"This is Eric! Your literary guide. Check out these awesome submissions from Mr. Stano's Creative Writing class!"
Josh Baney, 11
Living
It’s all around us, but what is it?
It is everywhere I go, but what is it?
In the forest, it spurs out from the ground to the leaves on the tallest trees
Ants march in line like an army going to battle
The birds sing as they fly through the trees
In the city
The lights flash as the people walk
Everyone having a purpose
Pigeons walk amongst the people as if they are one of them
The noise. The sounds. The smells.
Everything is alive.
The coldest, harshest place is also alive.
The calls of the wind as it rushes past the desolate landscape
The snow blowing over the jagged peaks
Only a small silhouette of the tallest mountain on earth.
But what could all these places have in common?
Is it noise?
Is it humanly characteristics?
No.
It’s.
Oxygen.
Living
It’s all around us, but what is it?
It is everywhere I go, but what is it?
In the forest, it spurs out from the ground to the leaves on the tallest trees
Ants march in line like an army going to battle
The birds sing as they fly through the trees
In the city
The lights flash as the people walk
Everyone having a purpose
Pigeons walk amongst the people as if they are one of them
The noise. The sounds. The smells.
Everything is alive.
The coldest, harshest place is also alive.
The calls of the wind as it rushes past the desolate landscape
The snow blowing over the jagged peaks
Only a small silhouette of the tallest mountain on earth.
But what could all these places have in common?
Is it noise?
Is it humanly characteristics?
No.
It’s.
Oxygen.
Maisha Camonayan,
12
Something Like A Catfish Story
I slipped under my blankets and placed my laptop on my lap. I positioned it so that I could see the whole screen and pressed the power button. My roommate busted through the door and threw her backpack on to her bed. Her hair was halfway undone from her pony tail and she was quick to grab a long sleeve shirt from her drawer and slipped on some shorts. “Elena and a couple of other people are having a little lacrosse game on the turf in like five minutes,” she said, as she was slipping on her socks and shoes. “You wanna come with?” I looked down at myself, in my sweatpants and fuzzy socks and noticed how comfy and warm I was under my blanket. “Nah, I think I’m gonna pass. I’m just gonna stay in tonight,” I replied. She shrugged her shoulders, “Alright. Maybe next time.” She had a smirk on her face, eyeing my laptop before she looked at me. It was an awkward silence for like two seconds, until she broke our eye contact and headed straight to the door. As she was walking, she said over her shoulder, “I’ll be home in a little bit.” Then she closed the door. She’s so weird sometimes.
The real reason I didn’t want to go? Jace was just getting home from work early tonight and I get to talk to him for a while. I met him…well, I didn’t really “meet” him, like not in person… But he added me on Facebook about eight months ago. He didn’t mean to add me, but he kept me as a friend anyway. We got off the wrong foot though. I was cussing him out because I thought he was just some random creep trying to be my friend, but it turns out he’s actually a really good guy. He’s a junior at Barnett University, about a four hour drive from my college. He got a full ride there because of lacrosse, which is really good since at first his family couldn’t afford to put him through college. But now three years in, he’s doing really good. Since we’re both so busy with school, sports, and work, we don’t get to talk that much. We try to schedule it the best we can, but sometimes we both don’t pull through because we’re caught up in something that came up. But tonight I’ll know we’ll talk.
About 10 minutes later, I popped an easy mac in the microwave when I heard the pop of the Facebook chat from my laptop. It was a message from Jace.
What’s for dinner?
Mac and cheese. Anything good over there?
Leftovers from Panera.
Yum. I could go for some right now.
Everything tastes the same to me now. I’ve had this junk over and over ever since I started working there. It’s starting to taste like cardboard. Trade your mac and cheese for my Panini?
I don’t think so! Enjoy your cardboard J
So evil! I like it ;)
We talked until about ten o’clock, which was right when Scarlett got back. She was so tired, she didn’t even say a word to me and just plopped down on her bed and fell right to sleep. I laid on my bed for a while, looking up at the ceiling. All I could see was a faint green glow of light coming from my laptop’s power button. I laid there for a while, thinking about Jace. It was perfect timing when he came in to my life. My mother died just two months before his friend request reached me. Part of the reason why I cussed him out and pushed him away at first was because I was too scared to let anybody else in to my life since my mother passed. It was like I was broken and was too fragile to let anything or anybody else put me back together. But Jace did. He was my tape and glue at the time and I’m beyond grateful that he came in to my life. I honestly wouldn’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for him.
But nights like these became a routine. I always wonder what’s going to happen in the future, between him and I. Wondering if I’ll ever meet him, touch him, and listen to his voice in person, but all I’ll ever really have is the sound of the Facebook messenger pop and the letters that make up the words he would send. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the way he eats, the way he laughs, or the sound of his snore. All I’ll have is his lacrosse draft video and just a few of his profile pictures he already posted. I never had the guts to ask him if we’ll ever meet. We’ve touched on the topic, but something else would get brought up and we’d be talking about something completely different. I’m not sure if he’s trying to avoid meeting and wants to keep the relationship over the Internet, or he has a girlfriend and I’m just the one he gets to come home and talk to until late at night. I’ve never even asked if he has a girlfriend or not because I thought it’d be weird or he’d take it the wrong way, or the fact that I’m scared that he actually has one. But none of what I want for us matters, these questions don’t matter. Why? Because I like the way we are now. I like scheduling our talks, our casual conversations, the encouraging messages in the morning that both gets us through the day, our sentimental talks we’d have when it’s four in the morning. I don’t want it to end just because of me being stupid and curious. But then again, another part of me wants to know what’s in store for us.
I was tossing and turning for about an hour, my thoughts floating and building up in my head. I really couldn’t get any sleep. I threw my blankets off of my body and hung half of my body over the bed, shuffling my hands on the floor, trying to feel my way to my laptop. Ah ha! I finally got it! I picked it up and laid it back on to my lap and turned it on. It suddenly made a sound but I quickly put my hand over the speaker so that I wouldn’t wake Scarlett up. I logged on to Facebook and clicked on Jace’s name over where instant messenger was. I scrolled up to look at the conversation we just had before we declared bed. I couldn’t help but smile at every message that was sent. I stared at the blinking text cursor, debating whether or not I should message him again to let him know I couldn’t sleep and hopefully he’d stay up with me until I could really fall asleep. I took a deep breath and started typing.
Can’t sleep. Are you still up?
I took another deep breath and slowly clicked send. I watched the text that I just wrote appear blue in the chat window. A second later a glow of light appeared across the room on Scarlett’s night stand along with the sound of a vibration. It scared me a little until I realized what it was. It was probably her boyfriend letting her know that he’s home from the gym. She apologized to me ahead of time if it ever woke me up at night, but it never did. It kind of did a little tonight since it startled me.
I looked back at the screen and my message was never read. I waited about 5 more minutes, and it still wasn’t read. I guess he really went to bed. I logged out, shut my laptop down, and tried my best to fall asleep that night.
The next morning, I was walking to class and my phone went off. It was a Facebook message from Jace.
I could be a morning person if morning happened around noon… You’re lucky I like you enough to get up just to say good morning. Have a good day, Alina! Talk to you tonight @ 8? Looking forward to it J
I caught myself staring at my screen and smiling a little way too long until fingers, other than mine, started sliding across my phone screen. It scared me and I thought that somebody was stealing my phone, but when I looked up, it was just silly ol’ Gabe. Gabe has been my best friend since God knows when. He has lived next door to me for as long as I can remember. We would spend every day together and do everything together. By the time we were in middle school, rumor had it that we were the most talked about couple. Whenever somebody mentioned it in front of the both of us together, Gabe would turn pink so fast and tumble over his words. I guess he liked me back then, and maybe he still does now, but that never ruined our friendship. I never felt weird around him nor did he act different around me, so our friendship has always been the same throughout all these years.
“What are you smiling at?” he said, looking down at my phone.
I locked my phone and put it back in to my backpack. “Nothing,” I said softly. “Where are you headed? You never have classes in the morning.”
“I’ve got this study date with this girl in my economics class,” he said, brushing his hair to the side.
“She must be really nice since she’s got you up so early,” I said, looking at the two phones he has in his hand. “Why so many phones?”
He looked down at them and slipped them in his back pocket. “Danny left his phone in our room. He’s at the café working, and it’s on the way, so I thought I’d just drop it off.” His voice kind of shaky.
I started laughing at him, “Are you nervous for this date or what?”
His face started turning red, “No! What are you talking about?”
I patted him on the shoulder. “She’ll love you, Gabe. Good luck!” I said over my shoulder, as I was walking to class.
“Sorry I can’t make it to movie day after class! I have work until close!” he yelled. I put my hand up to signal that it was okay and walked in to the building.
Later that day after my morning classes, I headed over to the small conference room in the café where movie day was always held, and I would always text Scarlett ahead of time to tell her to save me a seat if she got there early, which she always had.
While Gabe was busy mixing up some lattes and cappuccinos, me and a bunch of our friends are hanging out and watching a classic, The Breakfast Club. I plumped myself down on the floor next to Scarlett who was busy on her phone, not even realizing I did until I tapped her and said hi. As the lights dimmed, my phone started buzzing and buzzing in my back pocket. I took it out and received several texts from an unknown number. I opened it.
Can’t stop thinking about you.
I miss you.
What are you doing?
I hope you’re thinking about me.
--J
J? Who’s J? Why would “J” be texting me from an unknown number? I looked around the room to see if anybody that was with us had a name that started with the letter J. I whispered across the room, “Cut it out Jackson! I’m trying to watch!” He gave me a confused look and held his arms up, “What are you talking about?” Javier started laughing and was looking at us, so I punched him on the shoulder and hissed at him, “It’s not funny! Stop texting me.” He continued to laugh while he pulled out his phone from his backpack and waved it at me, “You’re crazy, Alina.” I sat there in silence, staring down at my phone, thinking about who it could possibly be that could be texting me these things. J…So definitely not Jackson. Not Javier either, even though he’s still laughing. I looked around the room again. Jane wouldn’t be texting because she’s half asleep on the couch. Jamie is too busy making out with her boyfriend. I sat there, confused, staring at the words which was staring right back at me.
I scrolled through my contacts, and scrolled until I got to the J’s. I know Janet is at cheerleading practice right now. James! I looked around and scanned for James, but he was just lying there, his eyes glued on the screen. Jillian from chemistry is definitely impossible because we only exchanged numbers just to work on a lab together. Joey is probably passed out drunk somewhere which makes me question why I even have his number. *Delete* Juan is probably running around the track since the biggest cross country meet is this weekend. Hmm…My phone vibrated and it was a Facebook message from Jace. I clicked on it.
Work’s boring. How’s the movie?
Jace. J…Jace! It must’ve been him!
I’m barely paying attention because of your texts.
Texts? Like cell phone texts?
Yes. You can’t stop thinking about me? I couldn’t stop thinking about you last night!
What? What are you talking about? I don’t even have your number. How would I even get it?
Oh…I got these texts signed from J. Nobody I know could be texting me right now. You’re bored at work, so I thought it would be you…
I gotta go…Work’s picking up. See ya.
Oh my gosh, I bet I looked like a real idiot just now. I can’t believe I just jumped in to conclusions! I can’t believe I just assumed that it was him! I scared him off. He was so quick to leave the conversation. I’m such an idiot! I can’t believe I just did that. He’s probably not gonna wanna talk to me later tonight!
I gathered all of my things and left the conference room in the middle of the movie. So many thoughts were going through my head. I couldn’t even take a second to focus on the movie because my thoughts were swirling in my head like a growing tornado. I took a seat at a table across from the front counter of the café. My head was in my hands and I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking because I was so worried. I closed my eyes and all I could hear were the conversations lurking around the room. I looked up and there was a crowd of people at the counter. The cashier was tending to each customer as fast as she could while she was punching numbers in on the cash register. There were only three baristas, including Gabe, behind the counter working on the machines, making every order that was requested. I put my head back in to my hands until the noise of the crowd died down.
There were only three customers left once I looked back up again. Gabe was leaning against the counter. When the third order was announced, Gabe slipped his phone in his back pocket and started making the caramel mocha latte. Once he was done, he walked up to me and sat in the seat across from mine. “You okay, Ali?” he said, studying me. I looked up at him for a while, not knowing what to say to him. Maybe I should tell him about Jace and what just happened in the conference room. I sighed and looked down at the table which had a few crumbs near the napkin dispenser. “You can tell me, ya know. We’ve been best friends since forever,” he said, interrupting the silence between us. I sighed again. “Someone’s playing with me, Gabe.” His eyes widened, “What do you mean?” As I was about to explain everything to him, Scarlett walked out of the conference room with a worried look on her face. She stared at Gabe and me for a long second and headed right through the door, not looking back. Gabe looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong with her?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Maybe she’s Jace,” he said sarcastically, laughing.
I kept a straight face, not trying to laugh. I playfully punched his shoulder and said, “Not funny!” I looked back at her walking, her eyes and hands glued to her phone. “Maybe something’s up between her and Trey.”
We sat there for about an hour and I told him everything. From the friend request, to the talking late at night, to the wondering if we’ll ever be something more, my wanting of asking him if he has a girlfriend, then to the texts, and the accusing. Gabe was a good listener and he understood why I would be so worried. “What would make you think he would have your number? You said you only talk to him on Facebook. Do you have your number posted on there?” he asked me. I picked up my phone and checked my profile to see. “Nope,” I said. “But I do have my number attached to the app. But still, there’s no way he could get my number. Besides, who else would be texting me these things?” I checked the time and it was half past eight, but yet no message from Jace. Gabe sighed, “Well…maybe he was just too scared to tell you that he got your number somehow and didn’t want you to think he was a stalker or anything like that.” I nodded and thought about it. That could be a possibility. But Jace should know that I wouldn’t think of him like that. From the signals I give him, he should know that I would be happy if he got my number. “That’s stupid!” I claimed. Gabe shrugged his shoulders.
It was three minutes until closing time for Gabe, but there was still no message from Jace. I knew it. I really did scare him off. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. He knows I like him and he doesn’t feel the same way. Our relationship is ruined, or whatever it was. Jace and I are done. We’re history.
As Gabe was wiping down the counter, he looked up at me and asked, “You want me to walk you home?” I nodded. He threw the towel he was using in the waste basket. He took the keys out of his pocket and headed to the door. Danny came busting through the door half-drunk and walking unsteadily, yelling, “Gabe where’s my phone?! Did you tell Alina yet?!” Gabe caught Danny before he stumbled and put his hand over his mouth, “Shh! It’s quiet time right now, and I’m closing. Stop being so loud.”
I interrupted them, “Tell me what?”
Gabe laughed uncomfortably, “I don’t even know what he’s talking about. He’s drunk.” He sat Danny on a chair, still holding him up.
Danny waved at me, “Oh hey Alina! Did Danny tell you about the profile?”
I stood there, frozen, “What is he talking about Gabe?”
Danny looked up at Gabe and slapped his arm, “You’re an idiot, Gabe.” He looked up at me while pointing at Gabe. “This guy! You know Jace, right?” He looked at Gabe and laughed. “What a stupid name you came up with!”
I eyed Gabe so hard, my eyes were demanding him to speak. “Gabe. What is he talking about right now? You knew Jace this whole time? While you made me sit there and talk about him for an hour and a half without saying a word?” I darted at him.
Danny started laughing hysterically and poked his finger to Gabe’s chest while saying, “You’re in big trouble, man!”
Gabe let him go and Danny went limp on the chair, still laughing, but uncontrollably this time. “Ali, please let me explain,” he said, approaching me.
I held my hand up at him, signaling him to stop. “You know Jace?” I asked him, calming myself.
His shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath, finding the courage to speak and said, “Not necessarily.” He took another deep breath. “Alina…You were going through so much and what I did for you didn’t work or make you feel better when your mom died. So I—“
“Made Jace up. You made Jace up?!” I questioned him, feeling myself getting louder and my anger building up.
“It was the best thing I could do. None of what I was doing was helping you. I didn’t want to see you in so much pain anymore. I couldn’t pull you out, so somebody had to do it. It helped you, didn’t it?”
I was shaking my head at him, my eyes starting to build up in tears. I couldn’t make out if I was angry that Jace wasn’t real and that the possibility of having a future with him was no more, or if I was heartbroken that my own best friend would betray me. My hands were balled up in fists, the whites of my knuckles showing. A tear started rolling down my face but I managed to get this out, “Congratulations on making me feel the same pain over again.” I grabbed my things from off the counter and left the café, slamming the door behind me.
Something Like A Catfish Story
I slipped under my blankets and placed my laptop on my lap. I positioned it so that I could see the whole screen and pressed the power button. My roommate busted through the door and threw her backpack on to her bed. Her hair was halfway undone from her pony tail and she was quick to grab a long sleeve shirt from her drawer and slipped on some shorts. “Elena and a couple of other people are having a little lacrosse game on the turf in like five minutes,” she said, as she was slipping on her socks and shoes. “You wanna come with?” I looked down at myself, in my sweatpants and fuzzy socks and noticed how comfy and warm I was under my blanket. “Nah, I think I’m gonna pass. I’m just gonna stay in tonight,” I replied. She shrugged her shoulders, “Alright. Maybe next time.” She had a smirk on her face, eyeing my laptop before she looked at me. It was an awkward silence for like two seconds, until she broke our eye contact and headed straight to the door. As she was walking, she said over her shoulder, “I’ll be home in a little bit.” Then she closed the door. She’s so weird sometimes.
The real reason I didn’t want to go? Jace was just getting home from work early tonight and I get to talk to him for a while. I met him…well, I didn’t really “meet” him, like not in person… But he added me on Facebook about eight months ago. He didn’t mean to add me, but he kept me as a friend anyway. We got off the wrong foot though. I was cussing him out because I thought he was just some random creep trying to be my friend, but it turns out he’s actually a really good guy. He’s a junior at Barnett University, about a four hour drive from my college. He got a full ride there because of lacrosse, which is really good since at first his family couldn’t afford to put him through college. But now three years in, he’s doing really good. Since we’re both so busy with school, sports, and work, we don’t get to talk that much. We try to schedule it the best we can, but sometimes we both don’t pull through because we’re caught up in something that came up. But tonight I’ll know we’ll talk.
About 10 minutes later, I popped an easy mac in the microwave when I heard the pop of the Facebook chat from my laptop. It was a message from Jace.
What’s for dinner?
Mac and cheese. Anything good over there?
Leftovers from Panera.
Yum. I could go for some right now.
Everything tastes the same to me now. I’ve had this junk over and over ever since I started working there. It’s starting to taste like cardboard. Trade your mac and cheese for my Panini?
I don’t think so! Enjoy your cardboard J
So evil! I like it ;)
We talked until about ten o’clock, which was right when Scarlett got back. She was so tired, she didn’t even say a word to me and just plopped down on her bed and fell right to sleep. I laid on my bed for a while, looking up at the ceiling. All I could see was a faint green glow of light coming from my laptop’s power button. I laid there for a while, thinking about Jace. It was perfect timing when he came in to my life. My mother died just two months before his friend request reached me. Part of the reason why I cussed him out and pushed him away at first was because I was too scared to let anybody else in to my life since my mother passed. It was like I was broken and was too fragile to let anything or anybody else put me back together. But Jace did. He was my tape and glue at the time and I’m beyond grateful that he came in to my life. I honestly wouldn’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for him.
But nights like these became a routine. I always wonder what’s going to happen in the future, between him and I. Wondering if I’ll ever meet him, touch him, and listen to his voice in person, but all I’ll ever really have is the sound of the Facebook messenger pop and the letters that make up the words he would send. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the way he eats, the way he laughs, or the sound of his snore. All I’ll have is his lacrosse draft video and just a few of his profile pictures he already posted. I never had the guts to ask him if we’ll ever meet. We’ve touched on the topic, but something else would get brought up and we’d be talking about something completely different. I’m not sure if he’s trying to avoid meeting and wants to keep the relationship over the Internet, or he has a girlfriend and I’m just the one he gets to come home and talk to until late at night. I’ve never even asked if he has a girlfriend or not because I thought it’d be weird or he’d take it the wrong way, or the fact that I’m scared that he actually has one. But none of what I want for us matters, these questions don’t matter. Why? Because I like the way we are now. I like scheduling our talks, our casual conversations, the encouraging messages in the morning that both gets us through the day, our sentimental talks we’d have when it’s four in the morning. I don’t want it to end just because of me being stupid and curious. But then again, another part of me wants to know what’s in store for us.
I was tossing and turning for about an hour, my thoughts floating and building up in my head. I really couldn’t get any sleep. I threw my blankets off of my body and hung half of my body over the bed, shuffling my hands on the floor, trying to feel my way to my laptop. Ah ha! I finally got it! I picked it up and laid it back on to my lap and turned it on. It suddenly made a sound but I quickly put my hand over the speaker so that I wouldn’t wake Scarlett up. I logged on to Facebook and clicked on Jace’s name over where instant messenger was. I scrolled up to look at the conversation we just had before we declared bed. I couldn’t help but smile at every message that was sent. I stared at the blinking text cursor, debating whether or not I should message him again to let him know I couldn’t sleep and hopefully he’d stay up with me until I could really fall asleep. I took a deep breath and started typing.
Can’t sleep. Are you still up?
I took another deep breath and slowly clicked send. I watched the text that I just wrote appear blue in the chat window. A second later a glow of light appeared across the room on Scarlett’s night stand along with the sound of a vibration. It scared me a little until I realized what it was. It was probably her boyfriend letting her know that he’s home from the gym. She apologized to me ahead of time if it ever woke me up at night, but it never did. It kind of did a little tonight since it startled me.
I looked back at the screen and my message was never read. I waited about 5 more minutes, and it still wasn’t read. I guess he really went to bed. I logged out, shut my laptop down, and tried my best to fall asleep that night.
The next morning, I was walking to class and my phone went off. It was a Facebook message from Jace.
I could be a morning person if morning happened around noon… You’re lucky I like you enough to get up just to say good morning. Have a good day, Alina! Talk to you tonight @ 8? Looking forward to it J
I caught myself staring at my screen and smiling a little way too long until fingers, other than mine, started sliding across my phone screen. It scared me and I thought that somebody was stealing my phone, but when I looked up, it was just silly ol’ Gabe. Gabe has been my best friend since God knows when. He has lived next door to me for as long as I can remember. We would spend every day together and do everything together. By the time we were in middle school, rumor had it that we were the most talked about couple. Whenever somebody mentioned it in front of the both of us together, Gabe would turn pink so fast and tumble over his words. I guess he liked me back then, and maybe he still does now, but that never ruined our friendship. I never felt weird around him nor did he act different around me, so our friendship has always been the same throughout all these years.
“What are you smiling at?” he said, looking down at my phone.
I locked my phone and put it back in to my backpack. “Nothing,” I said softly. “Where are you headed? You never have classes in the morning.”
“I’ve got this study date with this girl in my economics class,” he said, brushing his hair to the side.
“She must be really nice since she’s got you up so early,” I said, looking at the two phones he has in his hand. “Why so many phones?”
He looked down at them and slipped them in his back pocket. “Danny left his phone in our room. He’s at the café working, and it’s on the way, so I thought I’d just drop it off.” His voice kind of shaky.
I started laughing at him, “Are you nervous for this date or what?”
His face started turning red, “No! What are you talking about?”
I patted him on the shoulder. “She’ll love you, Gabe. Good luck!” I said over my shoulder, as I was walking to class.
“Sorry I can’t make it to movie day after class! I have work until close!” he yelled. I put my hand up to signal that it was okay and walked in to the building.
Later that day after my morning classes, I headed over to the small conference room in the café where movie day was always held, and I would always text Scarlett ahead of time to tell her to save me a seat if she got there early, which she always had.
While Gabe was busy mixing up some lattes and cappuccinos, me and a bunch of our friends are hanging out and watching a classic, The Breakfast Club. I plumped myself down on the floor next to Scarlett who was busy on her phone, not even realizing I did until I tapped her and said hi. As the lights dimmed, my phone started buzzing and buzzing in my back pocket. I took it out and received several texts from an unknown number. I opened it.
Can’t stop thinking about you.
I miss you.
What are you doing?
I hope you’re thinking about me.
--J
J? Who’s J? Why would “J” be texting me from an unknown number? I looked around the room to see if anybody that was with us had a name that started with the letter J. I whispered across the room, “Cut it out Jackson! I’m trying to watch!” He gave me a confused look and held his arms up, “What are you talking about?” Javier started laughing and was looking at us, so I punched him on the shoulder and hissed at him, “It’s not funny! Stop texting me.” He continued to laugh while he pulled out his phone from his backpack and waved it at me, “You’re crazy, Alina.” I sat there in silence, staring down at my phone, thinking about who it could possibly be that could be texting me these things. J…So definitely not Jackson. Not Javier either, even though he’s still laughing. I looked around the room again. Jane wouldn’t be texting because she’s half asleep on the couch. Jamie is too busy making out with her boyfriend. I sat there, confused, staring at the words which was staring right back at me.
I scrolled through my contacts, and scrolled until I got to the J’s. I know Janet is at cheerleading practice right now. James! I looked around and scanned for James, but he was just lying there, his eyes glued on the screen. Jillian from chemistry is definitely impossible because we only exchanged numbers just to work on a lab together. Joey is probably passed out drunk somewhere which makes me question why I even have his number. *Delete* Juan is probably running around the track since the biggest cross country meet is this weekend. Hmm…My phone vibrated and it was a Facebook message from Jace. I clicked on it.
Work’s boring. How’s the movie?
Jace. J…Jace! It must’ve been him!
I’m barely paying attention because of your texts.
Texts? Like cell phone texts?
Yes. You can’t stop thinking about me? I couldn’t stop thinking about you last night!
What? What are you talking about? I don’t even have your number. How would I even get it?
Oh…I got these texts signed from J. Nobody I know could be texting me right now. You’re bored at work, so I thought it would be you…
I gotta go…Work’s picking up. See ya.
Oh my gosh, I bet I looked like a real idiot just now. I can’t believe I just jumped in to conclusions! I can’t believe I just assumed that it was him! I scared him off. He was so quick to leave the conversation. I’m such an idiot! I can’t believe I just did that. He’s probably not gonna wanna talk to me later tonight!
I gathered all of my things and left the conference room in the middle of the movie. So many thoughts were going through my head. I couldn’t even take a second to focus on the movie because my thoughts were swirling in my head like a growing tornado. I took a seat at a table across from the front counter of the café. My head was in my hands and I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking because I was so worried. I closed my eyes and all I could hear were the conversations lurking around the room. I looked up and there was a crowd of people at the counter. The cashier was tending to each customer as fast as she could while she was punching numbers in on the cash register. There were only three baristas, including Gabe, behind the counter working on the machines, making every order that was requested. I put my head back in to my hands until the noise of the crowd died down.
There were only three customers left once I looked back up again. Gabe was leaning against the counter. When the third order was announced, Gabe slipped his phone in his back pocket and started making the caramel mocha latte. Once he was done, he walked up to me and sat in the seat across from mine. “You okay, Ali?” he said, studying me. I looked up at him for a while, not knowing what to say to him. Maybe I should tell him about Jace and what just happened in the conference room. I sighed and looked down at the table which had a few crumbs near the napkin dispenser. “You can tell me, ya know. We’ve been best friends since forever,” he said, interrupting the silence between us. I sighed again. “Someone’s playing with me, Gabe.” His eyes widened, “What do you mean?” As I was about to explain everything to him, Scarlett walked out of the conference room with a worried look on her face. She stared at Gabe and me for a long second and headed right through the door, not looking back. Gabe looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong with her?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Maybe she’s Jace,” he said sarcastically, laughing.
I kept a straight face, not trying to laugh. I playfully punched his shoulder and said, “Not funny!” I looked back at her walking, her eyes and hands glued to her phone. “Maybe something’s up between her and Trey.”
We sat there for about an hour and I told him everything. From the friend request, to the talking late at night, to the wondering if we’ll ever be something more, my wanting of asking him if he has a girlfriend, then to the texts, and the accusing. Gabe was a good listener and he understood why I would be so worried. “What would make you think he would have your number? You said you only talk to him on Facebook. Do you have your number posted on there?” he asked me. I picked up my phone and checked my profile to see. “Nope,” I said. “But I do have my number attached to the app. But still, there’s no way he could get my number. Besides, who else would be texting me these things?” I checked the time and it was half past eight, but yet no message from Jace. Gabe sighed, “Well…maybe he was just too scared to tell you that he got your number somehow and didn’t want you to think he was a stalker or anything like that.” I nodded and thought about it. That could be a possibility. But Jace should know that I wouldn’t think of him like that. From the signals I give him, he should know that I would be happy if he got my number. “That’s stupid!” I claimed. Gabe shrugged his shoulders.
It was three minutes until closing time for Gabe, but there was still no message from Jace. I knew it. I really did scare him off. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. He knows I like him and he doesn’t feel the same way. Our relationship is ruined, or whatever it was. Jace and I are done. We’re history.
As Gabe was wiping down the counter, he looked up at me and asked, “You want me to walk you home?” I nodded. He threw the towel he was using in the waste basket. He took the keys out of his pocket and headed to the door. Danny came busting through the door half-drunk and walking unsteadily, yelling, “Gabe where’s my phone?! Did you tell Alina yet?!” Gabe caught Danny before he stumbled and put his hand over his mouth, “Shh! It’s quiet time right now, and I’m closing. Stop being so loud.”
I interrupted them, “Tell me what?”
Gabe laughed uncomfortably, “I don’t even know what he’s talking about. He’s drunk.” He sat Danny on a chair, still holding him up.
Danny waved at me, “Oh hey Alina! Did Danny tell you about the profile?”
I stood there, frozen, “What is he talking about Gabe?”
Danny looked up at Gabe and slapped his arm, “You’re an idiot, Gabe.” He looked up at me while pointing at Gabe. “This guy! You know Jace, right?” He looked at Gabe and laughed. “What a stupid name you came up with!”
I eyed Gabe so hard, my eyes were demanding him to speak. “Gabe. What is he talking about right now? You knew Jace this whole time? While you made me sit there and talk about him for an hour and a half without saying a word?” I darted at him.
Danny started laughing hysterically and poked his finger to Gabe’s chest while saying, “You’re in big trouble, man!”
Gabe let him go and Danny went limp on the chair, still laughing, but uncontrollably this time. “Ali, please let me explain,” he said, approaching me.
I held my hand up at him, signaling him to stop. “You know Jace?” I asked him, calming myself.
His shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath, finding the courage to speak and said, “Not necessarily.” He took another deep breath. “Alina…You were going through so much and what I did for you didn’t work or make you feel better when your mom died. So I—“
“Made Jace up. You made Jace up?!” I questioned him, feeling myself getting louder and my anger building up.
“It was the best thing I could do. None of what I was doing was helping you. I didn’t want to see you in so much pain anymore. I couldn’t pull you out, so somebody had to do it. It helped you, didn’t it?”
I was shaking my head at him, my eyes starting to build up in tears. I couldn’t make out if I was angry that Jace wasn’t real and that the possibility of having a future with him was no more, or if I was heartbroken that my own best friend would betray me. My hands were balled up in fists, the whites of my knuckles showing. A tear started rolling down my face but I managed to get this out, “Congratulations on making me feel the same pain over again.” I grabbed my things from off the counter and left the café, slamming the door behind me.
"Did you know that Maisha received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Literary Magazine at the Senior Awards Ceremony? Way to go!"
Ashley Hawrysch Senior
Mr. Stano
2/18/15 The Prince and the Toad
When you first look at her, she don’t look like much, just your average nobody that doesn’t party. She probably spends most of her weekends with her nose in a book studying. Her hair is bright red and super curly, with a million freckles on her face, and a body that reaches the height of 5’1 and looks pretty undeveloped for a girl in the 12th grade. She wasn’t the most desirable girl to most the guys in our school if not all of them. Her name was Gina, Gina Freewald.
I was pulling up to my friend Wesley’s house and getting out of my parked car, as I was walking up his driveway I felt like I was being watched. I looked to my left to see Gina on her porch quickly looking down at her book. Oh did I mention my best friend and Gina are neighbors? I went up to Wes’s house and opened the front door and went down in the basement, the usual routine. Down there with Wes was some more of our friends from the soccer team, Andrew, Thomas, and Alex. We all got together to watch the FIFA World Cup. As I grabbed a soda and headed over to the couch to find a spot to squeeze into, of course the guys as usual started teasing m about Gina. Saying how she’s in-love with me and how I’m going to marry her ever since first grade when they found out from her friend Ally that she had one of the biggest crushes on me. But it’s not true, it never will be! The guys kept going on and on about Gina till I had it and stood up and said “What will it take to make you guys shut up about me and her?!” The guys all looked at each other and then Alex spoke up, “Ask her to homecoming and you’ll never hear the name Gina come out of our mouths again!” the guys all smirked and shook their heads in agreement. “Fine, just watch me!” After I said that I started heading up the basement steps and towards the front door.
As I opened the front door I heard the guys all rumbling up the steps and when I made it out on Wes’s porch I saw the guys all pilling up near a window to watch it go down. I looked over and see Gina still sitting on her porch with her nose stuck in that book. I walk down Wes’s steps and sidewalk to the public sidewalk and then onto Gina’s sidewalk, not cutting over through the grass. “Hey, what are you reading?” is the first thing that came out of my mouth. Gina looked up and looked confused and lost, her mouth was dangling open and her eyes were wide and set on me, so I said, “Oh I’m sorry where are my manners? My names Chase.” Gina than snapped out of it and looked down at her book “Hello! And no need to introduce yourself, I know you Chase, we’re in the same Chemistry class haha, but I’m reading The Fault in Our Stars.” She said “Oh we are? And that’s what you’re reading huh? Isn’t that about the guy and the girl and the yeah?” “Haha exactly.” She said while blushing.
“Well look, I noticed you a few weeks ago and thought it would be cool to get to know you better. Wanna go to homecoming with me?” I said to her, her eyes have gotten wider than before and she dropped her book and lost what page she was on in the process, she than wrapped her arms around me tightly while jumping up and a down and squealing with joy “Oh Chase would I ever!” I looked over to Wes’s house and saw all the guys in the window laughing hysterically. She then pulled away and looked at me and said “Okay so let me give you my cellphone number so we can keep in contact and-, hey, are you doing anything later or tomorrow? Wanna go get something to eat soon?” after she said that I breathed very heavily out and agreed to dinner later. After that she went inside and I left right then and there. Not saying bye to the boys or anything. Just went straight home.
Once I got home I started getting messages from Gina, I just turned my phone off and laid down in bed, questioning myself why I was doing this, I never noticed her like that, I didn’t want to get to know her. Everything I said to her was a lie. After laying there in bed having those thoughts run through my head I fell asleep. I woke up a few hours after that with a few texts from and three missed calls from Gina. I felt so bad for missing her calls instantly called her back. She answered and was concerned about why I wasn’t answering, I explained to her that I had fallen asleep and was sorry I didn’t answer any of her messages. Before we got off the phone, the last thing she said was “It’s okay, we can do dinner another time. Well I gotta go study so I’ll talk to you later.” And hung up. Wow I felt horrible, she was probably all dressed up and looking forward to going out with me and I bailed, I stood her up. I needed to make it up to her.
It was the day of homecoming and I wasn’t getting anything but text messages all day from Gina. I look at my phone as it kept buzzing with notifications and then looked up at my dress shirt and dress pants hanging off my closet door, perfectly ironed and ready for me to wear. I breathed in and breathed out very hard and in an annoyed manner. I started getting ready and once I was all dressed and ready to go, I picked up my phone and texted Gina “On my way” I replied, went down stairs, got the corsages out the fridge, and took off.
I pulled up out front Wes’s house where I felt more comfortable parking, I than walked up to Gina’s house and rang the doorbell. I get greeted by Gina’s father. “Hello there” he said “I’m Mr. Freewald.” “My Names Chase” I say as I shake his hand. “She shouldn’t be too much longer, you can have a seat in the living room if you like.” As Mr. Freewald gestures towards the living room to my left. I then smile a little and nod and head for the couch, I set the corsages on the coffee table. Patiently waiting for Gina to come down so we can go to this stupid dance, and get tonight over with.
I heard a door open upstairs and hear two sets of heels clicking against the hardwood floor, I then hear them going down the steps and before you know it Gina was almost down the steps as we were looking at each other, she looked nothing like herself with her big fuzzy red hair tamed into a straightened sleek bun, with her baggy clothing transformed into a more formfitting dress, and can’t forget the light make up that adds a sparkle and brightens her eyes. I stood up and started walking towards her “Wow, you look stunning.” I say, Gina than blushes and says thanks, “This is all the work of my mom” she says as her mom smiles and waves at me, I wave back. We than take a few pictures and a few more of us putting on our corsages and then after that, head off to homecoming.
Once we get there and get in the gymnasium I spot all the guys and their dates. I head over to them and grab Gina’s hand to get her to come along with me. “Oh look who it is!” Wes says as he comes over to greet me and then all the guys follow up doing the same, all us guys than kind of get into a little pow wow thing and started talking “So where’s Gina?” they all joked around and I even got a chuckle out myself, “I’m just messin’ with ya dude but hey, good job man!” Wes said, I wink at him and turn around to head back towards Gina.
As the night went on me and Gina has shared a lot, thoughts, laughs, dances, and even better, memories. I never imagined myself with a girl like Gina, nut now that I got to know her and actually talk to her, I can imagine spending the rest of my life with Gina. All her flaws before abandoned my mind. She’s perfect to me and is someone I could see spending the rest of my life with. That night at the homecoming dance, I think I fell in love with the girl I’d never give a second glance.
The Haunting Stapler
Josh Kirby
As a kid I developed a great fear, a fear of pain and agony. It scared me…it still does. The clamping feeling of this object is crushing. This object is…a stapler. When I was only 5, I was stapling paper, and my hand slipped. The razor sharp blade of the staple, shot into my hand. I screamed. I ripped the staple out, and it pulled off my skin. My dad put a band-aid on it. I threw the stapler away and haven’t seen it since, until now.
It’s now 10 years later, after the incident. I haven’t been able to staple paper since. I’m currently in math class, and it’s time to staple my papers. I decided to get over my fear, but the worst thing possible happen. I saw this stapler and it looked familiar, it was the one from 10 years ago. I started freaking out, sweating, shaking, I was in complete panic. I backed up slowly, and my friend asked what my problem was. I explained what happened. He just laughed, saying no way in hell that is your stapler.
I turned away, in embarrassment; I can’t believe I’m that stupid. I started walking back to the simple stapler. I looked at it closely, and it started clamping, just sitting there clamping. I don’t understand what is going on. I kept walking towards it, and thought it was all in my mind. I grab the stapler, then my hand started to swell up in pain, it clamped me. I was just stapled in the hand. Blood starts to gush out, I can’t handle the pain, my quick thinking, and I ripped out the staple, and screamed. I passed out on the floor.
When I awoke, I noticed everyone is gone. It was just me and my stapler, nobody else. I can only do one thing in this moment. I look up to the sky and I scream these words “Round Two”, quoting Mortal Kombat. In the background, intense battle music plays. I intensively stare at the stapler and say “You have hurt my honor, but you will never steal my pride”. I jump into the air and land with a perfect karate chop onto my mortal enemy. The stapler didn’t even flinch. I stared even more intensely. I saw it fly into the air, more like hopping. It attached its self to my arm. I couldn’t shake it off. I waved my arm in a rapid motion, and then my enemy flies off and hit the wall. Suddenly staples were getting shot at me. I used some sweet matrix moves to duck these staples, but before I could react, the staple hit my leg. I fell to the ground, in agonizing pain.
As the stapler faced the wall, as if it was leaving I say “Listen to me, it’s not over, until I say so. My arm is bleeding, my clothes are ripped, my honor is damaged, and my mental state is surely broken, but I will not give in. I will end this now”. As I got up my friend screamed “Finish Him!” I leap into the air and crash down on the stapler, with a solid kick. I watch as its life source deflated. I stood up and said with confidence “Game Over”. I walk away into the sunset, and this stapler will never return. Or so I thought….
Confined
by Caleb Parks
The damaged walls, they crack away
My disdain is fleeting, the air sends chills
How I wish I could slip just as easily
Out of the shackles
That hold me still.
I know its eyes, that crazy pair
They leave me in a shaken stare
As it looks over my body, bare
To know these chains will keep me there.
My fury, bottled beneath my skin
My mind now buckles from deep emotion
So here I cry, lying under sheets
Of dirty white
To think I’ll be freed is a crazy notion.
My blood now boils, cooked with desperation
How can it end this way for me?
To chew him up, to spit him out
To make him feel pain he’ll never forget
And God grant me the chance to see,
I now will wait, when time is right
I shall break out of this world of fright.
With this shard of glass as a makeshift knife
With revenge, my justice shall be in sight.
Jesse Hom Senior
Mr. Stano
Creative Writing
Darker than Night
Chapter 1:
The sirens stop after minutes of blazing in the air, forensic teams scatter throughout the crime scene, and the area is cordoned off with bright yellow tape spelling out “CAUTION.” It seems to keep the people at a distance but not far enough to block every detail in the scene. The scene took place in an alley way not far from the prominent Hope Towers office buildings. Murmurs run through the crowd as the police and paramedics do their work. The body whisks past Detectives David Biggs and Ellen Goodwin on the scene. The senior detective stops the paramedic and examines the body with a quick glance after lifting the bag over. After a moment passes he tells him to continue on with a nod.
“That’s the third body found this month,” Biggs says tipping his brown fedora. “We got to catch this guy before he claims another victim.”
“You’re right on that sir. But what makes you think it’s a guy and not a girl we’re after?” questions Goodwin.
The hefty detective walks back over to the dead body, his brown trench coat having a mind of its own when he walks, and he lifts up the black plastic bag uncovering the body. He examines it a second time before making a response. He pauses and sighs. “Well the victim has bruises over her body and arms. And as we clearly see, the wounds on the victim match to blunt force objects used to beat her in the alley way. Blood is splattered all around the alley even the ladder. Also the alley way is a mess. More than usual with the occasional homeless person and trash collection,” he says finally to his young female partner.
Goodwin asks, “Yeah that’s what we see in the crime scene, but where are you going with this?”
Biggs responds, “The bruises on the victim’s arms and legs indicate that the perp was strong enough to hold her down and sexually assault her. It would also mean that they are strong enough to throw the victim around the alley way continuously and even grab and pull them down from the ladder leading to the above apartments. Eyewitnesses described the perp as a dark shadowy figure with a black trench coat and leaving the scene almost as suddenly arriving after hearing the neighbors’ cries and sirens. But we don’t know for sure. What we do know however, is that the victim put up a fight and most likely injured the perp in some way. Since there’s a lot a blood here there’s bound to have some traces of DNA on either the nails of the victim or blunt force objects. It seems after he had his way with her, he beat her to a pulp and ended up killing her through the amount of blood lost.”
“Heh… ‘A shadowy figure?’ What like Batman? C’mon Dave that’s a comic book. I think those donuts are going to your head,” Goodwin sarcastically says after taming her long brown hair with a scrunchie.
“That’s not where I was going with this El,” Biggs chuckles, “and if you read comic books that’s not what Batman is. Let’s get off this the topic and head to Cup’s. They have a new kind of donut I wanted to try. Cookie Dough Swirl.”
“Didn’t I say that those donuts go to your head? Besides you need to watch you diabetes,” Goodwin sighs.
“Well that’s why I have you. You watch my back and my blood sugar,” Biggs says charmingly. “Besides, donuts help me think.”
Chapter 2:
The 24th floor office of Hope Towers is in chaos. Tax season is in full swing occupying the employees with countless papers to file and countless clients to attend to. But the recent killings in the neighborhood are what really keep the employees on edge. Paranoia and fear are seeded deep in their hearts. It spreads like a disease. It’s so deep seeded that it distracts the employees to work and causes two of them to collide into each other. A man and a woman knock back each other. The tall white man loses his glasses while the short haired blonde woman loses her papers. They scramble on the floor trying to regain what they lost. They touched hands for an instant, an instant which caused both of them to look up and see each other.
“Um… sorry about that. I didn’t know where I was going,” the man says.
The woman replies, “It’s okay. It was my fault too. My name is Kelly. Kelly Batterman.”
“I’m Michael. Michael Creed. Kind of a freaky morning wasn’t it?”
“Yeah can you believe it? Three murders all around the same area. Heck almost around the building.”
“Yeah, we office workers should stick together.”
“Hmm. Michael Creed… I haven’t seen you around here before. How long have you worked here?”
“Actually I’ve been here for a few years now. I used to be one of the higher ups in Hope Towers but they had to let go of a few people. But since I’ve done good work with them they still let me work here but of course for a lower salary and position.”
“Yeah I heard of the higher ups starting to decrease staff to allow our merge to Milano Inc. to be successful. You have to allow the other company to keep their employees and mix with ours. But I feel bad for you.”
“Nah. Don’t be sorry. It’s stress reliever. Now I don’t have to work long hours. I get to enjoy an easier life with moderate pay.”
“Wow you’re an optimist. I don’t think I could act like you if that were to happen to me.”
“I think you would be fine. You look calm and with that face of yours you’d probably get an even better job.”
Michael picks up the remaining papers and then his glasses as Kelly stands there flattered by his compliment. He puts on his glasses and hands her the papers.
He nervously asks, “Um uh. Since there’s a killer on the loose and I said that office workers should stick together. Well, maybe we could walk together and escort each other to safety or share a cab together.”
Kelly chuckles, “Hmm maybe. Well how about we go to Cup’s for dinner and then share a cab on the way home?”
“Ok cool,” Michael says ecstatically.
They both shake hands but once they do Michael cringes in pain.
Kelly asks, “Hey are you ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Must be something I ate this morning I’ll see you around later after work.”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”
“I’m positive.”
They go off their separate ways. Kelly returns to her cubicle with concern for Michael but doesn’t let it be her focus of the day while Michael heads straight to the restroom. He hangs over the sink and pulls out his prescription. He takes two pills to ease his pain.
“Sigh. I have to be more conscious of my stomach pains or I’ll pass out,” Michael says to himself.”
Chapter 3:
The day drags on until the clocks read “6:00” which signifies that the work day is over. Kelly is already downstairs eagerly waiting for her new friend to meet her. She sees her workmates pass by and says her goodbyes to them. Minutes pass and doubt takes over. After 10 minutes pass she turns around and starts to leave. She hears the elevator ding and turns back around to hear the light and fast footsteps that belong to Michael. She sees him running fast with his coat half way on his body and his suitcase flailing about near his arm. He tries to stop but ends up running past her and tumbles through the door to outside. He moans in his pain while in a splayed position out on the ground. Kelly rushes through the door and walks over to him.
“Are you ok Flash*,” she sarcastically asks.
“Yeah,” Michael moans.
Kelly helps Michael up from the ground and says, “You’re late Mr. Creed.”
“I was busy. I had to finish some work before I left. I’m sorry that it took so long and made you wait,” Michael reply’s after dusting himself off.
“It’s ok. At least you’re here now and I won’t have to go to Cup’s alone,” she cheerfully says.
They walk together through the streets in the sunset while talking about each other’s lives’ and family. Street lights turn red and green. Other worker’s from nearby buildings rush to get home. Cars pass as well as buses. He opens the door for her to the restaurant and they sit down to eat as they continue their talk. Laughs are shared and chemistry is mixed. They finish their meal and head out of the restaurant. Michael puts Kelly’s coat on her and then puts his own coat on. They walk down together in darkness only leaving a few inches apart from each other. They see a lit spot in the street where a cab might see them and pick them up. They walk towards it wearingly. The distant sounds of the animals in the alley way startle Kelly and make her grasp Michael’s arm. He notices the sudden pressure and looks at her with surprised eyes. She returns the gaze and then closes her eyes to kiss him. He does the same. They feel their warm bodies come closer to each other like magnets meeting their attraction. Their opposite personalities are attracted to each other and will soon connect. Just then as they were about to connect, a man in a dark dirty trench coat tackled Michael to the ground. Kelly gasps and tries to help him. But the man pulls her back and starts to shout nonsense.
“No! Don’t trust him. He won’t protect you! He is evil! I will keep you safe from harm I will protect you,” he exclaimed.
“Get away from me you creep,” she yells pushing him back.
He starts to charge at her again. She gets ready for him but Michael tackles him back into the alley way struggling to get the upper hand. They struggle while Kelly calls out for help. Michael ends up on the ground being choked by the man. He tries to get free but can’t until Kelly kicks the man off of him. The man stumbles but then recovers. He looks at the two of them and just when he opens his mouth sirens go off in the distance. He takes his opportunity to escape and leaves the couple to gain their bearings.
“Are you all right? Did he hurt you,” Kelly asks helping Michael up from the ground.
Michael holds his stomach as he gets up and says, “I’m alright. It’s just a bruise. I’ve had worse before.”
She grabs ahold of him and hugs him. The sirens draw closer and were soon upon them within a minute. The source of the sirens came from a small black car with a red portable light on top of the vehicle towards the passenger’s side. The car stops in front of them while the light still turns covering the block with a shade of red. Two people come out from the car, a man and a woman, approach the couple. The man is wearing a dark brown trench coat with a suit underneath and brown fedora on his head. He has a five o’clock shadow on his face and a watch on his left wrist. The woman has a grey coat with a black vest and a blue buttoned shirt underneath. She wears black dress pants and a necklace that holds her badge.
The man asks, “Are you two all right? We heard screams from a nearby block.”
Kelly responds, “Oh yes, we are now officer. Thanks.”
“Detectives,” the woman corrects Kelly. She points out, “Detectives Biggs and Goodwin. What seems to be the trouble here? There’s a killer on the loose you know.”
“Yeah we were at the crime scene during the morning commute. That’s why we were walking together home but someone jumped us so I screamed for help,” Kelly says.
Goodwin asks, “What did they look like?”
“I don’t know. It was a man in a trench coat but that’s all I saw,” Kelly answers.
“What about you Black Bolt? You seem to be quiet. Cat got your tongue or something,” Biggs taunts.
“Uh well uh no. I just uh…”
“You got your butt handed to. Did you get a good look at the guy?”
“No Detective Biggs, I didn’t. I was struggling too much to get a good look.”
“Hmm. That’s a shame. Anyway you two look beat. We’ll escort you home. This neighborhood isn’t safe to walk in at night. It’s a whole new animal. Especially with a killer out there.”
“Yeah, thanks Detective. We really appreciate this.”
“What are your names?”
“I’m Michael Creed and my friend here is Kelly Batterman.”
They all get into the car and drive away. The car ride is full of long awkward pauses after Kelly and Michael answer a few questions about their line of work and why they were out there in the darkness to begin with. The detectives drop them off one after another starting with Kelly and then Michael. They share their thanks and say their goodbyes. They see Michael hold his stomach tightly as he walks into his apartment complex. The detectives ask if he needed to go to the hospital but Michael declines and goes into the building with the pills in his pocket. They soon drive off into the night.
“So, what do you think,” asks Goodwin.
“About what,” Biggs questions.
“About them, about their attacker. Is it the guy we’re looking for,” Goodwin explains.
“Well about them, they are sincere and seem to be telling the truth about what happened tonight. But it’s a bit coincidental that they were at the crime scene this morning and then attacked by the supposed killer we are trying to catch. But then the killer would be having to step up his game and upping the time between each murder. He may be starting to claim two victims instead of one and within almost a day in between instead of a week. I don’t know. This may be someone different. It’s too drastic of a change. Then again, everyone has different sides to them. Everyone has a darker side,” Biggs responds.
Goodwin nods and inquires, “In any case we should keep an eye on those two.”
Chapter 4:
The next day arrives and the morning commute is as busy as ever. Kelly and Michael return to work despite what happened the night before. They meet each other at the break room and have coffee together. They look at each other and smile with happy faces.
“Some night we had,” Michael starts.
“Yeah,” Kelly responds.
An awkward silence comes between them. They sip their coffee and face down towards the floor.
“David Callahan,” Kelly mutters under her breath.
“Who,” Michael questions.
“David Callahan.”
“What about him.”
“He’s the one who attacked us last night.”
“What?! Wait, you knew who it was and didn’t go to the police?”
“Well it took me awhile before I recognized him.”
“Who was he?”
“He used to work here actually, in Hope Towers, as an accountant.”
“Then we should call Detective Biggs and his partner about this information.”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because this was the first I’ve seen him in months. He suddenly disappeared a month ago almost at the time of the murders around the area. I think he’s the killer the detectives are after.”
“If he’s the killer then we need the detectives and the police on this guy before he murders someone else.”
“No we can’t. He used to be a quiet person who did good work. He was nice. I don’t know what happened to him but I want to talk to him. I need to make sense of this. I don’t want the police to hurt him or worse until I know what happened. I want to know why. I don’t like my life being threatened and not knowing why it happened. Or why an upstanding coworker would turn to a murderer in such a short period of time. I need to find answers and prove to myself I’m not a weak damsel in distress.”
Michael groans and contemplates the matter in his head. He starts to mutter things to
himself. He perks up and assures himself that it’ll be fine.
“Ok fine,” he responds. “We’ll try to find him first. But if it goes downhill, we’ll call the cops.”
“Oh thank you Michael you’re the best,” she exclaims after hugging him.
He strains from her grasp, “Yeah sure no problem.” She releases him and continues, “So how are we gonna catch this guy?”
“Well he seemed obsessed with me last night so he’ll come after me I think. If he’s not crazy as he seems then he’ll come for me after work especially today since Thursdays I work late for tax season,” she surmises.
“How late do you stay to,” he asks.
“Hmmm… 8 or 9 o’clock,” Kelly responds.
“Well it looks like it’s going to be a long day,” sighs Michael.
The day goes on and the majority of the workers leave from Hope Towers while Michael and Kelly stay behind. Outside the workers pass by the parked cars and head straight for the taxis. One of the car’s windows are tinted black to hide the two detectives inside.
“So we’re going to wait here for Ms. Batterman and Mr. Creed,” complains Goodwin.
“Yep. That’s why it’s called a stakeout,” Biggs replies.
“Well it’s gonna be a long night then. This better be worth it, I trust my taxes with these people.”
“It will. We might be able to catch the killer or some lunatic on the streets. It’s only a few floors up to begin with. I don’t think they’ll be on the top 7th floor. Even though it has “towers” in the name, it’s only a small office to a bigger building in the next state. Anyway, that’s why I came prepared and bought us something from Cup’s.”
“Really another thing from there? You need to watch your sugar.”
“I told you it helps me think.”
Biggs bites into the donut he bought and be gins to chew it.
“Anything yet,” Goodwin sarcastically asks.
Biggs pauses, swallows, and responds, “No, nothing yet.”
Goodwin facepalms herself and begins to eat her snack.
Chapter 5:
Night falls and the detectives get antsy and start to get bored while Kelly and Michael
finish their work and wait for David to come. The wait continues as they sit around and talk.
“Do you think he’ll come?” asks Michael.
“I’m not sure but if I were a crazy nut who tried to harass their co-worker, I would probably stalk them especially at their workplace. And since I haven’t come out yet and the lights are still on, then it’s only safe to assume that he’ll come and find me,” Kelly implicates.
Michael pauses to gather his thoughts and finally says, “Ok you’re crazy. Cute but crazy. You have some imagination.”
“Hey don’t talk about me like that. I’m perfectly sane,” she laughs.
He smirks, “Heh yeah you definitely are. But in all seriousness, how are we gonna catch him?”
“Well there’s two of us, so I was thinking that we could overpower him and tie him to a desk with some string in the break room,” she responds.
“Well before any of that brilliant plan happens, I’m going to use the bathroom. Maybe you’ll think of a better plan then,” he laughs.
Michael gets up from the desk he sat on and goes down the hall. He turns the corner and opens the bathroom door. The pain in his stomach is back. He takes out his medication and runs the water. He splashes his face with the cool water and grabs a paper towel from where he stands. He dries his face and looks into the mirror. He suddenly sees a reflection of someone else and before he turns around his face hits the glass shattering it. Kelly hears the glass breaking and goes to investigate. As she turns the corner the lights in the entire complex turns off, leaving nothing but emergency lights to illuminate what was in front of her.
She calls out to Michael but there was no answer. She lifts her cell phone up to turn on her flashlight mode. A noise of something being knocked down comes from behind. She turns around but nothing is there. Moments of silence pass by. Her heartbeat races, increasing with every moment of silence and creeks that followed. She startles over the hum of the heater starting up. But that’s not what makes her body sweat and start to heat up. The uneasiness eating away at her is doing that. She feels something behind her breathing down her neck so she turns around quickly but only catches a shadow around a corner. Her breathing becomes like speakers. Deep breaths fill the hallway. She draws closer to where the shadow was. As she gets closer, her mind and body tell her to run the other way but for some reason she keeps moving forward pushing past all sane and moral thinking. She reaches the corner and with all her might she musters the courage to jump past it and shine her light on it. She sighs in relief.
Something behind her grabs her. She hits the wall which knocks the cell phone out of her hand she struggles to get it but is attacked by a furry of strength which keeps tossing her around the hall way. She gives up the search for her phone to focus on the invisible enemy. She starts to scream for help as she fends off her harasser. She knocks them off of her and gets up to see who it is. The emergency lights only provide little detail. She sees the outline and then notices the trench coat on the person. She knows the outline is a male figure.
“David,” she asks.
The male figure doesn’t answer. They continue the assault on her but Kelly becomes serious and fights back. Her secretive athletic body and training helps her as she continues. The fight is evenly matched with both people having almost equal strength when pushing each other to each wall along the hall way. Back and forth they went through the hallway making thuds and knocking over plants and tables like bulls in a china shop. Pictures that were hung up now were either knocked down or broken. Kelly finally gets the upper hand when she grabs the man’s head and slams it into the wall. This leaves an opening for her to grab him and toss him toward the other end of the hall way.
The door slams open behind her and two flashlights appear to reveal the detectives bursting into the hallway. They notice Kelly and then the figure.
“Police, don’t move,” yells Goodwin as she points the gun at the male figure.
The figure gets up and starts to run. Goodwin fires two shots but hits only the wall.
“I got him! Stay with Batterman,” commands Goodwin as she throws off her trench coat and gives chase to the figure.
She runs and yells for him to stop but he keeps going. She warns him again and fires another shot that hits a corner turn. He runs past it while having Goodwin a good 20ft away. As she turns the corner she sees Michael running towards her.
He yells, “He went in here,” just as he turns the corner.
There’s a loud crash inside the room. As Detective Goodwin turns to go in Michael is pushed into her knocking them both on the floor. The detective struggles to get free from Michael. Once she’s free she looks around the room with her flashlight and then looks at the broken window. She looks down but the man is nowhere to be seen.
“Darn it,” she mutters.
Chapter 6:
An hour passes and they are all in the interrogation wing of the police department. Kelly is in one room with Detective Goodwin while Michael is in the other with Detective Biggs.
“OK. After talking with you for half an hour it seems we got nowhere except in a circle. You’re way too nice. Almost a model citizen. So I’ll have to let you go for the night. Your friend will be here for further questioning. Do you need a ride home, asks Biggs.
“No that won’t be necessary. I’ll call for a taxi to come around. Thank you, I had a good time despite the circumference, says Michael.
“You mean circumstance.”
“Yeah what did I say? Well anyways the taxi will circle around the corner at some point so I’ll leave now.”
Biggs leaves after interrogating Michael to see the interrogation between his partner and Kelly. He looks into the one way glass to see them as Michael leaves the wing.
“What were you doing there,” Goodwin sternly asks.
“I was trying to help catch the guy who jumped me last night. I thought he was also the killer that’s responsible for all the murders in the area,” responds Kelly.
“Ms. Batterman, leave the police work to us. And what were you thinking? You can’t catch a killer by yourself with some timid nice nerd as your back-up.”
“Well I thought-“
“No you weren’t because you knew who the person was and didn’t bother telling us so we could follow procedure and catch this guy by the book. But no, you had to play hero with your weak sidekick and try to get yourselves killed in the process. We have badges; we train for this type of stuff.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Ah yes, you certainly can. You can take on one guy in the dark so you definitely can take on and assault police officers as well. Yeah that’s right. We have your records. We know what you were in the past. A teenaged drunk who opposed authority, who beat her parents and caused a town to go nuts over you. Do you enjoy hurting others? Do you like to beat people to a pulp?! Do you go out and night and search for helpless people and assert you authority and dominate them thereby murdering them in cold blood?!
“NO! God no! It’s true I had a rough past with authority. Someone jumping me and leaving me vulnerable reminded me of when my parents abused me when I was a girl. No one understood me; they all thought I was crazy. My parents kept my abuse a secret. I took my anger out on them once I learned how to defend myself. So when David did jump me and hurt me and Michael, I wanted revenge. I wanted to humiliate him and also feel justified for doing so. I’m sorry.”
Kelly starts crying. Tears are streaming out of her eyes. Goodwin looks upon her with pity. Biggs opens the door and calls for Goodwin. She leaves with him, leaving Kelly to drown the room with her tears. They go in the hallway to talk.
Biggs starts, “There’s been another body.”
“Jeez,” Goodwin responds.
“It was found the same way as the others. It’s him. It’s David Callahan,” whispers Biggs.
“Then we should let Ms. Batterman go,” sighs Goodwin.
“That would be wise,” utters Biggs.
They open the interrogation door to the still crying Kelly. Goodwin escorts her out and apologizes to Kelly about bringing up her past. She calls for a taxi and leaves her at the corner. Goodwin enters the police station after seeing Kelly get into the vehicle. She goes into the coroner’s wing to see the body. As she walks in she sees the body covered up and the coroner and Biggs, with a donut in his hand, talking to each other.
“So what do you mean the blood samples were taken from the crime scene are gone, Biggs yells.
“I mean that when I came in this morning to get the results, it was gone. Someone must have snuck in here last night and stole them,” the coroner exclaims.
Biggs sighs and takes a bite out of his donut in frustration.
“Ok then. So the guy was here last night. Goodwin look through the security feeds from last night and report back to be,” Biggs demanded.
She leaves soon after. Biggs looks back at the coroner.
“You say that the body is also a day old,” he asks.
“Yes,” the coroner confirms.
“What about the pills found today in the Hope Towers’ bathroom?”
“Yes that was interesting. I found of venlafaxine, citalopram, and sertraline in a variety of the pills found at the scene. They are all used to treat DID or dissosciative identity disorder or in terms you might understand, split personality disorder.”
Biggs is taken aback and leaves his mouth open. He fills the gap with his donut and chews. Then everything clicks in for him. He thinks about “circumference”, “circle”, and “around”. He dashes to a map in the lab and looks at the previous murder scenes. He takes another bite and a marker and pinpoints the crime scenes. Then he goes through all of them in a circular curve in order of occurrence making a circle with Hope Towers as the epicenter. He crosses through Hope Towers and sees the picture. He runs out of the room, gets into his car, calls for back-up and heads for Hope Towers.
Chapter 7:
Kelly wakes up in a dark room in hope towers on the second floor and starts to squirm. She calms down and becomes shocked to hear Michael’s voice.
“Hello there Kelly,” Michael says.
The lights turn on revealing Michael with a long black trench coat.
“What is this?! What’s going on,” cries Kelly.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” bursts in Detective Biggs.” He isn’t the man you thought he was. Michael Creed was murdered a month ago when the killings started. In fact he was the first to be killed.”
“Continue detective I like where this is going,” taunts the man.
“Yes. We didn’t have a record of who the person was for the longest time because of the flesh being melted off his skin. I didn’t count him at first because I thought it was an arson killer. But I realized it after talking to the coroner about the pills he was taking. Nice job on the picture. A circle with a line in crossing the center. The center where this murder might happen would be here in Hope Towers. It also meant that two minds are in one whole body; split personality, a Duo.”
“I like the sound of that. Duo. Yes it is true my dear. I am not Michael Creed. I don’t even know my own real name. A few black outs during day is a price to pay to become like this. My other personality doesn’t even know I exist. I carefully observed The real Michael Creed awhile ago for months before taking his identity. He’s a workaholic, one with no friends or living family left for him. No one knew him except for the CEO of Hope Towers and with him busy running the company and having only seen him once, I could easily replace him. ” He points the gun at Kelly.
“That’s enough! It ends tonight!”
“You’re right it does.”
He shoots Biggs in the arm and kills Kelly with a bullet to the head. Duo takes a detonator from his pocket and presses it. The top floors explode making the building unstable. A fire starts cutting off Biggs and Duo.
“Til the next time detective,” he taunts.
The explosion covers his escape and so Briggs breaks through the window and lands in a dumpster. A sharp pain pierces his arm but he ignores it and jumps out of the dumpster. He gets out of the way as the building falls behind him. Fire and smoke engulf the building. He stands there as a watcher and spectator. Duo is nowhere to be seen. He holds his arm and hears the sirens ring from a distance. He knows in his heart that this wasn’t over. This is far from over.
Ashley Hawrysch Senior
Mr. Stano
2/18/15 The Prince and the Toad
When you first look at her, she don’t look like much, just your average nobody that doesn’t party. She probably spends most of her weekends with her nose in a book studying. Her hair is bright red and super curly, with a million freckles on her face, and a body that reaches the height of 5’1 and looks pretty undeveloped for a girl in the 12th grade. She wasn’t the most desirable girl to most the guys in our school if not all of them. Her name was Gina, Gina Freewald.
I was pulling up to my friend Wesley’s house and getting out of my parked car, as I was walking up his driveway I felt like I was being watched. I looked to my left to see Gina on her porch quickly looking down at her book. Oh did I mention my best friend and Gina are neighbors? I went up to Wes’s house and opened the front door and went down in the basement, the usual routine. Down there with Wes was some more of our friends from the soccer team, Andrew, Thomas, and Alex. We all got together to watch the FIFA World Cup. As I grabbed a soda and headed over to the couch to find a spot to squeeze into, of course the guys as usual started teasing m about Gina. Saying how she’s in-love with me and how I’m going to marry her ever since first grade when they found out from her friend Ally that she had one of the biggest crushes on me. But it’s not true, it never will be! The guys kept going on and on about Gina till I had it and stood up and said “What will it take to make you guys shut up about me and her?!” The guys all looked at each other and then Alex spoke up, “Ask her to homecoming and you’ll never hear the name Gina come out of our mouths again!” the guys all smirked and shook their heads in agreement. “Fine, just watch me!” After I said that I started heading up the basement steps and towards the front door.
As I opened the front door I heard the guys all rumbling up the steps and when I made it out on Wes’s porch I saw the guys all pilling up near a window to watch it go down. I looked over and see Gina still sitting on her porch with her nose stuck in that book. I walk down Wes’s steps and sidewalk to the public sidewalk and then onto Gina’s sidewalk, not cutting over through the grass. “Hey, what are you reading?” is the first thing that came out of my mouth. Gina looked up and looked confused and lost, her mouth was dangling open and her eyes were wide and set on me, so I said, “Oh I’m sorry where are my manners? My names Chase.” Gina than snapped out of it and looked down at her book “Hello! And no need to introduce yourself, I know you Chase, we’re in the same Chemistry class haha, but I’m reading The Fault in Our Stars.” She said “Oh we are? And that’s what you’re reading huh? Isn’t that about the guy and the girl and the yeah?” “Haha exactly.” She said while blushing.
“Well look, I noticed you a few weeks ago and thought it would be cool to get to know you better. Wanna go to homecoming with me?” I said to her, her eyes have gotten wider than before and she dropped her book and lost what page she was on in the process, she than wrapped her arms around me tightly while jumping up and a down and squealing with joy “Oh Chase would I ever!” I looked over to Wes’s house and saw all the guys in the window laughing hysterically. She then pulled away and looked at me and said “Okay so let me give you my cellphone number so we can keep in contact and-, hey, are you doing anything later or tomorrow? Wanna go get something to eat soon?” after she said that I breathed very heavily out and agreed to dinner later. After that she went inside and I left right then and there. Not saying bye to the boys or anything. Just went straight home.
Once I got home I started getting messages from Gina, I just turned my phone off and laid down in bed, questioning myself why I was doing this, I never noticed her like that, I didn’t want to get to know her. Everything I said to her was a lie. After laying there in bed having those thoughts run through my head I fell asleep. I woke up a few hours after that with a few texts from and three missed calls from Gina. I felt so bad for missing her calls instantly called her back. She answered and was concerned about why I wasn’t answering, I explained to her that I had fallen asleep and was sorry I didn’t answer any of her messages. Before we got off the phone, the last thing she said was “It’s okay, we can do dinner another time. Well I gotta go study so I’ll talk to you later.” And hung up. Wow I felt horrible, she was probably all dressed up and looking forward to going out with me and I bailed, I stood her up. I needed to make it up to her.
It was the day of homecoming and I wasn’t getting anything but text messages all day from Gina. I look at my phone as it kept buzzing with notifications and then looked up at my dress shirt and dress pants hanging off my closet door, perfectly ironed and ready for me to wear. I breathed in and breathed out very hard and in an annoyed manner. I started getting ready and once I was all dressed and ready to go, I picked up my phone and texted Gina “On my way” I replied, went down stairs, got the corsages out the fridge, and took off.
I pulled up out front Wes’s house where I felt more comfortable parking, I than walked up to Gina’s house and rang the doorbell. I get greeted by Gina’s father. “Hello there” he said “I’m Mr. Freewald.” “My Names Chase” I say as I shake his hand. “She shouldn’t be too much longer, you can have a seat in the living room if you like.” As Mr. Freewald gestures towards the living room to my left. I then smile a little and nod and head for the couch, I set the corsages on the coffee table. Patiently waiting for Gina to come down so we can go to this stupid dance, and get tonight over with.
I heard a door open upstairs and hear two sets of heels clicking against the hardwood floor, I then hear them going down the steps and before you know it Gina was almost down the steps as we were looking at each other, she looked nothing like herself with her big fuzzy red hair tamed into a straightened sleek bun, with her baggy clothing transformed into a more formfitting dress, and can’t forget the light make up that adds a sparkle and brightens her eyes. I stood up and started walking towards her “Wow, you look stunning.” I say, Gina than blushes and says thanks, “This is all the work of my mom” she says as her mom smiles and waves at me, I wave back. We than take a few pictures and a few more of us putting on our corsages and then after that, head off to homecoming.
Once we get there and get in the gymnasium I spot all the guys and their dates. I head over to them and grab Gina’s hand to get her to come along with me. “Oh look who it is!” Wes says as he comes over to greet me and then all the guys follow up doing the same, all us guys than kind of get into a little pow wow thing and started talking “So where’s Gina?” they all joked around and I even got a chuckle out myself, “I’m just messin’ with ya dude but hey, good job man!” Wes said, I wink at him and turn around to head back towards Gina.
As the night went on me and Gina has shared a lot, thoughts, laughs, dances, and even better, memories. I never imagined myself with a girl like Gina, nut now that I got to know her and actually talk to her, I can imagine spending the rest of my life with Gina. All her flaws before abandoned my mind. She’s perfect to me and is someone I could see spending the rest of my life with. That night at the homecoming dance, I think I fell in love with the girl I’d never give a second glance.
The Haunting Stapler
Josh Kirby
As a kid I developed a great fear, a fear of pain and agony. It scared me…it still does. The clamping feeling of this object is crushing. This object is…a stapler. When I was only 5, I was stapling paper, and my hand slipped. The razor sharp blade of the staple, shot into my hand. I screamed. I ripped the staple out, and it pulled off my skin. My dad put a band-aid on it. I threw the stapler away and haven’t seen it since, until now.
It’s now 10 years later, after the incident. I haven’t been able to staple paper since. I’m currently in math class, and it’s time to staple my papers. I decided to get over my fear, but the worst thing possible happen. I saw this stapler and it looked familiar, it was the one from 10 years ago. I started freaking out, sweating, shaking, I was in complete panic. I backed up slowly, and my friend asked what my problem was. I explained what happened. He just laughed, saying no way in hell that is your stapler.
I turned away, in embarrassment; I can’t believe I’m that stupid. I started walking back to the simple stapler. I looked at it closely, and it started clamping, just sitting there clamping. I don’t understand what is going on. I kept walking towards it, and thought it was all in my mind. I grab the stapler, then my hand started to swell up in pain, it clamped me. I was just stapled in the hand. Blood starts to gush out, I can’t handle the pain, my quick thinking, and I ripped out the staple, and screamed. I passed out on the floor.
When I awoke, I noticed everyone is gone. It was just me and my stapler, nobody else. I can only do one thing in this moment. I look up to the sky and I scream these words “Round Two”, quoting Mortal Kombat. In the background, intense battle music plays. I intensively stare at the stapler and say “You have hurt my honor, but you will never steal my pride”. I jump into the air and land with a perfect karate chop onto my mortal enemy. The stapler didn’t even flinch. I stared even more intensely. I saw it fly into the air, more like hopping. It attached its self to my arm. I couldn’t shake it off. I waved my arm in a rapid motion, and then my enemy flies off and hit the wall. Suddenly staples were getting shot at me. I used some sweet matrix moves to duck these staples, but before I could react, the staple hit my leg. I fell to the ground, in agonizing pain.
As the stapler faced the wall, as if it was leaving I say “Listen to me, it’s not over, until I say so. My arm is bleeding, my clothes are ripped, my honor is damaged, and my mental state is surely broken, but I will not give in. I will end this now”. As I got up my friend screamed “Finish Him!” I leap into the air and crash down on the stapler, with a solid kick. I watch as its life source deflated. I stood up and said with confidence “Game Over”. I walk away into the sunset, and this stapler will never return. Or so I thought….
Confined
by Caleb Parks
The damaged walls, they crack away
My disdain is fleeting, the air sends chills
How I wish I could slip just as easily
Out of the shackles
That hold me still.
I know its eyes, that crazy pair
They leave me in a shaken stare
As it looks over my body, bare
To know these chains will keep me there.
My fury, bottled beneath my skin
My mind now buckles from deep emotion
So here I cry, lying under sheets
Of dirty white
To think I’ll be freed is a crazy notion.
My blood now boils, cooked with desperation
How can it end this way for me?
To chew him up, to spit him out
To make him feel pain he’ll never forget
And God grant me the chance to see,
I now will wait, when time is right
I shall break out of this world of fright.
With this shard of glass as a makeshift knife
With revenge, my justice shall be in sight.
Jesse Hom Senior
Mr. Stano
Creative Writing
Darker than Night
Chapter 1:
The sirens stop after minutes of blazing in the air, forensic teams scatter throughout the crime scene, and the area is cordoned off with bright yellow tape spelling out “CAUTION.” It seems to keep the people at a distance but not far enough to block every detail in the scene. The scene took place in an alley way not far from the prominent Hope Towers office buildings. Murmurs run through the crowd as the police and paramedics do their work. The body whisks past Detectives David Biggs and Ellen Goodwin on the scene. The senior detective stops the paramedic and examines the body with a quick glance after lifting the bag over. After a moment passes he tells him to continue on with a nod.
“That’s the third body found this month,” Biggs says tipping his brown fedora. “We got to catch this guy before he claims another victim.”
“You’re right on that sir. But what makes you think it’s a guy and not a girl we’re after?” questions Goodwin.
The hefty detective walks back over to the dead body, his brown trench coat having a mind of its own when he walks, and he lifts up the black plastic bag uncovering the body. He examines it a second time before making a response. He pauses and sighs. “Well the victim has bruises over her body and arms. And as we clearly see, the wounds on the victim match to blunt force objects used to beat her in the alley way. Blood is splattered all around the alley even the ladder. Also the alley way is a mess. More than usual with the occasional homeless person and trash collection,” he says finally to his young female partner.
Goodwin asks, “Yeah that’s what we see in the crime scene, but where are you going with this?”
Biggs responds, “The bruises on the victim’s arms and legs indicate that the perp was strong enough to hold her down and sexually assault her. It would also mean that they are strong enough to throw the victim around the alley way continuously and even grab and pull them down from the ladder leading to the above apartments. Eyewitnesses described the perp as a dark shadowy figure with a black trench coat and leaving the scene almost as suddenly arriving after hearing the neighbors’ cries and sirens. But we don’t know for sure. What we do know however, is that the victim put up a fight and most likely injured the perp in some way. Since there’s a lot a blood here there’s bound to have some traces of DNA on either the nails of the victim or blunt force objects. It seems after he had his way with her, he beat her to a pulp and ended up killing her through the amount of blood lost.”
“Heh… ‘A shadowy figure?’ What like Batman? C’mon Dave that’s a comic book. I think those donuts are going to your head,” Goodwin sarcastically says after taming her long brown hair with a scrunchie.
“That’s not where I was going with this El,” Biggs chuckles, “and if you read comic books that’s not what Batman is. Let’s get off this the topic and head to Cup’s. They have a new kind of donut I wanted to try. Cookie Dough Swirl.”
“Didn’t I say that those donuts go to your head? Besides you need to watch you diabetes,” Goodwin sighs.
“Well that’s why I have you. You watch my back and my blood sugar,” Biggs says charmingly. “Besides, donuts help me think.”
Chapter 2:
The 24th floor office of Hope Towers is in chaos. Tax season is in full swing occupying the employees with countless papers to file and countless clients to attend to. But the recent killings in the neighborhood are what really keep the employees on edge. Paranoia and fear are seeded deep in their hearts. It spreads like a disease. It’s so deep seeded that it distracts the employees to work and causes two of them to collide into each other. A man and a woman knock back each other. The tall white man loses his glasses while the short haired blonde woman loses her papers. They scramble on the floor trying to regain what they lost. They touched hands for an instant, an instant which caused both of them to look up and see each other.
“Um… sorry about that. I didn’t know where I was going,” the man says.
The woman replies, “It’s okay. It was my fault too. My name is Kelly. Kelly Batterman.”
“I’m Michael. Michael Creed. Kind of a freaky morning wasn’t it?”
“Yeah can you believe it? Three murders all around the same area. Heck almost around the building.”
“Yeah, we office workers should stick together.”
“Hmm. Michael Creed… I haven’t seen you around here before. How long have you worked here?”
“Actually I’ve been here for a few years now. I used to be one of the higher ups in Hope Towers but they had to let go of a few people. But since I’ve done good work with them they still let me work here but of course for a lower salary and position.”
“Yeah I heard of the higher ups starting to decrease staff to allow our merge to Milano Inc. to be successful. You have to allow the other company to keep their employees and mix with ours. But I feel bad for you.”
“Nah. Don’t be sorry. It’s stress reliever. Now I don’t have to work long hours. I get to enjoy an easier life with moderate pay.”
“Wow you’re an optimist. I don’t think I could act like you if that were to happen to me.”
“I think you would be fine. You look calm and with that face of yours you’d probably get an even better job.”
Michael picks up the remaining papers and then his glasses as Kelly stands there flattered by his compliment. He puts on his glasses and hands her the papers.
He nervously asks, “Um uh. Since there’s a killer on the loose and I said that office workers should stick together. Well, maybe we could walk together and escort each other to safety or share a cab together.”
Kelly chuckles, “Hmm maybe. Well how about we go to Cup’s for dinner and then share a cab on the way home?”
“Ok cool,” Michael says ecstatically.
They both shake hands but once they do Michael cringes in pain.
Kelly asks, “Hey are you ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Must be something I ate this morning I’ll see you around later after work.”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”
“I’m positive.”
They go off their separate ways. Kelly returns to her cubicle with concern for Michael but doesn’t let it be her focus of the day while Michael heads straight to the restroom. He hangs over the sink and pulls out his prescription. He takes two pills to ease his pain.
“Sigh. I have to be more conscious of my stomach pains or I’ll pass out,” Michael says to himself.”
Chapter 3:
The day drags on until the clocks read “6:00” which signifies that the work day is over. Kelly is already downstairs eagerly waiting for her new friend to meet her. She sees her workmates pass by and says her goodbyes to them. Minutes pass and doubt takes over. After 10 minutes pass she turns around and starts to leave. She hears the elevator ding and turns back around to hear the light and fast footsteps that belong to Michael. She sees him running fast with his coat half way on his body and his suitcase flailing about near his arm. He tries to stop but ends up running past her and tumbles through the door to outside. He moans in his pain while in a splayed position out on the ground. Kelly rushes through the door and walks over to him.
“Are you ok Flash*,” she sarcastically asks.
“Yeah,” Michael moans.
Kelly helps Michael up from the ground and says, “You’re late Mr. Creed.”
“I was busy. I had to finish some work before I left. I’m sorry that it took so long and made you wait,” Michael reply’s after dusting himself off.
“It’s ok. At least you’re here now and I won’t have to go to Cup’s alone,” she cheerfully says.
They walk together through the streets in the sunset while talking about each other’s lives’ and family. Street lights turn red and green. Other worker’s from nearby buildings rush to get home. Cars pass as well as buses. He opens the door for her to the restaurant and they sit down to eat as they continue their talk. Laughs are shared and chemistry is mixed. They finish their meal and head out of the restaurant. Michael puts Kelly’s coat on her and then puts his own coat on. They walk down together in darkness only leaving a few inches apart from each other. They see a lit spot in the street where a cab might see them and pick them up. They walk towards it wearingly. The distant sounds of the animals in the alley way startle Kelly and make her grasp Michael’s arm. He notices the sudden pressure and looks at her with surprised eyes. She returns the gaze and then closes her eyes to kiss him. He does the same. They feel their warm bodies come closer to each other like magnets meeting their attraction. Their opposite personalities are attracted to each other and will soon connect. Just then as they were about to connect, a man in a dark dirty trench coat tackled Michael to the ground. Kelly gasps and tries to help him. But the man pulls her back and starts to shout nonsense.
“No! Don’t trust him. He won’t protect you! He is evil! I will keep you safe from harm I will protect you,” he exclaimed.
“Get away from me you creep,” she yells pushing him back.
He starts to charge at her again. She gets ready for him but Michael tackles him back into the alley way struggling to get the upper hand. They struggle while Kelly calls out for help. Michael ends up on the ground being choked by the man. He tries to get free but can’t until Kelly kicks the man off of him. The man stumbles but then recovers. He looks at the two of them and just when he opens his mouth sirens go off in the distance. He takes his opportunity to escape and leaves the couple to gain their bearings.
“Are you all right? Did he hurt you,” Kelly asks helping Michael up from the ground.
Michael holds his stomach as he gets up and says, “I’m alright. It’s just a bruise. I’ve had worse before.”
She grabs ahold of him and hugs him. The sirens draw closer and were soon upon them within a minute. The source of the sirens came from a small black car with a red portable light on top of the vehicle towards the passenger’s side. The car stops in front of them while the light still turns covering the block with a shade of red. Two people come out from the car, a man and a woman, approach the couple. The man is wearing a dark brown trench coat with a suit underneath and brown fedora on his head. He has a five o’clock shadow on his face and a watch on his left wrist. The woman has a grey coat with a black vest and a blue buttoned shirt underneath. She wears black dress pants and a necklace that holds her badge.
The man asks, “Are you two all right? We heard screams from a nearby block.”
Kelly responds, “Oh yes, we are now officer. Thanks.”
“Detectives,” the woman corrects Kelly. She points out, “Detectives Biggs and Goodwin. What seems to be the trouble here? There’s a killer on the loose you know.”
“Yeah we were at the crime scene during the morning commute. That’s why we were walking together home but someone jumped us so I screamed for help,” Kelly says.
Goodwin asks, “What did they look like?”
“I don’t know. It was a man in a trench coat but that’s all I saw,” Kelly answers.
“What about you Black Bolt? You seem to be quiet. Cat got your tongue or something,” Biggs taunts.
“Uh well uh no. I just uh…”
“You got your butt handed to. Did you get a good look at the guy?”
“No Detective Biggs, I didn’t. I was struggling too much to get a good look.”
“Hmm. That’s a shame. Anyway you two look beat. We’ll escort you home. This neighborhood isn’t safe to walk in at night. It’s a whole new animal. Especially with a killer out there.”
“Yeah, thanks Detective. We really appreciate this.”
“What are your names?”
“I’m Michael Creed and my friend here is Kelly Batterman.”
They all get into the car and drive away. The car ride is full of long awkward pauses after Kelly and Michael answer a few questions about their line of work and why they were out there in the darkness to begin with. The detectives drop them off one after another starting with Kelly and then Michael. They share their thanks and say their goodbyes. They see Michael hold his stomach tightly as he walks into his apartment complex. The detectives ask if he needed to go to the hospital but Michael declines and goes into the building with the pills in his pocket. They soon drive off into the night.
“So, what do you think,” asks Goodwin.
“About what,” Biggs questions.
“About them, about their attacker. Is it the guy we’re looking for,” Goodwin explains.
“Well about them, they are sincere and seem to be telling the truth about what happened tonight. But it’s a bit coincidental that they were at the crime scene this morning and then attacked by the supposed killer we are trying to catch. But then the killer would be having to step up his game and upping the time between each murder. He may be starting to claim two victims instead of one and within almost a day in between instead of a week. I don’t know. This may be someone different. It’s too drastic of a change. Then again, everyone has different sides to them. Everyone has a darker side,” Biggs responds.
Goodwin nods and inquires, “In any case we should keep an eye on those two.”
Chapter 4:
The next day arrives and the morning commute is as busy as ever. Kelly and Michael return to work despite what happened the night before. They meet each other at the break room and have coffee together. They look at each other and smile with happy faces.
“Some night we had,” Michael starts.
“Yeah,” Kelly responds.
An awkward silence comes between them. They sip their coffee and face down towards the floor.
“David Callahan,” Kelly mutters under her breath.
“Who,” Michael questions.
“David Callahan.”
“What about him.”
“He’s the one who attacked us last night.”
“What?! Wait, you knew who it was and didn’t go to the police?”
“Well it took me awhile before I recognized him.”
“Who was he?”
“He used to work here actually, in Hope Towers, as an accountant.”
“Then we should call Detective Biggs and his partner about this information.”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because this was the first I’ve seen him in months. He suddenly disappeared a month ago almost at the time of the murders around the area. I think he’s the killer the detectives are after.”
“If he’s the killer then we need the detectives and the police on this guy before he murders someone else.”
“No we can’t. He used to be a quiet person who did good work. He was nice. I don’t know what happened to him but I want to talk to him. I need to make sense of this. I don’t want the police to hurt him or worse until I know what happened. I want to know why. I don’t like my life being threatened and not knowing why it happened. Or why an upstanding coworker would turn to a murderer in such a short period of time. I need to find answers and prove to myself I’m not a weak damsel in distress.”
Michael groans and contemplates the matter in his head. He starts to mutter things to
himself. He perks up and assures himself that it’ll be fine.
“Ok fine,” he responds. “We’ll try to find him first. But if it goes downhill, we’ll call the cops.”
“Oh thank you Michael you’re the best,” she exclaims after hugging him.
He strains from her grasp, “Yeah sure no problem.” She releases him and continues, “So how are we gonna catch this guy?”
“Well he seemed obsessed with me last night so he’ll come after me I think. If he’s not crazy as he seems then he’ll come for me after work especially today since Thursdays I work late for tax season,” she surmises.
“How late do you stay to,” he asks.
“Hmmm… 8 or 9 o’clock,” Kelly responds.
“Well it looks like it’s going to be a long day,” sighs Michael.
The day goes on and the majority of the workers leave from Hope Towers while Michael and Kelly stay behind. Outside the workers pass by the parked cars and head straight for the taxis. One of the car’s windows are tinted black to hide the two detectives inside.
“So we’re going to wait here for Ms. Batterman and Mr. Creed,” complains Goodwin.
“Yep. That’s why it’s called a stakeout,” Biggs replies.
“Well it’s gonna be a long night then. This better be worth it, I trust my taxes with these people.”
“It will. We might be able to catch the killer or some lunatic on the streets. It’s only a few floors up to begin with. I don’t think they’ll be on the top 7th floor. Even though it has “towers” in the name, it’s only a small office to a bigger building in the next state. Anyway, that’s why I came prepared and bought us something from Cup’s.”
“Really another thing from there? You need to watch your sugar.”
“I told you it helps me think.”
Biggs bites into the donut he bought and be gins to chew it.
“Anything yet,” Goodwin sarcastically asks.
Biggs pauses, swallows, and responds, “No, nothing yet.”
Goodwin facepalms herself and begins to eat her snack.
Chapter 5:
Night falls and the detectives get antsy and start to get bored while Kelly and Michael
finish their work and wait for David to come. The wait continues as they sit around and talk.
“Do you think he’ll come?” asks Michael.
“I’m not sure but if I were a crazy nut who tried to harass their co-worker, I would probably stalk them especially at their workplace. And since I haven’t come out yet and the lights are still on, then it’s only safe to assume that he’ll come and find me,” Kelly implicates.
Michael pauses to gather his thoughts and finally says, “Ok you’re crazy. Cute but crazy. You have some imagination.”
“Hey don’t talk about me like that. I’m perfectly sane,” she laughs.
He smirks, “Heh yeah you definitely are. But in all seriousness, how are we gonna catch him?”
“Well there’s two of us, so I was thinking that we could overpower him and tie him to a desk with some string in the break room,” she responds.
“Well before any of that brilliant plan happens, I’m going to use the bathroom. Maybe you’ll think of a better plan then,” he laughs.
Michael gets up from the desk he sat on and goes down the hall. He turns the corner and opens the bathroom door. The pain in his stomach is back. He takes out his medication and runs the water. He splashes his face with the cool water and grabs a paper towel from where he stands. He dries his face and looks into the mirror. He suddenly sees a reflection of someone else and before he turns around his face hits the glass shattering it. Kelly hears the glass breaking and goes to investigate. As she turns the corner the lights in the entire complex turns off, leaving nothing but emergency lights to illuminate what was in front of her.
She calls out to Michael but there was no answer. She lifts her cell phone up to turn on her flashlight mode. A noise of something being knocked down comes from behind. She turns around but nothing is there. Moments of silence pass by. Her heartbeat races, increasing with every moment of silence and creeks that followed. She startles over the hum of the heater starting up. But that’s not what makes her body sweat and start to heat up. The uneasiness eating away at her is doing that. She feels something behind her breathing down her neck so she turns around quickly but only catches a shadow around a corner. Her breathing becomes like speakers. Deep breaths fill the hallway. She draws closer to where the shadow was. As she gets closer, her mind and body tell her to run the other way but for some reason she keeps moving forward pushing past all sane and moral thinking. She reaches the corner and with all her might she musters the courage to jump past it and shine her light on it. She sighs in relief.
Something behind her grabs her. She hits the wall which knocks the cell phone out of her hand she struggles to get it but is attacked by a furry of strength which keeps tossing her around the hall way. She gives up the search for her phone to focus on the invisible enemy. She starts to scream for help as she fends off her harasser. She knocks them off of her and gets up to see who it is. The emergency lights only provide little detail. She sees the outline and then notices the trench coat on the person. She knows the outline is a male figure.
“David,” she asks.
The male figure doesn’t answer. They continue the assault on her but Kelly becomes serious and fights back. Her secretive athletic body and training helps her as she continues. The fight is evenly matched with both people having almost equal strength when pushing each other to each wall along the hall way. Back and forth they went through the hallway making thuds and knocking over plants and tables like bulls in a china shop. Pictures that were hung up now were either knocked down or broken. Kelly finally gets the upper hand when she grabs the man’s head and slams it into the wall. This leaves an opening for her to grab him and toss him toward the other end of the hall way.
The door slams open behind her and two flashlights appear to reveal the detectives bursting into the hallway. They notice Kelly and then the figure.
“Police, don’t move,” yells Goodwin as she points the gun at the male figure.
The figure gets up and starts to run. Goodwin fires two shots but hits only the wall.
“I got him! Stay with Batterman,” commands Goodwin as she throws off her trench coat and gives chase to the figure.
She runs and yells for him to stop but he keeps going. She warns him again and fires another shot that hits a corner turn. He runs past it while having Goodwin a good 20ft away. As she turns the corner she sees Michael running towards her.
He yells, “He went in here,” just as he turns the corner.
There’s a loud crash inside the room. As Detective Goodwin turns to go in Michael is pushed into her knocking them both on the floor. The detective struggles to get free from Michael. Once she’s free she looks around the room with her flashlight and then looks at the broken window. She looks down but the man is nowhere to be seen.
“Darn it,” she mutters.
Chapter 6:
An hour passes and they are all in the interrogation wing of the police department. Kelly is in one room with Detective Goodwin while Michael is in the other with Detective Biggs.
“OK. After talking with you for half an hour it seems we got nowhere except in a circle. You’re way too nice. Almost a model citizen. So I’ll have to let you go for the night. Your friend will be here for further questioning. Do you need a ride home, asks Biggs.
“No that won’t be necessary. I’ll call for a taxi to come around. Thank you, I had a good time despite the circumference, says Michael.
“You mean circumstance.”
“Yeah what did I say? Well anyways the taxi will circle around the corner at some point so I’ll leave now.”
Biggs leaves after interrogating Michael to see the interrogation between his partner and Kelly. He looks into the one way glass to see them as Michael leaves the wing.
“What were you doing there,” Goodwin sternly asks.
“I was trying to help catch the guy who jumped me last night. I thought he was also the killer that’s responsible for all the murders in the area,” responds Kelly.
“Ms. Batterman, leave the police work to us. And what were you thinking? You can’t catch a killer by yourself with some timid nice nerd as your back-up.”
“Well I thought-“
“No you weren’t because you knew who the person was and didn’t bother telling us so we could follow procedure and catch this guy by the book. But no, you had to play hero with your weak sidekick and try to get yourselves killed in the process. We have badges; we train for this type of stuff.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Ah yes, you certainly can. You can take on one guy in the dark so you definitely can take on and assault police officers as well. Yeah that’s right. We have your records. We know what you were in the past. A teenaged drunk who opposed authority, who beat her parents and caused a town to go nuts over you. Do you enjoy hurting others? Do you like to beat people to a pulp?! Do you go out and night and search for helpless people and assert you authority and dominate them thereby murdering them in cold blood?!
“NO! God no! It’s true I had a rough past with authority. Someone jumping me and leaving me vulnerable reminded me of when my parents abused me when I was a girl. No one understood me; they all thought I was crazy. My parents kept my abuse a secret. I took my anger out on them once I learned how to defend myself. So when David did jump me and hurt me and Michael, I wanted revenge. I wanted to humiliate him and also feel justified for doing so. I’m sorry.”
Kelly starts crying. Tears are streaming out of her eyes. Goodwin looks upon her with pity. Biggs opens the door and calls for Goodwin. She leaves with him, leaving Kelly to drown the room with her tears. They go in the hallway to talk.
Biggs starts, “There’s been another body.”
“Jeez,” Goodwin responds.
“It was found the same way as the others. It’s him. It’s David Callahan,” whispers Biggs.
“Then we should let Ms. Batterman go,” sighs Goodwin.
“That would be wise,” utters Biggs.
They open the interrogation door to the still crying Kelly. Goodwin escorts her out and apologizes to Kelly about bringing up her past. She calls for a taxi and leaves her at the corner. Goodwin enters the police station after seeing Kelly get into the vehicle. She goes into the coroner’s wing to see the body. As she walks in she sees the body covered up and the coroner and Biggs, with a donut in his hand, talking to each other.
“So what do you mean the blood samples were taken from the crime scene are gone, Biggs yells.
“I mean that when I came in this morning to get the results, it was gone. Someone must have snuck in here last night and stole them,” the coroner exclaims.
Biggs sighs and takes a bite out of his donut in frustration.
“Ok then. So the guy was here last night. Goodwin look through the security feeds from last night and report back to be,” Biggs demanded.
She leaves soon after. Biggs looks back at the coroner.
“You say that the body is also a day old,” he asks.
“Yes,” the coroner confirms.
“What about the pills found today in the Hope Towers’ bathroom?”
“Yes that was interesting. I found of venlafaxine, citalopram, and sertraline in a variety of the pills found at the scene. They are all used to treat DID or dissosciative identity disorder or in terms you might understand, split personality disorder.”
Biggs is taken aback and leaves his mouth open. He fills the gap with his donut and chews. Then everything clicks in for him. He thinks about “circumference”, “circle”, and “around”. He dashes to a map in the lab and looks at the previous murder scenes. He takes another bite and a marker and pinpoints the crime scenes. Then he goes through all of them in a circular curve in order of occurrence making a circle with Hope Towers as the epicenter. He crosses through Hope Towers and sees the picture. He runs out of the room, gets into his car, calls for back-up and heads for Hope Towers.
Chapter 7:
Kelly wakes up in a dark room in hope towers on the second floor and starts to squirm. She calms down and becomes shocked to hear Michael’s voice.
“Hello there Kelly,” Michael says.
The lights turn on revealing Michael with a long black trench coat.
“What is this?! What’s going on,” cries Kelly.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” bursts in Detective Biggs.” He isn’t the man you thought he was. Michael Creed was murdered a month ago when the killings started. In fact he was the first to be killed.”
“Continue detective I like where this is going,” taunts the man.
“Yes. We didn’t have a record of who the person was for the longest time because of the flesh being melted off his skin. I didn’t count him at first because I thought it was an arson killer. But I realized it after talking to the coroner about the pills he was taking. Nice job on the picture. A circle with a line in crossing the center. The center where this murder might happen would be here in Hope Towers. It also meant that two minds are in one whole body; split personality, a Duo.”
“I like the sound of that. Duo. Yes it is true my dear. I am not Michael Creed. I don’t even know my own real name. A few black outs during day is a price to pay to become like this. My other personality doesn’t even know I exist. I carefully observed The real Michael Creed awhile ago for months before taking his identity. He’s a workaholic, one with no friends or living family left for him. No one knew him except for the CEO of Hope Towers and with him busy running the company and having only seen him once, I could easily replace him. ” He points the gun at Kelly.
“That’s enough! It ends tonight!”
“You’re right it does.”
He shoots Biggs in the arm and kills Kelly with a bullet to the head. Duo takes a detonator from his pocket and presses it. The top floors explode making the building unstable. A fire starts cutting off Biggs and Duo.
“Til the next time detective,” he taunts.
The explosion covers his escape and so Briggs breaks through the window and lands in a dumpster. A sharp pain pierces his arm but he ignores it and jumps out of the dumpster. He gets out of the way as the building falls behind him. Fire and smoke engulf the building. He stands there as a watcher and spectator. Duo is nowhere to be seen. He holds his arm and hears the sirens ring from a distance. He knows in his heart that this wasn’t over. This is far from over.
Danielle
McCoy Senior
No More Secrets
It all started when I was about ten years old, I was just a clueless young boy that everyone seemed to lie to. My mother, Amber, was the only parent I remember having around since my father died when I was only three years old. My sister, Sarah, and I weren’t that close and I always knew she was hiding things from me but I knew she did that only because we had a seven year age gap between us. My mother and sister were always closer than me and my mother were since Sarah was older than me and understood things better than I could.
A few years after my father passed, my mother met a man at work. Ever since then, that is who she spends most of her free time with when she isn’t at work. The first time I ever met my mother’s new boyfriend, Eric, I thought he looked familiar. My mother used to go through old pictures with me and she would show me all of the memories that I couldn’t remember since I was so little at the time. I remember seeing a picture of me and my father together when we went to Disney World when I was only two years old and Eric’s features reminded me of that picture of my father. Maybe that was just me wishing my father was still in my life.
My mother was getting all dolled up like she did almost every night to go out with Eric. We didn’t really talk all week since she worked ridiculous hours so I decided to go into her room while she put on all of that dark makeup and ask her a few questions. I knocked on the door and before I could give her time to answer I walked in and saw her rush to put her blouse over her camisole. My eyes went straight to the back of her arm where I saw the biggest and brightest bruise I had ever seen on someone. She turned around and saw the shocked look on my face and started to tell me that it was an accident that happened while she was at work. Before she left I wanted to ask her a few questions about Eric to get to know him a little more. I found out his last name was Collins. Once I got that little bit of information out of her she finished getting ready and her and Eric left for their date.
Eric seemed like a loser and he appeared to not be good enough for my mother. The stories that my sister told me about my father were never that great because he was an alcoholic and she didn’t have any good memories to tell me that included him. I thought that she was making things up about him because she always said that she was closer with our mother than she was with our father.
I told Sarah that I saw the bruise on our mom but as soon as I told her she immediately said that it is wasn’t Eric. I wasn’t sure why she blurted that out considering I never once said anything about Eric and the bruise together. The comment that Sarah said when I told her about the bruise was stuck in my mind and I couldn’t help but to put things together on my own even if that seemed like a crazy thing to do.
After I thought about things for a really long time I decided to go back into my mother’s room and find the pictures that we looked through before. I wanted to find that picture of my father and I from our Disney World trip that I saw before and maybe even more pictures of him before I was even born. While I was going through the pictures I came across a picture of all of us, me, my mother, Sarah, and my father. I went to reach for another photo album and I accidently knocked the picture I was looking at on the floor. When I got off of the bed to pick it up from off of the floor it was upside down. I noticed small print writing in the bottom corner of the picture. I picked up the picture and walked over to the lamp in the corner of the room so that I could see the writing better. The back of the photo read: Me, Eric, and the kids.
What? Eric? My mother’s boyfriend is my dad? How?
I heard the door slam and I rushed to put all of the pictures back into the plastic tote that my mother kept them in and I pushed it back under her bed. I quickly ran out of her room so that her and Sarah didn’t see me come out of there. I walked over to the top of the steps. My mother was lying on the rug that was sitting right in front of the door, her hair was a little messed up and her dark makeup was no longer on her face. She called out for Sarah as she glared up the steps at me as if I wasn’t standing right there and I wouldn’t help her with what she needed. Sarah quickly went running down the steps and right past me like I wasn’t even standing there.
They never see me.
I quietly snuck down the stairs to hear what my sister and mom were talking about in hopes to find out more information.
“Mom, you have to leave him. You can’t keep letting him do this to you!” Sarah whispered as soft as she could.
“I can’t Sarah! He will kill me and he might even kill you kids. I can’t lose you or your brother.” my mother cried.
“Dad wouldn’t kill me and Max, he has to have some kind of love for us even though he isn’t around us and pretends like his life is better off without us in it.”
I didn’t want to go back upstairs yet because I wanted to hear the truth about my father since I was told he died from liver cancer because he was an alcoholic. All I could think about was all the lies I was told through my whole life.
“Your dad didn’t know what he was getting himself into. When we got together he said he didn’t want kids but it happened anyway and we agreed to not tell you kids that he was your father.”
“Be quiet or Max will hear you! He will know all of the secrets.” Sarah whispered as she put her hand over my mother’s mouth.
“I have had enough of this Sarah! You aren’t even supposed to know that Eric is the father of your and Max. You and Max are supposed to know that he is my boyfriend. The abuse has been worse lately because he suspects that you know the truth.” my mom screamed as if she was in pain.
I ran up the steps as fast as I could, skipping every other step as if that made me get up them a little faster. Has my whole life been a lie? How many things have they been hiding from me? Why is my sister the only one my mom talks to? Will I ever have the answers? Sarah heard my bedroom door slam and she ran up the stars and pushed open my door.
“Is everything okay Max?” Sarah said as if nothing happened.
“What do you think Sarah? So who is my real father? I knew all along that the picture from Disney was Eric! It looked just like him. I heard every word you and mother said to each other. Why is he doing this to her?” I screamed back at her.
Sarah wrapped me in her arms and buried her face in to my shoulder and cried. I buried my face and did the same.
She started shaking her head, while she was sobbing. “I don’t know… Eric didn’t want us. He is our father but he wishes he wasn’t. I wasn’t even supposed to know but I pulled it out of mom because I was putting things together just like you were Max.” Tears kept rolling down her face. “It’s wrong, Max!” she cried.
A huge crash from downstairs stopped our cries and we ran downstairs to see what it was. I saw the shadow of Eric’s head disappear on the wall of the hallway before the door slammed shut. It was silent. The only thing I could hear was the beating of my heart, coming out of my chest. I saw the pool of blood gradually get bigger on the wooden floor. I fixed my eyes on the gas on my mom’s head filled with broken glass from the broken lamp lying next to her, flickering its light. Sarah ran to her, screaming at me to get the phone to call 911.
But I stood there. Frozen. Staring at my now dead mother’s body. I was becoming lightheaded, the sound of Sarah’s voice fading away. The room felt like it was spinning and I could no longer hear the sounds of my own beating heart.
Mary Duvall Junior
Love is Endless
They had been best friends since elementary school
They would play tag every day at recess
And they would laugh until they fell over
Sitting together at lunch, they would share a juice box
Their friendship was eternal
Years passed, and Mike and Lisa were off to high school
They were still friends, but it was not the same anymore
They were being torn into two different directions
Mike went the sports route, while Lisa focused on musical theater
They tried dating; they would go to their favorite ice-cream shop
Splitting the triple scoop icecream
They would laugh and talk for hours until the sun went down
They knew it would not work
They were friends first.
When senior year rolled around they had made new friends
College came before they knew it
They went to colleges on different sides of the country
The calls and texts slowly diminished
He became the football star, and she was on the way to becoming an actress
Throughout college, Lisa met a new guy named Chris
They hit it off right away.
They dated for a year when he popped the question
He got down on one knee;
Holding up the shiny engagement ring;
She put it on her finger;
Watching it shimmer in the sunlight
Knowing that she belonged to someone was the best feeling
She loved how his eyes sparkled,
She was simply happy.
Then the wedding day rolled around
She was extremely nervous.
As the minutes slowly passed,
He words became mutters and she began to constantly sweat
It was time, time for her to marry the love of her life
Well that’s what she thought
When Lisa got to the alter she saw Chris staring at her in the eye
The pastor then said repeat after me, “Chris…”
She swallowed hard and took a deep breath
“Mike...”
Everyone gasped.
She could not believe what she had said.
Chris looked at her with curiosity and astonishment
“I’m sorry” she said and ran out of the church
She ran fast to the nearest phone that she could find.
She dialed the number, but she was nervous,
So she had to redial three times
As her fingers slipped from each number
She was calling Mike.
The phone picked up and a deep voice said, “Hello”?
She then answered back while crying, “Hey it’s Lisa! How are you?”
Shamar greenwood Junior
Allergies
There is a man named Joseph with a serious allergy to religions. He lived his life normally until he turned 18 and moved out of his mainly Christian community into the other side of town where there are other religions. He seemed to be unfazed by Christians having been around them his whole life. It all started when he meets his new friend Mohamed and Mohamed invited him to the mosque. They walked in the building Joseph started breathing heavily” Mohamed I can’t breathe help” Someone sneezed then the worst thing possible happened one of them said “bless you” Joseph passed out.
Joseph awakes in the hospital and the nurse says “you seem to be a on outta a billion people to catch the disease” he sighs “why me”. His doctor comes and says “ in order to stay somewhat normal you’re going to have to move into Christian community or live in a church because you seeing items from different religions and hearing certain words sets your allergies off “ and pats him on the shoulder and he begins sneezing “ what’s going on” Joseph yells, Joseph looks up at his doctor and he sees a Yakima and passes out.
We fast forward a week latter where he has move to a Christian neighborhood again. The door begins ringing on a Sunday morning joseph comes to the door smiling. The door opens to a man dressed up and says” would you like to learn about our lord and saver” Joseph quickly became weak but it was too late the Jehovah witness was too much he died.
No More Secrets
It all started when I was about ten years old, I was just a clueless young boy that everyone seemed to lie to. My mother, Amber, was the only parent I remember having around since my father died when I was only three years old. My sister, Sarah, and I weren’t that close and I always knew she was hiding things from me but I knew she did that only because we had a seven year age gap between us. My mother and sister were always closer than me and my mother were since Sarah was older than me and understood things better than I could.
A few years after my father passed, my mother met a man at work. Ever since then, that is who she spends most of her free time with when she isn’t at work. The first time I ever met my mother’s new boyfriend, Eric, I thought he looked familiar. My mother used to go through old pictures with me and she would show me all of the memories that I couldn’t remember since I was so little at the time. I remember seeing a picture of me and my father together when we went to Disney World when I was only two years old and Eric’s features reminded me of that picture of my father. Maybe that was just me wishing my father was still in my life.
My mother was getting all dolled up like she did almost every night to go out with Eric. We didn’t really talk all week since she worked ridiculous hours so I decided to go into her room while she put on all of that dark makeup and ask her a few questions. I knocked on the door and before I could give her time to answer I walked in and saw her rush to put her blouse over her camisole. My eyes went straight to the back of her arm where I saw the biggest and brightest bruise I had ever seen on someone. She turned around and saw the shocked look on my face and started to tell me that it was an accident that happened while she was at work. Before she left I wanted to ask her a few questions about Eric to get to know him a little more. I found out his last name was Collins. Once I got that little bit of information out of her she finished getting ready and her and Eric left for their date.
Eric seemed like a loser and he appeared to not be good enough for my mother. The stories that my sister told me about my father were never that great because he was an alcoholic and she didn’t have any good memories to tell me that included him. I thought that she was making things up about him because she always said that she was closer with our mother than she was with our father.
I told Sarah that I saw the bruise on our mom but as soon as I told her she immediately said that it is wasn’t Eric. I wasn’t sure why she blurted that out considering I never once said anything about Eric and the bruise together. The comment that Sarah said when I told her about the bruise was stuck in my mind and I couldn’t help but to put things together on my own even if that seemed like a crazy thing to do.
After I thought about things for a really long time I decided to go back into my mother’s room and find the pictures that we looked through before. I wanted to find that picture of my father and I from our Disney World trip that I saw before and maybe even more pictures of him before I was even born. While I was going through the pictures I came across a picture of all of us, me, my mother, Sarah, and my father. I went to reach for another photo album and I accidently knocked the picture I was looking at on the floor. When I got off of the bed to pick it up from off of the floor it was upside down. I noticed small print writing in the bottom corner of the picture. I picked up the picture and walked over to the lamp in the corner of the room so that I could see the writing better. The back of the photo read: Me, Eric, and the kids.
What? Eric? My mother’s boyfriend is my dad? How?
I heard the door slam and I rushed to put all of the pictures back into the plastic tote that my mother kept them in and I pushed it back under her bed. I quickly ran out of her room so that her and Sarah didn’t see me come out of there. I walked over to the top of the steps. My mother was lying on the rug that was sitting right in front of the door, her hair was a little messed up and her dark makeup was no longer on her face. She called out for Sarah as she glared up the steps at me as if I wasn’t standing right there and I wouldn’t help her with what she needed. Sarah quickly went running down the steps and right past me like I wasn’t even standing there.
They never see me.
I quietly snuck down the stairs to hear what my sister and mom were talking about in hopes to find out more information.
“Mom, you have to leave him. You can’t keep letting him do this to you!” Sarah whispered as soft as she could.
“I can’t Sarah! He will kill me and he might even kill you kids. I can’t lose you or your brother.” my mother cried.
“Dad wouldn’t kill me and Max, he has to have some kind of love for us even though he isn’t around us and pretends like his life is better off without us in it.”
I didn’t want to go back upstairs yet because I wanted to hear the truth about my father since I was told he died from liver cancer because he was an alcoholic. All I could think about was all the lies I was told through my whole life.
“Your dad didn’t know what he was getting himself into. When we got together he said he didn’t want kids but it happened anyway and we agreed to not tell you kids that he was your father.”
“Be quiet or Max will hear you! He will know all of the secrets.” Sarah whispered as she put her hand over my mother’s mouth.
“I have had enough of this Sarah! You aren’t even supposed to know that Eric is the father of your and Max. You and Max are supposed to know that he is my boyfriend. The abuse has been worse lately because he suspects that you know the truth.” my mom screamed as if she was in pain.
I ran up the steps as fast as I could, skipping every other step as if that made me get up them a little faster. Has my whole life been a lie? How many things have they been hiding from me? Why is my sister the only one my mom talks to? Will I ever have the answers? Sarah heard my bedroom door slam and she ran up the stars and pushed open my door.
“Is everything okay Max?” Sarah said as if nothing happened.
“What do you think Sarah? So who is my real father? I knew all along that the picture from Disney was Eric! It looked just like him. I heard every word you and mother said to each other. Why is he doing this to her?” I screamed back at her.
Sarah wrapped me in her arms and buried her face in to my shoulder and cried. I buried my face and did the same.
She started shaking her head, while she was sobbing. “I don’t know… Eric didn’t want us. He is our father but he wishes he wasn’t. I wasn’t even supposed to know but I pulled it out of mom because I was putting things together just like you were Max.” Tears kept rolling down her face. “It’s wrong, Max!” she cried.
A huge crash from downstairs stopped our cries and we ran downstairs to see what it was. I saw the shadow of Eric’s head disappear on the wall of the hallway before the door slammed shut. It was silent. The only thing I could hear was the beating of my heart, coming out of my chest. I saw the pool of blood gradually get bigger on the wooden floor. I fixed my eyes on the gas on my mom’s head filled with broken glass from the broken lamp lying next to her, flickering its light. Sarah ran to her, screaming at me to get the phone to call 911.
But I stood there. Frozen. Staring at my now dead mother’s body. I was becoming lightheaded, the sound of Sarah’s voice fading away. The room felt like it was spinning and I could no longer hear the sounds of my own beating heart.
Mary Duvall Junior
Love is Endless
They had been best friends since elementary school
They would play tag every day at recess
And they would laugh until they fell over
Sitting together at lunch, they would share a juice box
Their friendship was eternal
Years passed, and Mike and Lisa were off to high school
They were still friends, but it was not the same anymore
They were being torn into two different directions
Mike went the sports route, while Lisa focused on musical theater
They tried dating; they would go to their favorite ice-cream shop
Splitting the triple scoop icecream
They would laugh and talk for hours until the sun went down
They knew it would not work
They were friends first.
When senior year rolled around they had made new friends
College came before they knew it
They went to colleges on different sides of the country
The calls and texts slowly diminished
He became the football star, and she was on the way to becoming an actress
Throughout college, Lisa met a new guy named Chris
They hit it off right away.
They dated for a year when he popped the question
He got down on one knee;
Holding up the shiny engagement ring;
She put it on her finger;
Watching it shimmer in the sunlight
Knowing that she belonged to someone was the best feeling
She loved how his eyes sparkled,
She was simply happy.
Then the wedding day rolled around
She was extremely nervous.
As the minutes slowly passed,
He words became mutters and she began to constantly sweat
It was time, time for her to marry the love of her life
Well that’s what she thought
When Lisa got to the alter she saw Chris staring at her in the eye
The pastor then said repeat after me, “Chris…”
She swallowed hard and took a deep breath
“Mike...”
Everyone gasped.
She could not believe what she had said.
Chris looked at her with curiosity and astonishment
“I’m sorry” she said and ran out of the church
She ran fast to the nearest phone that she could find.
She dialed the number, but she was nervous,
So she had to redial three times
As her fingers slipped from each number
She was calling Mike.
The phone picked up and a deep voice said, “Hello”?
She then answered back while crying, “Hey it’s Lisa! How are you?”
Shamar greenwood Junior
Allergies
There is a man named Joseph with a serious allergy to religions. He lived his life normally until he turned 18 and moved out of his mainly Christian community into the other side of town where there are other religions. He seemed to be unfazed by Christians having been around them his whole life. It all started when he meets his new friend Mohamed and Mohamed invited him to the mosque. They walked in the building Joseph started breathing heavily” Mohamed I can’t breathe help” Someone sneezed then the worst thing possible happened one of them said “bless you” Joseph passed out.
Joseph awakes in the hospital and the nurse says “you seem to be a on outta a billion people to catch the disease” he sighs “why me”. His doctor comes and says “ in order to stay somewhat normal you’re going to have to move into Christian community or live in a church because you seeing items from different religions and hearing certain words sets your allergies off “ and pats him on the shoulder and he begins sneezing “ what’s going on” Joseph yells, Joseph looks up at his doctor and he sees a Yakima and passes out.
We fast forward a week latter where he has move to a Christian neighborhood again. The door begins ringing on a Sunday morning joseph comes to the door smiling. The door opens to a man dressed up and says” would you like to learn about our lord and saver” Joseph quickly became weak but it was too late the Jehovah witness was too much he died.