Writing to the Audience

Mother
“Oh, this bruise? It’s nothing really. When I got out of the movies last night this guy ran into me. I took a pretty bad fall, but it was no big deal. Yeah, the guy is definitely fine…well, really better than fine – not a scratch on him, in fact. Why is that? Probably because he knocked into me on purpose, but like I said, it’s no big. I’m not really that hurt and I didn’t have any money on me anyway. I promise I’m fine.”

Best Friend
“You won’t believe what happened last night. I was leaving the movies and this guy came out of nowhere. He made me hand over all the money I had on me then he hit me well enough that I fell. He ran off without doing more damage than that, thank God. But can you believe it? The poor guy seemed like he really needed the money though. He was really young and he looked hungry. It’s too bad he didn’t just ask, I would have given him some money without taking a hit.”

Significant Other
“Well, I was coming out of the movies when this young kid came up to me. I think he was really hungry, so he probably wasn’t thinking strait. He grabbed my arm and asked for all my money. I would have given it to him anyway, but after I did he made sure I couldn’t follow him. I don’t think he meant for me to get hurt, and it’s only a small bruise – it doesn’t even hurt. I just feel bad for that poor kid. Maybe if I see him again I can help him out more.”

Therapist
“I wonder what happened to him that he would feel that he needed to hurt me and force me to help him. If he had asked, I would have given my help willingly. Someone must have hurt him terribly, and to be so young and so untrusting. I wish people wouldn’t have children if they couldn’t take care of them. The poor boy didn’t look older than fifteen. I’m sure he isn’t in school; I’ve never seen him in the halls. How could people be so cruel as to hurt an innocent child that badly?”

Police Officer
“Well, he was a young boy. I don’t think he meant to hurt me; I’m naturally clumsy so the bruise is probably my own fault. He’s about fifteen with dark hair. He’s wearing a blue jacket and jeans. I hope you can find him and help him. He looked like he could use a good meal and some loving care. I’d bet he’s living on the streets without a family to speak of. Please let me know if you find him. I’d like to help him if I can.”

Unreliable Narrative

“So…as I was saying, this island is full of treasure just there for the taking. All we have to do is find it first.”
“But, Sir, isn’t there the small matter of the people living on the island?”
“There are no people living on the island, Blue Johnny. This island is totally empty – except for the treasure of course. Once we find this treasure we will be greater than all the other pirates put together. Everyone will be singing the praises of Captain Couscous. I will be the most feared pirate to ever sail the seas. My flag will fly above all the other flags wherever we go. My ship’s hull will be so full of gold that the ship will barely be above sea level. The mast will be fashioned from solid gold pulled from the soil of this desolate island.”
“That’s all good and well, Captain, but this island dweller, who doesn’t exist to begin with, is telling us that there is no gold here. If they haven’t found any gold how are we going to?”
“I told you, there is no one living here! But if there were, they would not have the intelligence and tools that we do. We can pull this entire island out of the ocean and flip it over to look for the gold hidden underneath. There is no way that we will not find the gold!”
Two years later, Captain Couscous and his crew washed ashore in tatters. The ship was barely above sea level, there was no longer any mast to speak of, and the flags were long gone. The king, having financed the good Captain in secret hoping for a cut of the gold, ordered Captain Couscous to be brought before him. Seeing that the ship had returned worse for the wear and definitely devoid of gold, the king demanded an explanation of Captain Couscous.
“Well, Sire, it was a horrible voyage. The crossing over nearly killed my men with all the storms we faces, and it took so long we nearly ran out of food and fresh water. When we got there a completely deserted island without even a tree to give us sustenance greeted us. Knowing our duty to the crown, we immediately began looking for treasure, showing no regard for the state of our ravaged bodies. We searched until we could search no more, but there was no gold to be found, Sire. Eventually we had to turn back; else we would not have been able to return at all. As it was, we barely made it back here in one piece, but I knew it was my duty to report to your royal self.”
“Why then, if it was your duty, were you brought before us dragged in with the chains bound to your wrists?”
“I was afraid of your displeasure, Your Majesty. I was hoping to find some better news to bring to you before I gave my report. You see, I would like your permission and support to outfit my ship for another voyage to a different island that the natives on this one told us about. Apparently, on this other island, they have entire temples filled with gold. If it pleases, Sire, I would like to leave within a fortnight to journey to this island.”
“Natives you say, but I thought you said the island was completely deserted.”
“That is true, Your Majesty, I did. You see the natives were so devoid of mental faculties that there was no reason to call attention to them at all. They were little better than animals. I was able to bring back one of these creatures for Your Most Greatness to study. He did not come willingly, but he is in better spirits now that he is back on land. I hope my meager contribution pleases you, Sire.”
“Well, it will have to do for now, and I will grant you permission to sail to this other island, but as to funding you are on your own. The crown is not in the habit of funding the voyages of pirates. Go now and do not return unless you have something of value to bring before me.”
After re-outfitting the ship on the crown’s expense, Captain Couscous and his crew sailed to this other island. The difficult journey took them three weeks. When they arrived, Captain Couscous thought it was a good time for one of his wonderfully motivating speeches.
“Once again we find ourselves on the shores of an empty island. Empty except for the gold of course. This island is so full of gold and jewels that we will not be able to fit it all on the ship for the return voyage. In fact, I believe we will have to build a second ship just to hold the treasure we will find! Yes, boys, there is no limit to the riches to be found.”
“But, Sir, this native is saying that there is no gold.”
“Will you shut up, Blue Johnny!?!”

Thoughtful Alphabet

No. 1

August benevolence cheers
Decline evangelicals fears
Great happiness includes jokes
Kristallnacts limit many new oppressions
Perfect quiet restricts serious talk
Under valleys water expels young zebras

The Court

Always back carefully down
Evening formal gowns have
Injured justly
Kings love many
Never one princess
Queens refuse several trysts under veils
When expelled
You zoom

The Prophecy

“Some people are definitely screwed up from birth.” Ray was always surprised at the things people did when they thought no one was watching. Not only the things they did, but also the things they threw away. Mrs. Humphrey tossed an entire bed set last week because her boyfriend broke up with her, and the week before Mr. Bogart chucked all his old vinyl albums. Today though, the mystery was wrapped up in a person Ray had never seen on this street before. At first the man seemed to just be limping, but the stagger grew more pronounced as Ray moved closer, and he decided to make sure the man was okay and also introduce himself since this man was a potential customer.
“Hello, Sir, my name is Ray. I’m the garbage collector for this neighborhood, and I couldn’t help but notice that you were new here. Did you just move in recently?” Ray was a fan of small talk. In his experience, if he opened the conversation with something trivial, the person he was talking to would run with it and spill their life stories. Besides, it would have been rude to just ask why the man was walking so awkwardly.
“Hi. I’m Charles Glass. I just moved here from Africa actually so I am new in town. However, I’m pretty sure that you don’t care since you were staring at my legs for your entire walk over here. Don’t worry; you aren’t the first person to gawk at me. It’s a pretty interesting story actually.” Ray just kept on staring as Charles began his story.
“After I finished college I decided to travel, and since my parents were pretty rich, I actually could. First I went to Europe and Asia just like all the cool kids do, and then I decided to make it a world tour. Why not go to every continent? After all, very few people would get that chance and maybe it would be a good selling point when I started looking for a job. So off to Africa I went.”
“I was in a little village on the outskirts of the Sahara when I met Sabina. She didn’t say a word; she just walked right up, grabbed my hand, and led me away. Since there was no way she was a physical threat to me, I didn’t bother to fight her. It was fairly simple to keep up to her, even for those not accustomed to walking the terrain because she walked rather oddly. Every time she took a step her left foot landed three times before she picked up her right foot. Of course I was a bit curios, but as of yet she hadn’t shown any sign of wanting to talk so I kept following.”
“Eventually we came to this little hut or tent depending on how nice you wanted to be at the time, and she led me in. As we sat facing each other, I could tell that she was gearing up for something, and I was right. She told me the story of the prophecy. She said, ‘When civilizations were new and gods had power, a mortal girl called Cassandra was given the gift of sight by Apollo. She rejected his love and he cursed her to never be believed. My ancestor saw through this curse and followed on of Cassandra’s prophecies. Cassandra instructed her to take three steps with her left foot before each step with her right. She was then told to pass this down through each generation of the family, parent to child, and good fortune would follow them always. I am the first of my family that was given this trust who was unable to conceive. Because of this, I decided to enter a trance to summon the spirit of Cassandra and divine what she wished me to do. I was afraid that the luck of my family would end with me. Cassandra led me to you. She said my ancestor misunderstood the prophecy. The gift does not need to be passed through our family, but through the generations of the world. Each to carry the gift is to pass it on to one of their choosing who is a generation younger. My time has passed and now I pass this gift to you. As long as you carry it, fortune will follow. I caution to choose well in the passing for the bearer has great power for good or evil.’ And that was all she said before she unceremoniously pulled me out of her tent and proceeded to teach me how to walk correctly. Ever since then I wandered the world walking this way. I returned to Africa fifteen years later to seek out the woman and thank her for her gift, but when I reached her village I learned of her death very shortly after I had gone.”
“Now in the fifteen years I have carried this gift, many people have asked me about why I walk the way I do, and I have never found anyone to pass the gift to. This morning as I was slowly waking I had a dream. A beautiful young girl told me that I would meet the man to take the gift today, and I pretty sure that means you. Now you have heard the story, what do you think?”
Ray just stared at the man convinced that someone was playing a joke on him. Because there were only two other choices: either this man was literally crazy, or he was sane. Ray wasn’t sure what the more frightening option was really. But what hurt could there be in trying. He already collected other people’s garbage for a living, it’s not like his life could be less fun. “Sure, I’m in.”
“That’s good son. Now watch how I walk and follow me.” Ray mimicked the walk perfectly on the second try and saw that Charles was then walking normally. Suddenly he felt a bit dizzy, but it passed quickly and he put it down to low blood sugar. As he bid Charles goodbye and watched him walk away, suddenly walking very normally, Ray understood that his life would change. The only question would be, how?

Stanley

“Where were you last night?” That is a great question. I look down at my torn jeans and bloody arms as I try to come up with an answer that wouldn’t shock my father too badly. The truth would probably kill him; after all, it’s not every parent that has a vampire slayer for a daughter. The only logical thing I can think of to explain my appearance is that I took a fall on my bike. I’m not sure that he really believes me, but there is nothing else I can do for now, I have to leave for “school”.
“What did you tell your father?” my watcher asks before even saying hello I might add.
“I told him that I went to a dog fight and this huge guy pushed me into the ring. They barely pulled me out before the dogs ate me for dinner. It was very traumatic…” I can’t help myself; it’s always the same question every morning. It’s like he doesn’t think I am capable of keeping a secret.
“Very funny. Fall off your bike again, did you?” Like he didn’t know very well that was the story I was going to use. Pretty soon my father would probably take away my bike and then we would need a new excuse for my daily bruising. Especially since it was not likely to stop with Stanley is in town. Don’t let the name fool you, he’s as bad ass as they come, just had cruel parents I guess. Anyway, he’s the villain of the week and if I don’t stop him soon even the mystically ignorant are going to start noticing that something is up.
Another day, another vampire might as well be my motto at this point. Not a week goes by that some vampire who thinks he’s Satan’s gift doesn’t show up and start causing problems in my city. Like Chicago doesn’t have enough problems without help from the undead. Oliver and I continue training until early afternoon when school lets out and I go home for a nap. Tonight is the night that I am going to face Stanley once and for all.
Sometimes the quiet gets to me, especially at night. I should be used to it I guess, being alone so much, but it can get creepy. Especially when I’m busy hunting a vampire in the worst parts of town. At least I’ve only got one more street until I get there. There is no way he will beat me tonight, I’ve got all the weapons I need and the advantage of surprise and home turf.
However, I arrive to an ambush. I have no idea how he knew to be ready for me, but Stanley’s boys were at the door – the undead welcome wagon. There were five crowding the door as I entered. One I caught off guard with a cut to the jaw and staked him quick. Two I flung holy water at to get them out of the way. Next was another stake and then a quick beheading with my knife. When the two wet ones came back I was ready with another stake. One went down easy, the other not so much. For about twenty minutes we beat the crap out of each other until I managed to get under his guard and stake him.
With the lackeys out of the way, I made my way into the house proper. I use the term house loosely; mostly it was a glorified hole in the wall. Finally I found Stanley hanging out in back reading a book of all things. I guess that explains the horrible name. When I walked in he looked up from his reading, put the book down carefully, and flew at me full force before I had time to react. It’s now or never.

Jessica Jones
1969-1986
Beloved Daughter

“I can’t believe I lost her to Stanley. This should have been an easy kill for Jessica, she had already faced so much worse. I wish I could have taught her more, made her faster or prepared her better for that night. To think that she would have been taken out by a common vampire like that is so terribly sad. I am sorry to have to send this horrible news to the council but it is important that the next slayer to be called should be sent to stop Stanley and to stand guard here in Chicago. Dark forces seem to be drawn here and without a slayer these people will be helpless.”

The Scratch

Okay, now I know that I heard that. This old house tends to groan and creak and such, especially at night when the creep factor is at its max, but it has never scratched before. If I had a dog I would swear it was just him crossing in front of the door, the noise sounded just like dog nails as they walk across hardwood floors. Of course I don’t have a dog, so what could be making that noise. I know I turned off the TV before I got in the shower so it can’t be that. It’s probably just my imagination anyway, but I think I will cut the shower short and check it out.
Holy shit! That has got to be the biggest dog I have ever seen in my life. I guess my little dog analogy works for this one, but in retrospect I’m kind of wishing it hadn’t. It just stood there staring at me. It’s strange but I got the feeling that it was expecting something from me. He looked at me like he knew who I was. Come to think of it, why is he standing outside the door when he is obviously large enough to push it open? Tap, tap, tap, scratch, tap. What, now there are more of them? It sounds like he called in the reinforcements. Of course, because he couldn’t have killed me with one swipe of a paw if he wanted to, it will take at least six of them to bring me down, but only because they have to get through the door first and catch me.
Okay, I have been hiding in here for an hour now, and I haven’t heard anything else. That could mean two things: either they are still out there or I imagined the whole thing to begin with. Well, there’s only one way to find out…

The Game

“This game is awesome, Wyatt! Where did you get it? Did Uncle Scott give it to you for your birthday?”
“Nah, he just gave me money. It was actually Aunt Gabby who gave it to me this year. I’ve been playing it constantly for a week. I am now prepared to kick your ass.” Aunt Gabby was definitely the best in the family when it came to birthday gifts. Parker couldn’t wait for his day in a month. Hopefully he would get just as good of a game. “What are you waiting for? Let’s play!”
“Alright, calm down. You don’t need to be in such a hurry to lose.”
Six games later Wyatt had yet to win once. For him this was totally unfair because this was his game and his birthday. “Okay, one more game. There is no way I am going down this time! I will have my revenge!”
“Hey, chill. It’s not my fault that you suck at this game. Not everyone can be as good as me after all.”
“As good as you? Are you serious? I am so better than you! If you would just stop cheating I would start winning.”
“Cheating?! I don’t cheat. What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being such a sore loser? It’s a just a game. Get over it!”
“Get over it? God, you are such an ass! And you’re a liar. You know you are cheating, I saw it. With my own two eyes. You are using your super strength and that’s against the rules. So, that’s cheating!”
“What? I used mine because you used yours. And don’t call me an ass. Look, I’m sorry you’re upset because I win so much. Let’s just do something else for awhile.”

The New Family

Judy was sitting off to the side with a faraway look on her face, telling the world that her thoughts were not exactly on the moment she was in. This would be okay if she wasn’t surrounded by people at her daughter’s engagement party. However, her thoughts were wandering along the road that her daughter and new son-in-law would be traveling once they married.
Shortly, Beth, the mother of the groom, sat down beside her and pulled her out of her dream space. “So how are you enjoying the party, Beth? I think it all came together rather well.” It was obvious to any observer that though this was small talk, the women already shared a bond.
“Actually, Judy, I am a little upset. I can’t believe that Sam is getting married. He is still awfully young to be doing something so grown up. I guess I am just having trouble letting go after taking care of them all these years. I know that they make each other happy though, and in the end that is all that really matters. Joe and I know that we are sending him off into a good beginning for his new life with Sara.” Everyone within hearing knew that the sentiments were sincere, but they also knew that Beth was barely holding in the tears. Losing her only son so young was difficult for her. For Judy it was different. Sara was her youngest daughter so she had already gone through this before. Though it did not lessen the pain, she was more accustomed to hiding it.
A few moments later the women were shocked out of their reverie when a very frantic looking young woman walked up to them rather abruptly. “Ladies, what are you doing just sitting around chatting? There are so many people here that you should be talking to! You need to mingle; you are the parents of the people getting married you know.” The two women did not look too troubled by the rudeness underlying the exclamation. They knew that her nerves were frazzled from all the festivities around them. After all, they remembered when it was their turn to be the bride.
Knowing that Sara and Sam were likely to have the same kind of loving relationship that both of their parents had, neither Beth nor Judy was really all the worried about them. They were mostly just sad to realize that their children were all grown up and starting a new family together.

History Class

“I can’t believe how boring Sarge’s class was today! I mean, I actually came close to just walking out. How do you stand it, Jules? If he just let me play games on my computer during lectures it would be fine. But no, he has to sit behind me whenever he gets the chance and make sure that I am at maximum boredness.”
“Maybe he just wants you to pay attention so you can actually learn something? I’m sure he isn’t doing it just to torment you.”
“Well, he doesn’t do it to anyone else in the class who is on their computers. If he was a good teaher he would understand how to keep my attention so I wouldn’t have to find something else to do. It’s so bad that today I did English homework while pretending to take notes on the most boring PowerPoint presentation I have ever had to sit through. The really sad part is, I’m not even really missing anything. So far there is nothing I haven’t already learned somewhere else.”
“Lily, that doesn’t mean you can be rude. He is a professor so you have to give him the respect he’s paid for. Besides, it is up to you to learn. You only get out of it what you put into it.”
“Yeah, I know. But, Jules, I tried. I really wanted to learn about the battles and such, it is a Civil War class after all, but he’s not even teaching that stuff. We are supposed to teach the battles to each other. Not one group in the class has really worked together and done a great job. There are just a few people scattered around that know what they are doing and everyone else just leeches off of them. It’s horrible.”
“And I’m guessing you would be one of those people?”
“Damn strait!”

Leaving

“Are you okay, Sam?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be okay? I actually got an A on my history exam today. Thanks for the help by the way, Audrey.”
“No problem. That’s great! But what about Jesse?”
“Jesse is fine. I’m pretty sure he is working tonight though, so I won’t get to see him after class. Why do you ask?” Though I might go surprise him at work. It’s not like he is ever really busy there after all.
“Well, Sam, who is my friend, I don’t think you are going to see Jesse for a while.”
“Why would you say that? Do you know something I don’t? Is he hurt? What happened? Oh my god! Is he dead? I can’t believe he’s gone – the love of my life. How will I ever live without him?”
“He’s not hurt or dead, Sam. But he is gone.”
“Thank god! Don’t scare me like that. And he’s not gone. I just saw him yesterday. Where did you get that idea?”
“I saw him yesterday too, Sam. He told me he was leaving. He is moving to Mass over the weekend. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No, Audrey, he didn’t tell me. And if he were leaving, he definitely would have said something. After all, we have been dating for three years now. I’m expecting to be engaged any day… Hey! Has he asked for your help choosing a ring yet? You know I like blue topaz and not diamonds, right? When is he going to ask? I want to be ready so I can act surprised!”
“Sam, I think you’re missing something here-“
“No, you are the one missing something. Jesse loves me and would never leave me. Especially without telling me first. He would never leave me.”

The Perfect Nuts

Krystle was worried. She knew that she had to stay away from nuts; they were always her downfall. But here were the perfect nuts, sweet and salty and just begging her to take them. They were even calling out to her. She could hear their voices echoing through her mind as she gazed at them. Her mother had warned her against nuts, she knew that if she took them she would react badly, probably breaking out in hives, but she couldn’t help herself. Nuts were her secret passion, her addiction, her only love.
“Krystle, are you listening? You look like you floated off into another world.” Krystle’s friend Jules didn’t know about Krystle’s obsession with nuts. As far as Jules knew, Krystle was just a normal girl who never did anything wrong. But Krystle hid a dark secret, the secret of the nuts.
“I’m fine. I guess I was just letting my mind wander. I’m sorry, did I miss anything?” In about ten seconds she was caught back up to the conversation. After all it was hard to miss anything when the topic was so dull compared to nuts anyway. How could she stay standing here when the nuts she so desired were only steps away? She had to go over and take them just this once. Maybe her mother was wrong after all and the nuts wouldn’t hurt her. She would never know unless she tried these nuts. And maybe these nuts were different than all the ones that had made her sick in the past. They looked different - they looked better. These nuts were perfection.
As Krystle began to move across the room, almost involuntarily, a sudden thought struck her. She heard her mother’s reaction in her head if she found out that her daughter had taken these nuts. The voice was in no way pleasant and it reminded Krystle of all the reasons she had been avoiding nuts her entire life. The reminder was all that she needed to stay where she was and try to pay attention to her friends, as they discussed nothing so fascinating as the nuts. But for the rest of night she kept stealing glances over to where the nuts rested across the room.

Character Development

“Are you kidding me?!? Did you seriously just steal my mushrooms? You ass!” Wyatt chose that moment to retaliate to the mushroom stealing by throwing a well aimed shell at Parker. “Ha! That’ll teach you to steal my mushrooms, asshole!”
“Right, because that wouldn’t be part of the game or anything would it, Wyatt? I mean, what is the world coming to when people actually try to win games when they are playing against each other? It’s madness, I tell you, madness!” Parker quickly managed to take the lead back after recovering from the shell scandal. About ten seconds later he won the race…again. “So, rematch or have you had your ass kicked enough for one night?”
“Like winning one race constitutes an ass-kicking? We’ve got a long night ahead before that could happen. We have plenty of time before we have to run anyway so it’s on.” In a hurry for no apparent reason, they chose their drivers and cars to begin a new race. Wyatt chose Wario and Yoshi with the convertible, while Parker took Mario and Toad in Mario’s car. “We have about two hours to get in as much racing as we can before night falls completely, so I’m guessing I’ll be up six races or so before our run.”
“In your dreams. This is my game, I always win. You might as well just give up on it already. By the way, I’ve got a killer amount of homework to do before moon rise so we’ll have to cut the playing time down to an hour at least. Much as I love the look of defeat on your face, I need an A in chem. so you’ll just have to live with a little bit of loss instead of a shit ton.” Parker really did want to play, but with the moon tonight, he needed to get work done ahead of time instead of playing catch-up later like Wyatt would.
“Right, cause you always win on run nights. Well, tonight is the night it will be different. Before the fur and fangs fly, I will annihilate your skinny little ass right here on Rainbow Road…that’s right, you’re going down!”
“‘Fur and fangs fly?’ Could you possibly be more dramatic? Besides, if you get to kick my ass in wolf form, I should at least get to beat you at Mario Kart. It’s only fair after all. Friends are supposed to share and not win everything. Didn’t your mother teach you that when you were a pup?” Parker had a feeling the rivalry would never end between him and Wyatt. It’s not like it was his fault he did better in school, he just worked harder for it.
“Yeah, yeah. Well, now that I’ve lost terribly, let’s head out for the woods. The run should be great tonight; it’s a clear sky so we can sing to the moon while actually looking at her for once. You know we’ve got a rematch tomorrow though right?”
“Of course we do, Wyatt. What else would we have to do with our time if we didn’t play video games?”

Work in Progress

Chapter 1

If life is a dance, then I will spend it dancing on the edge of madness. Many people could tell you of this place that is unlike any other. It is liken to a cliff, the edge of which is quite un-steady and could throw you off at any time. A slight misstep or a strong wind, and when you talk to plants, you suddenly get answers. The thing about this cliff or edge is that when you get there once, you have to fight like hell everyday for the rest of your life to avoid going over. If for only one moment you give up, you are already lost. In the end it is easier to give in to the madness and give up on the world, but it is the fight that allows us to keep our humanity for as long as we can. However, I fear that at some point it will all become too much and I will no longer have the strength to hang on.
My story comes in parts and is reliant on many factors. At this moment, I am only nine-teen, yet it strikes me that I have experienced more at my young age than some people experi-ence in their entire lifetime. I have read about people who spend most of their lives as hermits, and of course those who simply avoid living life out of fear people who spend weeks on end in their homes without any thought or desire of leaving to go out into the world. Fear is one of the few things in this world that can completely stop a person from living life. It is a powerful feel-ing, and once you give in, the game is over.

Run…run…run… This simple command seems to be all my brain is capable of telling me. Too bad that’s not much use at the moment. I’m stuck in a situation I can’t really run away from. You see, it’s the first day of my senior year in high school at Delong High School in the incredibly small city of Delong, Maine. As long as I can remember, I’ve always been on the outer fringes of the high school society; and it’s a very simple society really. At the top we have the rich kids and the star athletes. Directly below them are the academics, not so star athletes, and student council and club members. Below them are the average students, they make no trou-ble and get no notice. At the bottom we have the uninvolved, unmotivated and unsophisticated students. In a totally different sphere of humanity you have me. I don’t get to really be a part of any of the aforementioned groups, and believe me – I’ve tried. It just seems that there is some-thing different in the wiring of my brain that leaves me on the outside, an observer but not a par-ticipant of this drama we know as high school.
And yet today there is something different. My instincts are telling me to run but I can’t figure out why. There is no one new that I can see and nothing different about the school itself, so why the internal command? Since there is nothing my brain can find as out of the ordinary (or at least more than usual) I just continue on to first period psychology.

Now to give you a little background on me before this story gets a bit confusing for you. I have always lived in Delong. It’s a town with a population of about seven thousand give or take a hundred depending on the time of year. For those of you in normal parts of the country, if you would like to find my home, start driving north and when the border patrol stops you, you’re probably pretty close. The entire town is Catholic and being as it’s such a small town, if you do not attend church everyone knows it. Here we find problem number one: I’m not Catholic.
The reason I questioned and left the Church is because of my very special gift, which is where this story begins. I can sense intentions. Do not confuse this with mind reading or empathy - it is not quite as easy as that. The best I can do is to know if someone means harm or good in their endeavors, which can tell me the general character of a person in most cases. I have yet to find another with a “special gift” as I have taken to calling them. That does make sense though, I mean, if you found yourself suddenly reading minds or sensing emotions you would probably think you had gone crazy and why would you broadcast that all over town?
Now in this town that hates me I also get to have a family that is not the best. My mother took off on our family years ago so that I don’t really remember much besides what her voice sounded like through the walls as she screamed. My father was naturally devastated by this and became a rather absent parent. Luckily, I’m an only child, and so there were no other children for me to take care of, I only needed to look after myself. (Honestly, I’m just glad I never managed to burn the house down around me.)
However, I did manage to find two friends. Both are outsiders like me who can’t seem to find their place in the strict social structure. Natalie skipped ahead two grades and so hasn’t reached the same developmental level socially or otherwise. Faith happens to be a transfer stu-dent who was never accepted into a group because she came from “away”. We took to spending all of our time together once high school started and people separated into their groups. My house is our hang-out due to the lack of parental units, and as a result, I spend a lot of time clean-ing up spilled popcorn and soda.
Now that you know the basics, back to the problem at hand…


Chapter 2

So, I manage to make it to psych class without running for cover in a closet somewhere, but what I found when I walked in was unbelievable. In one class there are two new students!
The girl is named Alyssa and has very fair hair and golden skin. She almost looks like she could be from some Scandinavian country…or California. The Nazis would have thought her perfection personified. Personally, I think a few more pounds would make her look a bit health-ier. She has a haughtiness about her that warns everyone away and makes her seem like she thinks she is better than everyone else in the room. This probably means she will make it into the top group if she has money or right below it if she doesn’t.
The boy is introduced as Jesse, and unlike Alyssa, has a darker complexion as though he has a very deep natural tan and an almost wild look to him. His hair is rumpled as though he just got up (which is entirely possible) and for some reason he is looking daggers at Alyssa. His ap-pearance invites conversation, but his face is guarded like he is hiding something from the world. There is no doubt; he is definitely cute and definitely destined for class number two on the social scale. He looks too good to be any lower.
As the teacher continues to introduce them, we learn that they come from sister cities in a rural area in Montana. Maybe their schools back home were rivals – that would certainly explain the obvious and mutual dislike between them. Just my luck, when Mr. Nadeau assigns seats, I get the one separating the two of them. Sitting between them, my sensors are all going haywire. I sense such a huge amount of nearly murderous intentions all intertwined with kindness and ami-ability towards me that I have to mentally shut it all out. As soon as I do, the impulse to run dis-appears, so I assume that the overload on my receptors is what was causing it to begin with. With that problem solved, I get my book and first day’s reading and move on to the next class.
I don’t get to see them again until lunch. When I walk in with Natalie after French class, they are sitting each alone at opposite corners of the cafeteria. Surprisingly, given their beauty, none of the established groups are willing to take in either of them, and Natalie goes to Alyssa as I sit down across from Jesse.
“Hi, my name is Resa. I sit next to you in Psych now. How do you like our little town so far?” So…lame, but I can’t think of anything more sophisticated on the spot, not when I happen to be facing a cute guy anyway.
“Yeah, I saw you there. I didn’t mean to be rude by not saying hi, but first day, you know? Your town is actually smaller than mine was, which is pretty impossible, but I think I could learn to like it. Especially now that I met you. Everyone else here seems so exclusive, like your family had to be here for a zillion years before you just so you can count for something. Which lends the town character but not friendliness, I gotta say.”
I can’t believe it. At this moment, I’m just staring at him hearing that sentence again, “Especially now that I met you.” So, sure, it was an offhand comment, but I can dream can’t I? Just because I happen to be a total loser and apparently like to display that fact, I decide to tell him exactly what I’m thinking. “Even when you’re family has been here forever, they still don’t always accept you.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.” Suddenly, he is looking at me in a softer way, almost as if he didn’t expect to feel sorry for me, but he did anyway. Definitely not what I was aiming for with that comment – time to lighten up the mood I think.
“Lucky for you we have a group dedicated to those who have no group. Right now mem-bership is at three, but you are welcome to join if you like. We mostly just hang out at my house on the weekends and holidays, but it’s still fun.” Hmm…pretty lame again, I’m going to have to work on that. At least he looks like he’s actually considering my offer instead of treating me like a psych patient who should be in a strait jacket.
“Well, I guess it depends. What are the rules of initiation, and who is the leader of this group?”
Okay…Now I’m sure that there is something different about this guy, but to play along, “I suppose I would be the leader as the founder, but we sort of rule by group consensus. Since we always use my house though I guess I rule by default. As for the rules of initiation, we’ve never initiated anyone before, so we’ll have to think of something, but nothing too terrible of course, just something funny. You wouldn’t even need to do it if you really didn’t want to, we’ll take you no matter what.”
“Ok. I’m in.”
Well that was easy. I wonder how Natalie is coming along with Alyssa over there. Alyssa keeps stealing glances our way as if deciding whether we were offering the same thing to her supposed enemy. After a moment, Natalie walks my way with a smile on her face as obvious as a sign saying, “Mission Accomplished”.
Jesse, following my gaze, turns back and says, “I guess you got two new members today for your group. As the ranks increase, the leadership responsibilities grow, and you may have just bitten off more than you can chew.”

Following lunch, I have physics with Natalie. Since it was a lab day, we started talking about our new recruits and trying to figure out why they seem to hate each other so much. Each story became funnier than the last ending with, “They were both abducted by aliens at birth and conditioned to hate each other but always be together as part of a human studies experiment at alien school.” At this point we couldn’t help but laugh, quickly attracting the attention of Mrs. Jones.
“Really, ladies, do you want a detention on the first day? That may not be the best news to bring home to your parents.”
It didn’t take more than a second for us to stop laughing after her little speech. I hate it when teachers are all teach-y like that, who would give any seniors a detention on the first day anyway…that would be totally un-cool. Anyway, she decides to leave us alone and for the rest of class, and we try to focus on the lab. But really, how much focus does it take to observe the ef-fects of dropping two objects of different masses at the same time? Rocket science? I think not.
My next class was English with Faith. Since she didn’t have lunch with us, I fill her in before class starts on our two new members. After she finishes squealing about how she’s not the only one in the town who’s from “away” anymore, we quickly decide to hold an emergency meeting after school complete with soda and snacks to plan an initiation ritual for them and any future inductees. Then class starts and the year is already starting to suck.

Later that night at my house, we came together for our impromptu meeting. First up was figuring out initiation rites. Since we don’t actually want our new friends to think we’re losers, we decide on a simple plan of having them each prepare a meal on one of the nights we all gather at my house. The catch will be that they will have certain ingredients to work with. We decide to give Alyssa chocolate and Jesse gummy worms. Really we just like excuses to pig out and enjoy sugar highs. Besides, they will probably just make candy pizzas or something simple like that. It will be like Iron Chef though, with judging and all.
Once that was settled we turned to the serious topic of gossip. Who was dating who and who got what surgeries over the summer over ruled any thoughts of Jesse and Alyssa for the rest of the night. After a hard core session, we split up to do homework and get our beauty sleep for the next day.

The next day at lunch, Natalie went to go get Alyssa to join Jesse and I so we could tell them about our plans. When I finished explaining I was greeted with incredulous stares. “Well, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. We just thought it would be something fun to help you feel like you were part of the group, but it is entirely up to the two of you.” I paused for a moment and then the most marvelous smile broke over Jesse’s face. I immediately I sensed a large amount of hostility from Alyssa. I was not really sure how to interpret that, but I figured we were in for some great food on Saturday afternoon.

Chapter 3

Unbelievably, the next day at school, we had yet another new student. The name Calvin belonged to a boy who was already a man. I mean, this man had achieved an entirely new level of hotness for the high school scale. There was just one hitch to the new cutie - I couldn’t read anything off of him at all. No intentions of any persuasion in any direction. Obviously this wasn’t the first time that had ever happened, but everyone else had been asleep at the time. I wondered if I had just met my first other person with “special gifts” ever. Even though I couldn’t read him psychically, his face was so open and honest like a book there for the reading. All my years of social awkwardness were really paying off now since I spent most of that time studying the people around me. I got good at facial cues a long time ago and this guy wasn’t trying to hide anything anyway. As he walked to his seat he smiled at the entire class like nothing at all was wrong in the world. His face as smile screamed home and comfort to me like nothing else did. I guess it’s because the place where I lived wasn’t really a home so much as a large structure where I kept my bed. Natalie leaned over to me and said, “WOW,” which really summed it all up. “Did you see his smile? It’s like a sunny day on the beach just to look at him.” Sounded to me like someone was missing summer already, but it did give me a clue. What if his gift was to give people the thing that they most wanted at that moment, at least the feeling of that thing. How cool would that be? I wondered if he even knew his affect on people. He must, how would he have made it to this age without figuring out why people responded to him like they did?
Not surprisingly, he spoke French with an astoundingly great accent. Maybe I would ask him to tutor me, not that I really sucked at French, but what a chance to get close to the hotness of him.

The Dreamer Wakes

Darkness broken only
By moonlight and memory
A lingering sense
Of pleasures exposed
Images of a white knight
Brighten her sleep
Visions of golden rope
Tied willing wrists
A whispered promise
A single word
A gift of love and life
Sweetness unsurpassed
Gives way to passion
Violence tempered by trust
A chance given freely
To take as he likes
The white knight made dark
Under a fading moon

Shattered

Shattered eyes,
A broken soul,
A tortured heart
None can console.
She hides herself
Within the shade;
She watches life
Much too afraid.
She passes on
Into history;
For everyone
Just a mystery.

One Wish

A whole world rests on your shoulders,
People entirely dependent on you,
A heavy weight for anyone to carry
Yet it is carried with a smile.

Always a way to give reassurance
A hug for comfort, a touch to soothe,
A smile to console, a hand to secure,,
Asking nothing in return.

How long can a candle burn
Once it is lit at both ends?
Your brilliant light and warmth
Burning much too quickly

Losing the time you have
All in the service of others
What would you ask, I wonder
If one wish could be granted?

No Where to Turn

No where else to turn
No place else to find
Any help or solace
Any light in the dark
You held out your hand
You stopped my fall
I need support
I want to grow
Please help me see
Please help me live

Again

Again and again I gaze around
Searching for the missing
Moment that has been denied
For years quickly passed by.

Wondering what game
Time has played with life
To leave us in this web
With no chance of escape.

Doomed to repeat mistakes
Time and time again
Till there is no more chance
To prove good intentions.

No opportunity to reclaim
Hearts beaten into submission
By those given trust blindly
Only to break a spirit.

A many times broken soul lies
On the ground at their feet
Waiting to be trodden upon again
Waiting for the next pain.

Again and again I gaze back
On the years time forgot
Moments all sacrificed
Despair all that remains.

Fly

Locked in a room
Of my own creation
I wait for a time
When my spirit can fly

Without fear, without despair,
Without looking back.
To fly away from here
To safety, warmth and love

To a place called home.
A place long denied
For my spirit to rest
A sanctuary of release.