A thunderous knock shakes the door. I jump up from the comfortable winged armchair, teacup clattering on my saucer, book slamming shut. “Open up!” I hear the gruff, deep voice of a man yell.

I slip into my jacket and open the door. A policeman stands there, a folded paper in his enormous hand. He waves the document in my face. “Search warrant, let me in.”

My throat closes up. “Why?” I croak.

“Haven’t you heard? About the escape?” The policeman shakes his head, the search warrant still in his hand. He tucks it under his arm with the rest of the papers and pushes lightly past me, into my house.

“I...” I can’t think of a good reason. But I can’t let him see… “Mister…”

He ignores me.

I scamper down the stairs to the basement, leaning against the hidden door. “They’re here,” I hiss through.

“Please keep him away. I don’t want to go back,” she whispers.

“You won’t have to,” I promise darkly, as the policeman’s heavy step starts down the stairs. I pick up a hammer and wrench, one in each hand. I will protect the poor thing, however mutated the lab made her.

Tired eyes stare soullessly at you: while looking back you can feel yourself getting lost within the pools of wisdom held in the, the longer you stare the further you fall into the ripples of his past. An ancient tracery of wrinkles etched his face making him seemingly edging closer and closer to his oncoming end.   Upon his scarred cheeks and chin- from battles long ago he wishes he could forget- protrudes grey wiry hairs. His body seems to move sort of mechanically and his bones grind together, as he walks he squeaks almost like an old bike in desperate need of oiling, not only this but his skin seems withered with time, like a cliff that had been brushed by the waves so often it begins to crumble. Although he rarely speaks, when he does it’s like a tsunami of tales from a time forgotten by most people, a time in this life that seemed to be a never ending cycle of war and death. From behind a thorny bush I notice him pluck a flower out from it. He stares at it intently almost like its beauty captivates him. And finally his eyes seem no longer soulless.

There was only one thing that seemed to cloud up the boy’s mind. 

It was pure hatred. 

He glanced around the room, checking if he really was in a room with pastel wallpaper, smelling of honeysuckle and a vexed lady wearing a blue tunic and jeans. What rotten luck. This was something he should’ve sensed long before.

He abused a stupendous amount of power.

But there was no use dwelling on it. 

The boy attempted to click the remote and set to prevent this future. Frowning, he found there was nothing in her pocket. The lady coughed and waved the visibly broken device in the air.

"In reality," she began. "There is no perfect fix. Or at least until now."

A crack filled the air, at first ever so slightly, but within seconds, louder and louder. Trees swayed and the moon shone brightly, casting an eerie feeling to all. Three girls ran through the snow, their footprints leaving deep marks. They reached the shore of the lake. They looked out. A blue scarf blew in the wind, nearly blowing away. They screamed to the girl in the center of the lake, but they were drowned out by the biggest crack and the sound of ambulances on the way. Dreading it was who they thought, they called out her name, it echoing in the forest, and making everything dead silent. Frightened, the girl turned around. A small gasp filled the air and a tiny “help,” was whisked into the air as the ice gave away. They saw her bright blue eyes and tear-streaked face; her hair unraveling with each bit of wind, but most of all, the frightened, scared look in her eyes, as this once-confident queen bee, fell to the end.

Word Count: 171 words

Something crazy was bound to happen at the party. No one knew what, but we knew the phantom existed and that it would strike that night. Yet somehow when it happened, we were all surprised.

I remember that as the liveliness of the party intensified, the air seemed to thicken. As people started to move around, the volume of the music began to pulse, but not enough to draw attention. The pulsing added a sort of urgency to whatever people were doing.

The temperature seemed to drop slightly with the pulsing of the music, but because everyone was moving with such urgency from the music, the room being slightly cooler was nothing we were disturbed by.

Before the final strike to our party, the phantom managed to get everyone in his grasp. He had captured everyone’s senses without us even knowing. But he would have no pride if his power was not acknowledged. He had to show us he had more power than all of us combined.

So he made his final strike. He disappeared. And in an instant everything went back to normal. That’s when we realized that it hadn’t been normal all along.

  I feel the claw on my right ear, and the tears start  dripping down. My eyes fly open, but I can’t find where the pain is coming from. I run for my life thinking it is going to be over. Then I begin to feel warm blood tickling my neck. I scream for help, but I can’t hear anything. As I run, I smack into a huge oak tree. Everything goes black. As I open my eyes, I look into a tiger’s eye bigger than my face. That's when I know it is over!

I stretched my hands out as the soft breeze blew in my face and clouds whisked past my hands. All around me the sky was painted with an assortment of pastel colors. It was all so gorgeous while I basked in the beautiful sun rays shone on me. I was soaring in the sky, away from everything. I ran my fingers down the scales felt beneath me, feeling every crease and crevice. This majestic beast would take me far away. To a place unknown where no troubles would await me.

          Once upon a not so far ago, there was a girl named Angela. She was moving because her mother got a new job in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was a huge change for Angela. The day she got there, she met Reid and Nicole. They welcomed her to Scottsdale and told her about the town. Angela made sure to remember it. The next morning Angela woke up to nobody in her new house. She walked around the house looking for someone. Then she found a note on the table saying, “To find your friends you will have to overcome the mountains.” When Angela read this, she remembered that Reid had told her about Camelback Mountain. She was near the mountain so she rode her bike over. At the base of the she found another note saying, “Almost done. Go to the Hyatt Hotel.” She remembered that Nicole told her that this was the fanciest hotel. She quickly walked to the hotel and the front desk handed her a note saying, “Meet us at Oreganos.” She rode her bike over and she saw her family and friends! They went in and ordered desserts. Angela knew that this town was a great adventure.

The street light shines through my window and there is the shadow man folded against my wall. He comes quite often, usually when I'm alone. With the motion of his finger he urges for me to come play his game. He grabs his pack and lights a cigarette. He turns up loud music and dances wild dances and drinks from a bottle of liquor which makes a long shadow on the wall. Dad doesn't live here anymore, so this party may last for a while. The handle turns and the shadow man slides along the door as it opens. Grasping the bottle behind my back I smile, "Night Mum."

They told me I would fail.

For some reason, that’s all I can remember of them.

They claim to have done good things in their lives.

They claim to act a certain way.

I can’t see it.

But, still.

Does it give them the right to determine what my life should be?

Just because I’m different – I’m not what they call “right.”

And it makes me sad, even though it used to make me angry.

I was angry that I could never be who they wanted me to be.

I’m not that girl.

Then, I realized.

If I listened to them, who would I be?

I’d be an imposter.

By paving my own way, by being myself, I could peacefully show them.

And now.

Look at me now.

I am proud and happy of the woman I’ve become.

I suppose I should thank them.

Their words pushed me to be the best person I can be.

And they told me I would fail.

laugh