Valerie sat on the swings alone, her feet just grazing the ground, her eyes trained to the ground. Her hands were dirty and wood chips stuck to her jeans, but she didn’t care.

Every day Valerie came to the playground to look for her locket that she lost here ages ago. It contained a picture of her mom, and it was the last thing she gave her before she died. Every day Valerie leaves dirty and empt...

“Don’t be a little chickenshit, Ashton,” Jordie said.

“Yeah man grow a pair,” Drew parroted. Drew waggled his eyebrows at Jordie in a way that he hoped she would find adorably sexy. Jordie wrinkled her pert nose.

Aston threw a harder than necessary play punch to Drew’s shoulder. “Quit dick eating bro,” Aston said and left the pentagram and opened the door. Kaley with a K and Caeli with a C mockin...

“Kassie.“ My name dripped down her strawberry stained lips and settled in the air like a slur. “Kassie,” she spat, “Kassie, you disappeared for three and a half years. You cut contact with everyone for three and a half years. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

“I'm sorry.”

“I'm sorry? I'm sorry! Kassie Smith, I thought you were dead! I thought you finally ended that pathetic life of yours, but...

When the usher escorted me into the auditorium, a feeling of deja vu washed over me. There was something familiar about the place. The room was no different from any other theater aside from its cavernous size. Walking past rows of empty padded seats, flipped upwards not in use, I looked towards the balcony. A shadowy figure stood out of view, looking down upon the scene as it unfolded.

Curta...

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

When would she get here?

I’d been waiting for months.

Ready to move forward.

Where was she?

She’d said she wanted to go on that date.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

When would she arrive?

I wanted my family to meet her.

To get to know her.

Where was she?

She said she wasn’t embarrassed of us.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

How long ‘till she got here?

I bought the ring ...

Ash stares at the thousand pieces shattered across the floor. The laughter died after the ear-piercing crash of the vase hitting the floor. Ash’s neck stings with embarrassment, nerves, and lastly, guilt.

He broke Àmir’s beloved vase.

It’s like the thought alone is enough to summon the man. Ash has to tell himself to breath as Àmir kneels beside him quietly.

Inhale. Exhale. Damnit.

Ash falters...

I’m a hero on a quest to save the land of ash from a power-hungry psychopath king so I get through his men and his traps and finally I approach the villain and I question why he does what he does, And the villain says “you don’t need to hear my reason for you have not lived my life, all you should care about is if you can defeat and kill me for that all you need to know about me.

We fight and he ...

Joe was hanging onto the ledge trying not to let go due to his cramping fingers.

“You cannot die here you piece of shit,” he mumbled to himself.

He used all the strength he had left in him to pull himself up enough to use his elbow for support. Once he had one elbow, it was easier to get up from there. He wedged his feet into the rocks to push himself all the way up.

“You are still trying to...

When a thousand words all cut like glass and the mountain of sand beneath you crumbles, how are you supposed to pick yourself up from that?

There’s sand in your wounds and you’re still covered in the shattered pieces of the mirror. You’re infected and it’s going to take a lot of healing to fix that.

It’s a lot of fighting to get on your feet again. A battle no one else sees. One no one else is g...

A man stands at the abrupt corner where South Pane Road meets Grimn Lane.

He gives a momentary glance to his plastic wrist watch, checking to see if he’s earlier today. His eyes raise towards the unchanging crosswalk light. It glows red.

Checking each direction briefly, he decides he can cross. He takes a step onto the road. A blast of electricity surges through the air, thundering just infront...