When I first watched _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_, I had a funny thought—why was the Evil Queen so worried about what a stupid mirror thought? Later, as I grew older, it felt as if the Demon from the movie had traveled into my own mirror. Every time I looked at my reflection, it was as if someone was whispering that I had grown horns, that I looked ugly, or that I had turned into some fat, bl...

“Happy Birthday to you…” erupted from the entire house. Mom brought the chocolate princess cake with sprinkles out from the kitchen. It’s a long-standing joke from when I was five — I cried the entire day about wanting a princess cake, but at that time, we didn’t have any money. We managed to get a poor version, and as we were going home, we came across an orphanage that was throwing a birthday pa...

Sweat dripped from Jason’s forehead as he struggled to paddle the boat toward the lake’s shore, but the effort was in vain. It felt as though whenever he was about to reach the edge, someone or something pulled the boat back to where he started rowing. Whenever he looked back, he saw the shadow getting ever so near him.

It started out as a lazy afternoon when he and Molly—his girlfriend—were out ...

“No!” screamed Jack. He lay there, beaten by the Zod, unable to use his powers because of her. Christine was gripping his hand, her eyes wild with fear. She was the fiercest person he knew, but today he felt like he had to protect her.

Christine and Jack were walking towards the courthouse, where they were supposed to present a case. They had worked for weeks to gather evidence and prepare a stro...

The wind whispered through the tent flaps, a cool summer breeze carrying the scent of the forest and distant waters. It was the kind of day that made you want to throw off your armor, slip into the cool embrace of the river Na’al, and just forget about the world for a while. But I couldn’t forget. I couldn't ignore the weight of the war that seemed to suffocate everything around me.

"THIS is how w...