Copy of Writing Club Fall and Winter Anthology 2019-2020

Cornwall’s   Writing Club    Fall and Winter Anthology  2019-2020  ​“If you want to change the world,   pick up your pen and write.”   -Martin Luther

Table of Contents Isabella Crow, “you are allowed to leave”...............................................................................................................3 Olivia Hansen, “An Egg”........................................................................................................................................4 Atticus Jackson, “A Tale of Two”.....................................................................................................................5-11 Camille Jolly, “A Serpent’s Tail”.....................................................................................................................12-13 Gabby Knight, “When No-one’s Watching”..........................................................................................................14 Nate Lopane,“More Light than Heat” ………………………………………………………………………..15-16 Thomas McGuire, “The Heartbreaker’s Death”.............................................................................................17-28 Allora Ramie Anya Sanchez, “False Love”................................................................................................................................. Ariel Yarmus, “Victoria”.................................................................................................................................. Emma Zwickel, “Metamorphosis”, “The Sun Will Rise”, “Until You Remember”.......................................... About the Authors……………………………………………………………………………………………......

you are allowed to leave By Isabella Crow i look out the window and there’s enough color leaking through the trees that it slips into my veins and chases me to the train bridge. i keep my eyes down, i try not to spoil the sky. there are people parked up and down the shoulder of the road that leans over the lip of the valley, where everything blooms goldenrod and thistle and grasses i don’t know the name of. a very old man and a very young one sit on the hood of a saab. two girls hold hands out the tailgate of a chevy that looks like the one we’d sit in the back in on the way home from softball practice, just for a little while. it’s true, i love you. and i miss you only once. somewhere behind the mountain, the sky shatters. i do not need to tell you what it looks like when the sun is bleeding. the world desaturates with every exhale. the crickets sing a lullaby to the meadow and mama won’t buy me anything if they don’t but i am still loved. the air is cool and kind. i am reminded my life is beginning. stay, t​ he first star says to me. ​i’m just waking up.​

An Egg By Olivia Hansen An egg sits unmoving. In its roundness and essence, It is smooth, bulbous, Perfect. But an egg shifts about. It falls and fissures But only slightly. A crack is not bad A crack is a memory, A crack is the beginning Of new life. A chick emerges.              

A Tale of Two  By Atticus Jackson  The Fight of the Keep, but kept not  Once upon a time there lived a lonely hobgoblin. Who inhabited a dim cave, that lay along a small hilltop and overlooked a vast silent green forest. Every morning he would get up and walk outside to see the bright sun beaming down on him, then he would abruptly turn around and walk back inside, as he felt slight discomfort in bright light. He would stay inside his dark cave and drift in and out of sleep, for a couple hours till at least afternoon. Where he now decided to go out and forage in the bushes and trees, without a thought to back his decision. He would spend some time searching for berries and insects, and the occasional rodent, to devour hole. After this he would journey back to his cave, still hungry, but satisfied and fall into a dark dreamless slumber. Repeating this process day in and day out, for his entire life, ever since he was a mere infant. Until one cold night, during one of his evening naps, when something bright awoke him. An orange light fell against the cave wall, moving slowly and quietly till it hit the hobgoblin’s face. He blinked his eyes open and noticed a reddish glow coming from outside the cave. He got up and started to walk over to the light, as his brain lit up with the first confused thought that had ever crossed his mind. The ground under him was rough, it rested sticks and leaves which crunched under the hobgoblin's feet, with loud cracks, as he continued to tread closer to the outside. When suddenly the reddish glow moved and got brighter as he heard some grunting voice say: “What was that? Joneth, Ping’nit, come over here.” Then another voice spoke from farther away, “What is it?” “There is something in that cave,” the first voice said as the red glow got even closer, and the hobgoblin stopped in his tracks. He, of course, did not know what the voices were saying and never understood any language, other than grunts and shrieks. But he did know one thing; that he did not know what these things were, or more importantly -- if they were dangerous. The red glow continued to brighten up against the cave wall until it formed into a reddish orange fire on the end of a stick, that slowly came out from around the corner of the entrance. Following was a human arm that held the fire-stick outward, still creeping slowly until it revealed a human face that peeked down into the cave. The face was of an old human knight with a long brown beard that held strands of grey running down the sides, with a small partially tiled rusty knight helmet that lay on top. The entire face was covered in a red glow that outlined each hair of his beard. As soon as his eyes seemed to adjust to the red darkness of the cave, the knight noticed the giant 7-foot tall hobgoblin standing only a couple steps away from him. His eyes widened and after a brief few moments of stuttering in fear the man screamed for his companions: “Ping’nit, Joneth!” Then two other human knights emerged behind the first, and as they saw the hobgoblin they drew their swords; ready to fight. This startled the hobgoblin, who now seeing the sharp swords, which instinctually reminded him of large fangs, grabbed a small branch and held it outward; ready to fight. The hobgoblin charged at the knights, swinging his branch wildly in the air and screaming with a chant-like pattern. Then with one swift swing of his long arm, he bluntly thwacked the knight that was standing closest to him, directly in the head. The knight flew backward as his helmet soared off his head, and with a loud crunch of leaves, the knight hit the ground, several feet from where he had been struck. The other two knights quickly moved backward, one taking a small dagger from out of his bag. The dagger-knight than got in position to throw his weapon, as the hobgoblin stood a few meters away screeching wildly, as too scare the knights off. But these valiant knights were not having any of the hobgoblins primitive methods. The dagger-knight now lodged his dagger through the air. It spun with an entrancing din that hypnotised the hobgoblin in to a still movement. Swiftly the dagger sliced into the hobgoblin’s shoulder, as he stepped back and started to howl louder than any noise this forest had every held.

The knights took their opportunity, rushing over and around the hobgoblin to immobilize him. They precisely sliced his ankles, causing him to tumble over, on to his knees, and with a hasty gesture, they tied his hands and legs together. Unable to move his limbs, the hobgoblin squirmed around on the ground, biting and kicking at the knights if they tried to approach him. After several minutes of the knights trying to grab the struggling creature, one knight managed to pin the beast’s head and pull rope over his mouth, preventing him from biting. They then attempted to pick the struggling creature up, but after several tries at moving the beast with no success, the two knights just decided to knock him out. One knight took a blunt stick out of his bag and, after getting into position, he launched himself at the ground where the hobgoblin lay. With one swift crack on the head, the hobgoblin was out cold. A Journey Yet Traveled, A Kingdom Yet Conquered  A long trip awaited the unconscious creature. He had been tied up in the back of the knights’ charrage, as they journey back to some unknown land. Across hunting fields and over grand mountains, the poor horse pulled the carriage. In the front the two knights sat as they drank wine and laughed, enjoying eachothers company and trying to man-up, as not to weep at their companions death. In the back the still sleeping hobgoblin lay, his mouth and limbs tied up, chained to the floor. Across from the creature rested the partially frosted decaying corpse of the fallen knight, still in his armor. The other knights had wanted to bring their friend back to wherever they were going, in order to bury him properly. The hobgoblin slept for nearly all of their 2-day trec, only waking just before they arrived at their destination. He felt a slight pain in his head as he awoke, thinking he would be in his cave, and remembering not the fight or black-out that had occurred a couple of days earlier. Then he realized that he was not in his cave, nor could he see his rival; the sun. It was completely black, all he noticed was the dim light of a lantern outside that crept in through a small opening, and just barely reached a few inches outside its source. But the hobgoblin did notice another thing; the rotting delicious smell of decaying human flesh, that emanated from somewhere in the room. He thrashed around, and went into a mad hungry vishouse spree. The beast had not eaten in several days, he was starving, tired and weak. But before he realized that he had been chained up, the hobgoblin used every last bit of his strength to obtain the heavenly corpse. He shook the entire wagon and almost broke from his chains, only to, after a mere couple of seconds, tire out and fall to the ground, which was clammy and smooth, yet ragid all the same, some type of wooden planking, a texture the hobgoblin had never felt before. Clenching his breath, the creature rolled over on his back. Now more than ever, the scars bruises and cuts he had received in the duel, were burning with pain. Without an explanation or solution to his discomfort, he quietly grunted and drooled all over himself, as the pathetic creature slowly curled up into a ball on the floor. The hobgoblin had never understood the concept of death, nor did he think that any of his rodent victims were anything other than food. But, as he lay in pain, somewhere deep in the crevice of his untouched brain he understood and accept his demise. All of a sudden, he heard the knights outside shuffling around. Then the wall opened a sliding wooden door in front of the hobgoblin, light poured in which nearly blinded him, and in peeked one of the knights who said to the other: “Ye, he is still there. Shall we bring him to the lord?” “Yes, let us walk him through town center. -- oh, but also give him a bit of food. We wouldn't want him to die” The other knight replied. The first knight then grabbed something from behind him and threw it at the beast. Even before the object hit the ground, the hobgoblin knew exactly what it was. A slab of raw meat slammed against the ground right in front of the beast’s eyes, as he quickly flexed his jaws outward, biting the uncooked delicacy and tearing it to shreds. Almost as soon as it reached his stomach, the hobgoblin was relieved from his dread. The pain in his head and shoulder was still scratching, but now he felt as if he could move again, walk again and hunt again. Accept this awakening was unlike any other, this time there was no escape from the light. Just as the hobgoblin stumbled back on his feet, the knights walked in swords drawn. One knight said: “This is going to be tough”

“Don't worry, he is weak and chained, and now we have some back up” The other responded. The hobgoblin growled and snarled at them, keeping his distance in the back of the dark room. He still had not learned his lesson about sharp swords, but they were right, he was weak. So he decided to play defensively, trying to claw and kick at the knights if they came near. This standoff lasted for a couple minutes, until the knights finally called for their back-up and with the combined strength of five men, they managed to grab the chain. It took several of the new knights to finally push him out of the dark room, as the chain that clenched his neck was hard to resist. What awaited the hobgoblin through the blinding light, was an adventure that would change destiny itself. The land that had been unseeable through the blinding light in the dark room, by the hobgoblin, was not of any heaven-like utopia. Of course, the hobgoblin wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, as the view of the kingdom that awaited him was the most civilisation that the hobgoblin had or would ever see. Three grandiloquent towers that sprut out from a giant ziggurat-like structure surrounded by a number of o smaller towers, lay all in the middle of a seemingly endless cluster of houses and buildings. With one strong heave the five knights shoved the weak hobgoblin onto a cold wet gravel-like surface. He could not do anything to fight them, so he just stood up and let them take him down a small hill leading into the town. As he looked across from his vantage point on the hill, he could see more than his brain would ever hope to comprehend. But as they drew closer to the city, the hobgoblin started to notice a disgusting smell that filled the air all around the kingdom. After reaching the bottom of the hill, the knights took the beast over a small dried up stream that was positioned just behind a massive wall that surrounded the city. They stood right in front of the main gate which was also huge and held by two more cobblestone towers that had been spread out in the wall every 300 feet or so. These towers were obviously built long ago with the intention of archers to be positioned on them, but the entire wall was covered in a layer of vines and mold as if it hadn’t been maintained in some time. There were also no archers in sight, the only thing that prevented a trespasser was the enormous closed gate. As they approached the main gate, one knight ran up ahead and shouted over the wall: “Hey, we’re back!” Within a few moments another knight appeared behind the gate, and after realizing that they had come home with such a rare beast, he opened the gate and promptly shouted over his shoulder, “Clear the main road, Clear the main road. Our knights have something to show off!” This kingdom had been doing the opposite of flourishing. Much to the ignorance of the oblivious citizens, the smell that emanated from the countless corpses lying on the ground and the disease ridden feces mixed in with the dirt roads would turn back any foreigner. Giant rats made up about half of all living things within the walls, feasting on dead bodies and even being the cause of bodies in some cases. About every winter, rushes of disease would almost kill the entirety of the poor, leaving the only ones left to become poorer and poorer every year. With this declining population came the increase in starvation. But after a century of this torment, one person was able to became the trickster god of it all. He seized the day. Becoming king and with the majority of the population uneducated, he was able to credit himself for the little amount of good things that happened. This incredible reputation easily earned him right as king for life, and over the course of about 12 years he became their god, like the Pharos of Egypt. He was also able to manipulate all the wealth and food towards himself. With this surplus of goods on his end, he slowly made the poor poorer and tricked them into thinking that the little food he gave them was out of kindness. The knights and hobgoblin walked through the gate as it shut behind them and they started to tread down the main road, leading directly to the castle. Like the wall, most buildings were covered in vines and mold, but people still lived inside them and despite the decrease in population, many families still lived in one house. As they walked in the middle of the road, a crowd began to form on the sides, made of, at first, the many homeless people who were skinny, unshaven and some even looked at the point of death. Then people began to fill the gaps as they came out of their houses. But most people were still skinny and poor. Only soon the calm people watching the tired beast became angry at the hobgoblin for even existing. They yelled and threw rotten fruit at the creature, who was not bothered at all. In fact he enjoyed tried to catch the fruit in his starving mouth, but after a mere couple of minutes the knights caught on to what was happening and

ordered the citizens to stop. Of course they stopped but only after the beast’s tummy was completely full and he was drenched in a disgusting mixture of different rotten juices which he was quick to lick off himself. When they finally arrived at the steps of the palace, the large door opened as two knights stepped out and escorted them through the entrance. They walked into a large throne room, the walls lined with withered paintings and the floor with rusted gold. There were hallways sprouting out off each side, and the throne sat against the furthest wall, with ten knights guarding it, each equipped with a long spear. The hobgoblin was shoved to the ground in front of the throne, where the king sat. He was a sort redhead man with a small mustache and an old rusty crown with a large red diamond in the middle, that lay a top of his head. The king was sitting and eating a piece of bread, discussing rainy weather with one of his guards. Then as he saw the hobgoblin he spurted out: “What a disgusting creature! which one of you traders brought this to my home?” One knight then replied, “Sir, its from the wilds of the east. Our knights that we sent out to explore brought it back” The king looked back at the creature, then at the knights, he said, “a-oh, I see. Our brave knights brought this back, take it down to the dungeons. We will have him hanged tomorrow, and stuffed. In order to honor our valiant knights.” The knight responds, “Right my lord” The king looked back at him and said “Also as a reward for you knights, I give thee a loaf” He grabbed a loaf of warm bread that was sitting beside him and tossed it at the knights. They swiftly caught it, tore it into five pieces, and all at once said; “Thank you lord, Thank you. Our families will feast tonight” The knights then shoved the creature down the left hallway that sprouted out from the throne room. They rushed him quickly through rooms and down stairways, until they finally reached the lower levels. Arriving into a cold and damp stone hallway with small prison areas along the sides, that seemed to go on forever in the darkness. Only a few torches were dispersed throughout the walls. They walked past several cells with corpses in them before coming across a vacant one. With haste the knights chained the creature to the wall of the dark cell and left without closing the door. The hobgoblin couldn't escape even if he had the energy to, but now he was tired and worn out. He laid on the ground and tried to get himself comfortable. Resting on the cold damp cobble floor, his shoulder and head still red, he fell into a dark dreamless slumber. A Tower, A Bow-er and a Victor    A black figure blocked the dim light that had been prejecting against the hobgoblin’s face; someone was in the dungeons late in the night. He crept down the hallway, until he stopped and noticed the hobgoblin laying in one of the open cells. This figure was of a young 19-year old man, who was sneaking into the castle for some unknown reason. As he stopped and blocked the light, the hobgoblin blinked his eyes open. After a few moments of dead silence passed as the terrified trespasser slowly walked backward. He did not know exactly what the creature was, or if it was dangerous. But he did not want to risk his life. The hobgoblin, not thinking anything of the intruder, quickly fell back to sleep. After this the trespasser crept back across the hallway and past the hobgoblin. He quickly walked up to the stairway, until he stopped, an idea had crossed his mind. He turned around and snuck back over to the hobgoblin’s cell. Standing for a couple seconds, then carefully sneaking up to the beast, trying with all his might to not make a peep. He untangled the chain, releasing the sleeping creature, and was quick to move backwards. Only a few moments later the hobgoblin blinked his eyes open, and started to growl as he stood up, high above the dark stranger. They stood staring at each other for some time before hearing someone coming down the stairway. The voices of two knights and an increasing glow emanated from up the stairway. The trespasser than quickly fled into the darkness further down the hallway. Sprinting as fast as he could without making noise, to escape the knights. After being startled by the hasty get away, the hobgoblin followed, chasing the young man past countless prison cells. Before the knights even got to the bottom, the two were gone.

They ran for a couple seconds before the man stopped and jumped through an opening in the brick, narrowly missed by the mad creatures grasp. The man then crawled through a small tonel that led outside the castle, with the hobgoblin just behind him. They both jumped out of the ground simultaneously, the hobgoblin was quick to catch himself on his feet and lurch at the man, but he was ready. With the speed of lightning he wiped a small sword out of his pocket and pointed it at the beast. The hobgoblin stopped attacking and instead backed up slowly, still growling. The man spoke: “Back, back beast! You’re coming with me!” The man then drew the hobgoblin until he was pinned against the castle wall. With that he chained the creatures arms and legs together, plopped the struggling beast into a wagon and taking him through the night. As the hobgoblin was still tired, he decided to slumber while being pulled down backstreets and through empty marketplaces. He looked up at the stars, which shone so bright in the sky, and as he drifted out of reality, the stars seemed to change their course. He awoke, lying in a small broken down room, with dirt floors and wooden walls that let stripes of blinding light shine through. The creature had been chained to one of the walls, facing the only exit; an open door that rest of its hinges. The room felt as if he was in a haunted house, except it was not silent. The beast could hear many people talking above him, through the stone ceiling. He stood up, and examined the space that he could see outside this cold room. He sat back down and used his free arms to claw at the chain around his neck. Without success, he did this for several minutes before hearing footsteps just outside the room. The creature stopped in his gnaw-ment, looked up and was startled to see someone peeking in on him. With this he growled, showing his teeth and stood up, high above whoever was outside. The person opened the door slowly, revealing his young face. A small skinny 16 year old boy peeked in, with ragged clothes, blue eyes, brown hair and a minuscule pubescent mustache. He walked slowly towards the hobgoblin, who backed up and growled even louder. The boy only stopped getting closer as he heard someone rush up behind him. “Vengrul, Vengrul! Get the hell away from that thing!” A voice screamed from behind the boy as he got shoved backwards, onto the floor. The man from the last night had pulled Vengrul away from the beast. “What do you think your doing?” Said the man. “Fredrick, get your filthy hands off me! I was just going to say ‘i to the beast” Vengrul yelled as he shoved Fredrick back and got up, dusting himself off. “You have no business down here, and you better not tell pop, or I'll kick ya to Constanta-” “Oh your full of it Fredrick. Remember I helped you with getting em’ here.” “That does not give you authority. I am older, and smarter than you. And I need him to help with my attack on that rechid king” “Well at least we can agree on one thing; The lord is ruining this kingdom, he is responsible for all our suffering-” “My words exactly” “- But if I knew what that ‘authority’ word ment I’d be angry and frown at thou. And you do know I am the son of this house. My father owns it and has given me second will” “That's bullcrap. My father was much smarter and more powerful than pop. Besides, pop legally took me, making I also son of this house. And being first born, well-” “Your father was nothing more than a street rat! And pop said it himself, he only took thy in to-- become a worker.” With that Fredrick pounded Vengrul across the face, sending him to the ground. He got on his feet, tears dripping in his eyes, face red he said “You dare-” “You dare talk about my father in such a low light.” Fredrick shot back as he started to turn around and say “I’m leaving, don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone” Vengrul was very upset. He turned, facing the confused hobgoblin, and fell against the wall behind him. “I hate that Fredrick, he is so full of himself. If it were up to me I’d kick him right out of here!” Vengrul then continued to rant for a few minutes, leaning against the rotting wall and silently peeping. He ranted about how much he hated Fredrick, how much he hated the king and their past. The two families, Fredricks and Vengruls were friends when the boys were very young. After the death of Fredrick’s father at the hands of the king, Fredrick was sent to live with Vengrul’s family. Where he grew up for most of his teenage years, and was forced to do labor for pop; Vengrul’s father. The two boys never got

along, but as they said; they did agree on one thing, that the king was a corrupt and evil man. For the last several years, both of them had been planning to assassinate the king. But after Vengrul learned about the two families’ past, the boys, now in their young adulthood, got into a long dispute. Through this despite the two boys stopped their plan, and only Fredrick continued working towards vengeance. Until now. “I’ve got it!” Vengrul yelled out of his crying. “You’re going to help me with something fair beast” Vengrul said while looking at the confused yet less tense hobgoblin. Who had watched their heated argument and calmed down. The boy then walked up and unchained the creature from the wall; he was now holding the chain, as he took the beast out of the room, grabbed a sword, and fled the building through a backdoor that was just around the corner. They emerged in a back alley where Vengrul proceed to pull the weak beast down into the main street. As soon as Vengrul, sword drawn, holding a dangerous hobgoblin, emerged into the middle of the street, people started to scream and yell. Vengrul raised his sword in the air and chanted: “Come forth thy coward king! Have at me; I shall kill you all!” Almost instantly several knights appeared, swords drawn. And after a brief duel the knights swifty arrested both the hobgoblin and Vengrul. The knights then marched them to the castle, threw small crowds and marketplaces. They threw them before the king in the throne room, who said: “You again? And I don't know who you are. What did this boy do?” One of the knights that was holding Vengrul said “He was committing treason, and trying to harm us knights, my lord” The king responded. “Oh, that's horrible. Both shall be hanged at once, in-- Town center!” “Good, my lord” With that the knights that were holding the tied up hobgoblin and Vengrul, began to turn and walk out the door. Through the air swept a sharp arrow that pierced right through the shoulder of one knight, quickly another arrow hit the second knight, and they released both the beast and Vengrul. Finally mere moments after those arrows struck, a third arrow flew directly at the king. Unfortunately one guard jumped in front of the shot and saved his lord. Fredrick had been perched on a small window, equipt with a bow, he saved the beast and boy. Who were quick break out of their chains. Now, for our heroes, it was fight or die. Vengrul picked a sword up and started to have at one knight, they fought for only a few seconds before another knight swept in and quickly overpowered the young boy, cutting his hand off and kicking him to the cobblestone floor. Meanwhile, the hobgoblin powered through several knights in a fit of rage and strength, he banged and kicked them back.Taking down several knights. Sending them flying across the bloodstained room and skreiching wildly. Fredrick, after firing several more rounds into the carnage, got shot by an arrow in the stomach. He fell down several feet before hitting the ground. It was all up to the hobgoblin now. He stormed across the throne room, beating knights down and throwing their bodies. He swept through, killing knights and tanking blows, until he made his last mistake. After flinging a particularly small knight through the air, he decided to chant and prove his power, by standing still screaming with all his might. This small opportunity gave the archers a perfect shot. Three consecutive arrows flew from the back of the room, hitting the hobgoblin directly in the stomach. He fell to his knees and let out a below louder than any this city had ever held. The other knights then began to approach the weakened beast. The king then casually raised his arm in the air, halting his men. He stepped down from his throne and walked up, past swords, bodys and arrows, to the kneeling hobgoblin. The creatures face had been clenched downward, his arms holding the arrows that had penetrated into his chest. The short king stood over the beast. He adjusted his rusted crown, and pulled a small knife out of his pocket. “What a pitiful end. You delusional beast, thinking that you can just barge in here and take down our grand kingdom!” The king yelled as some knights started to hold their fists and shrieked in agreement. The king turned, then looked back at the hobgoblin, still in pain and still silent. He yelled out once again “You are just a weak, intelligent, beast!” With that the king raised his dagger, smiled in a sickening fashion, and sliced downwards.

In an instant, the hobgoblin lurched his arm out. Grabbing the king’s wrist as it flew at his head. Suddenly the king screamed in agony, the hobgoblin stood up, with the king’s arm in his grasp. The king then dropped his weapon as the hobgoblin quickly snached it out of the air. Still holding the struggling king, the beast squeezed his wrist even tighter, until he felt a satisfying crunch. The king was now screeching and pleading for help. But the knights that stood around the throne room, just watched in horror. The hobgoblin then released his victim. The king fell to the ground and clenched his own arm. He was breathing heavily. After a brief few seconds the king got on his knees, looked back at the knights and yelled for them to kill the beast. Only then, the hobgoblin raised his long arm. And with one swift swing downward, as the king turned around facing his destiny. The dagger cut straight threw the crown, slicing the red diamond in half, and penetrating threw the king’s skull. The blow was so strong that it killed the king instantly, spewing blood all over the surrounding floor. All of the knights screamed, and fell on their knees. Finally the kingdom that had taken so many lives, thrived with so much greed, and been home to most cruel dictator of them all, had fallen. It is said that destiny is an entity that never changes, and for most that is true. But for whatever reason, it chose a hobgoblin to prevail and change the fate of thousands of people. In that moment, as he slaid the king, the hobgoblin felt happiness for the first time in his life. And it is said that somewhere deep in his untouched brain, he knew exactly what he had done. For this reason, though he never thought again, he lived happily ever after…. Finis

A Serpent's Tail By: Camille Jolly Chapter One Jane Clec was a 17 year old girl who was almost at the top of her junior classes, but how did that come to be? She didn’t care. Jane was just a teenager living life the best way she could. Jane didn’t want to change the way she studied so she could get 100s’ on every test or ask for more homework so her scores would go up. Jane Clec was wildly lazy as a sloth and that didn’t bother her one bit. She liked to stay up in her room not wanting anyone or anything in this cruel old world to disturb her flow. For the most part nothing ever did apart from her little sister, Beth, who was in sixth grade in Jane’s old middle school. Beth would always steal Jane’s clothes, makeup, or hair ties just to get Jane come in Beth’s room and “rough house” for however long it took Jane to find her stuff. But Jane never let her sister touch her paints and brushes. She’d put them someplace in her room and would move them every day so if Beth did find them, they’d be gone from that place the next day. Jane’s mother, Juniper worked in a local bakery that was at the center of town. While her hardworking father, Mike works in the town bank. Jane’s family was the way she liked it. Every day right after Jane came home ,she would find her mother, dashing around the house cleaning or reading on the couch. Jane helped where she could around the house if or when her mother was tired from working at the bakery that day. Today, Jane came home to a silent house. The only sounds came from outside. Jane knew today her mother would be working late at the bakery today and her sister was with her friend’s house doing something girly. This meant Jane could do anything in the house without any judgment from her sister. Jane tossed her backpack onto her ground with a hard slam. She then took off her shoes along with her jacket. Jane yanked open her backpack and took out her homework that was assigned at school today. As Jane place her folders, books, and paper beside her, Jane gathered up her supplies that she had out. Jane made her way to the dining room to start her homework. Before Jane could place the stack of homework onto the oak table, the sound of the telephone went off in the front room. Jane rolled her eyes and set her stuff on the table, then walked over to the phone. She grabbed the phone and placed it against her ear. “Hell-Hello?” Jane waiting for an answer back, she got only static. Jane was taken aback because she was usually meet by some robot that wanted to sell her tickets to some place. Jane repeated herself,” Hello? Is anyone there?”. There was only static. This feeling of absence made its way down Jane’s throat causing her stomach to turn inside out. Jane decided it might just be the wrong number and who was on the other line just got nervous, so she hung up and went back to the dining room to start on her homework. Moments pass, the sound of pencil hitting paper filled the room. Jane finished her homework. She sat back into the chair, letting the sunlight hit her face. The warmth of the fall sun spread down from her face, feeling the warmth spread across her body. Jane stared down at her homework which now mostly covered the dining table. Jane then let out a sigh. She was almost finished with the last of her homework, she just had to explain why Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamltion had a duel which was easy enough. Leading back towards her homework, Jane went back to work and wrote down the answer to the final question on her homework. Jane then cleaned up her homework explosion and set off to the living room to play a video game on the T.V. All of a sudden, the phone went off again. Jane went back over to the front room hoping that it wasn’t the same number from before. As Jane reached the phone, looking down to see if it was the same number. A feeling of terror formed a knot in Jane’s stomach. She began to bend down to hit the decline button, but as soon as her finger reached the button, the abrupt sound of static filled Jane’s ears. It pierced through Jane’s ears, sending a painful

shock into her body. Jane crumbed onto the floor, screaming for the sound to stop, to just disappear. Jane couldn’t take the static. It felt like thousands of claws scratching the inside of her head, ripping and tearing into her skull. Jane tried again to stop the sound of the static by pulling her hands over her ears, like what a child would do to stop listening to their parents yelling at them. It made no difference. Jane could still hear static. She dug her nails into the sides of her head to put more pressure on her ears, hoping this will in turn stop it. Tears started to flow down Jane’s cheeks and hit the ground below. Jane could only hear static and static alone. Now Jane couldn’t even hear own screams of pain through the static. Next thing she could feel was warm liquid dripping down her fingers, then silence swarmed her mind and body. Jane stood up from the ground and removed her hands from her ears, her nails were covered in a light shade of red. Jane believed that she must of dug her nails too far deep in the sides of her head to stop the sound of the static it caused her to bleed. As she turned back around to head back to the living room. Jane went off to go relax and play video games. She wanted to push a slide what just happened and focus on relaxing on the couch. Jane flopped down onto the couch with a controller in her hand. She decided to play an old game that her father used to play with her on his days off. Jane’s avatar was standing in a meadow, flower petals flowing through the wind. Their goal was to collect more petals from flowers that were scattered around the map. By tilting your controller to either left or right or forward it would move the petals long. Five mins past, then 10 mins past Jane was finally relaxed. The thought of the creepy phone number and static seemed like a faint memory to Jane now. The petal game did sincerely help her mind to relax, but now the game was becoming a little boring so Jane turned on some anime to lighten up the mood. Her eyes begin to wander off, today was a great day. She got to be home alone and watch her favorite show with zero judgment from Beth. Outside, Jane could see the many plants her mother planted. Rosemary, corn, tulips, and roses. Jane helped her mother plant most of the flowers in her mother’s garden. The sunlight danced and shimmered in front of the glass window. And for a split second Jane thought she saw a man staring back at her. She squinted her eyes to where the man was standing seconds before. Jane’s eyes started to stink from stare into the sunlight. Jane knew that she saw a man maybe her dad’s age? Maybe older? The sunlight was too bright for her to see anything else. Jane’s eyes began to water, tears started to come back. Realizing that it was probably a trick of the light ,she looked away from the glass door and turned back to watch her show. Hours later, Jane’s mom called to explain to her that she’d be home late and sister was sleeping over her friend's house. This meant that Jane would have the whole night to herself. Jane rolled off the couch and heading off to the kitchen. She pulled out some instant ramen, Jane’s cooking skills were the worst compared to her mother’s cooking, her mother could cook anything and it would come out with amazing favors. Jane began to pour the boiling hot water into the ramon foam cup. The steam from the boiling water seem to dance around Jane, she then covered the cup with plastic so it could become edible. Next Jane set an alarm for about three minutes. A sour feeling of a migraine bloomed at the back of Jane’s head, dark spots sprouting in Jane’s vision. This was the worst migraine she had yet. Jane would have a painful migraine from time to time but this one was the most painful yet. The last thing Jane could remember before everything around her was consumed by the darkness was the man standing beside her speaking in a language not her own. -To Be Continued-

When No-one’s Watching By Gabby Knight By Gabby Knight I stomp on it. When no-one’s watching, I dance confidently, I sing proudly, I smile crazily, And I laugh loudly. But when they turn around I sit quietly, I don’t sing I smile, but not too much And laugh, but not too loud. Hiding behind this mask I soon feel my unhappiness. I rip the mask. So now when everyone’s watching I dance confidently, I sing proudly,

I smile crazily, And I laugh loudly! “More Light Than Heat” By Nate Lopane Peeking through the window, her surprise turned to horror. “No Jimmy! Oh God!Oh God!” She cried out.Seeing her boyfriend gutted like a fish on the front porch.His letterman jacket covered in blood.The snow turned crimson. “Believe me now?” The voice on the phone spoke out. She thought it wouldn’t end like this.Just like in the movies,just like in the terrifying novel she had just finished reading. She never knew what people meant when they said that the had an out of body experience, but now she knew, now she was living it. None of the books she read, none of the movies she watched ever made her this terrified. Her body began to tremble she dropped the phone. Sobbing she plummeted to her knees, sobbing. She quickly realized. “What if they're coming for me next. Her eyes darted to the door as the knob began to jiggle. The door opened, its hinges producing a haunting shrill squeak. “I’m home!”, called out her father. She looked up in surprise, wondering how on Earth her father could remain so upbeat during such a daunting moment. “Why is your boyfriend asleep and bleeding on the ground?”, asked her clueless and inappropriate father. “Did he get a nosebleed?” Her head began to spin, images of her now deceased boyfriend floating her mind like a roundabout. “He’s dead, dad. D-E-A-D.”, she screamed, her anger consumed her small figure. “I know,'' her father said calmly, “I killed him” He laughed madly and started to become something else. She backed away, scared of what was going to happen next. “Called it, I called it. All ​Clichés.”​ Jay said while changing channels on the TV. “Why are they even airing horror movies, it’s the holidays.”Emily asked Jay. “It’s a ​Christmas​ horror movie.”Jay responded.

“Hey, I’m going to get hot chocolate, you want some?” “Sure, what do you wanna watch now? Something more j​ olly”​ “Yeah, Jay uh, did you open the window?” Emily asked Jay from the kitchen. “No it’s freezing out dude!But I guess I opened it.” “Well, it’s open dude.” “I’ll close it.” “Okay.”Jay said. Emily sat back down on the blue couch next to Jay.The fireplace warming up their bodies.The sky began to freeze, it began to snow.The new family protected from the cold, their warmth stopping it at the doorstep. “I love you.” “I love you.”

The Heartbreaker’s Death By: Thomas McGuire Chapter 1: The Playboy Gets Played April 25, 2019. Many people roamed around the streets of Slacks, New Jersey. One man in particular, Chester Lydons, was the talk of the town. Every lady seeked his attraction, but so many others despised him for breaking their hearts. Chester had recently taken a break from hitting on other women and wanted to let his soul repair itself before he moved onto another love. Chester had his special spot not only where he took all his first dates, but also a place where he came to calm his mind, the Quincy Park gazebo. He stood there, looking at the sky, clearing his mind of his former flame. It started to get cloudy, so he decided to go back home to his apartment building. Until he was hit in the back of the head by an unknown assailant. Chester wakes up in an unknown place, his head in pain after the hit in the back of the head. He is tied up against a metal table. He can’t move at all. He looks up and sees a figure wearing all black. The figure approaches him and starts talking, but the voice sounds funny. It’s not a human voice, it sounded more like a robot voice. “I have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” the voice starts, “I can’t wait to have you all for myself. I want to hear your screams of pain as the blood drains from your body. I want to see the tears stream down your handsome face as you beg for mercy and-” “Please don’t do this to me!” Chester pleads to the strange figure. “You have scorned me for the last time you cold-hearted monster!” and the figure plunges the hatchet into the stomach of it’s victim. Chester’s screams echoed through the warehouse, but it couldn't be heard outside of it. May 4, 2019. The town of Slacks has had changes since the disappearance of Chester Lydons. The entire town has been put on a curfew by Mr. Manstri, the town mayor. The local police department have been looking for him for weeks and still no sign of the town’s resident heartbreaker. Not everyone was happy with the police’s effort in trying to find Chester, especially Peter Widlock, Chester’s roommate. Peter grew up with Chester since they were babies. Peter was determined to find Chester, no matter what it took. Peter felt like he had to pay back Chester for all that he’s done for him when they were growing up. When Peter was being bullied at school for

how he looked, Chester was always there to defend him, even though they were at the opposite ends of the social hierarchy. Chester was one of the cool kids, since he was captain of the football team. But that was the complete opposite for Peter. He was always one of the nerds, the one who was picked on because he was forced to give people the answers to the homework. But on an intellectual scale, Peter was smart enough to get into Yale with his good grades, but Chester wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Whenever Chester needed a tutor, he always turned to Peter for help and Peter was always there for him. No matter what, they were there for each other. After high school, Peter and Chester moved in together into a decently large, 2 bedroom apartment. Sure Chester brought home the girls and sort of invaded their space, they were still in it together, ready to tackle the world head on, no matter what challenges came their way. To start on his own search for Chester, Peter went to the place where they went to spend the most time when they were kids, The Wallace Woods. They made a special fort, made of leaves and rocks, but they also brought along old blankets and old quilts. Peter went there and searched under everything, leaving no rock or blanket unturned, but Chester was nowhere to be found. He checked in so many other parts of the woods but there was nothing. Peter went back to their apartment building, feeling defeated. When he entered their apartment, he went to their kitchen table and was gonna make himself a gin and tonic. While he was mellowing in his sadness, something hit him. A possible place where he can find Chester! He always told him about this place where he went to clear his mind of anything troubling him or when he took his new girlfriend on their first date. Peter sped out of their apartment and ran down the streets, running to the Quincy Park Gazebo. Peter runs to the gazebo to see if there is anything he can find that could lead him to where Chester is. In the corner of his eye, Peter finds a note. He grabs the note and looks at the numbers on it. They were coordinates to some mystery destination. But then he started to think. “Should I go to the police?” he thought. “No! I need to do this by myself because Chester needs me as fast as possible.” He takes out his phone and puts the coordinates into an app on his phone. He pulls up his compass app and goes on the new path to hopefully where Chester is. Peter approaches the old abandoned warehouse. The paint looks like its chipping off the building. The warehouse looks so ominous that Peter is second guessing his decision on calling the authorities. Peter then decides to run into the building and the first thing that hits him is the nauseating odor that immediately makes him want to leave and puke. But despite the smell, Peter goes on. He finds this door where he thinks the smell is coming from, but the door is locked. Peter runs outside to try and find something that can bust the door down. He finds a stone and runs back, uses the stone to break the doorknob and he kicked down the door. The smell intensifies and he tries to find where the smell is coming from. He opens an unlocked door and suddenly something falls on top of him. Peter looks up and it’s the corpse of Chester Lydons. He screams and pushes the body off of him and calls the police. May 5, 2019. The local news reports that the body of 22 year old Chester has been found murdered. The only person of interest is the man who found the body, 22 year old Peter Widlock. The police are investigating but so far haven’t found anything to find the murderer of Chester Lydons. Chapter 2: The Call

May 9, 2019. The town of Slacks is terrified of the first real killer in their town. Sure there had been your normal robber or gang member, but this was a first for the town. The police, never really dealt with a situation like this, didn’t know where to start. So they had one other option. They called in a neighboring town that had been in a situation like this before. The chief of police in Slacks, Chief Chirstopher Kyldi, called in a favor from Mullberry, New York. Detective Luis Sanchez was called to the town of Slacks to help find the murderer of Chester Lydons. He solved a case a few months ago, the murder of Sofia Cross. He arrived to the scene of the crime, markers placed around the scene to locate key parts of the scene. Blood splatters, footprints, and an old pair of winter boots, most likely the boots the killer wore. Detective Sanchez’s partner, Detective Olivia Glyber, is also on the scene looking around to look out for anything that has been overlooked. Olivia looks around and something appears out of the corner of her eye. One of the bricks metal panels on the walls was jutted out. Olivia takes the panel off and turns on her flashlight. She finds a box full of tissues and a photo of the victim with a red “X” through the face of Chester, along with handwritten letters from Chester, saying that he loves her and has never found the perfect one before she came along, unfortunately there was no mention of her name, besides what is probably a nickname for this girl, “Sweet Muffin” and he called her “Sweetie” when he wrote on the front of the envelope. Olivia brought over a bag and put the evidence inside of the bag. After the evidence is put in the bag, all return back to the station, where the only witness and person of interest, Peter Widlock, is being held for questioning. Peter looks both sad and angry at the same time, so the best option to question him was Olivia. “Oh great. Another session of questioning for if I killed my childhood friend!” Peter says, in a moody, bitter tone. “I know this is hard on you, being his best friend since childhood, but the matter of the fact is that you’re the only one we currently have to give us any other information.” Olivia says. “So start by telling us where you were on the day Chester went missing.” “Well, I woke up at around 5:30 and went to the kitchen because I was going to make breakfast before heading off to work. I work at Slacks High School as an intern/teacher aid for the science and math department. I usually help out teachers with any worksheets that they need help making copies for or anything like that.” Peter starts, “It was around maybe 11:30 when I got a text from Chester saying that he was heading out to clear his head. He went through a nasty breakup with a girl a few days prior a-”“What was the name of this girl?” Olivia quickly asks before Peter continues with his story. “Her name? I honestly don’t know. Chester was known for being with tons of girls. He was the most sought out guy in this town. He usually goes for the girl he finds attractive. His type was blond, usually pretty, and had to play at least one sport either on their free time, or if they played for their college. But what made this breakup so hard was that he felt an actual, real connection to this girl. Apparently she didn’t feel the same because the next time he visited her, she was making out with another man on the same couch in which they watched their first movie together. When he came home, he was devastated, full out bawling his eyes out. I’ve never seen him cry so hard since his childhood dog died. He went through a deep depression. He wasn’t the Chester I used to know. Usually his ‘healing’ time between girls was about 2 weeks but he never truly recovered. Any way, he texted me around 11:30 and said he was going to his ‘happy place’, which was the Quincy Park gazebo. He took all his first dates to that same gazebo. It was the gazebo he went to whenever his house was full of yells of his parents arguing. This was just a quiet place where he can go and just listen to the natural sounds of the outside world and not the harsh screams, hard slaps, and breaking bottles in his house. His father was a hard alcoholic and his mother, along with Chester, were just his victims of abuse. His mother finally had enough and told Chester one day to call the police whenever his father lashed out. Once the police arrived, they arrested his father and Chester and his mother were finally free of this demon. They both went to counseling to recover from the trauma. He

eventually recovered, but sometimes I caught him looking at his arms in the mirror, looking at all the scars his father left from cigarette burns to little scars, made from little cuts his father made with the pocket knife he had. But after he went to the gazebo, I never saw him again until his rotting corpse fell on top of me.” Peter continues. “ Do you have any known whereabouts of anyone that could have a connection to him? Like his father, his mother, or any previous girlfriends that you can think of?” Olivia asks. “His mother lives in his childhood house, I think his father lives in the Smithsonian Trailer Park, and I know of at least one of his former girlfriends. Her name was Jaime Einlis. She lives in 47 Hourglass Street. It’s a blue house with a white door and in the driveway is usually a black 2015 Chevy Impala. I visit her. The rule that Chester made with his exes and me is that if I told him about which girl I wanted to see after he and that girl broke up, it was fair game, and I am currently seeing her still.” Peter said. “Thank you for this information Mr. Widlock. We will keep in touch. You are free to leave.” says Olivia and she escorts him to the doors of the Slacks police station. Olivia reports back to Luis and they go over to see Jaime. Chapter 3: Aftermath May 9, 2019. It was 10:30 at night and Peter just arrived home from the police station, after the intense questioning from Detective Glyber, made him feel like he needed to take a break from everything and just relax for a week or two. He called in to the school and said that needed some time off to clear his head and try to deal with the still fresh wound of his friend looming in his head. He called the principal of the school to call in for vacation time, since he wasn’t an actual teacher and only an intern, the principal allowed it. After Peter ended the call, he immediately got into a set of pajamas and settled into his bed. He needed time for it to passover for the most part. It just wouldn’t be right to go back to the school after the murder of his roommate and have his head clouded with too many thoughts and not be able to focus. He was also paranoid about what he didn’t tell the detective. It’s not like he had anything to find, just what he could’ve left out of any important detail he might’ve skimmed over. He just layed down and tried to sleep, or at least take a nap. Soon, Peter drifted off to sleep. “Peter! Peter!” Chester said. “Why didn’t you come and help me! I thought you were my friend. And now I am dead because of you.” “No! I didn’t mean for you to die! I’m sorry!” Peter exclaims. The Chester he saw was not the Chester he knew. He had a hatchet stuck inside of his body. Chester pulled the hatchet out of his torso, some of his intestines dangling, getting ready to swing at his friend. “Too late. Soon you will join me friend.” “No sto-” Peter jolts awake. He feels like he just walked back in from being outside in a storm. He looks at his alarm clock. It’s 3:30 am. Peter gets up to get a spare set of bed sheets and throw the other set in the wash, as they were drenched in sweat. Peter tries to fall back to sleep, but he couldn’t. The dream scared him from falling asleep. So the only way he can cope with not falling asleep is watching some TV. When Peter turns on the TV, the first show that is on is the TV is Big Brother, the show that he and Chester always watched together. It gave Peter this feeling of sadness, even after the terrifying dream he just had about Chester killing him. He felt sad, remembering all the times where he watched the show along with Chester and both of them yelling at the screen about the stupid decisions competitors decided to do. Peter started to cry. He missed Chester so much, but after the dream he had, how could he see his face again. Seeing the vindictive and evil smile appear on Chester’s face when he was going to swing the hatchet and presumably bury it in Peter’s skull. Peter was so conflicted on if he should cry for his dead friend while watching the TV show, or not cry after the nightmare. Peter didn’t

sleep for the rest of the night. He stayed up and watch the sunrise, but he isn’t taking in the site. He is just trying to not fall asleep because he is frightened about what will happen to him if he did fall asleep again. The restless day kept moving on and it got harder for him to stay awake. He went through two full cans of coffee and he tried everything to stay awake because of the new found terror in his dreams. But soon enough Peter couldn’t stay awake and fell asleep. Thankfully the dream he had didn’t depict Chester trying to kill him, but Chetser and Peter hanging out at the Slacks Town Fair, where everyone would go before summer finally came to an end. He could picture all the little kids running around, shooting the little rainbow bubble guns, people riding the ride where you sit in the swing and it spins you around, and almost everyone eating the town’s food. From Frosty’s Frosted Cupcakes, to Ernesto’s famous pizza tacos, which is a pizza topping of the customer’s choice, and a miniature pizza acts as the taco shell. It was the first thing Peter and Chetser would order when they get to the fairgrounds. Then there was the police sirens going off but Peter never remembered police at the fair. In real life, it was his phone’s alarm going off. Peter then got up from his non-terrifying sleep and went on with whatever he had left in the day, that being it was 7:30 at night. He just ordered the nostalgic pizza tacos from Ernesto’s and a side of baked ziti. It was now 9:30 at night and Peter just tried to fall asleep again and he eventually did. He wakes up at 10:00 on May 11 and he decides to go back to work so he can get back into the swing of things, even though it wasn’t even a normal school day. Some of his co-workers welcomed him back and he just accepted the generosity of it all and went back to doing what he does best and preparing for the busy week ahead. May 9, 2019. Detective Glyber informs Detective Sanchez of the information retained from the questioning of Peter Widlock. “So a boy, who had issues with his dad, troubles with finding his true love, and a best friend who knows everything since he told him everything,” Luis says “It seems like the person who we can, for now, say is the killer is Peter. Let’s look at it. Peter knew where his special place was.” “But why would Peter kill his best friend. It seemed like they had a very strong connection, and by how Peter talked and how emotional he was when I entered to question him, I would never think in a million years that these two best friends would ever think of killing each other.” Olivia states. “I think our next best move is to go see this Jaime and ask her about the relationship she had with Chester before she started dating Peter.” Olivia ads and Luis nodded at the idea and they decide that the next day, they would give Jaime a little visit. May 10, 2019. The detectives arrive at 47 Hourglass street to pay Jaime a visit. Detective Sanchez knocks on the door and after a few minutes later, a young woman, in her late fifties, answered the door. “Hello miss. We are looking for a woman by the name of Jaime Einlis. Someone said that she lives here.” says Detective Sanchez. “Why do you want to talk to my daughter?!” the older woman says, noticeably getting mad. “Miss we are just here to ask your daughter some questions about the recent murder of Chester Lydons.” says Detective Glyber. “I swear if you take my little girl away from me I will-” “Mom it’s fine.” a voice says from behind the older woman. “I think we should take this conversation outside. Shall we?” Jaime says. “Chester was a nice guy,” Jaime starts, “It was just that the talk of the town was always if the new girl he had and him were still dating by next week. That’s why I asked him if we could end the relationship and we both agreed. It was a simple break-up and he understood. Nothing against him, it was just the constant rumors being spread. Every girl would give me a dirty look because I was either standing right next to Chester, or if I was alone and they remember me being right by his side,” Jaime starts. “But then Peter came to me and asked me

out, and I first asked if this was ok because I just broke up with Chester two weeks before and he said it was fine with Chester, so it was fine with me. Now I was truly at peace with Peter. No more rumors, no more dirty looks and snarky comments, just a life with a boy that I love.” Jaime adds. “Were there any signs of Peter being mad at Chester for something that Chester might’ve done?” Olivia asks Jaime. “Either than just the normal roommate troubles, like who cleans the apartment this week or the who drank all the milk in the fridge, there was no sign of actual hate. You don’t think that Peter actually killed Chester right?” Jaime asks. “Until we find something else that could point in a different direction, than he is the main person of interest.” Luis bluntly states. “No! Not my Peter. He is so sweet and kind, especially towards me. Sure Chester could be a handful sometimes and I would help Peter takes care of him, but I could see that Peter really cared about Chester and how he was.” Jaime states. “Well do you know anything else about Chester that could help us solve the case?” Luis asks. “Well Peter did tell me about this one ex-girlfriend of his. I can’t remember her name but I do know that she is on a softball team and plays for the local college.” Jaime tells Luis and Olivia. “Well thank you miss Einlis. We will keep in touch. Just one thing, don’t you or Peter leave town.” Olivia says and both detectives go back to the station. As they head back into the station, a man walks straight towards them. It was one of the deputies, and he hands them a clipboard. “These are all the results of the autopsy. No traces of any unnatural substances in the body. Noticeable traces of blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. It look like there were signs that the murderer took many swings. It’s estimated that the weapon, based on the way the weapon entered the body, it needed a lot of force to pierce the skin. So it was either a cleaver, an axe, or maybe even a hatchet or tomahawk.” the deputy informs them. “Thank you for the information.” Detective Luis responds. Both detectives needed time to take in the information just given to them. “This person was either an ex that had a bad breakup with them, or maybe just an old friend that had a lot of pent up rage because this is just twisted.” Olivia says. “Well when you have been doing this for the past 5 years of your life, it’s normal.” says Detective Luis. “So this was a crime of passion, or a crime of old cuts opened once again.” adds Detective Glyber. “Well tomorrow, we need to find who this softball player is and ask her about her relationship.” Luis says. Chapter 4: Time To Play Ball May 13, 2019. Peter is inside the teacher’s lounge and is making copies for some of the teachers. He was just making copies and while he did that, another teacher walks in. It’s Mrs. Axsilica, a math teacher who is well liked by all the other teachers. She was old-school, she didn’t like the new ways of teaching, especially the new math lessons that she has to teach, but she has gotten used to it. She was maybe in her 70’s so she needs help sometimes moving of holding open doors. “So how have you been holding up sunny?” she asks. “I am fine thanks for asking. It has been hard for me to adapt in the apartment since he is gone. I sometimes accidentally ring the doorbell, waiting for him to answer, but then I have to realize that he is gone and I need to accept that. Sure I can still grieve, but it’s just hard to move on. You know that feeling right?” “I have experienced that feeling many times. Like when my husband passed away eight years ago, I was the same as you. I had to grieve about my husband and that pain starts to go away, but there is still a little pain left inside my heart but I know a young, nice boy like you will soon be back to your normal self. Even though I am an old codger, I can still offer my wisdom and advice for you.” says Mrs. Axsilica. “Thanks Mrs. Axsilica.” “Sweetie just call me Harley.” “Ok, Harley.” says Peter as he finishes his copies and leaves to deliver them.

The detectives arrive at the college to find and talk to this old flame. They knew what most of Chetser’s exes looked like, blond and very pretty. So they went over to who seemed like the coach of the softball team and the team he was speaking to. “Excuse us sir,” detective Glyber spoke. “We’re just wondering if there is anyone of your team that we could talk to about the murder of Chester Lydons.” “I knew that guy, straight jerk.” said one of the players. “Who are you miss?” Luis said. “My name is Alexis Freidman. If you want to talk about Chester, just know that he was a terrible boyfriend and didn’t care about anyone he truly loved.” Alexis started. “Is it ok if we talk somewhere more private miss?” said Olivia. “Sure. We could go back to my dorm. My roommate Rebecca is gone for the week or whatever so it wouldn’t be a problem.” “Chester, like I said earlier, was a jerk,”started Alexis. “ he never really noticed me after our first date. If he did, it was just a text that said ‘I love you’ with a heart-emoji right after it. I think that we all know that Chester probably did that with every girl he dated. He never changed the way he acted or the treatment he gave me. Sure I would’ve loved to take Chester out of this earth and heal all the hearts he broke, but I didn’t murder him.” “So how did Chester end your relationship and where were you the day Chester disappeared?” asks Luis. “ Well all Chester did was send me a fruit basket and a card that said ‘I’m sorry’ with a sad face right next to it. This player thought that he could really just send me a fruit basket and think that I would heal ok?! He was out of his mind. I now praise the fact that he is dead,” stated Alexis. “I was at Mullberry Community college for an away game when Chester disappeared.” “Is there any other person that you know could’ve been in contact or knew Chester Lydons?” asked Olivia. “No. I never told Rebecca about my relationship with that spawn of Satan.” said Alexis. “Ok miss Freidman, we will keep in touch.” said Luis and both detectives left the college with the same thought of who could’ve killed Chester Lydons. “So we have a college athlete who looks like she has a grudge against Chetser. I don’t want to call it too early but I think we have ourselves our prime suspect.” said detective Glyber. “I don’t know about that. The slashes on the body clearly show that this weapon was heavy and needed a lot of force to penetrate the body. It seemed to me that Alexis would have no problem swinging the weapon into his body and the killer definitely needed strength to swing it when Alexis could probably do it no sweat.” opposed Luis. “Sure but she just had such a grudge with Chester that she fits the profile perfectly. She was one of his exes and was mad over their breakup.” said Olivia. “Excuse me Detective Glyber and Detective Sanchez,” said one of the deputies at the police department. “We discovered what the murder weapon was. Based on what forensics sent us, the weapon was apparently a hatchet.” said the deputy. He gave the detectives the new files and left. “Well that’s new,” said detective Glyber. “Never really dealt with any cases that had a hatchet involved in it.” “Well we need to think about who would do this. I feel like Peter could still maybe have something to do with this. It just feels like there’s a piece missing. Maybe we need to call him again.” said detective Sanchez. “I’ll get on that.” said detective Glyber and she then left, while Luis still sat there thinking about what or who could be missing to this story. Chapter 5: A Night to Remember

May 15, 2019. Detectives pull Peter out of work again to ask him if he could remember anything else about Chester and his exes. “If I knew I would tell you but I honestly can’t remember. He was with so many girls that I couldn’t even keep track of which one was which since they all looked the same. Then there was the occasional ‘I hate you so much I wish you would just die’ little notes that were sent on the anniversary of their first date, which was maybe 3 times per week that this would happen” Peter said. “Was there any unusual ones that showed up at your door?” said Detective Glyber. “Well most of them were roses and a box of chocolates,” Peter started “ I remember one that Chester got that looked super nice. Like the roses were really fresh, but the chocolates were homemade because he took one bite and he spit it out. We both figured it out that this girl mixed in minced garlic and we laughed for hours. But there was a super unusual one. It was from Chester’s date to prom in our senior year, but for the life of me I can’t remember her name. But she didn’t fit his type at all. Her name started with an N though. She was a brunette, track athlete, but anti-social. The only time I saw her was at senior prom with Chester but that’s it” said Peter. “Do you remember anything about how the breakup was between the 2 of them?” asked Detective Glyber. “Well it was a little after the last week of school and Chester seemed very well after it. It wasn’t truly heartbreaking to him. He told me that he broke them up and she took it well apparently” said Peter. “Do you know if this girl ever left to another college?” said Detective Glyber. “I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t really talking to her while the two of them were dating. But there might be a few friends of hers that you could find. Their names are Tamina DiLactis, Naomi Jakil, and Candice Swinston. She always hung out with them. That group was inseparable until everyone went off to their colleges. Tamina went to Texas A&M, Naomi Jakil went off to some university in Utah, and I don’t know where Candice went off to,” said Peter “but I have heard that she works at some place called The Velvet Steak, and I couldn’t tell you where it is but I think it’s a restaurant” Peter stated. “We will make sure that we check that out. On a different topic, how have you dealt with this whole fiasco? I was just wondering” asks Detective Glyber. “I have been fine. The first few weeks were super tough. I had this weird dream that Chester was dead but alive and he wanted to kill me because I couldn’t help him. He had this hatchet in his hand and his intestines were dangling from his stomach, like he just ripped it out of his stomach and was ready to kill me with it.” Peter repeats to Detective Glyber. “It was scary and the dream ended with the hatchet coming towards my head and then I woke up. Do you think that any of this would help in any way?” Peter asks. “Well I think it’s just a weird coincidence that you had this dream at this very moment but I don’t exactly think that it could be related. All I can say is to get more sleep.” Olivia says with a reassuring smile on her face. “I mean I haven’t had anymore dreams like that in the past few months so I think you are right. So am I good to go?” Peter responds. “Yes you are. Here is my number just in case you need someone to talk to or if you come across something that could help. We will also make sure to check out this Velvet Rope club. See you later.” says Detective Glyber and Peter is escorted out of the station, hoping he doesn’t have to go there again anytime soon. When Peter got home, he didn’t know what to do anymore. He was alone and just needed to do something. It was almost 5:30 at night and he decided that he would go for a run. So he got into some workout clothes, took his keys and his water bottle and left the apartment. The streets of Slacks were not as crowded as he thought they would. He would usually run around Quincy Park but he couldn’t bare looking at the gazebo that Chester used to go to. So he made a new route that made him run close to the college and not by the park. He would usually go back and forth a few times to really get all the energy out of his system. After running about twelve miles, he noticed that his water bottle was empty. He was so thirsty and he needed water, but didn’t bring his wallet to buy another water. So he thought of going over to Jaime’s house to get some water and see his

girlfriend. Peter and Jaime were coming up on their six month anniversary and he had the best surprise waiting for her. He bought this life size teddy bear and a box of chocolates. He also plans on making them both Jaime’s favorite meal that her grandmother makes from scratch. Jaime’s grandmother made chicken alfredo that Jaime would eat for the rest of her life. The pasta handmade, a cream sauce with chopped parsley mixed in to give it a little color, and oven roasted chicken breaded in classic italian spices, like fresh thyme, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, and a pinch of chili flakes to bring heat to the chicken. He also planned on making her a special heart shaped cake to write “Happy Six Month Anniversary!” on it. Peter practiced making these dishes with his mother to come and watch over so he doesn’t set the apartment on fire because the last time he tried to cook, he almost set the whole building ablaze. At 7:45 at night, he arrived at Jaime’s house and went to knock on the door but when he did, the door swung open and Jaime was standing there, almost like she was waiting at the door for him. “What are you doing here Peter? I was just gonna go see if you were ok.” Jaime asks. “I was bored so I went on a run. I ran out of water and decided to run over here to refill my bottle and of course see you.” Peter smiles. “Well I guess the world wanted us to be together for each other. Wanna hop in?” Jaime asked and Peter knows to never say no to his lady so he got in Jaime’s car and they went back to his apartment. As they were walking up to his apartment building stairs, he realized that he never hid the gifts he got for Jaime for their anniversary and he started to panic. Jaime used her spare key into the apartment and saw the gifts he had and she stared at him, wondering why he had them. “What is this Peter?” Jaime asks. “Well I guess I can’t hide them now. This was supposed to be your surprise for our sixth month anniversary.” “AWW this is so sweet Peter!” exclaims Jaime and she runs and kisses Peter on the cheek and Peter immediately turns red. “Well do you want to celebrate our sixth month anniversary early and we do nothing on the actual day?” Jaime asks. “Sure just let me shower and get ready. You can do whatever you want in the meantime. The remote for the TV is on the coffee table by the brown chair.” Peter says and he runs to his room to get ready. Jaime grabs the remote and watches one of the “Real Housewives” shows while Peter gets ready. It was 8:30 and Peter comes out of his room, in a white and blue flannel button-up shirt and a nice pair of jeans. “Well Jaime I wasn’t gonna let you help with dinner and make it a surprise, but since you have seen the surprise, do you wanna help cook dinner with me?” Peter asks but no response from Jaime since she is sleeping in the brown chair. Peter walks over and picks up Jaime bridal style and carries her into his room and tucks her in. He goes and gets dinner ready, kneading the dough by hand and using one of the attachments to his stand mixer to make the pasta strands and throws them into his pot of hot, salty water. He then takes the chicken out of the fridge and cuts them up, thin enough to cook faster but not too fast. He starts his cheese sauce by making a rue, which is just a starter for the alfredo sauce. After the rue is thick enough, he adds in the parmesan cheese to make it a true alfredo sauce. He then cooks the chicken and takes the pasta out of the water al dente. He then tosses it in the alfredo sauce with the chicken and puts it on both plates and sprinkles on some parsley to finish the dish. Peter already feels tired and would eat his dinner, but Jaime is asleep in his bed and he doesn’t want to make her mad after they both agreed to celebrate together. So Peter walks back into his room and lightly shakes Jaime. She wakes up and rubs her eyes. “Oh my gosh I am so sorry for falling asleep Peter. What time is it and how did I get in your bed?” Jaime asks. “Well I saw you sleeping in the chair and brought you in herer and the time is 9:00 but I get to show you what I made for dinner. I am really proud of it since I didn’t burn the building down and you have told me that this is one of your favorites.” Peter says with excitement. He grabs Jaime by her hands and picks her up and placed her on her feet. He then puts his hands to block her eyes so she doesn’t see what he made. “I know you said that this was the best when your grandmother made it. So I made my own version of that.” Peter says as he pulls his hands away from her face. “OH MY GOSH PETER!! This looks so nice and smells so good! Thank

you so much.” Jaime says as she gets hugs Peter and gives him another kiss on the cheek. They both sit down and eat their freshly cooked dinner. “This tastes so good. For making this for the first time, it makes you look like a pro.” “Thanks sweetie. Well don’t get too full because I already made something else for dessert.” Peter says. He gets up with his dish and puts it in the sink and returns to the table. After Jaime finishes her dish, Peter takes her plate and puts it in the sink with his dish. He then goes into the refrigerator and takes the special heart shaped cake that says, “Happy Six Month Anniversary Jaime!” and Jaime gasps at the beautiful creation. She has never seen anyone cook and bake like this since she watched her mother cook. They both take a slice and eat it, tasting the moist chocolate cake with the dark chocolate chips baked into the cake, and the rich and decadent chocolate ganache, along with the bright red letters piped on with a classic buttercream. They both are full and go to the couch to watch more TV. After the long night of celebration, it was 11:45 and Peter fell asleep on the couch. Jaime wakes up alongside him and decides to get up. She decides to stay the night and grabs her spare set of pajamas that she has kept in her car in case her car breaks down and she can’t drive it anywhere. She returns, goes into the bathroom, and changes into a set of pajamas. Peter wakes up and notices she isn’t by him until the bathroom door opens. Peter smiles at Jaime, making her blush. “Aww you look so cute in your pajamas Jaime. Let me get mine on and get the bed made and ready for this ‘sleepover.’” Peter says. He makes his bed and gets into his pajamas, turns down the bed so that he and Jaime can get in and get ready for bed. “Goodnight Peter and thanks for all the sweet things you did for our early anniversary.” Jaime says and kisses Peter and they both fall asleep. Chapter 6: Let’s Take This To Go May 16, 2019. The detectives were all prepared to find The Velvet Steak, the supposed restaurant that this Candice Swinston works at. When Detective Glyber put the name in, it showed the address 971 Crimson Street in South Valley, New Jersey. It was about a twenty minute drive from the station. After a few stops because of traffic, the two detectives arrived at the diner. As they walked in, a little bell chimed. A woman walked over, grabbing a few menus from the desk and walked towards them. “Hello miss we would like to talk to someone here by the name of Candice Swinston. Is she available to speak to?” Detective Sanchez asks. “Yes she is. She will be your waiter if you would like to eat here.” the woman said and she led them to a booth. The detectives sat down and got comfortable in the booth as they awaited to talk to miss Swinston. A girl with blond hair walks over, wearing her apron with a visible pink and blue striped shirt under it. “Hello welcome to The Velvet Steak. I am Candice and I will be your waiter today.” “Miss Swiston, we aren’t just here to dine. We would like to ask you a few questions about Chester Lydons, the man that was murdered last month.” says Detective Sanchez. “Listen I am on my shift and I have other tables to look after. Is there any other time we can talk?” asks Candice. “Candice we need to catch who exactly did this before whoever this person is strikes again.” pleads Detective Glyber. Candice turns and walks to the lady that greeted the detectives. They move their lips and Candice returns and sits down in the booth. “Well where do I start with Chester. He was a nice guy, or I thought he was. I didn’t really talk to him much besides in a class we both had together.” “Did you ever have a relationship with Chester?” Detective Glyber asks. “Well we did have this summer fling. I didn’t catch feelings for him and he didn’t catch any for me so we had a mutual breakup. But there were these moments where he got these texts and I asked him who it was and he said it was no one. I asked him about it one day and he just said one of his old exes. I asked which ex and he said it was his date to prom Natalya Rewnes. She was so tech-savvy and it was so amazing about what she was able to do. She fixed problems that the tech department couldn’t even

solve. But I never thought that Chester of all people would go after Natalya. She was only popular because of her being a literal genius and everyone going to her for homework help. If you want to talk to her about it, then she is in Harvard.” “Thank you Candice. We will keep in touch.” says Detective Sanchez and they both leave the diner. “So we have a new woman involved by the name of Natalya Rewnes. She is in Harvard so we need to get there as fast as possible because there are way too many people in this case and personally, I am getting lost with how many people are in this case.” says Detective Glyber. “Is she the prom date that Chetser brought to prom?” asks Detective Sanchez. “I mean she is the closest person that we got so.” says Detective Glyber says and they drive back to the station to hopeful either book a flight to Massachusetts as fast as they can. When they got back to the station, they quickly booked a flight that was going to take off in 2 hours. They looked over what evidence they have and looked over testimonies of every person that they interviewed to start making up some sort of timeline that connected everyone together. “So Chester had this fling to Jaime, Alexis, Candice and this Natalya Rewnes. Natalya Rewnes apparently was his prom date that has gone to Harvard, Jaime, Aleis and Candice all stayed here in Slacks. So who could’ve done it. There is a better chance that one of the three still in Slacks might’ve done it but if Natalya did it, why would he come all the way back from Massachusetts to get revenge on a relationship that was a few years ago?” asked Glyber. “Well people could have grudges of some sort and some people could hold grudges for a long time. I have looked over a few cases where people have held grudges for as long as 20 years.” answers Detective Sanchez. “We just need to get to her fast.” says Glyber as they drive off to the airport. May 17, 2019. The detectives land in Massachusetts after getting a hotel room nearby and take a taxi to Harvard. Once they get there, they both walk up to the security gate. They show their badges. “So why are 2 cops from New Jersey here in Massachusetts?” the guard asks. “Well were are looking over the murder of Chester Lydons in Slacks. We are wondering if we can see a student by the name of Natalya Rewnes?” says Detective Glyber. “I will page the guard over by that hall. Hold on for a quick moment.” the guard says as he grabs the phone to page over to the security guard over by dorms M-T. The security guard steps out of the booth to escort the detectives over to that set of dorms. The detectives are let in and go find Rewnes’s dorm room. Oce they find it, they knock on the door and someone opens it. “Hello are you Natalya by any chance?” Detective Sanchez asks. “Yes I am. Who are you 2 exactly?” asks Natalya. “Well we are detectives looking over the murder of Chester Lydons. I am detective Olivia Glyber and this is my partner, Luis Sanchez. Can we talk about him with you?” says Glyber. Natalya has this shocked expression on her face. “Sure.” says Natalya and lets them both in. “Well chester and I were like Rose and Jack on the Titanic. We were star-crossed lovers and our love sank like the ship. But he was the one who really broke my heart. I loved that someone actually liked me. No one else was able to connect with me like he did.” says Natalya, getting visibly upset. Her eyes started to water. “He cared about me so much. I cared for him too until he shattered my heart. The only thing i wanted to do to him was to hurt him exactly like he did.” Natalya angrily sobs. “So he brought you to prom and you thought that this relationship that came out of nowhere was gonna be forever, like high school sweethearts?” asks Luis. “Well I thought that it would but I guess it didn’t.” “Well where were you when Chester disappeared on April 25?” asks Olivia. “Well I was here of course, doing work in the tech lab. I am working on some products that could do cool

things, like change how your voice sounds or make your eyes glow different colors with a special pair of contacts that my neighbor made. But I haven’t left campus unless it was to get food or something from a fast food place or something.” Natalya says, moving over to her desk and moving some things around. Both detectives look at each other and they want to know what exactly she is moving. Natalya’s phone then ring. “Oh no it’s my mom. Is it ok that I take this quickly?” Natalya asks. “Sure thing Natalya.” says Olivia. After that, Natalya steps outside and closes the door. Both detectives walk over to the desk and look at what she moved. They find a box that had the same design on it like the one they found at the scene of the crime. They then look inside of the bigger box under it. It had a special cover over it. They undid it and the cover reveals a hatchet that looks like it could be the murder weapon. It has this dried substance that looks like blood. They hear the door open and Natalya takes one look at the detective and runs out. “I’ll go get her. You stay here and find anything else that we can arrest her for.” says Olivia and storms out of the dorm room while Luis keeps looking for evidence. Natalya runs for the elevator and quickly pushes the button. The door opens and a random college student is in there on their phone. Natalya then grabs the student and pushes him into detective Glyber and closes the door. Olivia gets up and starts running down the stairs, hoping to catch Natalya before she gets away. Olivia reaches the bottom of the stairs and sees Natalya running out, looking behind from time to time to see if the detective was behind her. Olivia runs after her. Natalya rushes past the security guard but Olivia isn’t far behind. After turning out of campus and running down the sidewalk, Natalya turns into an alleyway. Olivia turns into the alley and sees that she isn’t there. Suddenly, Natalya hits Olivia with a steel pipe she found. Olivia clutches her head in pain. Natalya hits her repeatedly with the pipe until Olivia can’t get up. After the brutal beatdown, Natalya then picks up Olivia and tries to throw her into a nearby dumpster, but Olivia hits Natalya with an elbow. Olivia fights back with a slew of punches to the torso and then throws her into a wall. Olivia then kicks her in the face and Natalya falls to the ground. Olivia gets the handcuffs out of her pocket and cuffs Natalya. “Natalya Rewnes, you are under arrest for the murder of Chester Lydons.” Olivia starts as she reads Natalya her rights. Once she takes Natalya out of the alleyway, she puts her down on the ground and calls Luis. “I got her Luis. She’s cuffed and beaten down. She got in a few hints. I am on the corner of Alistar Boulevard and Trixton Avenue. I read her rights to her and she is ready to be thrown in prison.” “Oh god are you ok?!” asks Luis. “Yeah I’m fine. She got in a few hits but I got her.” says Olivia as she hears the sirens start going off in the distance. News relays back to the town of Slacks. Candice looks at the article and sees the headline. She is in shock, not knowing that Natalya had that much anger in her to do such a thing. Alexis hears it on the local news station and smirks at the idea of Natalya killing someone. Finally, Peter and Jaime look at the paper and rejoice together, finally happy that this problem is finally over. Peter feels this wave of relief wash over him as the drama of his childhood best friend’s murder is past him. Jaime comforts him with a hug. Back over in Massachusetts, Detectives Olivia Glyber and Luis Sanchez sit in the ambulance as Olivia gets treated for her wounds from her brawl with Natalya. Natalya is put in the back of a squad car and driven away. The town of Slacks is now at rest as Chester’s soul can now rest in peace.

False Love By: Anya Sanchez She once asked me,“Do you want to date?” My only answer was “Yes,” We both thought we had found our forever mate We were so very wrong for love is a mess, We looked into each other’s eyes Hers a hazel creek, Our l​ove you’s ​only lies We both left with our hearts weak, I never loved anyone as much as her Everything came to a still, Our relationship faded to a dull blur The sound of love a faint trill, Tears streaming down my face As I watched her go,

Maybe love just isn’t the right place Maybe I’m just Icarus and I flew too low. Victoria By: Ariel Yarmus She is an incapacitating soul that does not leave my side, that only cares about herself, and longs to remain a part of me. A pale, fiery red haired woman, beautiful and seemingly perfect by appearance, full of immoral wickedness. Standing tall, a deceitful grin across her symmetrical face, She yells, you are repulsive. You are weak, a nasty and powerless mouse. You are undeserving of the pure joy and childish innocence that never beckoned to you. To stand on the welcoming surface of the earth is considered a sin. She wants to find me far below. It is all she cares about, all she dreams of. She leaves me on a cold, hard doorstep, ready to pull me through, to finish me. She leaves me, all but a withering, brittle mountain of worn out, aching bones. She leaves me longing for that to be my end. To arrive at her idea of perfect seems rewarding, but that is her finish line, her goal. You cannot break free. You cannot dance in the cool grass on a brisk day with the wind in your hair, and the sun shining down upon you. You cannot live. A gift it would be to tell her that I am undeserving of her demonic presence. To tell her that I am resilient, that I have strength beyond the means of the greatest powers’ existence, that I am worthy. To allow her into my life any longer is a crime. Breaking such a strong barrier is the most challenging form of labor. Pushing her away takes time. It takes energy. It takes thought, and it takes passion. It takes a war. She does not want to let go, her thin, pointy fingers grasping on as the pile of dry, hollow bones begins to grow into a human again.

It grows muscles that have eternal amounts of strength. Skin to protect against the greatest of dangers. Arms, hands, fingers, shoulders, to carry the weight of the world. Eyes, small windows of golden light that capture everything life has to offer. A nose to sense fear, and to sense wonder. A mouth to open itself up to new opportunity, to nourish, and to smile. A face, not flawless, but glowing with pride, and willingness. It grows a brain overflowing with love, and knowledge. It grows a soul. A soul, not perfect for anyone besides itself. A soul that comforts and protects. A soul that is a bird, soaring triumphantly across the vast blue sky. A soul that is free.

Metamorphosis By Emma Zwickel Maybe if I close my eyes, Blue deceased, Green reincarnated by God, Or whomever rules over this planet Maybe I can remember it all, Please tell me I can remember it all, I believed in the storybooks, Pages turned by soft, velvety skin, Young, glowing, Illuminated by the glass slippers, The castles, And the cocoons. I had a cocoon of my own, At least I think I did Rose colored curtains, Blocked out the sun’s tears. My mother once told me that, The sun cries sometimes, But I mustn’t, Because I was a big girl, A big girl with a big imagination, So I imagined that the sun didn’t exist And danced, Danced to the music,

Even when there was none, Because music existed even when it was lost, That’s why there were lost and founds in the world, So I could be found, Found under the canopy that held me tight, Beneath pink and green bed sheets, That covered me at night, I was found by Disheveled skirts ruffled across the floor, And worn out books all scattered and torn, Messy. Life could be messy, I could be messy. Children, they are messy, And I was a child, I think I was a child. But cocoons, They crumble to the ground, Or come back for more, More. I asked for more Because after an eternity, Of pink Of lace, Of all things sweet without spice, I wanted a second helping, I wanted the world. So, I dribbled the globe, Until my hands were calloused, Worn by hours of practice, Open curtains, And fallen tears, From the sun’s eyes Not my own, Because big girls, They do not cry. Even when they miss a basket, Even when they are beaten, By empty threats and stares, Or even by the own brains they bear.

Because I beat myself to a pulp, And kept it a secret, Bundled in a pink canopy, A custom knit cocoon, Within too many closets to count. I remember the closets, Crammed, obsolete, Lonely. I remember them being lonely. I think I do. Maybe if I close my eyes, Green dominant but Shadowed blue I will remember, Remember the paintbrush, That swept pink away, Restored clothes to closet, And changed everything, Changed me. I am me because, Of sky colored comforters, And a canopy, Blessed by clouds, From above. White like angels, I don’t believe in angels, Not anymore, But I believe in other miracles, Like open doors, And rainbows, I really do believe in rainbows. And I believe in love, Not the fairytale kind, But love for myself, Love for whomever may crave it, Because we all deserve love, I ​know​ we do. And I deserve to fly, Because cocoons only last so long, Before we are reborn,

Reborn of love, And of strength, And of discovery, Pink to blue, or Blue to pink, Whether the sun sheds tears, Or whether it just rains for years, We are reborn, I was reborn. And half of the time, I cannot remember, But I have to, For it is the music we cannot hear, That reminds us that, We can be found, but lost, Lost and found, Found through what they like to call, Change. Or put more simply, Found through metamorphosis.

The Sun Will Rise By Emma Zwickel Come July, The world will stand still, Each moment of silence, A monument to what we have lost, And along the way, What we have gained. Because what we have gained, Cannot be lost, Even if we gain the weight, Of the universe, Its pleading eyes, Glued to our left shoulders, Barely visible, Not quite lost, But not quite there either. But, We were ​there, Sitting in darkness, Waiting to be enlightened, By rays of sun. Sunrise, You told me all about sunrise, How it announces a reprise, A second chance to begin. When the end inches near, Our minds deceive us, Taunting eyes with a plan ingrained, Into toothless smiles smothered in lip stain, Red.

I saw red, Envious of those, Allowed to start afresh, Those blessed by, Miracles of forever, Imprinted into their palms, Invisible ink tattooed across their shoulders, Pressing them to hold on, You were e​ xceptional​ at holding on. Even when my hands began to shake, You jolted my soul awake, And whispered, “Hold on.” And I thought I had it all figured out, Believing that without a doubt, Change is nestled within each and every Crevice of the moon, So, even when spooned into slivers, Night will prevail, Sunrise was an ancient myth, Setting us up to fail. There was no beauty in learning, For I, was a sunrise virgin, A girl who believed that new tomorrows, Are just a continuation of yesterday, And any chances of becoming whole again, Are thrown away, Into the wastebasket of oblivion, Among the hearts of millions, Who have spent far too many midnights, Staring into pitch black. But, You insisted that darkness, Is not forever, Challenged me to endeavor, And regain what was lost, Compare my miserable thoughts, To the muted music of, Salmon and Amber, Let red lose the spotlight,

And become the commander Of staged interventions not planned in scorn, But inspired by all wonders reborn, From a universe I hadn’t quite met, In order to sincerely reset, I needed to let go of my disguise, Look up at gray clouds, And embrace the sunrise. What was there to lose, When there was an entire world to gain? Five in the morning, You wrestled me out of bed, Wrapped me in ruby red fleece, Then said, “Hold on.” Hold on to the violet night sky, That opens itself up like a book, Marked perfectly for continuation, Let light be your aspiration, Don’t look down. Tragedies are bound, To slip down a slope, But we can at least try to envelope, Hatred, pity, and grief, Into one silver lining, A blink of the eye, And the sun will be shining. Hold on. And don’t look down. Come July, You will be gone, Each memory left behind, A monument to what we have lost. That is how I used to see the world. As one lost soul stretching its neck, In order to foresee the horizon, Before it is too late. But I held on, Watched evening stars bid the world goodbye,

Sunrise rectifying the hurt, Of all days past, And for once at last, I didn’t look down. I found the missing piece, To the jigsaw puzzle that scrambles up life, Until declared legally insane, But what I have gained, Is you. It has always been you. Because although I have gained, The weight of a thousand universes, Telling eyes, Glued to my left shoulder, You’re barely visible, Not quite lost, Not quite there either. But drifting seamlessly through blue skies, I will forever be grateful, That you held on...to my hand, And introduced me, To your sunrise.

Until You Remember By Emma Zwickel Remember me, Like winter’s very first snowfall, Like powdered sugar sprinkled, Across the pavement, Cotton candy carved by the sky, For the young, For the old, For the softest of eyes, For the awed whisper of an unbroken child, “It’s snowing.” Remember me. Remember me, Like sticks and stones, Broken bones, Put back into place, By beaming miracle workers, Remember me like New Year's Eve, The countdown from ten, Each final second frozen in time, Until we open our eyes, And turn to the next page. Remember me. Like the minutes gone by too quickly

And the hours passed begrudgingly, Like time erased, Not because we refused to turn towards the sun, But because we didn’t know how to read its hands yet. Remember me, Like salted caramel to the tongue, Syrupy sweetness, With an extra pinch of flair, Remember me like I’m sitting beside you, Remember me as if I were still there. Remember me like with a blink of the eye, My face will diminish from view, Remember me as if neglect is an excuse, Exhausted by years of falsity and fallacy. Remember me for the innocence of youth. Remember me for not the bruises, But the scars tattooed across my skin, Remember me for the darkness I stirred with my bare hands, And then, Remember me for the light I added in. Remember me, Like winter’s very last snowfall, Like powdered sugar sprinkled, Across the pavement. Cotton candy carved by the sky, For the young, For the old, For the softest of eyes, For the awed whispers of those grown up too soon, “It’s snowing.” For life’s untimely blizzards, And for the storms that arrive just on time, Remember me.

Author Biographies Isabella Crow​ is from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has been writing for as long as she can remember, and the earliest story she’s found is a piece circa first grade entitled “Cream Cheese: the Goose”. She primarily writes poetry and has participated in numerous slams, readings, and competitions. She hopes to continue doing so for a long time to come. Olivia Hansen​ is an eleventh grader at Cornwall Central High School. Her interests are in art, playing the flute and piccolo, and writing. She writes fiction and poetry. She hopes to continue writing for a long time to come. Atticus Jackson​ is a ninth-grade student attending Cornwall Central High School. His interests include art, video games, action movies and of course writing. But sometimes it takes him a while to finish a piece. And even though he loves writing, reading isn’t exactly his favorite. Atticus lives with his three siblings and small puppy, which sometimes makes writing difficult, so he stays in his room for most of the time that he is not hanging out with friends. Which he is also a part of a large friend group. Camille Jolly​ is an 11th grader at Cornwall Central High School. She has been in every single writing club she could get her hands on. She get inspired by the many teachers and students that are around her every writers club she’s been in. She hopes one day she’ll become a famous writer that's known by many by her work as book writer of fantasy and horror stories Gabby Knight​ is a sophomore at Cornwall Central High School. She was in writing club since day one. Ever since this club started her love for writing grew, as she fined tuned her skills. She is grateful for this club because it not only inspired her, but it created a safe space for her to write her thoughts and feelings. She loves being part of this amazing group, that is caring and very funny!

Nate Lopane i​ s an 11​th​ grader at Cornwall Central High School.Nate has moved to Cornwall at the beginning of the school year.Nate has previous experience writing through ​ Louis M. Klein Middle School’s ​writing club.As well as Harrison High school’s creative writing class.Nate is hoping for a career in the future as an author. Thomas McGuire​ is a junior at Cornwall Central High School. He is kind, smart, and helpful. His parents were told about his creativity on multiple occasions by many of his teachers. He had so many ideas and just needed to make a story out of it. Well, he didn’t really do that until his creative mind was revived in September of this year. In his mind, there is the creative, happy side but then there is the twisted, evil side. He thinks of how fantasy worlds could be reality and how crimes could be committed. Besides that fact, he just wants to be more than extra when writing his stories by making them complex and very long. In the future, he wants to keep writing. It just depends on what he feels like writing about because his imagination is unlimited. Anya Sanchez​ is a freshman in high school who started writing with her older sister L,who is her favorite sibling. L had started writing and she became interested too, and started to write. She never told her sister she was the reason why Anya started writing. Her love for writing has only grown since then, and she wants to write in her later life. Her first piece was called Fights With The New Girl. She lives with three siblings, a cat,and a guinea pig. She also loves baking and has a passion for theatre, and can often be found in the park with friends or nestled in the library with a book. But her favorite thing to do is spend time with her siblings,playing games they made up such as Age Order, Mr.Octopus or Mr.Seaweed May I. One of her favorite quotes is,”Bravery isn’t the absence of fear. Bravery is feeling the fear, the doubt, insecurities,and the feeling of getting over these things to move onto something more important in life.” It inspires her everyday to not let her anxiety get in the way of life. Ariel Yarmus ​ is in the 10th grade, and has lived in Cornwall on Hudson, New York for her entire life. Writing is one of her favorite hobbies, and she loves to explore different genres. Ariel especially enjoys creating poetry and short stories. She feels inspired by her own experiences in life, as well as events occurring in our society when writing. Ariel also loves to read poetry, her favorite poet being John Keats. She hopes to pursue writing in the future, and is grateful that the writing club became available to herself and other students that share the same passion. Emma Zwickel A​ s a senior at Cornwall Central High School, Emma Zwickel has participated in Writing Club ever since it began. She has longed to be an author since the age of five and has been writing stories, poetry, and prose since the first grade. Her greatest accomplishment to date is beginning and finishing the Harry Potter series in Kindergarten. As a freshman in high school, Emma discovered a love for poetry and authored a journal of poems. Now a senior, that two hundred page notebook is complete and she has continued her work in a brand new one. Emma plans to major in creative writing in college and hopefully one day, become a professional poet.