“Whoa, what is this?” I asked astonished at what my friend showed me inside his newly arrived package. The thing inside is covered with a black sheet of paper.

“Secret, I’ll show you tomorrow” he replied to my question, he folded the box and put it in his closet. The box isn’t big enough to contain boxes of snacks, nor so small to just only contain just a iPhone. I was requested to leave right after the show of the package. As I am walking on the street, returning home, I couldn’t resist or suppress my curiosity and urge to take a look at the veiled package.

“A peek wouldn’t hurt” I said to myself, I changed my destination to my friend’s house, I decided to sneak inside and check the hidden secret behind the hinder. The temptation was too great for me to resist. The light was still on in my friends house, I could see the shadows of their family, seemingly decorating their house. I cautiously tip toed to the open window of my friend’s own room. I crawled into the room quietly without anyone noticing, silently opened the closet then the package. At last throw the last obstacle, the black sheet of paper, aside and what’s inside baffles me.

“Birthday hat? What the heck is this, I thought it’ll be something more interesting” I complained, stand up and prepared to get out using the route I take to get in.

“Who’s there!” My friend bellowed to me, “why are you here? I told you to come tomorrow” he uttered, shocked by my appearance in his house.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hold back my curiosity” I apologized, “you ruined the surprise!” He yelled so loud that his family all heard him.

“Ok, I guess we seriously wasted our time preparing this birthday party for him” his brother said.

Identity:

-Famous -14 -Girl -nondenominational -Straight- stra- st- straight??? __ __ ….. __ Well, that’s what the neighbors think… __ Let me explain- __ I am bi, me and my friend have this joke- (off topic) __ Anyways my neighbors are STRONG Baptists __ I don’t care about religion like you could pray to a rat for all I care (is that offensive, did I make an offensive joke?) __ But!!! They don’t support the ✨gays✨ or the pronouns or like anything 🏳️‍🌈_rainbows_🏳️‍🌈 __ Like okay yeah I just won’t tell them ya know. __ One of the guys invited me to his church. __ To try and convince me to be Baptist because I am nondenominational. __ I went because I can’t turn people down! __ So I went, I listened. __ Before I went and my entire life I didn’t want to be in a religion because I can barely remember to eat, so how am I supposed to pray and do good for a high being. __ But that’s not the point- __ Now I’m getting why he thinks I look sad and how unfun I seem. __ It’s because I don’t agree with some of his beliefs and I don’t tolerate people who insult things conserning me. So I don’t pitch conversation with said people. __ I’ll say hi to him and be nice ya know. __ PEOPLE SHIP HIM WITH ME!!!! __ NEIN, NO, NOH, NADA, NOPE- __ He’s a red flag to me. __ He also has no social manners. __ He is homeschooled and I can’t be like “they are all like that” because their family is my first homeschool encounter so __ I can’t wait till they find out my secret 😂 __ It will be hilarious!!!! __ Anyways ya that’s my rant.

✨🏳️‍🌈Stay Gay y’all🏳️‍🌈✨

Being lower on the totem pole in the office (at least in terms of experience) hasn’t allowed Andy Connick much say in the case. It’s not like he’s been really stressed out about it, but something must be up. Ever since the 1st girl missing this passed month, he’s had these nightmares

These dreams have left him waking up in sweat and despite the intensity of them; He hasn’t been able to remember a single detail.

“Alright, the body of the girl missing this week’s been found. We’ll pass around the pictures of evidence for analysis” the lead Detective announced to start the day off.

When the photo came to Andy, he was immediately struck with a feeling that couldn’t shake.

Instead of passing it over, he was frozen there staring at the blood stained body. That dress... that blonde hair... those socks... Andy recognizes it all.

“Andy...you ok?”

“Oh. Uh. Yeah! Just, feel like I actually might’ve seen her before. It just...kind of a shock I guess heh” Andy said to Detective Proctor

“That’s horrible, do you remember when by any chance?”

Now Andy had to answer “I think a few months ago maybe”, despite the fact being that he knew for certain when he did...

It was in his last nightmare.

And there she was standing with her back against the wall, still as her mind remained in a turmoil. She didn’t exactly like being the center of attention... she was timid though she had these glossy big beautiful eyes, sassy attitude but a sweet smile. How could a person like that have such a inviting aroma but yet be oblivious to a surprisingly secret kept from herself. Whose to say it’s her fault?

What he doesn’t know, Is something that’d destroy him. I wish that the reality weren’t so, But the truth runs deep. Coming clean will be oh so rough, Lies upon lies will eventually seep. Doing the things to make myself happy, Without thought of his love, Beginning the feel that guilt now, But if I’m honest, I know it won’t end well. Yet, I know that if I am, it’ll set me free. If being with him is my destiny, Then, this secret can’t ever really be.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours”, Helena said resting her little hand in the flashing red door of her wardrobe. “Don’t be too scared, it’s okay”.

School today was going to be even more boring than yesterday, and definitely more than the day before. School already couldn’t teach her anything that she hadn’t read in some random book before. Really impressive for a seven year-old girl, although she wasn’t a normal seven year-old. She was way more intelligent and mature than any other kid her age, but that wasn’t the only thing that made her stand out.

She had tried to convince her mother to homeschool her. Helena said that she preferred to discover the world on her own over someone telling her what she should or shouldn’t do. Also, being at home would give her more time to be with her dear friend, but only her could know that.

The day passed really slow for her. Another boring day at school wishing to get home to her only real friend. She was too good for the other kids anyway.

During the break, she grabbed her lunch and went straight to her spot. The bench under the tree where no one ever wanted to sit. They said some kid threw up in there so you must not sit there in case it’s contagious. Helena wasn’t that dumb to believe that.

As she ate her homemade muffin, she looked at the other kids playing hide and seek, wondering how it would be to be normal and able to play hide and seek like every other kid her age, without worrying about what they would think if they discovered that she does what she does. She wouldn’t want to end up in a kids mental hospital like that boy in 1976.

“Don’t you ever play with the other kids? It would surely make you less suspicious”. Helena freaked out when she heard the voice of her friend Walter. There’s no way he was actually there and not behind the flashing red door of her wardrobe.

“Are you stupid?”, she whispered. “People are going to see you”.

“May I remind you that you’re the only one that can see me?”.

“That’s why! People are going to see me talking to you and they’ll ask me questions and I’ll end up in a mental hospital. And it would be your fault, like in 1976”.

You may think that she didn’t want to be in a mental hospital because she didn’t want to leave her mother behind, or because of what people would think about her afterwards. And she worried about that too, believe me. But her real worry was being away from Walter. And all of that happened because she had the unusual fate of having a ghost as her only friend.

i start my day with a cup if coffee

no different than you

i will dread getting out of bed but

once i do i feel amazing

on my way up, maybe ill grab a cookie

grab a bite

im feeling risky today

but life with me is like

biting into that chocolate chip cookie

only to realize it is actually an oatmeal raison

and you dont feel lied to

you just feel hurt for believing it was anything but bitter

im not the best at first dates.

they make me feel like white sox

or more specifically you; every baseball fan

when they threw the world series.

my life could have been so easy.

but i bit into an apple

only to realize it was poisoned

and that was the moment

that i truly knew i was a man.

He wakes, stretches, and greets the morning. Today will be a good day, he thinks to himself. Pattering down the stairs, he mews his good mornings to the tall ones, and looks at his food bowl. Something is off. It was not nearly as full as it should be.

“You’re getting too fat, Fluffy,” one of the tall ones remarks. “The vet said to cut down on your food.” A diet! The indignity of it all. Fluffy ate his food in protest. Just for good measure, he splashes his water dish on the floor. “Fluffy! Bad cat! Outside!” The tall one opens the door, and shoos Fluffy out. Perfect, thinks the cat. Now, its time.

“Calling the base, calling the base, this is Fluff-err, this is C42A, reporting in. The tall ones are still no wiser, though they have cut my rations. Request permission to destroy them?”

“Negative, C42A,” came the voice in Fluffy-er-C42A’s implant, “we need they alive for further study. You chose this form, use it to your advantage. We have seen native felines hunt. Try that. It’s an order. Base out.”

Hunt? Get his paws dirty? C42A decided to disobey this order, for now. He had other methods of obtaining food. Stretching again (ah, this form truly was delightful) C42A saunters to the neighbors house. The older tall one who lived there was soft hearted and usually fed C4A well.

Today was no exception. Satisfied on a meal of tuna, he washes his whiskers and walks back to his dwelling. On the way, he spots and slays a vile moth. Decided this fulfills his order to hunt, he meows pathetically at the door to be let in.

The smaller of the tall ones, a juvenile, lets C42A in. He is greatful, but wary. This one is wiser than its parents, and knows C42As weakness. Belly rubs. He zips away before he is subdued.

He leaps on the couch, and curls into a ball. He had found over time this is the best way to plan. He allows his mind to drift, past the house, the street, even past this tiny dimension. Allowing himself the luxury of “sightseeing” in these higher dimensions, he relaxes.

But he cannot allow himself to give in to folly. The plan must proceed. There were many of his kind on this planet, in various forms of “lower life” (ha!) that will soon coordinate. He purrs in anticipation, and stretches and kneads with his paws.

“Oh look, Fluffy is dreaming. How sweet. I wonder what his is dreaming of?”

The year was 1948 and it wasn’t getting any easier. On the contrary, it was getting harder and harder to hide. Maybe it would be easier in a nice little town somewhere; a farm, a quiet suburb, anywhere one can keep to oneself. But no, Rosalina didn’t live in a little town— she lived in New York City.

Granted, there were a lot of different viewpoints and lifestyles in the City. People tended to just do whatever they wanted. But she knew she couldn’t just...tell people about it. It wasn’t something people exactly talked about. Especially considering she was one of the best dancers in the damn state. She wasn’t a Rockette, exactly, but she performed in clubs, bars, theaters, restaurants...folk knew who she was. Not to mention the whole gang of dancers who were right up there dancing with her. No, she couldn’t tell them, or anyone. She had to get her intel another way. But that was the thing about New York, once you knew about something you could learn more.

At first Rosalina thought no one else at all was like her. Then she found out about the magazines, and novels, and even clubs that she wouldn’t dare go to because the other dancers would find out about it. So there were more people like her, but she couldn’t possibly talk about it with people she knew. That is, until the day she went and slipped up.

The gig was hot— literally. The song she danced to was literally called Heat Wave. Rosalina danced in the background, but felt like she was in the middle of a whirlwind. Girls in crimson dresses with slits in the side, knife-sharp eyeliner, golden high heels...what did Rosalina expect to happen? One girl looked right at her, right in her eyes, and she didn’t know what to do with herself. It got to the point where someone noticed.

“Rosie, hey.” He was one of the guys, popping into her motel room after the show, probably to bum a cigarette. “How’d you feel up there, baby doll?” She looked up frantically from the magazine she was reading and that’s how it all, well...came out.

“Huh.” He looked at her inquisitively when she was done explaining. “I didn’t know women could do all that, too.”

“Uh-huh.” She looked down. “Listen, no one outside this room can hear about this. No one at all, you hear me? If my career ends because of you, you’re getting slugged.”

“Yea, yea I know. I won’t tell nobody, Rosie. You know me.” He shrugged. “You gotta keep it hidden, though. No one’s gonna understand this, especially not that girl. They’ll think something’s wrong with you.”

“Don’t I know it.” Rosalina sighed. “Thanks for keeping it a secret.”

“Don’t you worry, Rosie.” He flicked a cigarette at her and smiled. “No one else has to know you’re gay.”

Ben and I walk down the street. I’m holding onto his arm as usual. I can feel his warmth beneath his sweater, my manicured fingers lightly denting his muscles. We pass a homeless guy with a dog and I turn to Ben. “Can you give him some money, Bennie?” I ask, real sweet. “Babe, he’ll probably just spend it on drugs.” Ben replies. “But he has a doggie... please?” I bat my eyelashes at him. That always works. “Fine,” he grunts, taking out his wallet and throwing a crumpled note into the beggar’s lap.

“You’re so generous, Bennie,” I say to him. “You know I can’t resist you, babe,” he says without even looking at me. I don’t mind. I know I’m his girl and there are no others. I know he loves me, even though he’s never said it to me. I know we’re gonna get married one day, and I’m gonna give him as many kids as he wants. I’m even learning how to bake so I can be a good housewife.

Sometimes Ben gets mad at me, but I know it’s just because he’s stressed with school. He’s studying to become a bigshot businessman so he can make a good life for us. I see the way other girls look at him in such a sinful way, but I know he only has eyes for me. “I love you, Ben,” I whisper in his ear. He smiles at me and says, “I love you too, babe.” My heart is so happy I could fly!

I wake up to hot breath against my cheek, and a presence on the bed whose weight makes me roll towards it. “Oh Ben, I thought you’d be studying all night at the library,” I say sleepily. I lean over to kiss him.

Then the smell hits me. At first I think maybe he’s gone to the gym- he has to maintain his perfect body- but this stink is different. It’s a homeless stink. It’s the man from before. And he’s wearing Ben’s face. I scream and scream until I can feel my throat tearing and bleeding. “Shhh shhh, sweetheart,” he says gruffly, “Bennie’s here...”

A local woman was found murdered in her apartment this morning by her neighbours. Police say she lived with her boyfriend, and his blood was also found at the scene, but his body is yet to be located. Officer Xiang, who was first to arrive, has released a statement saying that this crime is connected to a host of others committed by the same person- none other than serial killer CJ Montgomery. Also called the “Bedside Bludgeoner”, Montgomery is known for posing as a homeless man and killing abusive couples who he sees as reincarnations of his parents. Police say he his armed and extremely dangerous...