Writing Prompt

Aaron peeked his head into the house. "Mom?" he called.

Lyric came from the kitchen. "Yes dear?"

"I have someone for you to meet." he whispered.

"Is it the lucky lady I've heard you fawning over?" Lyric gasped.

Aaron opened the door more and there she was. "Mom, this is Blossom. The love of my life."

"Oh, Blossom! My son better be treating you nicely!" she exclaimed.

"He is, Ms. Maupin. You can count on that." Blossom smiled.

"Wait, my mom's your teacher? Never mind, let's go to my room, Blossom." Aaron walked her to the stairs and turned back around to Lyric. "Mom, um, do you mind if she and I have a sleep over tonight? With a few other friends maybe too?"

"Of course not. It's Friday, tomorrows Saturday, its totally fine." Lyric replied. "I'll go make cookies."

Blossom sat at the end of Aaron's bed with him right beside her. Her best friends, Lori and Riya, sat on her other side. Aaron's best friends, Mike, also Lori's boyfriend, and Walter, Riya's boyfriend, sat on his other side.

"So, I heard you and Aaron were finally dating." Lori whispered happily.

Blossom laughed. "Yes, we are."

Lori's and Riya's eyes lit up. "We're so happy for you!"

"Shh, please. It's not that big of a deal." Blossom stated.

"Of course it's a big deal." Mike broke in. "You're dating the best gentleman here. Nothing is more important then that."

Aaron tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She turned to him. They both stared at each other for a while. They both blushed and looked away.

"Kiss kiss kiss." Lori and Riya whispered together.

Aaron turned back to her and moved closer, putting his hand over hers. Blossom's face turned red.

"You've kissed him before, come on!" Lori exclaimed.

Blossom flipped her head around and kissed him, closing her eyes. Aaron closed his too. Eventually they pulled away.

"Woah, Blossom, that was-" Aaron started.

Blossom smiled. "The best kiss ever..."

"Exactly." Aaron smiled.

"You two are so cute!" Lori shouted. "Why don't you kiss me like that Mike?"

"Want me to try?" Mike sneered.

"Oh, please!" Lori practically lunged at him.

He pulled her in and they kissed.

Walter cautiously reached for Riya's hand. She noticed and slid hers forward. They entertwined their fingers and Walter yanked her closer. She landed lying in his lap and he leaned down to kiss her.

"Everyone's so adorable..." Lori said dreamily.

"Okay, who's ready for spin the bottle?" Lori asked.

"Us." Riya smiled at Walter.

"Me and Blossom too." Aaron whispered.

"Anything for you babe." Mike said.

"Good. I'll go first..." She spun the bottle quickly.

It landed on Riya.

"Oooo, this is gonna get spicy. Come 'ere Riya. I won't do anything too crazy with your girlfriend, Walter don't worry."

Riya laughed a little and leaned closer to Lori. Lori leaned forward and quickly pecked her on the cheek before sitting back again.

"Blossom, you go next." Lori said.

Blossom reached forward and spun it. Fortunately it landed on Aaron. She took a breath of relief and kissed him.

"Riya, your turn." Lori whispered.

Riya spun the bottle. It landed on Mike.

"Oh, that's not fair!" Lori pouted. "Don't do too much, Riya."

"Don't worry." She leaned forward, kissed him and backed off.

Blossom head burned. Not now! She screamed in her head. "I-Ill be right back." she got up.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Aaron got up.

Blossom gripped her stomach. "It's better you don't." she croaked in pain.

"Okay..." he sat back down.

Blossom hurried from the room and into the bathroom. Everyone was left stunned.

"Is she sure she's okay?" Riya asked nervously.

Lyric whistled and walked upstairs. The plate of fresh cookies shifted in her hands. She reached Aaron's room and opened the door.

"Cookies are ready! Where should I put them?"yric asked.

"Just here, mom. Thank you." Aaron whispered.

Lyric placed them down. "Where's Blossom?"

"She left to the bathroom holding her stomach." Lori replied.

Lyric raised her eyebrow and left. She went to the bathroom door. She slowly turned the handle.

Inside, Blossom panicked and leaped into the bathtub.

Lyric pushed the door open and looked around. "Are you sure? She doesn't seem to be in here."

Aaron rushed out of the room and to her side. "What do you mean? We heard her just a few minutes ago!"

"Well, how about you and your friends look around the rest of the house. I can try and search here again." Lyric suggested.

"We can do that. Come on, guys." Aaron waved his hand and everyone followed him.

Lyric slipped into the bathroom and made sure they were gone before closing the door. She cautiously locked it and turned around. "They're gone, Blossom. You can come out."

Nothing moved. Lyric sighed. "I'm sorry you have this talent Blossom, but please, you can talk to me."

A sleek black cat stepped out of the tub. "Are you sure?" it asked.

"I'm sure, dear." Lyric smiled.

The cat leaped onto the toilet. "Why are you so calm about this? I'm a freak. I hate being able to shapeshift. It always starts with a headache and then I shift."

"I'm calm because I've seen it before."

It was another wintery day at Hogwarts the snow was brightly shining through the curtains even though Ann wanted to sleep longer she realized she had school and a lot of catching up to do so and slid out of bed and went to her trunk by the foot of her bed got dressed in her Slithern robes grabbed her wand and dashed out of the girls dormitory she went up the stairs and accidentally ran into another student

“I'm- so sorry! Here let me help.” Ann said as she picked up her books and handed them to the Ravenclaw boy she ran into

“It's alright,” he said as he took his books back “Did you get lost?”

“Yes, I don't know where charms class is.” Ann said

Mara was a sweet young girl, with wide, blue eyes and golden curls. She carried herself gracefully, despite the constant pushing of her away in the halls. She didn’t mind distractions, for whenever she looked at a babbling boy or giggling girl, they would magically quiet down. Mara was the teacher’s pet, and everyone adored her. One day, while sitting at my desk, I noticed her writing in a notepad during class. I came up to her and said, “Hello Mara, what are you doing there?” Mara looked up from her notepad and said, writing to the fairies. I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling a little, and then, when I looked at her notepad, tiny words appeared and glitter covered the page. I couldn’t believe it, Mara could write to fairies, and they are real? I knew if I revealed her secret, she would be ashamed and probably made fun of. So I kept my lips sealed and now, Mara and I have our own little secret.

It’s just Magical Mara and Me.

//I don’t know what you guys think, but would this be a good children’s book?//

She comes to school every day with tears in her eyes

Which makes me wonder why

But then she sits in her chair, refusing to move

Which makes me want to send her home

I watch the other kids play

And I watch her sit and stare

It bothers me so much

So I say “Lila, why?”

“Why won’t you go play?”

“Why won’t you listen?”

No response.

Hours later, everyone’s gone.

She’s gone too.

As I pack up, I hear a song

I look over to the window

Lila is there

Singing to a bird

And the bird sings back

“Beautiful” I say

She hears me, and runs away.

And vanishes into the oak trees

The next day,

I itch to tell my students

About what a beautiful song I heard

As the sun set over the trees

Hours later

Sunset returns

And I hear a roar

I gasp as I see

Lila roaring at a bear

We rarely see bears

In our grassy prairie

She roars, he roars back

“Horrifying” I say

She hears me, and runs away.

Vanishing into the oak trees

Day after day

She squeaks, she roars, she stomps

And they all do it back

And I watch

Saying words like

“intriguing, wonderful, strong”

And each time she hears me

She sprints away

Vanishing into the oak trees

On Friday, I decide to go out there

And try myself

Once I hear the song

I leave my classroom

Follow the narrow path

leading to the oak trees

To find Lila and a stunning blue bird

First, she sings and I listen

Then I sing

Her head swivels around, panicked

“Stay” I tell her “I just want to join you.”

I sing, she watches

Then cautiously joins in

We sing together

And I get an idea

My next science lesson

Is all about animals

All the kids join in

Including Lila

It takes her a while

I coax her

“We have to do it together.” I say

Slowly, she joins

And works her magic

All the kids stare

In wonder

As she growls

Louder than ever

At the angry bear

She found hidden in the forest

I smile

And now I know

That I’ve done my job💜

(Wolf pov)

Leona glanced at me. “Hey wolf.” She said. “Yeah.” “I know a place were you can lie low. Back home I have a tree house. My sister Laya never goes in it. It would be the perfect place.” She said. I thought about it for a minute. A tree house in the city wouldn’t be a place Amon would think to look… but the closer I get to Leona the more danger I put her in. Finally, after a good few minutes of thought, I agreed.

It had been a few days since then. I had been living in Leona’s treehouse. “My sisters boyfriend is coming over tonight.” She said. “Really, who is it?” I asked. “Some guy named Amon.” Leona answered.

A crushing feeling swallowed me. Leona didn’t know that Amon was the one who kidnapped her, that he was the one who started the wildfire, but out of all that, she didn’t know that Amon was my brother. How could I tell her? I could only think of one answer, I couldn’t. Amon would soon figure out that I was living there, the only way to keep Leona safe was to let her go.

“Wolf are you okay?” She asked. “Oh, yeah I’m… I’m fine.” I said. “Okay.” Leona said. It was clear she wasn’t buying it. “Well I better go back inside. Bye wolf.” Leona said with a smile. Leona left the tree house. I picked up a piece of paper off the floor. Then I found a pen. I wrote down my apologies. I promised that one day I would tell her everything, but right now what was most important was that she was safe and she would only be in danger if I stayed. I put the note on the small desk in the corner. With that I leaped out the open window to the roof of the house nearby.

I leaped from roof to roof. A car began to drive by on the road. I looked at it, and Amon stared at me back. I gasped for air. Amon didn’t stop the car. If he did it would only cause suspicion. I continued to jump from roof to roof, until I ended up in the woods. They were still burned from the fire, and the smoke smell still lingered, but I couldn’t put Leona in more danger. So this was my new home, at least for the time being.

A glint to the left Strikes a shimmer of blue- Then a glint to the right Changes that hue. A gaze back to me Seems a trick of the light, As now his eyes are blank- Overtaken by all white.

Panic overtakes me As the truth sets hard in- This adolescent has inner chaos Flowing to its own whim.

Though chaos does in fact flow Through every coursing vein, Those sent to my guidance Have complete control over its domain. Control of chaos is what’s key Needed to remain stable And content within oneself To avoid anything fatal.

But the look within this eye- Ever changing in hue- Shows the mind of a madman Barely hiding from view. I see it more than clearly- His thoughts run through and through Saying over and over “I want to kill you.”

His thoughts stay only that, For now until who knows. Regardless I refuse to speak And reap what’s he has sown. I can’t bear the thoughts, Running through his mind. For I know that we will suffer If his chaos is so inclined.

I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Edgar Allen Poe had reincarnated as a little James Hertford, a 3rd grade English student who could never sit still. At first it was hard to distinguish the drastic differences in his behavior and his writing from the first day of school to now.

Before, James didn’t really care much about the English language. He formed lazy sentences during writing time, and he spend most of the afternoons crumpling prices of paper and throwing them at the back of little Suzy Mayor’s blonde curls.

But just last week, he submitted one of the most brilliant writing pieces for our class write-a-thon. It was moving, raw, and unfiltered. It was like Edgar Allen Poe had possessed the hand that wrote those words.

Of course that could be the only explanation for this odd phenomenon, unless I was wrong. Perhaps little James simply learned how to write a masterpiece over the course of a couple of weeks. Maybe his brain was soaking up everything there was to know about the life of a distinguished writer. Or, his father was simply Edgar Allen Poe. Yes, that must be it. Perhaps Mr. Poe switched little James’ last name for the sake of anonymity.

Regardless, I have taken it upon myself to keep their secret and to let little James write on.

Orange shag carpeting and dark paneled walls, a glass topped brass coffee table with a heavy green ashtray, a dog-eared stack of magazines, and Raymond, all sitting in Clifford Klein’s waiting room. Macrame hangings and bedraggled asparagus ferns, the dusty decor bored Raymond. In a corner a large basket of grubby gnawed wood blocks made Raymond grimaced.

“Mrs. Johnson, Ray is a good boy, very polite. But he’s struggling in first grade. These worksheets are half finished. From this work I surmised that Raymond is struggling to decipher letter shapes. We are looking at a reading disability and possibly ADD. Look here at these test scores,” Dr. Klein said, school psychologist.

“Well Raymond I think doesn’t test well. But he loves stories. I read to him and—“ Mrs. Johnson said.

“Now is his father in the picture?” Mrs. Kelly asked.

Raymond sighed. He went through the stack of periodicals, Highlights, Readers’ Digest, Boy’s Life, Ladies’ Home Journals, National Geographic, as his mom and the other grownups talked in the other room. Raymond selected a magazine

“Miss Kelly, you met Raymond’s father at parent teacher night. Tall guy, beard. What are you saying is wrong with my Raymond?” Mrs. Johnson said.

“Not wrong, Mrs. Johnson, but a smaller classroom, where Raymond can received more focused attention so he can catch up with his classmates,” Dr. Klein spoke softly as if to an addlepated child.

“Do you have books in your home? We could arrange for the school librarian to donate some books,” Mrs. Kelly said sympathetically.

“We have books in our houses, lots. I just said I read to my boy each night. He loves stories!” Mrs. Johnson’s voice began to rise.

“Let’s bring Raymond from the waiting area and prepare for the next stage. Shall we?” Dr. Klein said, making a little notes.

“Have you considered a different school that meets Ray’s special needs?”

Looking from teacher to psychologist, Mrs. Johnson sputtered. Raymond pushed aside a pissy throw pillow and settled back with his National Geographic. The teacher and the doctor go into waiting room.

“Hey, Ray, would you like to come back here to meet Dr. Klein. Do you like looking at the pretty pictures?” Mrs. Kelly said.

Mrs. Kelly and Dr. Klein gulped.

“Actually I was reading about matrilineal power structure in Papua New Guinea. Fascinating. Can I borrow this Doc to finish later?” Raymond said tucking the magazine under his arm and heads into the testing room.

The child could see. Not like a normal child, but like a security camera. They could see everything. The teacher didn’t quite know how to react. They had detained the student on allegations of cheating, and the child protested that they had abilities. Just to amuse himself, the teacher allowed a test of these claims. They were the truth. At least the kid wasn’t a cheater, right? And so, how to pass knowledge onto them if they couldn’t be tested, professionally or by themselves in study? This probably wasn’t the first thing the teacher was supposed to be concerned about, but he ran through his head for answers. And, he had to somehow keep any sort of special treatment secret. If the faculty learned, the children definitely would. And that would, for sure, put an end to any sort of academic integrity. He wasn’t getting paid enough for this.

Oh to think they were special Just another husk of a person Is really under that facade Yet this is a carefully

Constructed lie

For you see With the existence of a layer Comes the fact that with one, there must be more This one is full of layers So many They lost count, And lost themselves

Have you ever met a person With such a fragile sense of self They parade with an air of arrogance And an act of idiocracy While always being better

This giddy self Is just the first onion For next comes humour, a Coping mechanism

To cope with their pain Self inflicted Jokes to degrade them- Selves To split their conscience To make them know They are alone Their echo chamber Of self hatred This devil, the cause of pain In their small world

Such a tragedy in this planet Such a vile thing Must not be seen

Keep on parading, O foolish thing You know your weaknesses Be bold, be brave, be you And know forevermore

Not to care what others Think of you