She came from behind, snatching my body. Holding my waist so tight I could barely breathe.

I was still in shock when the gag was slipped on, brushing through my teeth.

Her words, soft like a snake hissing made me shiver.

Her warm breath on the back of my neck, felt like a sudden blast of heat in the cold winter night.

When she turned me, her cold, evil smile was enough to make me want to run. But I couldn’t.

I was trapped.

Trapped in her arms, now tying my hands together.

Trapped in her foot, pushing me down on my knees.

Trapped in her van, riding through the night soundlessly.

Trapped.

I run down the school hallway with tears flowing from my eyes

My world spins as mob of girls come my way

Each one of them hugs me, passing me around

“What happened?”

“Was it someone?”

“Was it yourself?”

“Is it PMS?”

“Is it just stress?”

“What happened?”

“What happened?”

“What happened?”

My world spins faster and faster with every tear

I walk towards the bathroom, stumbling with each step

The mob follows

“What happened?”

“What happened?”

“What happened?”

“Are you oka-”

The bell rings

Then I’m all alone

The trees were yellow and orange, and dappled shadows scattered across the street. I stood outside of the school, a graceful red-brick building. The sun was a bright white spot in the center of the blue sky above. It was a Saturday, and I had just escaped the math extracurricular my parents had signed me up for.

I stared across the street as cars occasionally passed. I was staring at the cars so I wouldn’t have to talk to my classmates.

Henry paced back and forth on the sidewalk some twenty feet away, phone to his ear. Maybe he was calling his dad. Maybe I should’ve called my dad.

I checked my phone for messages. None, yet. He was probably just late.

Lisa was watching me hopefully from a bit away. I stared across the street.

Henry put his phone back in his pocket and looked around. He started to walk towards me.

I looked at him and waved, but made no move to get closer.

“Hello,” he said as he strode up to me. I smiled at him awkwardly, and Lisa seized this opportunity to move closer and join us.

“Hi,” she said.

“My dad will probably get here late,” Henry commented. They were already late. All of our parents were already late.

“Mine too,” added Lisa.

I shrugged. “I don’t know when my parents will get here.”

“It’s almost nice, though.” Lisa tugged on the straps of her backpack. “It’s not that cold, and it’s sunny. It’s good to be outside for a bit.”

Henry smiled. “What are you guys going to do later today? I think I’ll play video games, maybe homework.”

I sighed. “Always homework.”

We stood silently. A car passed by in a silver blur, lifting the leaves on the street into the air. They fell back again. Lisa checked her phone.

“They’ll be here in a bit…” She squinted up the street. “Speaking of homework, I don’t think I can come to class next week. I have a huge paper due soon. For real school, I mean.”

“I might not come next week,” Henry said. “My dad…”

I winced. I wasn’t good at talking about touchy subjects. It made me nervous.

He cleared his throat. “My dad’s moving out. He wants me to help.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him. I looked down. I didn’t know what to say.

“We’re here for you, you know,” Lisa told him. “We’re your friends.” Even though we had been trying to avoid talking just a few minutes ago. Even though we didn’t know him.

Henry laughed sardonically. “What’s a friend?”

“Do you want a hug?”

He nodded, and I awkwardly wrapped my arms around him. Lisa joined in.

“Group hug!” I cheerfully exclaimed.

Lisa laughed.

We pulled apart again, and watched the road, waiting for our parents. Having them around was reassuring. I wasn’t worrying alone.

“So why do you come here?” I asked partly to help the conversation along, partly out of genuine curiosity.

“My parents are math teachers,” Lisa said. “It’s kind of a family thing.”

Henry shrugged. “I’m not that interested in math, but I’m good at it, so my mom sort of forced me into this. My dad doesn’t really care, only he has to drive me.”

“I thought you came by uber today?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, he slept in. I didn’t realize it was time to leave until late, either. I hope Ms. Smith didn’t mind.”

“She noticed,” I remarked. She tended to notice.

Henry shrugged.

A silver car came to a stop beside us, and Lisa sighed in relief.

“That’s me,” she told us. We knew.

“Bye,” I said.

“Bye,” said Henry.

Lisa walked around to the passenger door and stepped in. The car accelerated a moment later, leaving only the disturbed leaves on the road behind.

“Right,” I said. “Just us now.”

A red car pulled up on the opposite side of the street, and Henry’s dad rolled down the window. Henry smiled sheepishly at me.

“Well...that’s me, actually.”

“You’ll be alright, right?”

“I’d better go.” He waved to me as he crossed the street.

“Bye!” I called after him.

I watched him open the door and vanish inside. I was alone now. Waiting.

I slid my phone out of my pocket and opened it. My background--a picture of me with my dog--wasn't obscured by any notifications. I dialed my dad’s number and put the phone to my ear. It rang for a while, but there was no answer. I called my mom. Neither picked up.

The wind ruffled my hair and blew through the red and gold leaves of the trees around me. I put my phone back in my pocket and tugged my jacket closer around myself. I walked back towards the school and sat down on the step to wait.

Leaves fell and the sun slowly inched across the bright blue backdrop of the sky. No new notifications appeared on my screen. I heard an ambulance in the distance. Then I got a call.

I didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up.

“Hello? This is Alex Moore.”

“You’re the son of Lily and Andrew Moore, right?” The voice on the other end was muffled and a bit shaky.

“Yes.”

“Your parents…” The man on the other end of the call said a lot of things very quickly, but I didn’t understand. I couldn’t understand.

“What do you mean? My parents are coming to pick me up right now.”

“They aren’t,” he said, more slowly this time. “Your parents got into a car crash an hour ago.”

I was already sitting down, but I wanted to sit down more. I wanted to sink through the step into the ground. I wanted to be a rock. Rocks didn’t have to worry about parents in car crashes. Rocks didn’t have cars. Rocks didn’t have parents.

Did I have parents?

“Are they okay?”

The man on the other end of the call hesitated. “We’re doing what we can. It doesn’t look good. I’m just going through their phone contacts to try to--”

I hung up and put the phone down next to me. The sky was blue. The air was crisp. The wind made a rustling sound as it blew through the trees. My phone buzzed wildly. I ignored it. I was a rock. My parents were late. That was all.

The boy sleeps and the boy talks. However the boy can not walk. Abandoned by his family, he sits in the orphanage. His wheelchair in need of repair, and sadness in his eyes. He just wants to be taken out of the orphanage, but he knows it will never happen. He knows that no one will adopt him because he can not walk. The other boys tell him so every day. His caretakers tell him as well.

One day he meets a friend. This friend is also disabled. He can not talk. The two boys become each others voice and legs.

She reappears in my dreams tonight.

The usual French braid she loves to wear falls over one of her shoulders, dealing with the abundant golden silk threads she possesses and resembling the pure aura that always follows her. Her shift white dress swirls lightly with every step she takes, and the ray lights that illuminate her path favor her tone painted by the sun, as her skin becomes the most beautiful painting among all. Her sedulous chiseled hands reach out, inviting temptation to outstand the electric touch she causes by sending waves of energy with the soft pressure of her fingertips. Her light pink lips mirror her heart-shaped smile, driving a winter breeze that blows our entire surroundings, freezing a moment for just the two of us to exist. She is perfection made in flesh.

You whisper her name as you come closer, being pulled by the gravity of her presence. Not my name, never my name.

Not in reality, at least. Does it matter? For I long for the dream to never end, for having the opportunity of being her if only then I can be with you.

It had been a difficult two years for the soldier. He’d seen things he wished he could forget, lost comrades, and now he had to come home to an empty home. There was no one waiting for him there. 

The most difficult struggle was the loss of his dog. They were both excited to go home when she suddenly disappeared in combat. He missed her dearly. 

But he found no point in hoping; his home was too far from the battle site. He didn't think there was a chance that she could still be alive, and if she was, she could never have found him all those miles away. As he walked up the porch steps to the door of his small cabin, a dog covered in mud came bounding out of the woods. As the dirt fell away, he instantly recognized his dog. When she reached him, she smothered his face in licks, wiping away his tears. 

The year 2100:

2018 seemed so nice. The air was clear, kids could run around and swim in the ocean. But now everything's different. I wake up every morning and go to the edge of the city. The large transparent dome enclosing the city allows you to see into the now barren outside world. Some citizens want to change it, paint it to seem “friendlier.” They just want to cover it up so they can ignore how filthy the world has become. But I like the outside. I like to think of out there, imagine how it used to be. I like to picture running around in a green grass field and swimming in the once bright blue ocean. Everyday I think about how my grandparents’ generation could have saved our world and our home. I wish they did something about climate change so that I could see the rainforests, clear water and coral reefs. I wish the the arctic still existed and I wish that those hundreds of thousands of animals hadn't gone extinct. I wish someone had protected the Earth back then. If only their mindsets had changed so we could be free from this confinement.

Her mittens started to feel colder. It was clear we needed to stop soon.

But for what? To make her sip more rotten apple juice?

‘Now she’s doing her pouty face.” I thought, “ It’s time to sit.”

I didn’t care about myself anymore. But her. She was just learning ABC’s when they came in,  and dad ran into hiding.

Days, weeks, months went by.

“He’s coming back, I promise”

He didn’t.

We had no choice but to leave. I never liked that house anyways. Yet a part of me thought we could get away with living there without anyone noticing. We almost did, until-

I felt tears coming to my eyes.

“Now I can’t show my face. She’ll start crying” I thought.

Then my throat felt suffocated. She could definitely see it now.
Then she reached into her backpack and took out a bright tulip.

“Where did you get this?”

She shrugged.

I laughed somewhat. Then cried. She deserved the world.

“So this flower just appeared in December?”  I asked, now crying the sad tears that turned into joy.

She nodded and I extended my hand to her, feeling fuller than when we sat down.

“Come on, Lacey. It’s sunset.”

You belong with me. I’ve always said that. Since the day I met you, I knew it instantly. Everything about you was gorgeous. Flawless. The way you always seemed to be cheerful, and made everyone around you feel the same. The way your eyes lit up when you talked about something you loved. The way you smiled; A true, genuine, smile.  

The day we first crossed paths seems like a lifetime ago. For all I know, it might as well have been. You were charming. You noticed me when no one else did, you understood me when no one else did. You saw me, when no one else did.

You look just as beautiful now. Even when your eyes are permanently closed. Even when you’re cold and lifeless. I’ve always said that you belonged with me. And now you do.

I loved you because you never killed bugs. You couldn’t stand them, yet when a fly buzzed around our kitchen, you only watched before I slapped it against the wall. I asked you why you did nothing and you said it was because you didn’t like the idea of hurting something alive. You smiled again, and I realized it was the first real smile I ever saw from you.

I didn’t say anything after that because you never killed me.

You cut my hair because your scissors were too blunt to cut through skin. You threw my makeup away because I looked prettier when my cheeks turned purple from your fist. You poured words that tasted like poison down my throat and warned me not to burn my tongue. Like it was honey.

Yet when I wanted to die, when I really thought I would, you looked down at me with a smile dancing across your lips. I asked you why you didn’t kill me, and you said it was because I was still alive.

I remembered then, how you hated bugs. And that the first time you smiled for real was when the bug died.