The sun breached the horizon as I took stock of what supplies were left. _Three bottles of water, four cans of food, two spoons, a packet of matches, a flash light, three D batteries, a swiss army knife with one broken feature, and an old baseball bat. _Everything fit nicely inside my backpack snuggled up against the sole blanket I had, with the exception of the bat which I preferred to keep handy, anyways.

I double checked that the laces of my boots were tied tightly, double knotted just like mom had once taught me, and pulled my hood tightly over my head. I moved swiftly just beyond the tree line, carefully plotting each step to leave as little of me behind as possible. No cars passed, no planes woshed by overhead, no trains rattled along in the distance. The silence of the morning deafening.

A silence that eerie lingered…until it disappeared with a pop, a loud bang if you will. My heart skipped a beat then raced to make up the distance. Notably, nothing stirred around me, the vacant forest starting to swallow me whole. Pressed up against a large tree truck, peering my head ever so slowly around the bend, I made an attempt to identify where the noise came from.

A second pop followed by indistinct yelling. It’d been so long since I encountered another person I almost forgot what they sounded like, their speech an unfamiliar assortment of noises. If my grip had been any tighter I’d have snapped the handle of the bat as I slowly began an approach on high alert.

A shack was situated in a clearing not far off the road, camouflaged an impressive amount given the turmoil the world had fallen into. I’d bet my last can of beans that an enormous amount of preparation went into this dwelling. A man was stood out front taking careful shots at the shack. Another rang out. pop. “Just show yourself,” he shouted. “I’m not here to kill you. Just hold up your end of our deal and I’ll leave you alone.” pop pop.

He moved a little closer taking aim at a small window. “You stupid bi…” and he hit the ground, hard. I inhaled sharply, my hands vibrating from the bat colliding with the back of his head. His gun tumbled a few feet away and came to rest in the dirt.

I picked it up and gave it a once over. A six-shooter, cold and shiny. By my count it had one bullet left, if I was lucky.

The gun in one hand, the bat in the other I circled the shack. It seemed empty but my feet refused to approach the door. I made it once around and searched the man for more bullets. I crouched over him, turning out his pockets and dumping the contents of his pack in search of anything of use. A few bullets tumbled to the ground.

My eyes fixed on the bullets at my feet, I heard the door creak open. Was it the wind or something else? I spun around gun drawn, scooping up the bullets in one fluid motion, as if I knew what I was doing, as if I were a character in a storybook.

In the newly empty doorway grew a void, introducing a black hole more draining than the lonely trees. Whatever it was it called out, “If you think you did me any favors you’re sorely mistaken. You haven’t done yourself any either, by my observation.”

Still nothing physically emerged from the shack, just a haunting voice that danced its way across the yard. “He’ll be waking up soon, you know.” I looked down at the man, still and silent.

My hands still vibrated, now more from nerves than smashing the back of someone’s skull with a baseball bat. My legs gradually straightened and carried me away from where the man lay, still refusing to approach the door but not quite convinced to return me to the forest, and absolutely certain that I wasn’t meant to run.

My mind searched through any and all possiblities, and none I could fathom offered me a favorable outcome. I adjusted my grip on the bat, focusing my eyes deep inside the void. The voice called out again, menacing and cheeky, daring me to act.

“Take your shot, stranger. You’ll only get one.”

I salt my mashed potatoes like grandpa, heavy handed and fearless. That’s what my mother once told me. She said that I’ve got her brothers laugh, too, wicked and sincere.

On some days it feels like my apple dropped straight down from its birthplace in the branches. Landing neatly amongst its peers. On others it feels like it rolled downhill and got kicked across the street.

What do you think would happen if the apple were to explode? Would I become one thousand tiny pieces? All different pieces, a small bit of everyone I’ve ever known?

Or would each piece be vaguely the same? An even spread of all the bullshit concisely packaged into a single human experience? Applesauce smashing into the pavement under a passing truck…

Maybe it’s for the better that we can never truly know.

_It’s hard to be inconspicuous when you’re hanging upside down, but so far I have been careful to only leave the belfry just before the bell tolls and so far no one has noticed me. _ __ _The few occasions I haven’t made my exit in time the vibrations have rattled my teeth and it became difficult to adequately bite down. The days that followed I would grow weak and transformation and flight would become difficult. I would find myself feasting on small forest creatures until I recovered. _ __ _Lately, however I’ve been perfecting my timing and life up here has been wonderful. I watch from above the town square and when the moment is right I swoop in and take what ever it is that I am after. I own the night. _ __ _It took me a moment to adjust to this new town but I think I could make it mine, at least for now. I’ll bleed it dry in a few months time and move on to the next one just as I always do. _ __ __ _May the moonlight fill your darkest nights. _ __ __ With these final words inked onto the page in a refined calligraphy, pale fingers folded the letter and slipped it into an awaiting envelope.

A bell tolled steady and deep not far away. A shadowy figure flitted down the alleyway, footsteps echoing on the stone street corner as if just barely making contact with the ground.

Under the shifting moonlight it slipped the letter into a mailbox, vanishing into the night before the letter came to a rest at the bottom. The final bell toll rung out shaking the trees as it did.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh! SHIT!” she shouted.

Lily paced back and forth along the empty wall. She was jittery, chewing at her nail beds. Her eyes darted around the room.

Ronan was sprawled out on the floor, as if sunbathing on a beautiful morning. “Are you always like this?” He rolled his head to look over at Lily, now squatting against the far wall.

“How long do you think we have?” Her nerves were starting to get the better of her quickly.

Ronan sat up. “I don’t know. Could be hours, could be minutes. They are going to wait for us to be offguard.”

She crossed the room to where Ronan was sitting. “I’m Lily, by the way.” She stretched out a hand and Ronan took it replying in turn.

Time passed slowly, at least that’s how it felt. The fluorescent light overhead was steady.

Lily eventually took a seat in the corner. An attempt at some sort of rest may be useful.

Ronan shifted on the floor, his back becoming stiff. He stood and stretched against the wall.

Lily watched. He was strong and that would serve them well. This is a team game after all.

“Where do you think the door is?” She crossed the room to Ronan. “How did we get in here?”

Ronan thought hard for a moment, then pushed against the wall. He glanced around and not a single seem was visible on the walls. He examined the floor and was perplexed.

“You don’t think it’s possible the lowered us in through the ceiling, do you?” He pointed towards the single fixture on the ceiling.

An alarm began to sound, loud and piercing. Then a robotic voice came over a speaker. __ “Attention contestants. Welcome. You have been selected from a large pool of applicants and will now be competing live for a shared prize of one million dollars. The teams have been randomly assigned. Good luck and let the game begin.”

A short pause flustered them both. Lily‘s excitement skyrocketed. “Here we go!,” she whispered to herself.

“Task one: exit the room.”

You entered the shoppe and purchased me A purchase made with intent and zeal You brought me home and showed me off But to this day you have not broken my seal

I sit at home and spend my time alone waiting for the day That the lights come on and I feel the warmth of your palm as you begin to knead my clay

I would be anything for you, I am a blank slate you see and the limits are endless with me So please don’t take long, the thinks you’ll think could never be wrong Oh, just think of all the things I could be!

He’s always late and I knew 8 meant 8:15, it always had but for some reason I knew this time was different. 8:20 had already come and gone with not even a text. I had to move and it had to be now.

‘Where the fuck did he always tell me to go?’

Go bag. Feed the cat. Get the hell out.

My chest tightened and my arm twitched. I downed the front steps of our apartment, my hands so deep in my jacket pockets they nearly tore holes.

‘A backpacks all I need right, it’s all i can carry and keep my hands free, RIGHT?’

I bulled my beanie down close to my eyes. Questions spun and echoed.

‘Is he there? What happened? What if he’s not there? What do I do then? I can’t go back, right?’

Stay low. Stay quiet. Move faster.

‘I won’t go back.’

I moved along the backroads logging ever car that passed in my head. I won’t be followed. He taught me to always be vigilant. The headphones didn’t play any noise, I wasn’t stupid. I had to be sure I wasn’t followed.

You see the castle was on the outskirts of town, where the trees took over and the beast played at night.

When it was all clear you were to enter the forest and find the pillars they marked the start. He told me to walk the fifty paces and stop at the center of the clearing.

‘What the fuck kinda games was he playing?’

So I did.

And the castle isn’t what it seems and I know this now. It’s nothing at all actually.

So I stopped and I waited and he never showed. HE never showed but someone did. My heart skipped beats and froze in fear. Best not to turn around I swear I heard the wind warn. My hands raised above my head.

‘Is he nearby? Is he still alive?’

I could hear more than one of them, taunting me. Their silence begging me to respond. My hands twitched ever so slightly. A sudden pop and the sunlight steamed through a new hole in the tree.

Slow breaths. Stay alert. Stay focused.

‘You can’t find him can you? That’s why you’re here, cause you need me? What’s he done this time?’

I was running out of options. A second hole in the tree. Lower, closer to my head.

‘Will you speak or at least just kill me already? Why the charade?’

I spoke and spun about to face them. All I could make out were their eyes a glint of light caught them swaying.

‘He said you’d come. Are you off the grid, a spook?’

They watched. I waited. Silence.

‘Will I die tonight?’

The others swiftly moved. The castle was compromised, seized by the opposition.

They led me further in, deeper than the light would willingly travel. My eyes darted but i don’t dare move my head. Surprise was the only thing I may have left. But in a thicket so unfamiliar it wouldn’t serve me well.

A small encampment emerged in the distance, a half dozen others milling about. They converged to watch our arrival.

This was it. I was made. I had failed.

But to my surprise I was met with warm regards and applause. At the center of the camp a fire crackled. Just beyond the fire he stood, tall and smug.

‘You are fucked in the head! What the hell did you just do to me?’

“You had to prove yourself before I could tell you,” he said, “this is what i’ve been preparing you for.”

‘Preparing me for? What are you talking about? I fully thought you were dead!’

“Well I’m not, sis. Welcome to the resistance.”