“What do you think it mean?” Princess Elara whispered to her older brother, Prince Peregrin as they stared at the strange, glowing inscription that had appeared on the wall of a hidden room in their family castle. Prince Peregrin, his brow furrowed in concentration lightly traced the ancient runes with his finger. “It’s in the old tongue.” He murmured, his voice echoing sligthly in the dimly lit chamber. “ It’s says something about an awakening.” Elara felt a shiver run down her spine at her brother’s words, “but what could it be referring to? Could it be a warning?” She asked him her eyes wide with excitement and a hint of fear. The air in the room had grown thick with anticipation, the very stones seeming to hum with a newfound vitality. Peregrin studied the inscription for a monent longer before turning to her, “ We must inform Father and Mother immediately,” he said his voice firm, “ This could be a sign that something significant is about to happen.” Elara nodded her head at him

Sarah Bearclaw strode the long corridors of the museum, a fake smile pressed on her face as she nodded at the tourists walking through the halls. As she threw open the ‘’employee’s only’’ door, the grin fell. “Has it changed?” She asked the closest staff member to her, centering her black bun. The worker looked up, startled she was talking to him. “What?” “The Sphere of Fire!?” Sarah snapped, causing him to jump. “No ma’am- I mean I haven’t seen it for 30 minutes but- I- “ He stuttered, pulling on his earlobe. Sarah gave an impatient sigh, looking at the worker. A strong moment of silence passed until he asked, “D-Do you want me to check?” “YES I want you to check!” She frowned. “Yes boss- going boss!” He sped off to the ‘ancient relic’ exhibit and Sarah ran up behind him, her heels making a light tapping sound on the tile. When they made it to the exhibit, the employee walked up to the glass and looked at the glowing orb. Nodding, he turned and noticed Sarah. “ACK- I mean- the orb thing is glowing still-“ “Thank you…” She looked to his shirt for a name tag, noticing he had none. On top of that, she saw his shirt was navy blue, not the traditional brown uniform. “Wait… you don’t work here!” The man put his hand in his pocket, tensing up. As Sarah reached for her walkie talkie he grabbed her wrist. “Don’t call security or else you and that orb aren’t getting out in one piece.” 🩵 Part two at 5 likes? Idk I’ve seen people do it 💀

A Saturday morning when I was alone I scrolled through my social media and noticed a post from a group I don’t belong to It said “There is a new vintage shop in town the likes of which you have never seen……” No other details just an image of a spectacular ornate gold footing supporting a beautiful gazing ball. Intrigued I saw only one clue: the address is on your phone now. What in the hell I exclaimed with a laugh I set my iPad down and picked up my phone. There it was a number I’d never seen. I abruptly closed my phone. I turned it off. I also had a compulsion to draw the drapes but at that point I turned and stepped out on the deck to see the real world my world of Rocky Mountains and old growth pines. “Bullshit scam” I uttered and returned to my morning revelry. I was obviously not meant for the modern world. As the day unfolded I had a large gap of down time between business and pleasure. I grabbed my phone and noticed I had five duplicate messages. They read “we at the vintage shop are here to serve you Diane, mind body and soul through your deep blue eyes please come there’s so much to see” oddly this message was repeated five separate times and referenced a person each time at the end of the post it read” I’m Shiree and I’m waiting for you with an extraordinary piece. And each the same it’s a different woman’s name. Perplexed and curious I decided to go for a run. Throughout my run the messages haunted me. No amount of straining cardio could wipe this from my mind. Well I had art to play with and that most certainly will clear my mind I told myself. Later after life’s distractions I finally sat down at my wheel. Going about the steps to prepare to throw I finally was ready to connect with the clay. Throwing to me is a meditation. As the wheel spun and the clay was a blank slate and the clay was an expression of my confusion today and although I wasn’t able to create anything worth firing I was calmed by the feeling of the clay under my hands. During cleanup I was flooded by unexplainable emotion. I made space to really feel the pain I was experiencing. Bad childhood, worse adolescence and pow I was thrust into adulthood at an early age. On the job I felt capable, proud and dedicated. It was a retail shop full of wonderful creations from so many artists. I The store was called Earthcraft and I was the seasonal help during the months leading up to the most bombastic material holiday that society ever created. Hyperbole even. I was an abused young woman all of 16. PTSD, ADD and a mood disorder that allowed me to escape my body and my busy mind as I was constantly seeking relief. At this young age I was blissfully unaware that my past could also be my future if I remained on this destructive path. I was emotionally stunted and this would follow me into adulthood. The past littered with the wreckage of substance abuse, anorexia, and a seeming uncontrollable anger. The abuse I experienced made it quite impossible to become a high functioning adult. I diverge from my original story because I had a sense I was missing something. I was drawn to the mystical and the emerging new age movement. Anything to stop the pain. My search for mental peace led me to this place after exploring dark arts, white witchcraft, Scientology (I guess they were unaware that I was too young to sign a lifelong contract and my family had no money so eventually they left me alone) Christianity, Druids, Buddhism, Baha’i and hypnosis. I was definitely a spiritual wanderer with a damaged past and an inkling that somewhere someone would teach me more and remove my pain to give me hope. Although definitely more settled and balanced this search has carried into adulthood. The here and now. So I was perplexed about these strange occurrences with the vintage shops messages but I was also intrigued and curious. I guess I wasn’t aware that curiosity killed the cat……..

I walked through the dark halls of the old castle, Adrian following close behind me. “Where do you think this thing is?” He asked, looking around at the overgrown walls of the old palace. This place used to be a grand place, many parties and balls were held here. Then, one day, it fell into ruin, the family who lived here vanished. It is said that a witch came and cursed the family. Of course, the witch would be gone now, considering that was over 100 years ago, but the place was still creepy none the less. The further we walked through the damp castle, the more uneasy I began to feel. Then, suddenly, I felt a strong surge of energy. It felt like a burning sensation pulsing through my veins. I must’ve stopped because Adrian suddenly bumped into me, knocking both of us down on the ground. The fall was softer than it would normally be because moss coated the cold stone floors and Adrian had wrapped his arms around me, cushioning my fall. “Sorry Adelle…” He said, not making eye contact. He was about to get up when I kissed his cheek. He froze, a surprised expression on his face. I laughed and grabbed his shirt, flipping us so that I was in top, and stood up, offering him my hand to help him up. When he didn’t take my hand, I grabbed his arm and dragged him up. As I was ‘helping’ him up, I said, “C’mon y’a big elephant! Use your legs, we gotta get going if we’re ever going to find this relic. He snapped out of his trance and stood up, “Uh- Sorry…” he said hurriedly. Just after he said that, I heard what sounded like a door creaking open somewhere further down the hall. “Did you hear that?” I asked Adrian. “Yeah, it sounded like a door.” He said, looking around for the source of the sound. I walked down the hall but didn’t see any doors. “See anything on your side?” I called to Adrian, who was looking in the other direction. “No, nothing down here!” He called back. I turned the corner and saw the source of the sound. There was a door open at the end of the hall with light streaming through. “Adrian!” I called, “Over here!” I heard his footsteps running toward me and he turned the corner to find me. “Wonder what’s in there…?” He said, walking closer to the door. “I don’t know, maybe the relic is there?” I said following close behind him. “We should be careful just in case it’s something else.” He said, reaching for the hilt of his sword. I stepped ahead of him and reached for the door handle, opening it just enough to slip inside. Once inside, I looked around the room to see three of four walls covered floor to ceiling with windows, and in the center was a marble pedestal with a beautiful, glowing, golden orb on a somehow pristine silk cushion. “Woah…” I heard Adrian breathe from next to me. I walked forward and reached out to pick up the orb. As soon as I touched it a bright light burst out and I felt a rush of energy flowing through me. It took my breath away for only a moment then it was all over. Adrian rushed over to me. “Are you ok?!” He asked, looking me up and down. “Yeah. I’m fine.” I said, looking curiously at the orb. I had only heard about it through the stories my mother and grandmother told me. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. It is said that the very orb that’s in my hands contains an immense amount of magic, and I think I’ve just awoken the dormant power inside…

I walked through the dark halls of the old castle, Adrian following close behind me. “Where do you think this thing is?” He asked, looking around at the overgrown walls of the old palace. This place used to be a grand place, many parties and balls were held here. Then, one day, it fell into ruin, the family who lived here vanished. It is said that a witch came and cursed the family. Of course, the witch would be gone now, considering that was over 100 years ago, but the place was still creepy none the less. “Look, what’s that?” Adrian said, pointing to something at the end of the hall. I looked at what he was pointing at and saw a door that was partially open. We walked closer to the door and as I reached to grab the handle I felt a surge of energy flow through me. It was a strange sensation but somehow it felt very familiar… I swung the door open and saw a pedestal in the center of a large room with windows on every wall. The pedestal had a single object on it. An object I have only heard from in stories. I looked at Adrian with a smile in my face. “We found it.” He smiled back at me and nodded. The glowing orb that sat in the pedestal had been lost over 300 years ago and had been forgotten by most, but not my family. The stories of this orb has been passed down through my family since my ancestors time. I have finally found it, and I am here to return it to its original homeland.

(not the prompt) Aji walked through the halls. A boy in her last class flashed through her mind. Ken was his name. And she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Aji was so lost in thought that she didn’t see Ken and walked right into him. She fell to the ground. “Are you okay?” Ken held out his hand. Aji nervously took it and he pulled her up. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Aji panicked and rushed away. Then suddenly Ken grabbed her wrist. “Coffee shop at six?” Aji felt her face flush bright red. She turned to him and held her thumb up awkwardly then ran off again. —————— Aji paced outside the shop. She could see Ken inside, sitting at a table, looking worried. She just stared at him. Eventually, Ken turned around and spotted her. Aji panicked and rushed inside swiftly. She had just started to sit down when her chair disappeared from under her. Ken jumped up from his and caught her before she hit the ground. Aji’s face went red again. Ken lifted her up and pulled the chair forward to sit her. As he did, he softly kissed her cheek. Aji smiled. “I have a question for you, Aji.” “Yes?” “What do you like about me?” “Oh, um. Well, I like your hair, your eyes, your laugh, your smile…” She trailed off. “Okay. Now, tell me, if I asked you to be my girlfriend right now, what would you do for me?” Aji’s stomach flipped. “I would fight all your battles for you. I would fight your bullies. And I would be your fighter.” Ken smiled. “Now that’s what I call a really good deal.” He leaned forward over the table and kissed Aji. And Aji leaned into it. —————— Lyrics: I got this boy on my mind that I can't live without Oh, his eyes are killing me And he keeps talking about everything that he likes And I can't stop listening I'm thinking 'bout him all the time I'm thinking 'bout him all the time I'm thinking 'bout him all the time, all the time And my heart's beating fast when he's looking like that Oh, his smile is killing me It's the way that he moves and the way that he laughs So I can't get enough Thinking 'bout him all the time I can't get him off my mind Oh, I want him to be mine, to be mine My heart is saying, "Yeah, yеah, yeah, yeah, yeah" You know I want him now, now, now, now, now My hеart is saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" Yeah, yeah, yeah I told him, "I can be your fighter if you want I'll be there to catch you if you fall I can make it brighter when it's dark, when it's dark" I told him, "I would do it all for you And I know you'd do it for me too I can be your fighter if you want, if you want" Yeah, I can be your fighter I can be your fighter if you want I can be your fighter If you want Oh, the way that I feel, yeah, I know that it's real 'Cause I can't get him out of my head I don't care what we do, everything's feeling new Even if we stay in bed My heart is saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" You know I want him now, now, now, now, now My heart is saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" Yeah, yeah, yeah I told him, "I can be your fighter if you want (Your fighter) I'll be there to catch you if you fall I can make it brighter when it's dark, when it's dark" (Dark) I told him, "I would do it all for you And I know you'd do it for me too I can be your fighter if you want, if you want" Yeah, I can be your fighter I can be your fighter if you want I can be your fighter If you want I can be your fighter I can be your fighter if you want I can be your fighter If you want (Oh, oh, oh) My heart is saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" (Oh) I want him now, now, now, now, now (Oh) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Oh) Yeah (Oh)

“The relic! It’s moving!” *runs over to it* “Wait, it is?!” *follows him* “Yeah, but it doesn’t make any sense.” *taps it* “What do mean?” “This hasn’t moved in forever.” “Really?” “I think it’s sensed some kind of energy.” *tries to picks it up* “Man, it’s really heavy.” “I’m not a man.” *turns slowly to her* “Can you not be stupid for one second, please?” “I’m not being stupid. I stated a fact.” *rolls eyes* “Whatever. Now tell me what king of energy this thing senses.” *gets closer to the pedestal* “Hmm, well I see it has a picture of some sort of black mass on the side.” “No, duh. I can see that. What else is there?” “I don’t see anything else except for the black thing.” “Uuuugggghhhh! You’re so unhelpful!” “If you think so, I’ll just leave then.” *pouts away* “Good. You’re no use to me anyway.” *cries loudly. disappears* “Where’d you just go?” “No where.” “Oh come on, you should know I didn’t mean it!” “I heard you loud and clear. You don’t want me, so I disappeared. Now you don’t have to deal with me.” “Okay, I guess I get this relic’s power all to myself. Oh well.” *reappears and leaps at him*

In a vast, sun-drenched desert, archeologist Nadia Grant devoted herself to uncovering the stories etched in the remnants of forgotten civilizations. The Avlekian relic, her latest discovery, sat quietly in the midst of her collection—its unassuming presence belying its potential significance. One regular afternoon, Alex, her eager assistant, rushed into her tent, his eyes wide with surprise. "Nadia, you've got to see this. The Avlekian relic—it's glowing," he blurted out, breathless from his hurried arrival. Surprised, Nadia left her work behind and followed Alex to the spot where the relic rested. A faint, gentle glow emanated from the artifact, casting a soft, ethereal light that shimmered subtly in the dry, dusty air. Nadia's heart skipped a beat. The stories she'd read about the Avlekian relic rushed back to her—the last time it glowed, Avlek faced imminent danger. Filled with a mix of curiosity and concern, Nadia revisited her research, sifting through the scraps of information she had gathered over her many explorations. The Avlekians, a civilization shrouded in mystery, left behind sparse clues about the relic's purpose. But the quiet radiance hinted at an impending threat that couldn't be dismissed. With a calm determination, Nadia and Alex pored over their findings, sifting through ancient texts and inscriptions, attempting to assemble the scattered pieces of a prophecy that hinted at an ancient force that once jeopardized Avlek. Days blurred into nights as they meticulously studied the relic, hoping to decipher its significance. With patient diligence, they pieced together an understanding that the relic served as a protective barrier, guarding against a calamity from the past. As the glow from the relic intensified, signaling potential danger, Nadia and Alex pooled their knowledge, using the wisdom extracted from the ancient scrolls to reinforce the weakening protective essence. In a final surge, the Luminar Stone flickered and emitted a brilliant, yet faltering, glow, their efforts only delaying the imminent threat. Nadia and Alex exchanged a grave, silent glance as the ancient malevolent force breached the weakened barrier, enveloping the desert in an ominous shroud. With an impending calamity looming, Nadia's heart sank, and the future hung in uncertainty. Their valiant attempts had fallen short, leaving the enigmatic fate of the ancient Avlekian civilization in peril, as darkness began to descend over the horizon.

“Long ago, a goddess shed a tear for her lost daughter,” the elderly woman says, nodding and rocking in her old gnarled chair, “that drop… that drop landed here.” The drop, well it was made of gold and diamond. It rolled down the beautiful goddess’ cheek and trickled down to the earth, where it landed on a hard blackened rock beside the riverbed. The woman, young then, picked it up out of curiosity, and studied the golden droplet, the size of her palm. “And I knew, I knew it was different. So I kept it. Oh, I didn’t sell it like you silly bastards would. No, I put it in a mason jar beside my bed,” the woman explains to her daughter. “Then I fell in love with your father, a hunk of a man, with beautiful eyes that danced and a laugh that made me… well, I don’t know what it made me. But it made me do a lot. So, we decided to have a child of our own, that’s what happens when two people truly love each other.” As the woman lay in bed that night, after they’d made love, she stared at the golden droplet as it shimmered in the moonlight. It pulsed once, a low thrum that rattled the jar a little. She thought is was weird, but nothing more. She rolled over, pulled her lover close, and slept. “And then,” the old woman says, “well then it thrummed again. On the day I gave birth to you, my dear.” Back in these days, hospitals were optional to have a baby. Most didn’t have to money, so the baby came as it wanted, right there in the home. The lady had gone into labor while walking to her bedroom. The baby had been making a fuss all day, the woman never expected her to want out of the warm womb. So, the woman tried to calm herself and sat on the bed. Her husband came running, after hearing the nervous pants and quiet groans. “He asked me what was wrong. I told him the baby was coming,” the old woman laughs, “you weren’t here yet, but you should’ve saw that bastards face. All the blood had gone to his toes, and his mouth was open.” The woman entered that stage of horrific pain, where everything hurts. The man helps her through, a ghost at the edge of the bed. Later, while the woman is feeding her baby on the bed, the orb thrums again. “It was louder. It shook my lamp right off the bedside table. The jar went right with it, danced right off the table and onto the floor,” the woman holds up the droplet, which she has attached to a neckless. “Why have you kept it all this time?” Her daughter asks, reaching out to the old woman’s extended hand. “Because it spoke to me like a good friend, you don’t throw those out with the garbage, now do you?” “What am I to do with it?” “Keep it. One day, it will speak to you, as it did me. It guided me, it will guide you.” The woman believes the goddess helped her through having a child, because the goddess could not. So is true, the small golden and diamond droplet looks upon several generations.

We have never, at any point in our history on Earth, properly understood or appreciated what came before us. Our own hubris, our own determination that we, homosapiens, are the peak of evolution, prevents us from seeing what is right before our eyes. Or even what is below our feet. We do as we’ve always done. We take from the land. We take from the sea. We take from wherever we can extract anything which may be to our benefit—our profit—irrespective of how it may affect our world. We push, and we plunder, and we dig. And we dig. We rip the very ground from under us, destroying the trees, and the minerals, replacing them with the never ending concrete monstrosities we call cities. Humanity is a rash; an ever-spreading blight on the surface of a beautiful green planet. We have waged war with nature, and, until now, nature has been on the retreat. Until now. The consequences were always going to catch up with us, and now they are here. Now, at last, we will reap what we have sown, because this time we dug too deep. This time we found a jewel we were never meant to find; an ancient artifact; not, it seems, of human origin, but certainly of human interest. And, as we always do, we ignore the beauty of our discovery and, instead, look for what it can do for us. A magnificent glass-like sphere; soft to touch; pristine in its clarity; with but a single translucent droplet of liquid ricocheting from side to side to side. A tiny raindrop, seeking escape from its confines. We cannot help ourselves, can we? We must learn more about this strange fluid. We must release the mystery. But did we find it… or did it find us?