperately toward my phone, calling the damning three numbers like an old friend.

The response was immediate and the aftermath was the same. C...

She had always wanted to leave with them, join them in the sky. Every friend and family of hers had already left above, after all.

“_Come,_” they beckoned her in the night before disappearing to the light of day. She yearned to be with them, yet they remained forever out of reach, not even the highest skyscraper able to break the barrier that separated her from them.

Sometimes she would try to ...

I am victim of a lion. I am bait sunk in sea. I have fought and have failed and have suffered. I am trapped in a room with a brittle grenade that threatens to destroy the fiber of my being if I so much as speak or stare.

So I don’t.

“Your words wound me deeply but your silence hurts even more.” He places a hand on my shoulder, his fingernails digging into the crevices of my skin. His fickle wo...