Daily March 21st

pen up

I sat there, resting my head on a pillow
Songbirds and robins flourish under a willow
The smell of warm cookies dipped in milk is nigh
The warm winds that slap my face smell strongly of pie

A cold tangerine melts right on my tongue
I flipped a page in my book and reality stung
I lost my senses, all I felt was numbness
Then I dipped my head into a new world where I was empress

I ruled there, I ruled
Until my anger cooled
And when the characters came together
I was happier altogether

Bubbles, puppies, and unicorns
Antagonists, protagonists, and blue horns
Kindness, some honey, and love
Betrayal, renewal, and an empty magic glove

Emotions flourished, jubilance was high
Then back to reality I came with a sigh.


pen down

March 17th (Weekly)
back to megapost

Note: This weekly contains blood, death, war and gore that may be disturbing. Please read with caution.

Part 1: Song inspirations

Song 1: On The Ground by Rose from Blackpink

It feels so calm and warm, where am I? Thomas looked around his surroundings, it appears that this whole place is completely covered in white. Thomas started thinking what had happened. A moment ago, he was just crossing the streets when he heard a honk and a crash, the next moment when Thomas woke up, he was in here. “Am I in heaven?” Thomas thought out loud, and then a voice replied to him in his head, “Yes, you are. And you are in peace forever.” Thomas didn't feel right, even though he is in the place where everyone wanted to go, he still felt that he should go back, that it wasn't the time to go here. Thomas didn't know how to communicate with the voice so he just thought, “I'm sorry, I don't want to stay here. I have a life down there, and I want to go back.” The area seemed so silent Thomas started to think the voice was just his imagination or the method he was using was wrong to communicate with the voice. “No, you cannot do down there.” The voice replied Thomas. But Thomas isn't ready to give in, “Please, whoever you are, I still have my life down there! I cannot let anyone know I've died!” The voice was silent again, then spoke up, “Fine, if everything you want and need is on the ground, I shall give it to you. But take my warning, once you're down there, you cannot regret your decision or else your soul will be destroyed completely.” Thomas was scared but will give up anything to be alive again, “I'll accept it. Now please, let me go back.” A bright flash of light, and Thomas blacked out.

When he woke up, Thomas found himself lying on the road, the same road that he was knocked by at the beginning. He stood up and wipe the dust off his clothes, Thomas knew this is his second chance to achieve his dream. He walked slowly to the theater and stood there, then he looked up and saw the banner advertising a new show that was releasing soon, and Thomas was the main actor. Thomas then walked into the theater and quickly found himself in the recording studio. He smiled, for he knew that his dream of becoming an actor is becoming true, and nothing wrong might happen.

However, many things began happening in the studio, the lights suddenly went out, then the ceiling started to fall on people, smashing them to death. People were screaming, a window broke is heard and many people decided to escape by jumping out, but eventually fall to their deaths. Thomas started feeling scared, it seems he's the only one left alive. Thomas looked out of the window and saw everything was blood red. Then he realized what the voice meant, that if he were alive, others will all die.

486 words

Song 2: Crying Alone from Jurrivh

This feels so noisy, everyone kept talking about this person ever since I talked about it. I was starting to wonder, why everyone hated Lily? She is so kind, and very nice looking, and no one likes her. I started to think if I was in that state, I wouldn't like it, it's like not having any friends at all. I need to find out about why people hates her.

“Excuse me, may I know why you all hate Lily? Hey! Excuse me but do you know where Lily is? Wait! Don't go, I haven't received your answer!” Every time I merely mentioned Lily's name, everyone started walking away without any conversation. At the end of the day, I sat down on my bench, thinking what could have happened to her. Just a week ago everyone loves talking with her, but now everyone is ignoring her like she never existed in the world… “I need to find out about Lily, I'll have to ask people to give me all what they know about her.” I muttered to myself, then I had an idea, “Wait! If the students don't want to talk about her, what about the teachers?” This gave me a new motivation and energy to find Lily, I hope she's safe…

There was only one teacher who only wanted to find her, “Oh, Lily? Yeah, she's been missing a few days… But why do you want to look for her, Kim? Many people despise her ever since she started bragging about her beating the world record of solving a Rubik's cube in 5 seconds…” I took a deep breath, finally knowing why many people hated her, but I don't, because I'm dumb not to know how to solve a Rubik's cube. “Well, she was last seen in the… SEWERS??? Why would anyone go into the sewers??” The teacher tracked Lily through her device on her phone that everyone has to put on their mobile phones to ensure student's safety. I couldn't believe that a clean, tidy, beautiful young girl would go into the sewers. “Don't worry, sir. I'll try to find out why Lily went in there.” The teacher thought for so long, for a moment I thought that the teacher forgotten all about me, “Yes, you can go Kim. But remember to tell Lily to be confident.” I nodded my head and rushed out of the school, hoping everyone and clear their hatred to Lily.

407 words

893 words

Part 2: Inspirations from other stuff
Inspiration from a bullet hell game called Touhou. Here's an example of the gameplay.

Zooming across the sky, looking down onto the city where many species had lived, but I must protect my village from harm, I need to protect them to defeat whoever is causing havoc to our village. Despite being a human, unlike other creatures like youkai, which translated to English as creatures, vampires, witches and others, I have powers unlike many humans don't have. It is hard just to find a human friend, since the population of humans are little and the species of youkai is high. However, I do have a friend who is a human and have powers like me, unfortunately she is busy right now so I'm on this mission myself. “Where are you going?” A voice suddenly came out to me and I turn around, I realized it was a youkai. I stopped and said, “Well, I'm trying to find the culprit of who replaced the false moon that you reported.” The youkai laughed, “Actually, I was also going to check on the false moon too. It appears that we need to stop time right now so we could have enough time to find the actual moon for the Harvest Moon Festival.” I sighed, “Who could be so inconsiderate to steal away the moon? I mean, it's not possible for us humans right?” My friend youkai laughed again, “I guess we'll have to find the moon together, but while we're away, time has stopped so the people of Gensokyo will have to face an imperishable night.” Yukari Yakumo, the youkai, warned me. I nodded, “For the sake of the Harvest Moon Festival, I'm up to any risk to find the actual moon.” Yukari smiled, “Thanks, Reimu. Now we have to get ready, for we will depart soon.”

After what seemed like endless battling, Yukari and I both received information that the culprit behind the fake moon was by someone in the bamboo forest. Once again, we departed there to find them, into another battle. Finally, we've encountered someone, “Move and I'll shoot!” Wait a minute, this sounds familiar… “Marisa? What are you doing here?” It was my human friend, Marisa Kirisame, a powerful magician. Marisa huffed, still sitting on her broomstick, “Well, you probably know, or don't know why I'm here. Just in case if you don't know, why on earth would you cause an imperishable night on Gensokyo? We're so tired of looking at the moon every time of the day! Or maybe night since there's no day right now…” I shook my head, but Yukari was the one who answered her question, “We need to find the real moon for the Harvest Moon Festival, Marisa. I know you're Reimu's friend but we have to go on our mission.” Marisa was furious, “Then beat me first before you can continue your mission!” Without the answers from me and Yukari, Marisa let out bunch of attacks at us, “Yukari, watch out!” We swiftly avoided the bullets, trying our very best to avoid the bullets from hitting our hitboxes. “Nah, these attacks are too easy to dodge, try this!” SWOOOOOOOOOOSH, I can already tell Marisa is using her ultimate power, The Master Spark, which is a laser so big and thick it was almost hard to avoid. “We need to run away! I know we can't avoid this!” I tried warning Yukari, but she seems to be dodging it easily. Of course, she's a youkai, I forgot. “Why aren't you defeated? I'll do all I can this time!!” Then, two large laser started coming to me, “Reimu, run!” Yukari quickly use her ability, the power of boundaries, to open up a portal and the Double Spark attack went off. “That was close.” I said as I quickly launch the final blow to Marisa, hitting her hitbox. Soon, she was defeated, “Great, what do you two want from me?” Yukari didn't say anything, instead she looked at a distance. I too was wondering if Yukari was thinking if Marisa was this powerful whenever she's fighting someone we're against. But then Yukari seems like the founded something due to Marisa's Master Spark, a mansion. “The real culprit lives in this mansion. Come on, Reimu. Let's go and get back the real moon.” I stood there in silence then I turned to Marisa, “Looks like you aren't completely useless after all!” Marisa huffed, “Alright, you better deal with this quick, the people of Gensokyo can't stand the night anymore.” With that, Marisa flew away and we continue on our mission.

749 words

Part 3: Incorporating Theme
Theme: Fate versus Free Will
I continued my story from this weekly's Part 1 story 1

Thomas stared in horror as he saw the whole place was completely in chaos, people dying, cars crashing, screaming can be heard all over the place, meteors landed on Earth, killing millions of people, and it's all because Thomas wanted to live. He immediately felt guilty, if he actually died, this wouldn't happen. All his dreams, destroyed; Everyone he loved, dead; Everything he wanted to have, gone. And it's all because of him… Thomas remembered if he regretted his actions his soul will be destroyed, “No way in this world I'm going to agree with that! I'm not letting that happen!” Tears started forming in his eyes, Thomas is just a simple man, someone who wanted nothing but to achieve his dreams, no one but his family believed in him. Flashbacks started playing in his mind, whenever Thomas was young, he was weak and often bullied by people laughing at his dreams of becoming an actor, they kept saying he will never be famous. But Thomas knew he had to save the world, he must stop this chaos.

Yelling out loud, Thomas don't care if anyone heard him and call him weird, as long as the person he wanted him to hear listened, it doesn't matters anymore, “Come out you coward!! I know I regretted my decision, but stop this chaos at once!!” Thomas almost lost his voice afterwards, he couldn't stop coughing, and every cough spat out blood. Thomas didn't know, that life was so cruel, the world is more cruel than his parents even told him. A sudden pain came to Thomas's head, it feels as though his head was about to come out. A voice boomed out, but it wasn't in Thomas's head, instead everyone who was still alive can also hear, “Well done everyone, for surviving my, BASIC attack! I haven't give you all survivors my full power yet, and I'll make sure your deaths will be painful, long, and gory… And if you all are wondering why you're facing this crisis, thank that little boy standing in front of the theater. He died, but because he wanted to live, he broke the laws of Death, causing chaos, to the living.” At once, everyone beating scolding Thomas, beating him up until his appearance was no longer recognizable. The voice still laughed, “Well, Thomas. I haven't told you my name, you all know me as…. Death. Yes, Death itself. I am Death. If your soul is with me, you will no longer exist, and that's how people die, I plan them to die. In fact, I plan this to happen. I forced a strong-willed person to die, and I plan all of this to happen! Do you see, foolish mortals? You beat him up, but I'm the actual culprit, and you all can't do anything about it!” With that, Death disappeared.

Even after Death left, Thomas's head still hurts, many people wanted to apologize but Thomas refused to let them apologize to him, “All this is my fault, I shouldn't even live. But eventually my soul will be terminated. You all should hide from Death's more powerful attacks, don't bother about me.” A young girl said, “But, what about you? You will stop him, right?” Thomas felt weird that this girl is alone, “Little girl, where are your parents? You should be with them.” The girl said silently, “My parents died in the attack, but they told me to live strong, not mourn on their deaths which is the past. Please, sir. Don't give up.” Thomas thought to himself, “She's got a point.” The crowd started whispering the same sentence with Thomas's sentence in his head. “You're right kid, I shouldn't give up. Come on guys, we must overcome this chaos and save everyone!” The crowd then cheered, “Yeah! Let's do this! We must let everyone live in peace, even if we die!” The girl looked at Thomas with tears in her eyes, “Good job, kid. What's your name?” The girl muttered, “My name is Angela.”

Death sighed, looking at the people cheering for Thomas to save the world, “How foolish these humans are… They can run, but cannot hide, since I am Death!” With that, Death snapped his fingers, and immediately half the crowd had died, “What happened?” Thomas looked at Angela to see if she's alive, and she was. “Did they… die?” Thomas went to check on one of them, there was no pulse. He stood up with a solemn look on his face, “Angela, run!” A spear struck her just before she has time to react. “Angela!!” Thomas knew that Angela was too young to die, too young to face all of this… and it's all his fault. Thomas was burning with anger due to Angela's death, he immediately tried to kill himself with Death's attacks, but they passed through him. Thomas decided to suicide, since it isn't Death's attacks. It worked, and now Thomas is in a bag on Death's hand, filled with many dead people's souls, but Thomas was the only human inside it. He tried looking for the person inside the bag, but there was no sign of Angela's soul. “Maybe she's still alive?” Thomas thought to himself as he escaped the bag, then he immediately enlarged. Thomas looked around his surroundings that he was in a mansion, the Mansion of Death. “Well, you found a way to die?” Death was locking up an angel into a cage that resembles… “Angela? Is that you? You're an angel??” Death laughed, “You think you can save your little friend by dying? I don't think so…” Death launched himself against Thomas, but Thomas avoided it, and he realized, when he's dead, he's more powerful, it gave Thomas an opening to struck Death down. The cement floor cracked, and the chaos ended on Earth, and everyone who died in the attacks of Death got their souls back. The world was saved.

Thomas huffed, and Angela helped him up, “I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was an angel. But I did that because I was sent to Earth to protect the people from Death's attacks. Unluckily, I got struck by one of his spears, which means I became an angel again and was sent back here. I'm sorry I lied to you Thomas.” Thomas smiled, “It's okay Angela. Also one more thing, I would like you to erase everything that happened in everyone's memory. Can you do it?” Angela smiled and waved her wand, “Thank you, now things are like before I was sent here.” Angela smiled and said, “I'm glad you've found your mistake. See you again, we'll have to report everything to the God to say you're eligible to enter heaven again since you defeated Death, for now.” With that, Angela and the other angels disappeared and Thomas was happy that things were back to normal again.

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2786 words

3.21.22 Daily

Out at Sea
The water is as
Clear as the purest crystal
But it is very deep- so deep
That to reach from the bottom to the surface
Covers miles and miles of land
The sandy ground below
With most curious trees and flowers
Are flexible that in the slightest motion
Fluster as if their living creatures
Fishes glide through branches
With walls made of coral
And windows of the finest amber
What a paradise.

—–
75 Words

Thanks for Reading||Back to Contents

Weekly Part 1: Musical Inspiration
Music titles are in caps before the piece

COMPRESSED SPACE - JOSEPH TRAPANESE

WC: 403

“Oh…” Kistra placed a hand over her mouth with a gasp of pure horror.
“Everyone is…”
“Dead.” I completed her sentence for her. The Raven was being blown to bits from the inside out, and no one on the Writer knew who had done it.
We knew why it had happened.
Sabotage.
All the innocents who were dying…
I couldn’t just stand here. I had to go.
“I have to help.” I said, not even looking at Kistra. My hands were bunched into fists as I felt anger towards the traitor on the Raven.
“You can’t go. There’s no hope.” Kistra’s tear stained cheeks almost swayed me, but I told her. I had to.
“If I can help just one person-”
“I know. There’s no use fighting it.” Kistra choked on tears. “I love you, Eszri.”
“I love you, sister.”
There was no more time.
I set off running, ignoring the guards outside my door screaming after me. They had been there for years, and I had always assumed it was to protect me from others.
I understand now. My parents knew me. They knew I would do something like this.
So no matter how wrong or illegal it was, I was going to go.
I ignored the desperate calls of everyone who cared about me-
Until I set my eyes on Trixen.
I ran to him. But I couldn’t stay. I told him that.
We kissed.
Such a short kiss.
And as I was running, I realized why I had chosen to date him.
He was coming with me.
We were together.
I was his.
He was mine.
Together we jumped into a shuttle pod, ignoring everyone who was trying to stop us. “Get out!” They screamed. “Don’t do it, Cavell!” Cavell was my last name. They liked to use that to scare me, like when I had stolen those cookies from the ship’s kitchen that one time.
It wouldn’t work this time.
I kissed goodbye to everyone I loved and smiled back at our ship as Trixen piloted the shuttle away.
We were going there.
Perhaps we’d die.
But I was alive.
I was alive, and he was with me, and if we could save someone I didn’t care if I got thrown in the brig.
“Stars galore,” I said suddenly, wonders in my eyes.
Because, right there, right on the viewscreen, I could see-








READING SCI-FI - LOUDER BPM

WC: 405

It was all wrong. Upside down. Inside out. This world… It was so strange. I could feel it in my heart, beating, even though I couldn’t remember anything.
And looking at myself was like looking in the mirror, knowing that what you were looking at was not you, could not be you.
Walking down the neon streets I felt it. I knew something was wrong.
I didn’t know why.
And I didn't know who I was.
Through the doors, neon doors, bright doors, sliding.
I saw where I was- a lounge, a bar of some kind. Skimpy girls were sitting on the couch and looking at me. I didn’t want them. I didn’t want to be there. But I was there. I ignored everyone who looked at me or called me because I needed a drink, desperately.
The bar table was full of droids. Not people that I could spill my problems to. I was very confused, because I knew about these droids, and, at the same time… I knew that I should be with my people.
As the band got louder and louder I forced myself to think of where I just was.
Space.
Frozen.
Cold.
Amongst the stars.
And then… and then I was here.
Who was I?
Where was I?
The droid bartender served me a drink and I downed it. I realized I didn’t have anything to pay with. I apologized over and over and the droid told me that I could have the first drink for free. I decided to keep it at my first drink even though I’d like more.
I would most definitely have liked not to be aware of this when I woke up the next day.
Because it had to be a dream or a hallucination, anyways, right?
I walked out of the bar and gazed at wonders like I had never seen. Blimps, stripped with neon, flying in the skies. Massive billboards on every building, glowing and flashing, coruscating enough to blind my eyes. The skies were dark. It seemed like they were always dark.
I couldn’t see the stars.
Probably because of the light.
But something started to come back to me.
I liked the stars. Floating. Floating through the stars that made way for me wherever I went. I remembered. I remembered being frozen, alive but dead, cold but hot, moving but unmoving.
And I knew I needed to find my past again.

Weekly Part 2 wow inpsiration aka x files fanfiction but reposted because I DID write it this week so :ha:

WC: 700 flat (haha)

July 7, 8:09 P.M.

Madeleine Mulder stood in the kitchen of her parents’ apartment with her arms crossed on her chest. Her baby brother, William, was sitting in his high chair, babbling off and on about something unintelligible- which made sense, because he was just a baby after all.
However, at this moment, Madds was steaming mad.
“Where have you been?” She screamed at her mother, Dana Scully, who was the parent she had most certainly inherited her passionate anger when someone did something dumb from. “I haven’t seen you for two days. Two days, Mom!”
“Would you believe us if we said aliens?” Fox Mulder, her father, said, coming in the door behind Scully.
“Yes, Dad!” She screamed, and started to cry. “Of course I would believe you. You know I would. I’m just so mad that I haven’t seen you in two days! You should have brought me with you! I could have helped.”
“Hey, honey…” Mulder drew Maddy closer to her. “At least now you know why we nicknamed you Madds, huh?”
Maddy laughed and cried at the same time. “I hate you so much right now.”
“Yeah, I hate you too.”
Mulder rested his chin on her head. Like Scully, Madeleine was a short girl. He ran his fingers through her hair gently, a father comforting his daughter.
“I know you want to come with us, but it’s too dangerous.”
“When has anything ever been too dangerous for me, Dad? I broke my arm six times before I was eleven. Granted, I haven’t done it since, but… please let me come with you?”
Scully’s eyes met Mulder’s.
They both grinned.
“I suppose that, if Reyes was free, she could watch William…”
“And then Madds could come with us.”
Scully smiled softly, though her smile turned serious when she turned to face Maddy. “You have to be very, very careful, Madds. There are things out there, things that-”
“I know. I read the LGM.”
“She might be crazier than I am.” Mulder said, ruffling her hair.
Maddy shot him a death glare. “I just brushed it. Don’t you dare.”
“All right, all right, backing off.” He held his hands up in surrender.

July 8, 5:01 A.M.

“Okay, where are we headed?” Maddy inquired, sitting in the backseat of her Mom’s car. “I hope to the LGM, because I really, really want to meet Langly in real life.”
“Someone’s got a crush.” Mulder teased. Maddy rolled her eyes.
“Why does everyone abbreviate everything nowadays?” Scully asked, pressing on the brakes. The car came to a slow but sure stop in the FBI garage.
“Now, technically you shouldn’t be here…” Mulder began, and Maddy spotted him holding a bag of sunflower seeds- because when wasn’t he?
“But when has that ever stopped you, Mulder?” Scully unbuckled and Mulder chuckled.
“All right, out we go.” Mulder attacked Maddy with a tickle, and she giggled uncontrollably as she tumbled out of the car.
Maddy pushed her glasses back up on her face as she followed her parents into their office. She had never actually been here before, which surprised her considering she’d been in existence for fifteen years.
Also, her Dad had died at least three times over the time he’d worked on the X Files, so she thought she deserved to see at least what he had been working on for so many years.
The moment she opened the door she snickered. She saw everything her Dad had had there when he’d met her Mom, never removed. The “I want to believe” poster with the ufo, the pencils stuck in the ceiling from when her Dad, bored, had thrown them up there, the gazillions of newspaper articles and pictures- all stuff that no one had ever bothered to remove.
Maddy loved it all.
Wrapping her arms around both of her parents’ shoulders- a feat, considering Mulder’s tall stature and her unfortunate shortness- and smiled.
“I think this is the beginning of a great adventure.”
Scully embraced her as Mulder went around the desk and pulled a file from the filing cabinet. “Are you ready for your first x-file?”
“Always.” She said, a glint in her eyes.

Weekly Part 3: Themes

I tried to use man vs society… Idk how well this worked.

WC: 1,267

But where could I start?
My head was so empty besides knowing that.
I guess I had to start with the logical option- cryostasis of some kind. What else could mean floating, freezing in space?
As I left the bar I realized I had to find money of some sort. I left the music behind and continued into the crowded streets with the sky that showed no sign of brightening.
“Hey.” I said to a girl striding past me into the bar- one of the few who’s dressed properly. She had curly, somehow glowing neon red hair and dark skin. I got the feeling her blue eyes could be pretty if she weren’t giving me the death glare.
“Don’t you dare touch me, Kak’hach.”
“I- Sorry, sorry. I just have- a few questions. First, what’s a cock-hack?”
“Kak’hach. The girl corrected me. “What’s your next question, boy?” She stood up taller and faced me, eyes still narrowed, crossing her arms. Obviously, she cared about as much as I did that we were obstructing the doorway.
“Is it always dark here?”
“Of course it is. What are you, braingone?” She laughed, and her laugh was actually pretty sweet.
I guess she caught me smiling, or maybe she knew what I was thinking, because she quickly shoved me against the wall and pinned me there.
“Call me cute. Call me sweet. I dare you.”
“How did you know?” I asked in genuine fear.
“You really are braingone.” She said, shaking her head and smiling as she pulled up the sleeve on her leather coat- which, to say the least, was gorgeous- and showed me a symbol in white on her wrist. It looked kind of like a flower, so I asked: “It’s pretty. Is that a flower?”
That question made her stop short.
“What’s a flower?”
I was appalled.
“It’s- you’ve never seen one?”
“No. You’ve never seen one of these?”
“No.” I say. What am I supposed to say?
“Man, you must be messed-up. Do you mind?”
“Mind what?”
Before I heard her answer, she placed a hand on my head, and I delved into a void.
I saw nothing but waves of darkness going on forever- and that girl, standing next to me.
She wasn’t saying anything. She looked shocked.
“This… this is your mind?”
“We’re in my mind?” I said, nearly falling over.
“Woah, boy. No passing out in the mind-voids. Bad for you.” She swiped at the air, at what I guess must have been invisible to me. “There’s nothing here. Nothing except… This.”
“I know that image.” I said.
“What are those white dots?”
“Stars.” I gasped.
“Now I know you’re delusional. Stars aren’t real, so you can't remember them.”
She snapped her fingers, and suddenly we were back in the real world.
“You’re braingone.”
“I’m what?”
“Your memories are all gone. I should have been able to see some of them, if not all- but there isn’t anything but that hallucination.
“It’s not a hallucination.” I said, gritting my teeth. Stars were special to me. How could a woman who didn’t know what flowers were call me crazy?
A mistake. I found myself on the ground not seconds later.
“I don’t know what a flower is, but obviously I belong here and you don’t. Don’t you dare think anything like that again.”
“I didn’t say anything.” I groaned as she pulled me up from the ground.
“I know that. I can read your mind. That’s how I got in there-” She pointed to her temple- “in the first place.”
“How come you couldn’t see that I knew what flowers were?”
“Only memories specific to you- experiences, all that good stuff- show up there. Things you know and should know and know like everyone else, like talking and walking, or the names of colors and shapes? Those stay there, but they don’t appear as memories. In your cause, however, you’re braingone. As in, there are no experiences to draw from.”
“So I… I experienced amnesia?”
She stared at me blankly.
“I don’t know what that means. Come with me.” She grabbed my wrist and began to pull me along. I pulled away.
“I’m not going to follow someone I just met! You might want to-”
“Kill you? I know. But you’re somewhere you know nothing about, and, right now, I’m your best option. Also, for your information, we’re going to someone called The Inventor.”
I know I didn’t have to ask, but I did. “The who?”
“The Inventor is widely known as the leader of the Dakali. We’re that race of mutated people born with weird symbols on our wrists that can read minds, so you know.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ll know when you meet him. He can help you. And, by the way, my name’s Aani.”

***
Aani led me to a tall building, one with a digital board advertising some drama show, and opened the door for me.
“Inventor!” She called out. I could see that we were in something of a tavern, something old amongst the new, littered with tapestried walls. It was something that looked like when me and my friends- friends? What friends?- would play dnd.
“I remember something.” I whispered.
“Good.” She says back, letting go of my wrist and darting right.
“Inventor.” She said with a bow. I was confused for a moment, but I bowed, too. The man ahead of us was small and weird, with disheveled red hair and goggles that made him look like some sort of weird nerd.
“We’ve got a Kak’hach here. He needs help.”
“Uhm- hi.”
“Does he know his name?”
It took me a second to realize that I did not actually know my name.
“No.” I whispered.
“Well, well. What a piece of work!” He smiled, reaching out with his hand as though he wanted to shake mine. I took it, and he motioned to things in the room with his free hand. Besides his desk, there was a pile of a mess of tech and a cot. I took the cot, and lay down.
“Do you have any beer, by any chance?”
“Oh-hoh!” The Inventor laughed and bobbled off to get the drink.
Aani sat next to me on a stool and smiled. “He’s very nice. You know, when us Dakali were being prosecuted, he convinced everyone we weren’t dangerous.” She had a twinkle in her eye. “We are, of course. Just don’t tell them.”
Her expression darkened.
“Can I ask-?”
“Yeah.” She whispered. “It was two years ago. Everyone thought we were going to kill them all. I guess, in a way, they were right. It’s not like we ruled the world then. Not even close. Not even now. But, because everyone thought we were dangerous, they killed my sister and my brother.”
She grasped a locket around her neck that I hadn’t noticed before. It was shaped like the white mark on her inner wrist.
“It’s, uh. Them. They killed them and-” She looked down.
I knew she didn’t want to cry with me around.
I said nothing, and, if she had read my thoughts, she didn’t show it.
“I get it.” I said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. This time she didn’t shove it off.
“I shouldn’t be telling a stranger this.” She groaned, burying her head in her hands. Her curly hair fell around her fingers as she did.
“I’m braingone. What does it matter?” I smiled.
She gave me a sad smile in return.
“Oh, boy. Thank you.”
“I have a question?”
“Yes?”
“What does Kak’hach mean?”
“Braingone.” She said, laughing.

March 21st Daily
Free Verse Poem
I Can't


I can’t.
I can’t handle this much longer.
All this pressure that’s piled on me.
All the expectations from everyone around me.
It’s tearing me apart inside.
I know you can’t see it.
But that’s because I hide it.
And not only do I hide it,
I hide it well.


People want me to be perfect.
They want me to handle it all.
And I do it.
I do everything you ask.
I try not to complain.
I keep my thoughts to myself.
And I go, and I go, and I go.

But have you ever considered,
That maybe I’m not as perfect as I seem?
That maybe I have problems of my own?
That all of these things that you want me to do,
Might be pulling me apart inside?
But I never tell you.
Do you know why?

Do you want the truth?
The truth is because,
I never want to let you down.
I never want you to feel like I’ve disappointed you.
So, I keep going through the stress.
Through all the nights that I cry,
Silently.
So you never hear me.
Because if you hear me,
Then you’ll want to know why.
And I can’t tell you why.

Because then, you’ll be disappointed.
Or worse, you won’t care.
I’ve tried in the past, years ago.
I tried to tell you that I’ve been stressed.
But you don’t care.
You call me dramatic.
Say that it’s just my teenage hormones.
That I’ll get over it in a few days time.
And then you leave it.
You never check in again.
You assume that everything is fine now.
Because I stopped trying to get help.
I gave up.

I gave up trying to make you understand
That these feelings I’m having now,
Aren’t going to go away in a few days
At least, not without help.
But when you never help me,
It’s never going to get better.
Because you keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing me.
You tell me to keep going.
That everything’s going to go fine.
That my hormones will calm down.

But I think you’re wrong.
I don’t think this will go away.
Unless you open your eyes
Open your eyes and see that I’m not doing well.
That I really really need help.
That I need you to focus on me as much as you focus on my sister.

I know, my grades are better, on the outside I look fine, that I don’t have dyslexia, or anything like that.
But I need as much help as she does.
Maybe even more.
Even though I looked better on the outside.
On the inside,
Me and her are the same.
We both have problems.
But still, you only focus on her.
Why?

I need help.
I don’t know how much longer I can do this.
How much longer until I crack.
Until I lose it, and start showing my feelings outside.
Until your perfect little daughter,
Shows you she’s not okay.
Until your perfect little daughter,
Shows her true colors
(507 words)

Daily 21 may 2022


When I look into your real eyes
I realize
That I have been fed real lies
For my whole life.
Yet the glimmering sunlight
Makes be feel alright
As I fight
Those lies with all of my might.
Let the light
Shine and present us with a wonderful sight!

School Day
“An average day,” I say to her
She kicks her feet, and picks up a burr.
“Nothing to do,” She replies to me
“Recess is boring, I want to flee.”
She looks at me once I speak
Her eyes tired and weak
And I stare back
Suddenly I cough and hack
Over she runs
Away from all the funs
The nurse is called
“All I did was falled.”
The teacher shakes her head at my speech
The nurse pulls out a shot like a leech.

Heh, normal day, right?
(lol I can't add more I'm at school.)

WRITING CONTEST WRITING

WC: 1,671 excluding chapter title thing

CHAPTER ONE

It was all wrong. Upside down. Inside out. This world… It was so strange. I could feel it in my heart, beating, even though I couldn’t remember anything.
And looking at myself was like looking in the mirror, knowing that what you were looking at was not you, could not be you.
Walking down the neon streets I felt it. I knew something was wrong.
I didn’t know why.
And I didn't know who I was.
Through the doors, neon doors, bright doors, sliding.
I saw where I was- a lounge, a bar of some kind. Skimpy girls were sitting on the couch and looking at me. I didn’t want them. I didn’t want to be there. But I was there. I ignored everyone who looked at me or called me because I needed a drink, desperately.
The bar table was full of droids. Not people that I could spill my problems to. I was very confused, because I knew about these droids, and, at the same time… I knew that I should be with my people.
As the band got louder and louder I forced myself to think of where I just was.
Space.
Frozen.
Cold.
Amongst the stars.
And then… and then I was here.
Who was I?
Where was I?
The droid bartender served me a drink and I downed it. I realized I didn’t have anything to pay with. I apologized over and over and the droid told me that I could have the first drink for free. I decided to keep it at my first drink even though I’d like more.
I would most definitely have liked not to be aware of this when I woke up the next day.
Because it had to be a dream or a hallucination, anyways, right?
I walked out of the bar and gazed at wonders like I had never seen. Blimps, stripped with neon, flying in the skies. Massive billboards on every building, glowing and flashing, coruscating enough to blind my eyes. The skies were dark. It seems like they’re always dark.
I couldn’t see the stars.
Probably because of the light.
But something started to come back to me.
I liked the stars. Floating. Floating through the stars that made way for me wherever I went. I remembered. I remembered being frozen, alive but dead, cold but hot, moving but unmoving.
And I knew I needed to find my past again.
But where could I start?
My head was so empty besides knowing that.
I guess I had to start with the logical option- cryostasis of some kind. What else could mean floating, freezing in space?
As I left the bar I realized I had to find money of some sort. I left the music behind and continued into the crowded streets with the sky that showed no sign of brightening.
“Hey.” I said to a girl striding past me into the bar- one of the few who’s dressed properly. She had curly, somehow glowing neon red hair and dark skin. I got the feeling her blue eyes could be pretty if she weren’t giving me the death glare.
“Don’t you dare touch me, Kak’hach.”
“I- Sorry, sorry. I just have- a few questions. First, what’s a cock-hack?”
“Kak’hach. The girl corrected me. “What’s your next question, boy?” She stood up taller and faced me, eyes still narrowed, crossing her arms. Obviously, she cared about as much as I did that we were obstructing the doorway.
“Is it always dark here?”
“Of course it is. What are you, braingone?” She laughed, and her laugh was actually pretty sweet.
I guess she caught me smiling, or maybe she knew what I was thinking, because she quickly shoved me against the wall and pinned me there.
“Call me cute. Call me sweet. I dare you.”
“How did you know?” I asked in genuine fear.
“You really are braingone.” She said, shaking her head and smiling as she pulled up the sleeve on her leather coat- which, to say the least, was gorgeous- and showed me a symbol in white on her wrist. It looked kind of like a flower, so I asked: “It’s pretty. Is that a flower?”
That question made her stop short.
“What’s a flower?”
I was appalled.
“It’s- you’ve never seen one?”
“No. You’ve never seen one of these?”
“No.” I say. What am I supposed to say?
“Man, you must be messed-up. Do you mind?”
“Mind what?”
Before I heard her answer, she placed a hand on my head, and I delved into a void.
I saw nothing but waves of darkness going on forever- and that girl, standing next to me.
She wasn’t saying anything. She looked shocked.
“This… this is your mind?”
“We’re in my mind?” I said, nearly falling over.
“Woah, boy. No passing out in the mind-voids. Bad for you.” She swiped at the air, at what I guess must have been invisible to me. “There’s nothing here. Nothing except… This.”
“I know that image.” I said.
“What are those white dots?”
“Stars.” I gasped.
“Now I know you’re delusional. Stars aren’t real, so you can't remember them.”
She snapped her fingers, and suddenly we were back in the real world.
“You’re braingone.”
“I’m what?”
“Your memories are all gone. I should have been able to see some of them, if not all- but there isn’t anything but that hallucination.
“It’s not a hallucination.” I said, gritting my teeth. Stars were special to me. How could a woman who didn’t know what flowers were call me crazy?
A mistake. I found myself on the ground not seconds later.
“I don’t know what a flower is, but obviously I belong here and you don’t. Don’t you dare think anything like that again.”
“I didn’t say anything.” I groaned as she pulled me up from the ground.
“I know that. I can read your mind. That’s how I got in there-” She pointed to her temple- “in the first place.”
“How come you couldn’t see that I knew what flowers were?”
“Only memories specific to you- experiences, all that good stuff- show up there. Things you know and should know and know like everyone else, like talking and walking, or the names of colors and shapes? Those stay there, but they don’t appear as memories. In your cause, however, you’re braingone. As in, there are no experiences to draw from.”
“So I… I experienced amnesia?”
She stared at me blankly.
“I don’t know what that means. Come with me.” She grabbed my wrist and began to pull me along. I pulled away.
“I’m not going to follow someone I just met! You might want to-”
“Kill you? I know. But you’re somewhere you know nothing about, and, right now, I’m your best option. Also, for your information, we’re going to someone called The Inventor.”
I know I didn’t have to ask, but I did. “The who?”
“The Inventor is widely known as the leader of the Dakali. We’re that race of mutated people born with weird symbols on our wrists that can read minds, so you know.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ll know when you meet him. He can help you. And, by the way, my name’s Aani.”

***
Aani led me to a tall building, one with a digital board advertising some drama show, and opened the door for me.
“Inventor!” She called out. I could see that we were in something of a tavern, something old amongst the new, littered with tapestried walls. It was something that looked like when me and my friends- friends? What friends?- would play dnd.
“I remember something.” I whispered.
“Good.” She says back, letting go of my wrist and darting right.
“Inventor.” She said with a bow. I was confused for a moment, but I bowed, too. The man ahead of us was small and weird, with disheveled red hair and goggles that made him look like some sort of weird nerd.
“We’ve got a Kak’hach here. He needs help.”
“Uhm- hi.”
“Does he know his name?”
It took me a second to realize that I did not actually know my name.
“No.” I whispered.
“Well, well. What a piece of work!” He smiled, reaching out with his hand as though he wanted to shake mine. I took it, and he motioned to things in the room with his free hand. Besides his desk, there was a pile of a mess of tech and a cot. I took the cot, and lay down.
“Do you have any beer, by any chance?”
“Oh-hoh!” The Inventor laughed and bobbled off to get the drink.
Aani sat next to me on a stool and smiled. “He’s very nice. You know, when us Dakali were being prosecuted, he convinced everyone we weren’t dangerous.” She had a twinkle in her eye. “We are, of course. Just don’t tell them.”
Her expression darkened.
“Can I ask-?”
“Yeah.” She whispered. “It was two years ago. Everyone thought we were going to kill them all. I guess, in a way, they were right. It’s not like we ruled the world then. Not even close. Not even now. But, because everyone thought we were dangerous, they killed my sister and my brother.”
She grasped a locket around her neck that I hadn’t noticed before. It was shaped like the white mark on her inner wrist.
“It’s, uh. Them. They killed them and-” She looked down.
I knew she didn’t want to cry with me around.
I said nothing, and, if she had read my thoughts, she didn’t show it.
“I get it.” I said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. This time she didn’t shove it off.
“I shouldn’t be telling a stranger this.” She groaned, burying her head in her hands. Her curly hair fell around her fingers as she did.
“I’m braingone. What does it matter?” I smiled.
She gave me a sad smile in return.
“Oh, boy. Thank you.”
“I have a question?”
“Yes?”
“What does Kak’hach mean?”
“Braingone.” She said, laughing.

Lost at Heart
Writing Comp. Entry
Peter Pan Fanfiction
Word count: 1243

I felt like I was lost. Like I didn't know how to move forward with my life and I didn't know how to live up to everything people want me to live up to. I lay on my bed, silently crying. It’s been the first time in years I’ve cried like this. I’ve been told that boys never cry and that boys are strong. But I guess that’s wrong. I didn’t dare make any noise and worry my younger brother, who was sleeping in a bed a yard or so away from mine. I sighed, forcing myself to go to sleep and forget all of my worries. To forget all of my parent’s expectations of me. To forget that I don’t have any friends. And to forget that people only turn to me when they need something.

“Nathan! Nathan wake up!” I woke up to the sound of my younger brother Jace screaming at me to wake up. Knowing Jace, it was probably one of his little pranks, but the teenage boy in our room said otherwise. The boy looked to be about the same age as me, with tan skin, dirty blonde hair, and an odd-looking green hat. Terrified, I sat up straight in my bed and screamed. The boy put his hand over my mouth, muffling my scared screams.
“Nathan, it’s okay! This is Peter,” said Jace.
I struggled to get out of Peter’s grasp, and he only let me go when Nathan whispered something to him. I was too tired and shocked to scream anymore, so I stared at my brother and the boy.
“We’re going to fly to Neverland!” exclaimed Jace. “Come with us!”
“There are no worries in Neverland. You stay young forever! You forget all expectations, that you have no friends and that people only turn to you when they need something.” Peter winked at me, seeing the confusion on my face.
“Did I hear that correctly? We never grow up? And- we’re flying? To N- Neverland?” I stammered.
“Yep, and it’s easy!” Peter sprinkled some golden dust on top of his head, then on top of mine and Jace's. “Just think happy thoughts and you’ll be flying!” He began levitating off the ground and flew out the window.
“Friends, candy, Christmas, food, laughing!” Jace whispered, and he was out the window just like Peter.
“I don’t know about this Jace…” I said nervously.
“Please, Nathan!”
I don’t know what about it, but something in my brother’s voice made me determined to do it. For him. Maybe it’s an older brother instinct, but I knew I had to do it for Jace. I closed my eyes and thought about the things that made me happy. Playing games, spending time with people I love, playing with Jace… And just like the other two, I was flying out the window. Flying felt very weird. It was like a mixture between swimming and sprinting. The weightless feeling and the wind flowing through my hair just felt so surreal. I could tell that Jace was having the time of his life flying in loop-de-loops in the sky, and I was too!
We followed Peter to Neverland- wherever that was. He was right, it did make me forget all of my worries.
It was long before we arrived there, but we finally arrived at Neverland. On the way there, Peter warned us about pirates and told us about the brave girls, fairies, lost boys, and all the other amazing things about Neverland.
I audibly gasped when I saw the view. It was beautiful. There were no buildings or huge factories. It was just a beautiful forest with an even prettier beach surrounding it. The crystal clear ocean made me want to just dive right in, and the lush forest made me want to run around in it for hours.
Peter introduced us to the lost boys and Wendy first. They were sitting around a campfire, chatting amongst each other. Some boys were a little older, some a little younger. All were covered in mud markings on their faces and dirty hair, except Wendy, whose hair and face was perfectly neat.
“This is Nathan and Jace.”
Peter introduced us to them. There was Nibs, Slightly, Curley, Tootles, the twins, and Wendy. All of them seemed very nice.
Later, I took a seat next to Tootles, who looked to be around my age.
“Why are you guys called lost boys?” I asked him.
Tootles took a while to think of an answer, then responded. “Well, we’re lost in the forest, playing games and having loads of fun. We don’t know our mothers and fathers, but that doesn't mean we don't have each other! Honestly, we aren’t lost. Nobody’s lost in Neverland; even the pirates aren’t lost. People growing up, paying taxes, and stressing about little things are lost. They’re lost at heart. That’s why Peter brings the children who are lost at heart to Neverland!”
I nodded, understanding what Tootles was saying. “So, I’m lost at heart?”
“Not anymore, you aren’t!”

I stayed at Neverland for four days, having fun. I grew very close to Tootles, and all the other lost boys too. Jace seemed to have an amazing time there, and I did too. But on my fifth day, I thought about my family. I longed to stay in Neverland forever, but I knew that my family needed me. It would be impossible to convince Jace to go back home with me, so I knew I needed to go home by myself. For my mother and father. For everything they expect me to be. I did it for my future, although I genuinely despised the idea of going back home.

I guess I’m lost at heart, after all.

I decided not to tell anyone about my departure, only my best friend Tootles. He led me deep into the forest, somewhere I’d never been before, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going. It was late at night, so we had to hold torches to light our paths. Still, I stumbled upon a few roots and twigs here and there.
“We’re here,” Tootles whispered, stopping at a marsh. There were a lot of firefly-looking things buzzing around. “But are you absolutely positive you want to go, Nathan?”
“I am. I need to,” I responded. I could see that Tootles wanted to cry, and I did too. I was leaving the only place that made me happy, and the only people that made me happy.
“Tink!” Tootles called out to the firefly-looking things, and one of them darted towards him, making an abrupt stop right in front of his face. When the thing got closer, I realized it was a fairy. An actual fairy! Tootles whispered something to the fairy, and it sprinkled some dust on top of my head- the same thing we used to fly when Peter arrived in mine and Jace's room.
“Just think that you’re back home, and you’ll be there by morning. Goodbye Nathan. I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too, Tootles.”

Now I’m eighteen years old, laying in my bed, crying once again. I’m lost at heart, and I have been my whole life. Ever since I got home that morning I left Neverland, I regret ever leaving. I’m too old for Peter, Jace, or anyone to come back for me. I wish I was lost in the forest- not lost at heart.

Daily 3/21

Acrostic:

Sprout

Seedling in the ground
Planting its roots deep.
Radiant leaves start to poke
Out of the soft soil.
Underneath the glowing sun
To grow into a sprout

(27 words)

Writing Comp. Entry

The Fuchsia Apocalypse

“There were aliens who were shooting lasers out of their eyes. And-and there were turtles with claws. I swear! There really were! I-It’s just all so… fuzzy.”

I was walking to school one day when I saw these strange figures. I didn’t think much of it until they started walking closer to me. Then I just got freaked out. I continued walking, and they continued getting closer. I could make out their details now. They were fuchsia with bald shiny heads. Kind of like the stereotypical aliens, but fuchsia.
Once they got about ten feet away from me and clearly wanting something, I turned around and started speed walking the other way. They started to too. At this point I was very creeped out. I started to run down the sidewalk and a few times into peoples’ lawns. I was a few houses away from my place, so I ran as fast as I could. The aliens did too. They were faster than me and eventually caught up.
One of the aliens took my arm. After that, I don’t know.
I woke up in this strange place. It was a circle shaped room and had a lot of intimidating bright lights along the walls. An alien, who seemed to be the head, asked me, “Who are you?” I felt like I should’ve been the one asking that but I answered anyway.
“M-my name is T-Taylor. I’m from the town you were just in?” I don’t know why I gave it where I’m from, but I felt like I needed to.
“OK. Well, to get straight to the point, we need your help.” the alien says.
“Why me?”
“Because. You’re special.”
I don’t know if I should be flattered or totally creeped out. “What do you need my help with?” I ask.
The alien replies with, “First of all, where exactly is the headquarters of the United Nations?”
“I believe it’s in NYC.”
“OK. Thanks for the help!”
I get this wave of guilt after the alien says this. Then, I recall being in the comfort of my own home questioning if that ever happened.

My mom knocks on my door and asks me if I was alright. I said that I was and then she came in. She had this excited look on her face which I only see when there is very good news. I start to get ready for the wave of excitement and happiness I’m most likely going to experience, but my mom starts talking.
“We’re going to NYC!!” she says. I feel like we shouldn’t go and that bad things are going to happen, but I ignore it and say, “Really?! I’m so excited! When are we going?”
“On Friday!” she answers. Friday is in three days. Three days of packing, three days of excitement, and three days of this weird feeling in my stomach.
On Friday we set off to New York City. It was a 6 hour drive but it felt like half. We arrive, get settled in our hotel, and then start to explore the city. Sometime during the day, I see these strange figures. I couldn’t tell what they were with all the people in the way. I do remember hearing some people screaming though. They eventually got to me and I felt like I’ve seen them before, I just don’t know where. They were fuchsia with bald shiny heads. I could see why people, including my parents, were screaming. I wasn’t for some reason. I felt no need to.
Everyone started running off into the roads and into the closest building they could get into. The strange alien-type creatures were shooting lasers from their eyes and were burning down buildings. People were running and screaming and being hit by lasers. This was all happening so fast.
Then I see turtles start to grow claws. Tons of questions came splashing into my head. Why are there turtles? Where did they come from? Since when did turtles have claws? Why do these turtles have claws? How do they have claws?
Not only were these turtles leaping onto people and scratching their eyes out, there were aliens interrogating people on where the HQ of the UN was. I could hear people saying mostly one of these answers, “I don’t know!” or “On the other side of the city!” or “In Manhattan!” I was afraid I would have to get interrogated, so I started running toward my hotel but then realized that that was a bad idea. So I started running. I started running somewhere. I ended up at a park.
I sat on a bench for a little bit until I realized that there was thick smoke everywhere. It was hard to breathe and I started to cough. The smoke smelled like burning. It probably came from the burning buildings. The aliens just didn’t want to stop lasering them and the turtles didn’t want to stop clawing at people either.

You could hear police sirens shouting through the smoke. I don’t think they did a good job because you could hear them screaming at the top of their lungs in fear. I could faintly hear some of the aliens laughing. They sounded like they were having fun. Having fun shooting lasers from their eyes.
I decided to go into a building to protect myself from the smoke. I ran into the closest building which was a dollar store. I grabbed some snacks, seeing as I was starving. I also grabbed a couple masks hoping that they would help with the smoke.
I took a quick nap and when I woke up there were aliens in the store with me! I’m thinking that they just got there because they haven’t spotted me yet; or they just don’t care. I can feel my heart pounding fast. Tha-thump Tha-thump. I shimmy over to an empty floor shelf and tuck myself into it. Some of the aliens walk past me. After about 5 minutes, the position I was in got very uncomfortable. I get out and tiptoe to the farthest corner of the store. I this time just curl up behind a shelf and try to slow down my breathing. I wait until I hear no more of the aliens. Then I get up and carefully walk out of the store. Surprisingly I don’t see any aliens around.

I don’t remember much about what happens next, but I do remember this:
I was chilling at the park and then I suddenly saw one of the aliens walking one of the mutant turtles. I got up and ran towards the road, only to see another alien walking a mutant turtle. I ran to the other side of the park. I once again saw an alien, but this one wasn’t walking a mutant turtle. I look at it and it makes eye contact with me. It seems to take a while to comprehend what and who I was because it just stood there looking at me. Once it realizes what I was it shouts, “AHHH!!!! A HUMAN! A HUMAN!”
I was confused what it meant by this. Was it really scared of me?
That thought was quickly torn away from me when I saw a large group of aliens coming towards me. I got parralyzed in thought of what to do. One of the aliens grabs me by the arm and starts dragging me to this building. There was an alien wearing a crown who had this serious look on its face. After a few moments of awkward silence, it says “We meet once again.” I had no idea what it was talking about.
“W-what do you mean?” I ask.
“Nothing. I need your help. Before you ask, I need you to help us get to Tokyo.”
“Can’t you just do what you did here?”
“We could, but that’d be too suspicious.”
“How am I supposed to help you?”
“I don’t know. Guide us?”
“OK?” I tried to figure out what it meant but I never did.
Anyways, I helped them get to Tokyo and I asked why they wanted to go there. They didn’t really give me an answer. I figure that they want to go to the giant nuclear power plant. Wait. They want to go to the giant nuclear power plant. Oh, no. It’s too late. They’re already there aren’t they. Think. Even though I’m good at geography, I’m not too good at coming up with ideas to save the world. Who really is? I’m also locked in this ship and I don’t know the password.
After a while I came up with an idea. I found the nearest hard object (which was a wrench if I remember correctly) and threw it at the windshield in the control room. I threw a few rocks too to make it safer to escape. Once I was pleased, I grabbed the wrench and went out and rode on a train to get as close as I could to the plant. From there I went by car. Then, I finally got there. The aliens definitely were already there. You could hear people screaming and shouting and the aliens laughing. I quickly ran in, only to see the aliens getting ready to shoot their lazer eyes at a reactor. “STOP!” I yell. Everything goes quiet. The only thing you could hear was people screaming outside.
“What was that for?” One of the aliens shouted.
“Ya?! We were just about to shoot this thing and make the world explode!” Another one says.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot let you do this. This is my planet and I want it to be perfectly intact.” I responded.
“Ugh. Why did Boss have to pick this selfish human?” an alien murmurs.
These aliens did not like me stopping them at all. I walk over to them and take the wrench from before and show them it. Then, I grab one of the aliens and say, “If you shoot me, then this guy goes bye-bye.” This alien I grabbed had to be special because all of the other aliens started to beg to get them back.
“If I let him go will you leave?” I ask.
“Yes!” an alien says.
“Do you promise?”
“Yes! We promise.” I could hear a mumble which I made out as “No” when the alien said that.
The same snotty alien remarks, “Don’t expect us to be gone forever. We will be back.”
After the alien said this, I decided to let the alien I was holding on to go.
As the aliens ran off, I told them that they have to give me a ride back to Buffalo. They agreed and right before we took off, the captain said, “Why is the windshield broken?” No one answered but some aliens went over to the captain and you could hear them fixing it. Who knew that you could fix glass? These aliens are something.
After that delay, we took off. I got to Buffalo and into my house safely. When I entered my house, I was surprised to see that my mom was just sitting there like nothing ever happened. She looked up from the table and asked me how school was. I ignore her and go up into my room. Later in the day she comes up and asks me what was wrong. I’m still trying to remember what happened. I respond with:
“There were aliens who were shooting lasers out of their eyes. And-and there were turtles with claws. I swear! There really were! I-It’s just all so… fuzzy.”

(1928 words)

word war with Vivian

word count: 132
status :: no prompt, yes proof
outcome :: currently unknown

there is no place in the world quite like the place where the sun only reaches the horizon, the edge of the earth, when the world is about to end and time has crawled to a standstill. The world doesn't know what that is like yet because it has never happened. Until now. Time is beginning to crawl shorter and shorter. No one really notices it, but it is happening. It may seem like it's going faster. If time feels faster that's the closest you're going to get to noticing the changes taking place. But three days from now when the sun reaches the horizon and the first people in the world to transfer over to the new day do so, time will slow to a complete stop and everything will vanish.

IC Daily - 03/21/22

Word has just reached me that the three Divisions of the forest are to be uniting once more to purge the forest from the impending darkness that looms over us all. This has been seen as great news to many. To them, surely it is a sign of broken bonds being mended and new alliances being forged.
Yet I am skeptical. Since when have we ever trusted each other, permitted one another to have full access to all of our secrets, putting our lives in the hands of others who have made enemies of us for so long? We have all fought, spied, and lied for the sake of our Divisions. Who knows what devious, cunning plans the others have for us?
If the Adventurers and Warriors were to join us Protectors as one, I could never trust them. Even if I ever came to, never in full. We are, after all, Protectors. The protection of the forest is up to us, and us only. Since when do the other Divisions care about anybody but themselves? If they truly cared about the well-being of all in this forest, we would never have broken apart in the first place.
I know my opinions may seem polarizing, but this is what I feel. I am wary, slow to trust, bitter, grudging, any terms may be used to describe me. But to all my fellow Protectors, I emphasize the urge to be cautious. Do not trust. Be on your guard, always.

Between the Shards
a SWC fanfiction - March 2022 Entry

author's note:

a starrsea fanfic!!!
well… not quite. this is something I started to write for fun last november, but never got a chance to finish. since I didn't have a fanfic entry, I thought I'd do some polishing and give it a try ^^
this story is a continuation of @Cherrie_Tree's fanfiction from last session. thank you so much for letting me write this!

(pssst - go check their work out btw, it's awesome:
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/5806277
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/5818534 )

hope you enjoy my fanfiction of zura's fanfiction! thank you to all the people who made an appearance.

(sea, I apologize for giving you such an agonizing backstory :'D)

~


They say I came from the ocean.

The salt of the waves had created my soul in the same way it had given me my name. Sea – a reminder, a blessing, a measure of the endless blue that could never be contained.

My feet sink heavily into the sand as I tread along the shore, a hand shielding my eyes from the sun’s unwavering glint. Home. A quickening pulse, an ache from inside my heart – stirring something deep inside me. Why?

Somehow, here I am, on the first page again. The shattered remnants of the water, glass fragments, are spread out around me. My wings reach for the grey, broken skies, but fall short – they’re heavy, and soaked.

Here I am, with wings that cannot beat, and a heart growing steadily weaker. The beach is desolate, the white sand stretching as far as the eye can see.

How did we come here?

This is not how the story ends. It cannot be.



~



“Sea, do you know how to get into Salem Territory?”

That was how it started. Well, my part in it, anyway.

I look up from the book I had been reading. Dark Magic and How to Master It. Written by Professor Sisni Tangent – who, ironically, was the subject of our conversation, and much else.

Starr had spread a large, detailed map on the writing table. She was looking over it intently, scanning for, I imagine, a clue or hint of some kind that did not exist.

“I think this is pointless.”

She gives me a wry smile. “I know you do.”

I purse my lips. “They closed the borders to provoke us. They want to catch our attention, and they’re expecting a full-scale attack. You can’t let them find out that Sini is still alive.”

“Was she ever really alive? I mean, she is as much a ghost as one can be – ”

“Starr!” I hiss.

“Right, right.” She sighs. “It is dangerous. But that’s why I’m doing it. Salem Territory has taken so much from us. And now they’re just going to take Alba’s name, too? Her identity? She’s our friend, Sea – and I’m angry. They’re going to pay.”

Her fingers flare. Crescents of white fire spring from each tip, illuminating her face. I rush to the table and push the map away quickly before it alights. The faint, now familiar scent of smoke fills the air, but Starr doesn’t even notice.

“We’ll change this, the Dictator way.”

I shake my head. “The Hosts only let us stay here because we promised we wouldn’t interfere with their politics.”

She laughs. “Politics is for amateurs. They won’t mind this.”

She is right, in a way. Though we live on the Dystopian Islands, beneath the supposed rule of our Leaders, the Empire does not bother us too much. It exists harmoniously with the Dictatorship. We do what we like, and they live in peace. Until, of course, the day we bring our battalions to the coast and take over them all – but that’s still a way’s off.

“What if this won’t work? What if you lose Sini? If you get caught before you find Alba?”

“Everything will go perfectly,” she insists. “Well, as soon as I find a way to get in.”

I look at her. Ash-grey eyes look intensely into mine. I see myself in them. Eyes that have seen all the whites and blacks of the world, felt every merciless cold, and blissful warmth. Endless. Infinite stories are held in those expressionless orbs. I wonder: if I were to look long enough, could I catch a glimpse of the worlds inside them?

“And you believe that it will all be worth it?” I ask her.

“Of course it will.” But I see the hesitation in her stance, and the wariness in the way she grips her pen tightly.

Starr is reckless. She would burn anything to get what she wants, and she knows how. She fears being found out but can’t resist the opportunity to shine. But I suppose it’s in the nature of stars to burn bright – if only beneath the cloak of night. The sea, however, will rage forever, and never fear loss.

If you want to destroy your enemies, you have to do it well.




On the edge of the cliff, where the ground drops into a dark, screaming chasm, a ghost is waiting.

I descend onto the ground slowly, struggling to find my footing on the rocky earth. The drop is deep – I can’t even see the bottom. What a frightening place.

Sini turns to me. Her dress is, as I remember, implacably neat – but her yellow sunhat lies on a crooked angle, and her eyes look troubled.

“I… I know you.”

I pause, surprised. Hadn’t Sini lost all her memories?

“You do?”

She smiles, suddenly, her face brightening. “Yes! You’re the fairy. Sea.”

I smile back. “That’s right – ”

“You single-handedly beat twelve dragons in a war against Fantasy once, won a medal for your bravery, and brought it home to your pet hamster.”

“Less right, but I can live with that.”

She looks at me, her expression once more ghostly. “Where’s Starr?”

“She’s rallying her forces,” I say. “The Dystopian citizens, the Leaders if she can. You and I are to infiltrate inside and raise the signal for them to come.”

Sini nods in understanding. “And – the others?”

I blink. “Others?”

“The magical ones,” she says, gesturing helplessly, frustrated.

“The Hosts,” I say, slowly.

The rulers of the SWC Empire. The Bird, The White and Black Cat, and The Honey Flavoured Breeze – the deft hands that move our nation, fashioning the earth, and sea, and sky into reality. We all have magic of some sort (except ghosts), but the Hosts are powerful beyond imagining.

“Are they coming?”

“No,” I admit, somewhat defeated. “We couldn’t find a way to reach them – and besides, they’re bound by law to obey Salem Territory.” I decide to tell her about the Dictatorship’s plans of dominion another time.

“I see.” She sighs. “I had been a Host once, I think – that was, until I became a ghost.”

“How did you die?” I ask. “I had always wondered.”

“I don’t remember,” she replies. Of course.

We travel alongside the cliff, Sini floating, and me, taking tentative steps forward. It’s too narrow to fly, and I don’t dare get any closer to the chasm.

We reach the sign soon. The words Here begins Salem Territory have been printed on it in careful bubble letters. I frown at it. The smiling skull in particular seems a bit too much.

“Let’s go,” I tell Sini.

“To freedom,” she agrees, and I wonder if I only imagined the faint smirk that crossed her face. A ghost of the ghost she once was.

Under the cover of night, and the watching eyes of the silent stars, we cross the border of the Empire.



~



I call out, my voice growing hoarse, but only the mist answers.

Exhaustion weighs down on me, and I sink onto the ground. I let my wings curl over my shoulders and cage me. I’m shivering. Why am I here, alone? Where is Starr, and Sini, and Faer? How did they all disappear? We had all been fighting only moments before.

I gasp as another freezing wave washes over me. I have to go. I have to help them. I tighten my hands into fists, willing my determination to give me the strength I can’t find.

Starr’s power is her fire, and mine is my wings. But we are made of shapes, not lines; we cross over and out of each other, as all things do. Our lives, and our legacies are scattered across a thousand beaches, like this one – stories written in the sand.

I unfurl my wings and rise, my resolve hardening.

We are the dawn. We will live forever. The flames will not consume us, the water will not drown us. No thorn can prick our skin, and no rain can cloud our soul. Our fates are meant to make the world tremble.

My lips curl. The fire in the distance, only dreaming of the land it cannot claim. Our land.

Home, I think, my breathing quickening – and for the first time, it is not the crash of the waves beside me that I picture, but the faces of the people I had come to call my friends.


~

1400 words

A Rhyme

Mrs. Jenny
Has one penny
Only one penny.

She ate it up
And stole a cup
Caught by a cop

She went to jail
Only eating Kale
When it began raining hail

It broke through her cage
And brought her out of her daze
And she broke free after days

She saw the sun
And got shunned

Before finding a place
Where she was welcomed by a race
And lived her life without a trace

Of her past
And of her mistakes

Fan-Fi IC Daily: Snowy wasn't sure what to feel about the Divisions uniting, and felt stupid because of it. She should have been happy– she should have cheered with the other campers. But instead all she did was pause for a second, then look back down at her book. Now she felt guilty. Guilty for not understanding. Maybe it was because she was an only child, or maybe her book was unrealistically good. Or maybe she just didn’t quite get it. But now she got it. She knew they had to fight. And she knew she would fight too.
She was new to SWC, she was new to the forest. She was new to the portals and the cabins and the worlds and the Heart. She was new to the people and the divisions. But she had known fanfiction for all her life, and so did these people. Whether or not she knew them or they knew her, or if they cared about one another, she was there to work alongside them.
She wiped tears from her eyes and opened up her computer, beginning to write. /poetry shmoetry, we’ll win for sure/ she thought with a smirk, remembering the rivalry with the other cabin. /And we’ll heal the forest no matter what./