2009 Short Stories Ages 14-17

Winner!

2009-08-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

The story with the most votes is:

Suicide Siblings
by Chantal Mihailovic

Her heart ached. The cuts on her writs poured thick warm blood. It was pooling on the ground, swirling around her shoes. Tears drizzled down her face mixing with her blackened eyes. Her bathroom floor was cold and hard but comforted her in many ways. This was the world behind the bathroom door.
It could end his world in a split of a second. The pull of a trigger was much easier than waking up another morning dreading the day that comes. He had a decision to make.
A wall separated them and their worlds. Sam and Andy Dyson lived separate lives in one house. Their parents didn’t care about them; they had their own problems to deal with. Their marriage wasn’t so strong and sleeping in separate bedrooms was the solution every time. Fighting. Screaming. It all blended into one noise. The noise of a dysfunctional family.
Sam wasn’t like the other girls at school. She didn’t have straight blonde hair, a perfect tan, and the tiniest tummy. She didn’t have a special talent, or was any good at school. There was nothing unique about her. She was just that girl who sits behind you in your algebra 1 class. Walking down the hallways was impossible. The stares, the comments, the snickers behind her back; she was the school joke.
Two grades older was her brother Andy. His story was about the same. He couldn’t throw a ball to save his life, girls laughed when he got the courage to ask them out, and acne on his face was oh, so severe. He always thought he was unlovable, incapable of love.
Kids are mean in high school. To the unpopular, loners, anyone who didn’t reach the bar of perfection. But that bar is so high, who could reach it? Definitely not the Dyson’s. These kids, who set the bars, also say the jokes, start the rumors and demolish anyone who is weak around them. Kids like these made Sam and Andy think about suicide.
Sam was used to the popular girls laughing at her, and saying things in the cafeteria in front of everyone. Then one day, they went too far. They tripped her when she was carrying her food tray to a table. She fell on her face and food went everywhere. The whole cafeteria went quiet for two seconds, until they all burst out laughing.
“Stop laughing” Sam whispered through her sobs, struggling to get up. She started running for the doors, when someone grabbed her arm. As she turned, she stood face to face with Andy.
“Are you okay?” He genuinely asked
“Why do you care? You’ve never cared before” she replied and ran away.
The words hurt Andy, but he wasn’t sure why. It was true, they’ve never talked. But could it have come to a point where they don’t help each other? He turned his back on someone who was blood related to him and was getting hurt. The thoughts filled his mind and mixed in with the cruel laughter, as he watched her run away.
Tears blurred her vision, emotions choked her, and it was too much to handle at once. Had Andy saw her hurting, and actually cared? No, that’s impossible; he never showed any emotion towards her before. She locked herself in a bathroom stall and just cried as she felt the scars on her arm. She had to tell someone.
Andy missed the bus after school, and had to walk home. It gave him plenty time to think about what happened at lunch. When he grabbed Sam’s arm, it felt rough, and different. It puzzled Andy, he had to find out. He has to find out more about his sister. Nearing the house, he heard the usual angry screaming . As he opened the door, he saw a scene he wasn’t expecting.
“Your ugly and no one cares about you. I don’t know why anyone would love you. Your useless” He heard his dad say to Sam. He was drunk, as usual. Sam was standing there, taking it with tears trickling down her face.
“You’re a disgrace to our family. You cause the fights between me and your mom. You are the problem.” And with that he threw Sam across the room.
“SAM!” Andy screams for his sister, and rushed by her side.
“Sam, are you okay? Are you hurt?” he said trying to get the words out as fast as he could. He turned his head and saw his dad stumbling towards them.
“Get away from her!” Andy screamed. And shoved his dad, sending him to the ground.
Sam had already started up the stairs. Her dads comments were spinning in her mind, the kids laughter pounded her head, it was pushing her over the edge. She needed to cut.
She went into the bathroom and slammed her door, then collapsed on the floor. She reached behind the toilet and reached for her knife. Why couldn’t she just end it now? She was useless, wasn’t she? He dad told her, she had no friends, no one loved her. The thoughts ran through her mind as she cut between the old scars creating new ones.
“Sam!” Andy screamed as he barged through the bathroom door. His eyes widened as he saw his sister suffering on the floor.
“Sam, stop! Stop hurting yourself! Sam, stop…” Andy screamed through sobs.
He fell to the ground beside her, as she dropped her knife.
“I can’t do this anymore, Andy”
“You’re not going to do it alone”
Together they faced the hardships of high school. They were more than siblings, they became best friends. Best of all, neither of them thought about suicide ever again.

Rikki's Summer Camp Experience

2009-08-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Rikki put her car into park and shut it off. She let out a heavy sigh and took the key from the ignition. She sat in her car for a little while, debating whether or not she should go in or if she could just drive back home. No, you have to do this Rikki, she told herself. You’ve gotta! Otherwise, you’ll be stuck at home all by yourself doing nothing because all of your friends are traveling and have plans for the summer. She let out another sigh and stepped out of the little yellow Jeep, locking it before she left. She timidly walked into the office and looked around.

“Can I help you miss?” a middle-aged lady asked.

Rikki was startled for a moment, then realized that she was addressing her. “Umm, yes. I’m new here and I need to register and find my cabin.” Rikki managed to say, fumbling with her fingers.

The lady showed a kind smile to her. “May I have your name, please?”

“Rikki--Rikki O’ Donald.” she replied.

She scrolled down the list until her finger reached ‘Rikki O’ Donald‘. “Ah, here it is.” She checked off the name and ran her finger to the other side of the list. “Looks like your in cabin G2. It’s just down the road from here, you can’t miss it. Here at camp we use bird names to designate which cabin is which. Your’s is Robin.”

“Thank you.” Rikki replied, feeling a little bit better. She hoisted her bags out of the back of her jeep and began walking to her cabin. A lot of the girls must have known each other, because Rikki was the only one walking by herself. It wasn’t long before she saw the sign that read, “Robins Rule!” She smiled and dragged her bags up the little hill that led to the steps into the cabin. When she walked inside, about five other girls were inside, two were the counselors.

“Hey there!” one of the counselors called out, waving at Rikki. “Welcome to the Robin cabin! My name’s Grace and this is Becky,” she gestured to the other counselor, who smiled and waved at her, “and we’re your camp counselors.”

Rikki smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you both. My name is Rikki.”

“That’s an interesting name.” one of the girls announced.

Rikki blushed a little. “Yeah, I know.” she said, shyly.

“I meant that it’s really cool!” the girl added. “My name’s Olivia and this is Jenna and Megan.” Jenna and Megan waved at her, smiled and said hello.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Rikki replied. “Umm, which bunk hasn’t been occupied yet?” she asked in a joking manner, looking at the bunks.

Olivia stood up and walked over to her bunk. “Mine’s the top, but no one has the bottom one if you want it.”

“That would be perfect!” Rikki answered. She never really cared for the top bunks. She placed her suitcase under the bed, made up her bed and took out a few pictures of her family and friends. After getting settled in she hung out with the girls and waited for the others to arrive. They played a few games and got to know each other better. Rikki was beginning to feel right at home.

************************************************

Camp activities started the next day and Rikki, along with her cabin mates, hiked a long trail up a mountain. The view was gorgeous at the top! You could see the whole campus. Rikki spotted their cabin, along with three others, the tennis courts, a volleyball court, popcorn ring, the lunchroom, five sets of swings, Cypress and other buildings. She also spotted the pool, but she didn’t really care for swimming a lot.

The meals were great and Cypress was so much fun. That was where all of the campers got to meet with each other, play games, hang out and sing. There were two girl cabins--Robin and Wren--and two guy cabins--Blue Jay and Swallow. The guys were really nice to her and very friendly. All of the counselors were fun to be around. There was one counselor that caught Rikki’s eye one of the nights around the popcorn ring. She was an older lady who looked like she had trouble getting around, but no one went to help her. When she saw that she was getting up Rikki got up and walked over to her. “Do you need some help?” she asked her, gently reaching for her arm.

The older lady looked up at her. She looked to be in her 50’s. “Why thank you, young lady.” she said, gladly taking her hand. “It’s not often that a young camper comes to help me.”
Rikki smiled and helped her walk back to her cabin. She learned that her name was Nadia and that she was one of the head counselors at camp, and one of the oldest too. Rikki spent the rest of the night with Nadia, talking and hanging out.

******************************

Over the next few days, Rikki would meet Nadia at her cabin to help her walk to the lunchroom and to other places. She would eat her meals with her and spend all of her free time talking with her or listening to some of her records. Rikki enjoyed being with Nadia, and so did Nadia. “Are you sure that you want to spend all of your time with me, Rikki? Aren’t you missing out on camp activities?” Nadia asked her one day.

Rikki shook her head. “I’m not missing out on anything that I would want to be at. Besides, I like spending my time with you, don’t you?” she asked her.

“Of course I do, dearest. It’s just, I feel like I’m keeping you from being with your friends and cabin mates.”

Rikki frowned a little. “They’re not my friends.” she said softly, casting her glance at the floor. “They don’t want to hang out with me. I mean, sure they were nice to me in the beginning, but now they all have their clichés and I’m not in one.” her voice trailed off as she looked out the window, resting her chin in her hand, which was on the table.

Nadia frowned too and sat across from Rikki with her cup of tea in hand. “Now, I’m sure that’s not true. I bet that if you just gave them a chance to get to know you better, you’d be in one.”

Rikki’s eyes met Nadia’s and she smiled a little. “Maybe, but I like being here with you much better.”

Nadia smiled and poured her some more tea. “I do too.” she said.

********************************
That night, all of the girls wouldn’t stop talking about how cute one of the lifeguards was. Rikki turned over on her side and tried to block out their voices in order to get some sleep.

“Did you see the way his blue eyes sparkled at me?” Kristi said dreamily.

“No way, they were looking at me.” Devin insisted.

“Dream on.” Kristi barked.

“How about we all go to sleep?” Rikki suggested, turning back to face them.

They all just laughed at her. “Like you would even know who we’re talking about.” Megan stated.

“Well, I know it’s one of the lifeguards.” Rikki stated. “And he must be cute if it’s all that you guys are ever going to talk about.”

“He’s only the hottest guy at camp!” Jenna announced.

“And, he’s 18 years old!” Olivia added, peaking down at Rikki from her bunk.

“So?” Rikki asked.

“So, that means that he’s just about our age!” Olivia answered.

“And what’s so great about that?” Rikki asked.

Olivia’s jaw dropped and so did a few of the other girls’. “What’s so great about that?! I’ll tell you what’s so great about it! That means that one of us could become his girlfriend!”

Rikki rolled her eyes, shook her head and turned back on her side. “You guys are all nuts.” she said quietly.

“She’s the one who’s nuts.” Megan leaned over and whispered to Olivia, but Rikki heard it.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed her eyes, once again, and fell asleep to the sounds of the girls’ voices chattering about Brad, the lifeguard.

**********************************

The next few weeks were the same as always for Rikki. She would meet Nadia at her house, eat with her, have tea in her cabin, go for walks with her, have long talks about anything and spend all of her time with Nadia. Then, she would go back to her cabin and fall asleep to the sounds of the girls’ voice talking and whispering about what they did that day and how hot Brad was.

The counselors announced one night after Cypress that there would be a Talent Competition in a few days. The winner would receive a trophy along with a 3 month stay in one of the camp’s best cabins. Rikki wasn’t going to compete though. She didn’t like to perform in front of crowds, let alone her family.

Nadia, on the other hand, knew how well of a singer Rikki was and knew that she had to compete, whether she signed herself up or if she would sign her up herself. Of course, she wasn’t going to let Rikki find out until they announced the line up. Nadia made all of the arrangements for Rikki to be in the line up. The list would be announced the next night after Cypress.

************************************

Rikki sat and listened to the names being read from the list for the Talent Competition. She expected every girl in her cabin to be signed up, but what she didn’t expect was to hear her name called off the list. Rikki could feel all of her cabin mates’ eyes lock on her and felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t sign herself up! Who did? She wondered. A small smile creeped onto her face as she realized only one person knew that she liked to sing and that was Nadia. She must have signed me up, but why?

************************************

That next morning, the first thing that Rikki said to Nadia was, “Why did you sign me up for the Talent Competition?” Rikki noticed a small smile appear on Nadia’s face.

“Well, dearest, if you must know, I signed you up because I felt that this would be a way for the rest of camp to see the real you. You’re a talented singer and everyone deserves to see that in you.” she explained.

Rikki smiled and shook her head slowly. “But Nadia, you know that I don’t like to sing in front of large groups…” she whined.

“Dearest, you need to believe in yourself like I believe in you.” Nadia walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve helped me ever since the first day of camp, now I want to help you.” She walked over to a case laying against the wall on the other side and opened it up. Rikki glanced up and watched Nadia pull out a guitar.

“What’s that?” she asked.

Nadia’s smiled before answering her. “Why, dearest, this is a guitar.”

Rikki laughed. “What I meant was, what are you going to do with it?”

Nadia laughed and walked back over with the guitar. “I’m not going to be doing anything with it--you are.” she handed over the guitar into Rikki’s opened arms.

Rikki was stunned. “But, I don’t know what to play.” she finally said.

“We can change that, dearest.” Nadia placed her favorite record onto the record player and started it up. The song was called “Someday” and it was Rikki’s favorite.

After the song was over Rikki smiled and walked over to Nadia. “Alright, I’m in.”

*************************************
The next few days Rikki spent all of her time working with Nadia on “Someday” for the competition. It didn’t take her long to learn the song, for she knew the lyrics by heart and had begun playing the chords a few weeks before camp. She had been playing the guitar for 8 years so it was quite easy for her to pick up the chords.

The night of the Talent Competition was a hectic one for most of the campers. Some were scared out of their minds, others were as calm as the lake at night, as for Rikki she was nervous, but confident. Nadia had given her a wonderful confidence booster just earlier that day. Rikki was ready for anything.

It wasn’t long before it was Rikki’s turn to sing. She was the last competitor for the night. Rikki took a long, deep breath before walking onto the stage. She sat down in the middle of the stage on a stool that had been set up for her and slowly reached for her guitar taking her time before starting. She looked at all of the faces of the campers staring at her. Her eyes scanned the crowd and stopped once she found Nadia’s. Seeing Nadia’s smile was all that she needed for her confidence to return. Rikki smiled back and looked down at the guitar and began strumming the first few chords. As she continued playing she began singing the words to “Someday”. Her voice flowed through the air like sweet honey and she touched everyone with her song. As she sang the last few words of the song her eyes locked onto a young man near the back.

He had decided not to go and watch the competition, but he walked into the back as he heard her begin singing. This was his favorite song in the whole world and, at the moment, all he wanted to do was meet the young lady singing it. He had stepped in a while after her name had been called, so he never did catch her name.

Rikki finished her song and slowly walked off the stage. She was proud of herself for sticking to it and for competing. As she returned back stage she heard the roar of applause begin. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. She heard them chanting her name. They wanted an encore! Rikki waited by the curtain and listened to them call out her name.
“And the winner is…..” the head counselor began. He paused to open up the envelope containing the winner’s name. “Rikki O’ Donald!”

The crowd cheered and applauded wildly. Rikki stepped out onto the stage and walked to the middle to retrieve her trophy and prize. Her shyness disappeared forever as she held that trophy and saw everyone cheering for her, but there was only one person that she focused on, and that was Nadia. All Rikki wanted to do was make Nadia proud--and she sure did.

*************************************

“You were amazing, dearest!” Nadia said, her pride shining through her face.

Rikki blushed as they walked to the big oak tree. “Thank you Nadia.” she replied sweetly. “All that I really wanted to do was make you proud.”

“And you certainly did, dearest.” Nadia responded, opening up the large blanket and laying it on the ground.

Rikki helped Nadia sit down on the ground and opened up the picnic basket. She took out the plates and set them up, but stopped when she found that there were three plates. “Nadia, why are there 3 plates?” she asked.

“Well, dearest, I asked my grandson to come join us.” Nadia explained.

“Your grandson?”

“Yes, dearest. I have a grandson. You knew that.”

“Well, yes, but I didn’t know that he was here.”

“Yes, he works here. He should be here shortly.”

Rikki decided to stop questioning her and just wait to meet him.

“I’m sorry that I’m late. My replacement lifeguard showed up late and I--”

“No excuses, Bradley.” Nadia scolded him. “Now, sit down and join us.”

Brad smiled at his grandma and sat down next to her. His eyes drifted to Rikki and locked on hers. “You--you’re Rikki O’ Donald. The girl who sang last night?”

Rikki blushed. “Yes, that’s me.” she said. “And you are?” she asked.

“Brad Richards. I’m the lifeguard.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about you.”

“Really?”
Rikki nodded. “All of my cabin mates talk about you every night as I try to fall asleep.”

“Oh.” he said, his hopes dropping a little. “You know, I’ve never seen you around the pool before?”

“I know. I’ve been spending all of my free time with Nadia.” she explained.

“Really? This whole summer?”

Rikki nodded. “Yes I have. She’s really wonderful. I’ve never met another person like her before. But, maybe I will.” she hinted.

Brad smiled and scooted over to her side. “I’m sure that I’d like to get to know you better.” He was so close that Rikki could feel his breath on her.

She smiled at him and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I’d like that.” She leaned back just enough so that their faces were just inches apart. She locked eyes with him and they just stared at each other for a while.

Nadia watched the two from her window in the cabin. She had left them when they were talking. She was happy that her grandson had found himself a wonderful girl with a heart of gold. She smiled and sipped her tea, watching them talk together.

*************************************

Over the next few days, Rikki spent all of her free time with Nadia and Brad. As Rikki and Brad continued to spend more and more time with each other they began to fall more and more in love with each other. By the last day of camp, Brad was convinced that he wanted to marry Rikki, but they both knew that she was too young. He had a red rose hidden behind his back and tiptoed up to Rikki who was on Nadia’s front porch.

“Hey there beautiful!” he announced jumping up to her side, giving her a hug.

“Hey Brad.” she replied and returned the hug as well as giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Brad revealed the rose from behind him and presented it to her. “A beautiful rose for a beautiful girl.”

Rikki blushed and accepted the rose. “Thank you Brad.” she said.

“And, I was hoping that you would consider keeping up a long distance relationship?”

Rikki sighed. “You know that I want to Brad, but I’m just not sure how we’ll work it out.”

“We’ll find a way. I know we will.” Brad whispered in her ear.

Rikki wiped away a tear and smiled. “I’m going to go say goodbye to Nadia.”

Brad waited on the porch for her to return. She did a few minutes later.

“Well, it’s time for me to return to North Port.” Rikki announced.

“North Port?” Brad asked.

Rikki nodded. “It’s a few hours away from here.”

“Yeah, I know. I live there.” he replied with a smile.

Rikki was ecstatic and rushed into his arms. He swung her around and they held onto each other. She smiled as Brad leaned forward and kissed her.

Brad walked Rikki to her jeep and helped her put her bags in the back. She waved goodbye to them and drove down the trail. Wow, what a summer! I sure can’t wait until next year.

-By Erika Chupp
Age 16

COOM Lane

2009-08-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

I remember the day when it all started. The day in which, at the time I did not realize, was the beginning of some of the best memories in my life. It was in January of 2006. I was in 9th grade and it was the first day going back to school after winter break. I was standing at the bus stop with my friend Claudia when a car pulled up and a woman about my mother’s age rolled down the window. The woman called us over to the car. We hesitated for a moment before we slowly walked over to her. When she spoke she had an accent. The woman introduced us to her daughter Marcella; she wanted to know if we would look over her seeing as they had just moved here from Brazil and Marcella was going to be attending our school. We assured her that Marcella would be in the best of hands. When the bus arrived, I sat with Marcella and Claudia sat with our other close friend Olivia. The four of us soon became inseparable.

Every day after school, we would walk from the bus stop to Marcella’s house and either watch a movie, go swimming, play hide and seek, or tell ghost stories. When we got hungry, we would just call up her mom or dad and order pizza. It was always a plus that her family owned the local Domino’s restaurant. On weekends we would go on “adventures”. These adventures usually consisted of bike rides around the neighborhood or hiking through woods in one of our backyards. Either way, we always seemed to end up at the beach because it was where we felt the most comfortable and free. It was a place where we could get away from everything and just be happy together.

When spring break came around, we spent nearly every waking minute together. We would call each other when we woke up and then hangout all day. At night we would have sleepovers where we took tons of pictures, ate pounds of junk food, and fell asleep outside just talking and looking up at the stars. On one memorable spring day, we were exploring around the back of our neighborhood when we discovered a small dirt road. We decided to follow the road to the end where we spotted a narrow trail through some woods. We rode our bikes through this trail which eventually led to another dirt road that soon turned into a real road. This road took us to the beginning of the bridge in front of the beach. This became our new “secret road”. We called it COOM Lane. COOM stands for the first letter in each of our names (Claudia, Olivia, Olivia, and Marcella). Every weekend we would sing songs at the top of our lungs while riding our bikes down COOM Lane. It was almost as if we were the four girls from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (except without the pants of course).

Soon spring faded into Summer and we made plans of everything that we were going to do. We were all so excited about what was to come. I unfortunately had to wait because I was going to North Carolina the first week of summer for my cousin’s graduation. I remember it like it was just yesterday. One day when I was laying in the guest bedroom at my aunt’s house, finishing a summer assignment for World History, I got a phone call from Olivia. She told me that Marcella was moving to Boca Raton at the end of summer. I started crying on the spot. We had all just gotten so close, now one of the corners on our square was being ripped off. It just didn’t seem fair.

We tried to preserve the rest of our summer together but I think we all kind of knew that after Marcella left, things just wouldn’t be the same anymore. Since she’s been gone, we have seen her a couple times but have slowly lost touch over the last year and a half. Claudia joined this new church where she spends almost all of her time. She is still one of the best friends I’ve ever had but, Olivia and I don’t see her very much outside of school anymore; but when we do it is just like old times and we like to look back on all of the wonderful memories that year brought us. Olivia and I see each other almost everyday. Just yesterday we took a walk and decided to take a turn down that path we knew so well. COOM Lane and those three friends will always have a place in my heart.

-By Olivia Moon
Age 17

Suicide Siblings

2009-08-03T08:58:00.001-07:00

Her heart ached. The cuts on her writs poured thick warm blood. It was pooling on the ground, swirling around her shoes. Tears drizzled down her face mixing with her blackened eyes. Her bathroom floor was cold and hard but comforted her in many ways. This was the world behind the bathroom door.
It could end his world in a split of a second. The pull of a trigger was much easier than waking up another morning dreading the day that comes. He had a decision to make.
A wall separated them and their worlds. Sam and Andy Dyson lived separate lives in one house. Their parents didn’t care about them; they had their own problems to deal with. Their marriage wasn’t so strong and sleeping in separate bedrooms was the solution every time. Fighting. Screaming. It all blended into one noise. The noise of a dysfunctional family.
Sam wasn’t like the other girls at school. She didn’t have straight blonde hair, a perfect tan, and the tiniest tummy. She didn’t have a special talent, or was any good at school. There was nothing unique about her. She was just that girl who sits behind you in your algebra 1 class. Walking down the hallways was impossible. The stares, the comments, the snickers behind her back; she was the school joke.
Two grades older was her brother Andy. His story was about the same. He couldn’t throw a ball to save his life, girls laughed when he got the courage to ask them out, and acne on his face was oh, so severe. He always thought he was unlovable, incapable of love.
Kids are mean in high school. To the unpopular, loners, anyone who didn’t reach the bar of perfection. But that bar is so high, who could reach it? Definitely not the Dyson’s. These kids, who set the bars, also say the jokes, start the rumors and demolish anyone who is weak around them. Kids like these made Sam and Andy think about suicide.
Sam was used to the popular girls laughing at her, and saying things in the cafeteria in front of everyone. Then one day, they went too far. They tripped her when she was carrying her food tray to a table. She fell on her face and food went everywhere. The whole cafeteria went quiet for two seconds, until they all burst out laughing.
“Stop laughing” Sam whispered through her sobs, struggling to get up. She started running for the doors, when someone grabbed her arm. As she turned, she stood face to face with Andy.
“Are you okay?” He genuinely asked
“Why do you care? You’ve never cared before” she replied and ran away.
The words hurt Andy, but he wasn’t sure why. It was true, they’ve never talked. But could it have come to a point where they don’t help each other? He turned his back on someone who was blood related to him and was getting hurt. The thoughts filled his mind and mixed in with the cruel laughter, as he watched her run away.
Tears blurred her vision, emotions choked her, and it was too much to handle at once. Had Andy saw her hurting, and actually cared? No, that’s impossible; he never showed any emotion towards her before. She locked herself in a bathroom stall and just cried as she felt the scars on her arm. She had to tell someone.
Andy missed the bus after school, and had to walk home. It gave him plenty time to think about what happened at lunch. When he grabbed Sam’s arm, it felt rough, and different. It puzzled Andy, he had to find out. He has to find out more about his sister. Nearing the house, he heard the usual angry screaming . As he opened the door, he saw a scene he wasn’t expecting.
“Your ugly and no one cares about you. I don’t know why anyone would love you. Your useless” He heard his dad say to Sam. He was drunk, as usual. Sam was standing there, taking it with tears trickling down her face.
“You’re a disgrace to our family. You cause the fights between me and your mom. You are the problem.” And with that he threw Sam across the room.
“SAM!” Andy screams for his sister, and rushed by her side.
“Sam, are you okay? Are you hurt?” he said trying to get the words out as fast as he could. He turned his head and saw his dad stumbling towards them.
“Get away from her!” Andy screamed. And shoved his dad, sending him to the ground.
Sam had already started up the stairs. Her dads comments were spinning in her mind, the kids laughter pounded her head, it was pushing her over the edge. She needed to cut.
She went into the bathroom and slammed her door, then collapsed on the floor. She reached behind the toilet and reached for her knife. Why couldn’t she just end it now? She was useless, wasn’t she? He dad told her, she had no friends, no one loved her. The thoughts ran through her mind as she cut between the old scars creating new ones.
“Sam!” Andy screamed as he barged through the bathroom door. His eyes widened as he saw his sister suffering on the floor.
“Sam, stop! Stop hurting yourself! Sam, stop…” Andy screamed through sobs.
He fell to the ground beside her, as she dropped her knife.
“I can’t do this anymore, Andy”
“You’re not going to do it alone”
Together they faced the hardships of high school. They were more than siblings, they became best friends. Best of all, neither of them thought about suicide ever again.

-By Chantal Mihailovic
Age 14

The Untold Story

2009-08-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

January 20th, 1889: Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary

A cool breeze fluttered through the night’s sky. Many were inside, sheltering themselves from the bracing wind that howled just outside their doors. The temperature kept dropping yet the children were still playing in the streets. Klara eyed the children as she walked sullenly passed them, barely mustering up a smile. Could she do this? Could she really do this? Alois did not know of what she planned to do but, just the same, she had never told him of the child... Truth be told, it was Klara who had all of their best interests in heart—with three children to tend to already their financial woes were only intensifying. So, Klara plodded along her irresolute trail.

It seemed to be ages before she arrived at the office. By this time she was utterly aghast at what she was about to do. For, on the way to the clandestine lady, Klara had, no doubt, begun second-guessing herself. Of course the things she saw on the way did not help her cause either. Twenty minutes into her journey, Klara saw a broken blue rattle on the side of the street, bludgeoned and maligned, by passing cars. Then, an hour later, she came across a dirty rag of a blanket that looked as though it was once blue. Now Klara was indeed frozen from the inside out. Her meager winter clothes did not do much to insulate her thin frame. Yet, Klara huddled along.

Finally Klara arrived. She approached the unmarked shop and tentatively knocking, entered inside. Is this the place? I followed the directions exactly...Klara called out a greeting. Suddenly, emerging out of the shadows, came a plump, stout woman well into her fifties. Her mouse brown hair was dotted with gray and white hairs and her apron and forehead were streaked with blood. Without comment, she led Klara into her office. After a few minutes Klara bolted from the room. She ran outside and fully took in the fresh air. I c-c-can’t do this. I won’t let her. The bloodied lady called out to her, “Are you sure, Mrs. Hitler? Are you sure you do not want to rid yourself of the little boy?” Klara looked back at the woman. “Yes. I-I am sure.”

- By Sunny Sharma
Age 14

Never Fall

2009-07-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

“Kitty Cat?” a bell-like voice asked. I jerked awake, the Creature in me snarling for being awoken. I looked beside me. Vendetta. She looked pained.
“The Change. It HURTS!” She whimpered.
I sighed, the Creature softened. I moved over for her. Sometimes I HATED having a brother and sister. But times like these I was glad I was around. She crawled in shakily. The room filled with the scent of roses. I guess that’s what Vendetta’s scent would be. Lucky her.
My brother sister and I are what are called Slayers. We are considered the police in the supernatural world. The change is when the Creature in us awakens. Some of us live through it and some of us die.
“Fight it, V” I whispered to her.
“How?” she whispered shaking like an earthquake.
“Don’t let the pain take over” I whispered fiercely. Better put it in easier terms. She didn’t have the strength to decipher it. Please fight, Vendetta! Don’t let it win! I thought wishing she could read minds so she could hear how much I wanted her to survive.
All through the night I begged her to fight. At 8 in the morning I got up and went downstairs. There was nothing more I could do to help. If she came downstairs in an hour than she lived. If she didn’t than I would dress in black today. I had to be strong for Xander and Vendetta. I have to be strong for Xander if Vendetta doesn’t make it.
I pulled a steak out and seared it on a pan. Than pulled out a glass of whole milk and set them on the table. I sat down 2 wait. Slayers can only eat Seared meat and Whole meat. It’s the only thing the creature in us will eat. We don’t feed ourselves after the change we feed the creature. The creature is our own personal demon.
Not even an hour later I heard the soft thump of footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked up when the footsteps stopped.
Vendetta was standing there with a radiant smile on her face.
“I DID IT!” she yelled and bounced forward. Right as I stood up she wrapped me in a hug that could kill an ordinary human. I smiled softly and hugged her back. I stepped back after only a moment. I wasn’t one for hugging or kissing. I rarely showed or voiced my feelings.
I sat back down and Vendetta sat across from me. I pushed the plate with the seared steak and glass of milk in front of her. She looked down at it than made a face and pushed it away. I looked down at it.
“The change is only one thing that life will throw at you. But no matter how hard it gets…” I paused and pushed the plate back to her. “Never stop fighting.”

-By Kayla Shirah
Age 15

Now a days

2009-07-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

So do you believe in fairytale endings where the princess runs off to the castle with the prince and they get married and your parents get along so well that they plan the whole thing and they live happily ever after well there might of been a time a time where it went somewhat like that but lets be realistic life isnt anything near that well maybe if you had a billion dollars it's not love at first sight well maybe it's love at first site with their car or money now a days theres more people getting divorced then married how did that happen? theres more happily never afters then happily ever afters why does it have to be like that and im pretty darn sure that we dont all live in gorgeous castles most of us live in apartments or a pretty decent house and our princes arent as handsome as in the movies or the books and im pretty sure they all cant ride a horse without tumbling over wearing big shiny armor to protect you from the beasty dragon instead they wear suits and work in an office or work at home all day like in movies when the prince swipes out his sword and does all this tricks and then finally defeats the dragon our princes can swipe out there cellphones and make dinner reservations so as you see now a days it very different but you can always dream up your own fairytale and if you work hard enough on it and believe in it it might even come true so just have faith and start dreaming

-By Valeria Jimenez
Age 14

Power

2009-07-23T10:52:00.001-07:00

Hi my name is Charles if you are reading this it means that I'm dead or on the verge of a very painful death.So please warn my family or they'll be next.Ok so let me tell you about that awful day.It all started when my mom and my little sister Amy and I were sitting in the waiting room of thye adoption agency.Waiting for our new sister to arrive.She was from England and her name is Power.Yes i too thought that was a pretty queer name.Well thats about all Amy and I knew about her.So we couldn't wait to meet her and then just as our anxiety was gonna eat us alive.A little girl walks in she's not very tall and looked about 8 yrs old.With long thick black hair.Which shined as the light snuck in from the window.She had a beautiful face had a sort of icy skin and flushed cheeks.With a couple freckles right below her cheekbones.She had the most mindblowing blue eyes ever.She looked umm powerful.I guess thats where she got her name from.But there was something from her stare that sent chills down my spine.It was like she could see right through me and into my soul.Hmmm that was pretty creepy.I couldn't stop staring at her it was so mesmerizing like something was holding my gaze and thoughts right at her.But i snapped out of it when i heard my mom. "Charles come on over and meet your new sister",said mom.So i walked on over to where everyone was greeting Power.As i was approaching she swiftly turned around and looked at me"um hi I'm Charles you must be Power"I studdered."Yes hello nice to meet you",she replied.Her voice was so sharp so so powerful almost liek the sentence was a demand and not a greeting. Huh thats not something you see everyday.
*********************************

"Power this is your new room hope it's well to your liking",said mom."Oh yes it's very nice thank you but could i ask for just a little change"?"Yeah sure i was hoping you would feel comfortable to ask",said mom. "It's just that I'm not such a big fan of pink walls.I was thinking maybe red."yes oh course that would be just fine sweetie",saidmom."Ok guys lets hurry downstairs for dinner"we were having mac&cheese and as i ate I watched Power very carefully without having it seem like i was staring.She barely ate she just moved her food around so it looked like she had had plenty of her dinner.when actually she had only taken two spoonfulls.but she sure drank alot she refilled her cup about six times.then she excused herself from the table and went upstairs.Mom thought that it was very typical because she must of had a very long hard day.But I knew better I could smell something rotten in the air.Then the wierdest thing happened the room went pitch black and there was a horrid scream like never before as in a bone breaking scream.That could probably wake up the dead.What if that was the purpose?Then there was a loud tumbling It couldn't be an earthquake cause we live in Florida so that wouldn't be right.Then i heard my mom "Charles Charles where are you go find Power and make sure she's ok"she screamed over the noise and into the darkness.Oh great so I went up the stairs holding on tight to the railings as i made my way upstairs.Who knew WHAT was going to be waiting for me upstairs as i went down the hall and into Powers room the tumbling stopped.But it was still very dark but I could still make out Powers figure sitting on the floor.Criss crossed and with a huge grin on her face.I could tell she was smiling because her teeth sparkled hmm that was wierd than she stood up and was standing right in front of me in a second.How did she get here so fast?She was just at the other side of the room maybe the dark was playing tricks with my mind.Then she spoke with a voice that could make a lion scatter in seconds.I was getting pretty scared too"Hello Charles I've been waiting for you as you have noticed I didn't have a very appetizing dinner tonight and I'm awfully hungrey",smiled Power.But this time i noticed that two of her teeth were a bit longer and looked awfuly sharp.Fangs? What was up with that and who was she or WHAT was she and thats when i really freaked out.As she walked to the door and locked it behind her and smiled devishly again.I ran to the closet as fast as i could grabbing paper and a pen on my way and locked myself in here and so I'm writing this for who ever finds it to warn my family because Power said that she was inviting some friends over and thats when two kids about her age leaped in through the window and they started talking."So Power do you think he'll taste as good as your parents:? said the kid in the red shirt."yeah we'lll enjoy ourselfs tonight I'm starving"Oh great their coming towards me all three of them with their soul eating eyes and icy skin with a huge grin on their faces to complete them.I got to go warn my family or they'll be next!
***************************************

Charles Charles baby wake up yelled mom from downstairs.What oh good it was just a dream.It's time to go pick up your new little sister come on Powers waiting, yelled mom.Huh what Power?Whats going on here? As I start to get up I notice a note in my hand it's the the warning note that i wrote to my family warning them to watch out for power.But it's not adressed to them but to me?

-By Valeria Jimenez
Age 14

Cam

2009-07-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was taking a walk after a dream I had. I saw someone in the dream. He had long hair and blue eyes. He told me I was his and he loved me. I had forgotten it was dangerous to be outside after dark. A cop car was slowly coming up the street behind me. Looking around I realized I was lost. I jumped behind a clutter of bushes and hid till the cop was gone.
I hadn’t paid attention to were I was going. Behind me were woods. Another car was coming and I wasn’t going to take a chance that it’d be another cop. I darted into the woods unseeing. Faint starlight filtered through the trees. The woods seemed endless and I was still tired. Still I ran and ran and ran till I found a wall. I was too tired to try and climb it or even follow it, so I found a patch of soft grass and fell asleep.
I awoke with a jerk. The sun was directly overhead. A loud noise had awoken me.
I looked around and realized I was at the dog track. A race was starting in fifteen minutes and I had to get out of here. I climber over the wall and found I was on the far side of the track. I clung to the wall and made my way into the bleachers. A woman sitting at the edge saw me and said something to me. I didn’t hear her. I had to get out of here.
I came to a corridor where a woman had set up a table to sell souvenirs and pamphlets about the bar and indoor casino. She saw me.
“Hey! It’s about time you got here. I wish you had worn a skirt. The guys upstairs are impatient, if you know what I mean.”
She thought I worked here? The sick thing was I knew exactly what she was talking about. This was the place where girls got more than felt up. This is also the place where my farther was killed by an angry mobster. Yup, I really shouldn’t be here.
“Okay, I’ll get to work in a second, I just have to go get something down the way at the convenience store.”
“Get back here as soon as you can. I’ll send another girl up there.”
I headed for the door. Out side was another woman with a table like the first lady’s except this woman thought I was a visitor ready to leave.
“Take a complimentary goodie bag and here’s a free pass into the casino and bar.”
“Um, thank you.”
I took the bag and walked down the sidewalk to the nearest strip mall that had a seven-eleven. The bag had several plastic masks and lots of papers advertising the casino (Jackies) and the bar (Blackies) and the whole dog track (Barkies). I disregarded the papers to the sidewalk and studied the masks. Some were just black and rhinestones, I let them fall to the sidewalk too, another was white with gold trim and feathers. I sighed and threw the whole bag away and walked past the seven-eleven.
I think I had circled the block because I came back to the same seven-eleven five minutes later. I’m not getting anywhere doing this, I thought. I have to get off this block.
I looked across the street. My god that was my mom’s car! Oh thank god!
I ran across the street without looking, straight up to my mom.
I hugged here tight and she hugged me back.
“Did you have a nice time at Karen’s?”
“Karen’s?”
Now I remember. I was staying the night at Karen’s house when I had that dream. I didn’t take anything with me and they were used to my early morning disappearances. No need to apologize or make up why I didn’t have my stuff.
“Yeah, I had a blast.”
“Well come on, the mall closes in an hour. Lets get going.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost Seven on a Sunday, the mall’s closing soon.”
“If it’s okay I’d like to walk home. I need a shower, and a nap.”
“Okay, Sweetie.”
I headed for the crosswalk at the light and waited for the light to turn.
I crossed the street into a neighborhood and started a peppy little jog.
I knew this neighborhood so I knew I was about five blocks away from home.
I started a sprint and made the next four blocks disappear in ten minutes.
Just as I turned the corner on the fifth block a car backed out of the drive way right in front of me almost squishing my left foot. I jumped back and the car kept going. I stood and waited till they were down the street and started off again.
There was a truck out front of my house and a big wicker chair painted black.
My step-dad, Elliot, was talking to some guys as I walked into the house.
I headed straight for my bedroom and grabbed some clean clothes and went to the bathroom. My hair had a few stray leafs, nothing walking through woods wouldn’t do.
I pulled them out and got in the shower turning the water to H on the dial. I stood under the jet stream for what felt like ever. I finally got out and dressed and went outside to see what Elliot and the others were doing.
“It’s not right. Something about it isn’t right” Elliot was saying. He was talking about the chair I thought. It looked crooked to me. Then I saw him point to the corner of the house where my bedroom was.
“Why is the paint peeling? I painted it last month!”
“Sir, we don’t know for sure but if we could have a look at the room where it is, we may have an answer.”
“It’s not the bathroom, its Sharies’ bedroom. You’ll have to ask her to look around there.”
“Go ahead. But I get to watch.”
I had noticed one of the workmen look up slightly at the mention of my name and now he was watching me. His golden brown hair was down past his shoulders and tied back. A single strand fell in front of his azure blue eyes. Blue eyes I knew but couldn’t quite place. Where had I seen those eyes before?
He fixed me with a look that was gentle, loving, mysterious and powerful. A look that said you are mine and I love you very much. A look I had seen before. I couldn’t tear my eyes from his by my own will. He had to look away before I could even think. The workmen were filing through the house, about five or six of them, to my room.
I sat on my bed as the workers looked for a cause to the problem of the peeling paint outside. I thought about where I had seen such eyes before. It was there, just under the surface, like a fish in a pond, you could see it but not touch it. One of the workers was studying the paint peeling off my bookcase and was not minding the necklace placed on it. The necklace was a gold chain with green pearl like beads at intervals with an intricately carved gold orb that had green crystals in it that you could see.
The worker was tilting back my bookcase and the necklace started to roll towards the gap. The worker with the azure eyes reached out and snatched the necklace up before it fell into the gap. He came over to my bed and sat down holding the necklace out to me with a shy smile on his lips. Then I knew. It flooded me like a tsunami. The dream.
The man with the azure eyes and golden brown hair was the same man from my dream. In my dream he was royal and loving. He held out his hand to me and in it was my necklace. He had given me the necklace of green and gold.
“Come” he had said “Be mine and be with me. I love you.”
Then his name came to me.
“Cam” I whispered.
He smiled. It really was him on the bed next to me. All the other workers had left and Elliot was outside. It was only Cam and I. How long had we been sitting here like this, his hand was still stretched to me and the necklace rested in his palm. I smiled at him and moved closer so he could clasp it on for me like he had in the dream.
He hooked it and let his fingers trail lightly along my neck. I turned to him.
We were so close.
“Thank you” I whispered.
He looked me in the eye. “You are a part of my world now. I love you.”
Gently our lips touched, my breath caught and he smiled.
He moved closer, crushing our lips into a real kiss. I could feel his warmth and knew it was real. He held me for a moment then we parted.
I fainted from shock and exhaustion then. When I awoke I was in a bed with feather quilts and soft pillows in a gown of pale silk. The moon shone through doors that lead to a balcony. I got up and walked out into the pale glow.
“My love, how beautiful you look. My Angel” came Cam’s voice from the shadows.
I turned to see him immerge in a black cape. His long hair flowed freely in the breeze. His eyes glowed in the moon light. He looked so pale. He wrapped his cape around me and held me to his chest. I didn’t hear a heartbeat but that didn’t bother me. I had had another dream. In this one Cam was a vampire.
“This isn’t a dream.” I told myself.
“It isn’t” He agreed and bent to kiss me.
The moon acted like a priest above us and the stars were the witnesses to our union.

~End~

-By Aundrea Siegenthaler
Age 16

Unlocking Pandora’s Briefcase

2009-07-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

The lanky secretary sitting at her desk in front of Mr. Thompson’s office did not look up. Carson was once again sent into the principal’s office. The window of the office was overlooking a garden with colors that seemed to pop in the uncharacteristically sunny Seattle day. Carson found himself entranced by the tranquility of the scene and the dancing butterflies.

“So, do you have any idea why you are here?” he jumped. He had not realized anyone else was in the office until a festively plump woman with a mop of frizzy red hair atop her head peaked up from beneath the desk. It was unusual for anybody besides Mr. Thompson to be in his incredibly gloomy office or under his matchingly gloomy desk.

“I --er-- don’t know,” it was almost as if he was posing a question.

“Well maybe you should sit down.”

“Who are you anyway?” Carson asked out of curiosity. The person sitting in the high backed leather chair behind Mr. Thompson’s desk was anything but familiar. “I mean, I haven’t seen you in here before and I come here enough to know everyone.”

“Andrea. For all intensive purposes you can call me Andrea.”

Carson thought that the name did not match the middle aged woman at all, but who was he to judge?

“Mr. Thompson is going to be absent for a while,” she continued. “He is currently preoccupied with personal matters. It’s a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Carson Kalaghata.” The figure in front of Carson was... off, to say the least. Her smile was cute but so sweet that it might have made kittens go suicidal, if you know what I mean.

“Oh, that is such a shame.” Carson was wearing a sarcastic tone in his voice. He had taken a seat and began to look around. The room seemed somehow different. Carson spotted a dark briefcase with a piece of paper bearing his name taped to the front sitting next to Andrea’s chair. He pointed to it and asked in a discerning voice, “What’s in the briefcase?” It looked uncannily like his father’s.

She reached her short stumpy arm down to grasp the briefcase and passed it over the desk to Carson.

Carson opened it and as he reached inside, he could feel several familiar items. He took it in one hand and flipped it upside down. Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder that felt like something hit him with the force of a moving train. He recognized the hard plastic frames of his mother’s glasses even before his pale fingers retracted from the briefcase. One of the lenses was broken and fell into the palm of his hand. The cross necklace his father never took off was also inside

along with the keys to a Lexus , his father’s Rolex, and a scarf that still seemed to be unharmed except for the bottom left corner where a small pool of dried blood hardened the silk. Beneath all the other recognizable material things an accident report fluttered to the floor. Certain words jumped out. Totaled. Accident. Fatal. Carson closed his eyes and could imagine himself standing in the rainforest, with water pouring all around. Suddenly he felt extremely cold. He looked up opening his yellow, cat-like eyes, raising them to meet Andrea’s, but he didn’t really see her. They peered past her into the garden where the butterflies were no longer dancing, the colors no longer popping, time no longer moving. Slowly he raised himself from the chair and walked to the door.

Andrea quickly stood up holding her arm out as if to stop Carson from leaving. “Carson, I’m so sorry,” He did not even turn around. His fists still clenched around the only surviving items from the crash that suddenly killed his parents. “Carson, wait...” the door slammed cutting her off.

Everyone was still in class but there was no way Carson could go back right now. How could he be expected to concentrate on calculus at a time like this? The sound of his Converse sneakers were barely audible as he moved through the hall, especially over his loud heartbeat that was so deafening it was comparable to an overbearing bass drum. He calmly walked through the halls, down a flight of stairs and through the heavy doors. Doors that were the gateway to hell. The heavy rain that was practically coming sideways didn’t sting his face.

It’s was not so much that his heart, he simply could not feel anything. He was numb.

All the sudden his breathing got heavy and he reached back. With as much force as his body would allow, Carson punched the door of the closest car. When he looked down upon his shaking arm the knuckles were bloody and distorted where his fist pummeled the now deeply dented car door, but it didn’t hurt. He continued all the way across the student parking lot where he found the doors to his jet black Mercedes unlocked, just like he left them.

***

Carson had driven so far that the heavy downpour had slowed to a light drizzle. But the imagined screams in his head were louder than ever. Still, his head didn’t hurt. His grip on the steering wheel was so tight that the knuckles on his left hand had turned white and on his right, the blood continued to trickle out of his tensed hand. In despair, Carson slammed the steering wheel as hard as he could, expecting to feel the sting against his palm and perhaps the squeak of the horn to interrupt his swirling thoughts, but nothing helped. Nothing hurt. Carson could no longer bear it. Something had to hurt.

With the abandoned feeling of a barren desert enveloping him, as he drove down the highway, he zoned out. All he could imagine was the flash of vivid lights. The loud noises. An ambulance. The scene that had greeted the death of his parents. It was so clearly depicted in his mind that it was as if he were in the car during the crash.

And then he was. Without a chance to think he ripped his arm to the right and the bumps and creaks and crashes of his car over the edge of the road and into the fringe of the forest quickly led him to a great maple tree where his car now rested, smoking and twisted around the trunk.

The same flashing lights and the sound of sirens were the background as he descended into the realm between conscience and unconscious. He felt warmer. For a second Carson believed it had worked, that he could feel pain, but the warmth was just his pooling blood. Carson still did not hurt.

***

“Mr. Kalaghata,” A light haired woman with a professional stature stood above him. “How do you feel?” She asked.

“What?”

Carson opened his eyes to a room with lackluster décor. He had no idea what had just happened, but he did not care. All he could remember was the black briefcase, his parents’ accident report, and driving through the rain. Carson rolled over to avoid the serious looking woman. He spotted that same black briefcase that he had come to resent. The familiar container that had brought such unfortunate news to him hours earlier. He grimaced and closed his eyes tightly as if at the same time trying to shut his mind to the horrors brought with the contents implied by that container. So he had a choice. Turn over and face the future held within the clipboard clutched to the chest of the unfamiliar woman or continue to face the past in his reflection in the shiny patent leather of the lawyerly case. He rolled back over tired of looking into his bruised reflection.

***

The room was cold. The floor, the ceiling, the stupid plastic chair; it was all cold. Even his heart was cold. Several conclusions were drawn in the mind of the young now inherently rich Carson Kalaghata as he sat through his third group therapy session. The first was his honest surprise to have made it this far seeing as he walked out of the first two meetings within the first 10 minutes and so far it had been twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. The next conclusion was anyone who was on suicide watch is assumed to be depressed and putting them in a group of other severely depressed people cannot be that helpful. Doctors are stupid. That was the third conclusion. The doctors were stupid for assuming Carson was depressed in the first place because he knew he was not. He was just…nothing. They were stupid for not saving his parents and they were stupid for not letting these people die. That was all they wanted to do and they failed at killing themselves. Carson figured that failure in death had to be pretty depressing on top of it all.

“Carson, you have yet to share with us.”

His eyes glanced up without interest and back down at the floor as he held his bandaged arm in its sling.

“Carson, what is on your mind? Why are you here?” The man speaking had dread locks and the pearly sheen of his brilliant white teeth sharply contrasted his tanned skin and dark eyes.

At first Carson contemplated whether or not he should explain to the man that everything was stupid, including the man himself. He then decided against it, glared at Anthony, the man with the dread locks, took a deep sigh and began, “I don’t need to be here. I am not suicidal. I am not planning to become suicidal. I am only here because of a court order.” That should be sufficient. Short, sweet and to the point, right?

“How the hell do you run your car into a tree and not mean to kill yourself?”

“Dana!” Anthony exclaimed at the girl who posed the question.

Carson took her in. She was a total cliché. She had the black straight hair, alabaster skin, a few piercings, and the tight layered clothes. Not to mention the thick medical tape wrapped around her wrist like a billion times.

“I don’t need this,” was Carson’s calm response as he stood up and strode to the door. Fourteen minutes. He had lasted a new record of fourteen minutes in the obtuse therapy session. Similarly to how he left school that ominous day, he walked through the halls hardly noticed by anyone as they were preoccupied with real patients in need of actual help. The difference was that this time he got into the backseat of a plain black car and peered into the rearview mirror to the

eyes of Edward, his driver and simply said “Home.” He stared out of the tinted windows into the ominous, rumbling clouds.

Edward was a representation of the Kalaghata fortune left behind even after the death of the wealthy business tycoons. He was more than a chauffeur. Like in Batman, Edward was Carson’s trusty butler, similar to Alfred. Unexpectedly, Edward started to speak. “Master Carson, the court did not order you to join group therapy simply for you to have fun. You are here to help yourself and help others as well.” There was a moment of silence as the car pulled out of the parking space and before the driver could gain speed, Carson was out of the door. A smirk came across Edward’s face, as if he had known that Carson would return to the building.

This time the adolescent paused only briefly to wait for the opening of the automatic doors, and too impatient to wait for the elevator, raced up the four flights of stairs. He came to the heavy doors and pushed them open stepping inside, his hair astray and his lungs gasping, out of breath. All the members in the circle looked up at the odd happening that had just occurred.

“Hi,” was Carson’s only explanation. He returned to his still empty seat and for the first time, really saw the people around him. There was a heavyset woman with bloodshot eyes, the punk girl who actually seemed kind of pretty in her own way, and twelve other attendees. All the people appeared real in his mind compared to the stupid, depressed and faceless group that he thought of before. The group, as broad as it was, was no longer faceless. It was everyone’s

face, and everyone’s stories, and everyone’s problems. And then he recognized somebody. Mr. Thompson, the previously absent principal was there. With his hands crossed and his elbows resting upon his knees, he looked up at Carson and a faint embarrassed smile flickered on his prematurely aging face. Carson finally began to understand. Everyone is connected.

“Thanks for joining us again Mr.Kalaghata, you are just in time for Scott’s turn,” Anthony said as he welcomed back the now awake looking teenager.

Everyone shifted in their school children like chairs to face Carson’s principal. Mr. Thompson awkwardly stood up and as he told his heart wrenching story about the death of his son as a soldier in the war, the teenage girl sitting next to him, her face ruddy from damp tears, came and hugged the man as he broke down. It was apparent that the auburn haired girl was his daughter as she held her shaking father, trying with all her might to be strong enough for the both of them. Her watery emerald eyes looked up and met Carson’s and then he felt it. His heart lurched, his arm throbbed, and his head pounded. Before he knew it, he too was crying and he wanted to think it was out of sympathy for the beautiful grieving girl and her father but Carson knew deep down in his aching heart that he could no longer hide. He could no longer lock away his pain, his hurt, or his anguish.

Suddenly, he was short of breath. The room was spinning. Choking on his tears, he could no longer see the piercing eyes of the young girl, the heavy set

woman, or even Anthony, with his dreads swinging, come to his aid. He rushed out of the door and once outside in the hall stood gasping for breath, one hand

on the wall to keep him balanced. Carson’s mind was like a slideshow in which every bad thing or experience he had with his mother and father played. Whether it was about them not coming to first grade open house to missing his performance at the concert in which he had a solo last semester. The grief gave way to anger and resentment at his parents’ selfishness. They were selfish to have a child they were too busy to cherish and they were selfish to expect money and nannies to replace their guidance. He resented them for dying and leaving him truly alone and even more so, he resented himself for caring. The overwhelming swirl of emotions was dominated by confusion. Carson could not understand how he loved people that he hated, missed people whose presence was never actually present, or hurt for the people that taught him not to feel.

His knees buckled beneath him and he hit the tiled floor. Hurt radiated up his back, causing him to cry out in pain. His hands were pulling at his hair as the tsunami of emotions and memories clouded his brain.

By this time the therapy group had gathered in the hall and encircled the distraught boy finally forced to face every feeling he had suppressed in the last 17 years, no one knew exactly how to aid the hysterical Carson, but a running Andrea came hurrying up the hallway from her office there as head of the psychiatric ward of the hospital. The wall of people now watching in anticipation let her through as she bent down and swiftly questioned “Carson? Carson, can

you hear me?” Without an audible response she asked again “Carson? Carson, can you hear me? It’s me, Andrea,” this time lightly laying her hand on his shuddering shoulder. Abruptly the body of the boy bounded up to its full height, throwing Andrea backwards. Through his watery haze he zeroed in on the doctor who had the audacity to tell him about the death of his parents, who had the gall to make him this way. Finding a tangible outlet on which to place the blame, rage surged through Carson’s veins and he launched at Andrea, using his forearm to pin her against the wall. Tears still pouring from his eyes as he stood ever so close to her, he pictured the head of his mother and he screamed at her “You! How could you do this to me?”

“Carson!” the auburn haired girl screamed. It was enough to pierce through the veil of fury draped over his mind. He was suddenly aware of what he was doing. He backed up and looked down astonished at the arms he could not believe were his own. In awe he looked into his audience, back at himself and stumbling, turned around and darted through the queue of persons assembled in the hallways until he was outside.

Anthony tried to calm the inside group down and help the shocked Andrea. In the midst of the confusion the emerald eyed girl stole away down the steps and through the doors until she was under the awning scanning the vast parking lot for the figure of the mysterious and frenzied Carson. She spotted him frantically turning about with his hands in the air, obviously confused and scared. She ran through the pouring rain, the kind of rain that could freeze a person down to their bones. She came to the hysterical boy. She did not stop. She ran into him and hugged him. As her arms wrapped around his broad frame it felt as if someone were slowly gathering the broken pieces of his heart into one. Carson’s tears slowed and the rain washed away the remnants of the stains left on his cheeks. Still he buried his head in her shoulder and she asked him “Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere,” was his response between broken, shallow sobs.

“I know,” replied the drenched young woman.

They stood there in that parking lot, enveloped in each others’ arms, almost perfectly still for Heaven knows how long. Finally, peering upwards into his golden eyes she whispered “It will be okay. It has to be okay.” She slid her thin frame from beneath Carson’s hold and clasped her hands around his. She squeezed them just before she turned back around.

The auburn haired girl hurriedly walked back to the shelter of the awning where her father and the rest of the group stood waiting and watching. Scott Thompson stared at his daughter with great respect and admiration, realizing he had never been more proud. He put his arm around her dripping shoulders and kissed her forehead as they walked back inside. He felt a renewed sense of hope in the power of good on Earth.

Carson watched her walk away through his exhausted eyes. She never looked back to see if he was okay because from that point on everyone knew the worst was over. Still drained, confused, and sad, Carson was relieved to find Edward in the car waiting just behind where he himself stood. Carson got into the backseat once again but this time when he looked into the rearview mirror and saw the eyes of Edward patiently awaiting instructions, Carson said “Can you please take me to the cemetery, Edward?” He had a package to deliver there.

The car pulled out of the parking lot and headed south towards the end of the clouds where the sun was managing to peek through. Inside the car was a caring chauffer, a troubled teen, and a shiny patent leather briefcase.

-THE END-

-By Dianne Kaiyoorawongs

Age 15

Fairy Dust

2009-07-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there were two young sisters. One was a curious little six-year-old girl named Carrie. She loved to play with her older fourteen-year-old sister named Lori. Lori often was put in charge of Carrie, so she always got chances to play with her little sister. One thing that always troubled Lori, was that almost every night, Carrie would have terrible nightmares. She would wake up very scared. Lori was never one to lie, and whenever Carrie asked a question, Lori gave her a true answer, however hard it may be to say.

One day, when Lori was looking after Carrie, she asked her another one of her questions.

“Lori, what’s that sparkly stuff that’s in your necklace?” she asked.

Lori didn’t know how to respond at first, but finally after touching her necklace several times she said, “Well, I guess that someday I’ll have to tell you anyway, so I might as well tell you now. But first, you need to promise me something. Carrie, can you promise me that you’ll never tell anyone about this?”

“Yes, I promise,” whispered Carrie.

“Good, now listen closely. When I was really little, only a little younger than you, I used to catch fireflies in old jars. One summer night when I was out catching fireflies, I saw something big and sparkling in the bushes. I followed what I thought was giant firefly, and finally ran right into a small meadow. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a lot of these giant fireflies. The biggest firefly came in front of me and began to speak.

“‘Welcome to Fairyville Meadow, I am Queen Isabella,’ she said. After that, she welcomed me to stay with them for the night, because it was very late. So I stayed and slept there in a bed the fairy’s made for me out of sweet flowers and grass. I slept peacefully and dreamed of dancing with the fairies. When I woke up in the morning, all of the fairies had disappeared, and all that was left of them in the meadow was this small container that held blue sparkly dust,” explained Lori as she showed Carrie her necklace again.

“So Lori, the sparkle dust in your necklace is real fairy dust?” questioned Carrie.

“Yes, Carrie. This stuff in my necklace is really fairy dust. But keep in mind that nobody but you and I can ever know about this. Can you keep my secret, Carrie?” begged Lori.

“Uh-huh, I can keep a secret really good. I won’t even tell mommy and daddy, I promise! It’ll be our little secret- from sister to sister,” promised Carrie.

“Okay, little sister, now please go and get ready for bed before mom and dad get home. They don’t want you to be staying up this late at night, and you need to get some rest. Come on, Carrie, let’s go,” suggested Lori as she took her little sister’s hand.

Lori smiled as she remembered being five years old again, and sleeping in the peaceful meadow. After Lori told her story to Carrie, neither girl ever had a nightmare again, as they always thought about fairies and angels before they went to bed.

They both grew up and lived happily. Both of them got married to wonderful men and had two daughters of their own. Lori’s oldest daughter was named Katie, and she was visited by the fairies, as well as Carrie’s oldest daughter, Marie. The secret of the oldest daughters was always shared with their younger sister. They all lived happily ever after, and their secrets were never known by anyone outside of the family.

-THE END-

-By Fiorella Nicoloso

Age 14 ½

*Delicated to Kaitlin

The Million Dollar Winner

2009-07-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time in a land not so far away there were two friends who were very poor. Every week the friends would go and get a lottery ticket for themselves. Years past and they made very little, a dollar here and five dollars there.

On the fifth year of their lottery ticket buying one of them “hit the jackpot.” The man did not want to share his fortune; so he quickly took his winning ticket and ran far away so his “friend” would not find out.

He went, cashed in his ticket for 1 million dollars, and decided that he could retire; besides he had gotten a million dollars without working so why get a job now? He spent his money and lived very foolishly, spending his money on whatever he saw.

Meanwhile his still poor friend went out and got himself a job. This job did not pay much, but it was better then nothing. Slowly but surely he was able to live the life of a normal person.

The first man still spending lots was starting to run low on funds, so he bought some more lottery tickets; life was not so good.

His friend had found a girlfriend and planned on marrying her the following month. He was very happy; he had a good paying job, a house, food, clothes, and an almost wife; life was good.

10 YEARS LATER

The second man (now married with three kids) was walking to his job when he saw an oddly familiar face sitting on the side of the road. This man that he saw looked terrible and was begging from passing people. At seeing this familiar face the second man felt a feeling of happiness, at seeing his old friend, but yet a feeling of grief, seeing his friend in such conditions. The second man took the man straight to his house, cleaned him up, gave him clothes, and fed him.

The second man took the first man to a job interview where the first man was offered a reasonable paying job. Having too much pride and being very ignorant the man refused the job and went right back to begging.

You see there are a couple of lessons here:

1) The second man showed us what a true friend is like

2) Spend your money wisely

3) Working is the best way to make a living/being greedy and foolish will get you nowhere

-THE END-

-By Kaisha Butz

Age 15

Helenium

2009-07-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

I stared blankly at the stiff back of the man in front of me as the long processional made its way up to the coffin at the altar of the church. Family and friends were placing flowers and praying in front of the wooden box that contained the soon-to-be cremated body of my brother. It was his last wish, to have his ashes spread in the Gulf Stream, so he could flow to every shore.

They offered to allow me to go up first, to place my flower and say a long prayer for the rest of Logan’s soul. He was my twin brother, after all. But I refused. I told them I wanted to go absolutely last. My older brother, Joel, agreed and stayed in the back of the line with me. He was the one behind me, pushing me along in my wheelchair.

I looked down at the little flower in my hand, so different from the marigolds being placed on the altar by everyone else. Joel and I had agreed that our flowers would be different – our flowers would represent more feeling than just that of grief. The loss of a twin is like losing a part of you, and grief itself is not enough to express the hollow emptiness that had filled me since the day Logan’s heart stopped beating.

Everyone said it had been a freak accident. A car speeding along the road, another car turning as the speeding car ran a red light…but it had been no accident. The man in that speeding car had hit use on purpose. He was a suicidal maniac. He was trying to die. The irony was he didn’t die. Logan did.

Logan and I had been out practically the whole day. My mother had shoved us out of the house, telling us that we needed to spend more time together outside of the house. We didn’t understand what she was talking about, seeing as the two of us were practically inseparable. We could do everything from finishing each other’s sentences to imitating the other’s handwriting. We did that sometimes, since Logan was good at subjects that I wasn’t and vice versa.

But, as according to our mother’s wishes, we went out for the day, just the two of us. We went shopping, saw a movie, and played some games in the mall arcade…typical teenager stuff. Eventually we stopped to eat lunch, and discuss why Mom would’ve kicked us out of the house.

“She never does stuff like that…” I mentioned, shoving a California roll in my mouth. The Japanese restaurant in the food court had the best sushi.

Logan shook his head. “I know, Lily…it’s so unlike her.” He chewed a piece of his teriyaki chicken thoughtfully, looking perplexed.

I tapped my chopsticks together, probably looking just as nonplussed as my brother. After a moment of thoughtful silence, we looked at each other in sudden realization.

“Our birthday is tomorrow!” We exclaimed in perfect unison, scaring the people at the table next to us. We laughed in unison as well, the ideal picture of twins on the exact same wavelength.

“I can’t believe we forgot!” Logan laughed, scratching the side of his head.

I nodded. “I know, I mean, we are turning eighteen tomorrow.”

Logan shook his head. “It’s uncanny really…how fast time flies.”

I smiled ruefully. “That’s true…before we know it, we’ll be out of college and out to find jobs.”

He laughed good-naturedly. “Before we know it, we’ll be old with grandchildren.”

I shook my head. “Kids aren’t for me.”

He patted my shoulder across the table. “Nor for me, dear sister. We’ll just have to live together for the rest of our lives.”

I grinned. “That would be awesome.”

Little did I realize the rest of our lives would be over less than two hours later.

Mom had called me and said that we could come home whenever we felt like it. We still had a few stores to stop in, so we wandered a little more and headed back to the car. The beautiful blue Hybrid had been a joint present for both of us on our sixteenth birthday, but I trusted Logan at the wheel much more than I trusted myself.

“So, you wanna go straight home, or stop somewhere?” He asked as he revved up the engine.

I yawned. “Let’s just go home. I’m exhausted.”

He nodded and pulled out of the parking lot.

We were turning off the interstate when it happened. Our turn light had turned green and Logan was slowly turning onto the road when this bright green sports car sped up out of nowhere and rammed into us. The force of the crash nearly flipped our car. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the hospital, my leg in a cast and bandages wrapped around my head.

My mom was there, and she burst into tears when I woke up. “Lily…oh thank god…”

“Mom…” I whispered, my voice not going any louder, “What…happened…”

“You got in an accident. A man ran a red light and crashed into you.” Her voice was shaking. A little red alert went off in my brain.

“Logan…what happened to…Logan…” I couldn’t convey my fear very well, as sedated as I was.

The look on my mother’s face shocked me. “He’s…in intensive care. They don’t know if he’s going to make it…”

The nurse came in and gave me more painkillers, which made me fall asleep again. I never got the chance to fully process my mother’s words. The next time I woke up, there was a frenzy of activity around me.

“What…” I couldn’t even form the question. I was too groggy.

“Don’t worry sweetie…they’re taking you to see your brother.” My mother’s voice replied. I think she was trying to calm me down, but the repressed grief in her voice made my stomach turn to ice.

The nurses moved me into a wheelchair and pushed me along to Logan’s room. I heard them whispering about how he didn’t have much time left, and was calling for his sister. It wasn’t until we arrived that I understood.

His face was pale, his hands clammy. He was sweating a lot, and his eyes were losing their brightness.

“Lily…” he choked out as I grabbed his hand.

“Logan…” My eyes burned, but I couldn’t cry.

“Lily…I…” he coughed then continued, “My ashes…the ocean…”

My foggy brain took a moment to process this but I finally managed to croak out, “Okay,” past the lump in my throat.

He smiled weakly, and laid back, letting out a relaxed breath. His hand sagged in mine, and I knew he had finally let go.

I dropped his hand, numb. The nurses came in and wheeled me out. One was talking to my parents; my dad had apparently just arrived from work. My mom turned and cried on my dad’s shoulder, and his eyebrows were furrowed in sorrow.

My brother Joel rounded the corner, and saw my parents. At first his just stared blankly at them, and then he started swearing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Joel swear before but he did then, more than anyone I’d ever heard.

I just stared at my cast, hollow-eyed and numb with shock. A few seconds later, I felt arms wrap around me. Joel had seen me.

“Lily…I’m sorry…” He whispered, his voice husky with emotion.

I shook my head. “Why…why was it him…” My burning eyes finally filled with tears. My fists clenched. I could feel my nails cutting into my palms. I couldn’t help it. I was angry…hurt. I felt guilty for surviving when he didn’t.

It wasn’t until a few days after I got discharged from the hospital that I learned the man in the green car was attempting suicide. He was going to be tried for manslaughter, and maybe murder. By that point, I felt so emotionless I couldn’t even be mad at him. I almost understood his feelings.

These memories flooded me with every step forward we made in the processional. I watched my mother place a butterfly orchid atop the pile of marigolds on the altar. Butterfly orchids were used to say “you are always on my mind”. When it finally got to my brother’s turn, he set his pink carnation next to the orchid. Pink carnations said “I’ll never forget you”. After his silent prayer, he turned around and pushed me up to the altar.

“Logan…” I whispered to myself, “I love you. May your soul flow as freely as your ashes will, and may you find peace in the afterlife. You meant the world to me.”

Tears pooled in my eyes as I placed my flower on the altar, a helenium.

You are always on my mind.

I’ll never forget you.

I miss you.

-THE END-

-By Marina

Age 15

Danni

2009-07-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

“Do it, Do it, Do it!” the chanting echoed off the empty walls magnifying the small, tiny whisper into a roar of thousands.

“Yes, yes, yes. No one will care. Who are they to tell you what to do? What makes them any different? Any better?” was screamed angrily piercing sharply into the dark tunnels of her ears.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Whispers soft as mice crept under the thunderous echoes.

“No, No, No. You mustn’t! What would they think? Your parents, friends, and teachers; what would they think?” whined the pathetic voice from the deepest cracks in the broken heart.

“They’d think you’re crazy, which of course you are.” The roar pointed out diplomatically.

“Exactly!” was cried out in despair trying vainly to overpower the thunder.

“What’s the worse they can do? Put you in a mental hospital? Oh wait, we are in one!” the sarcastic reply scorned back.

“That’s not true! Don’t listen Danni, you are in your room, at home, surrounded by loving people.” Comfort was sent wave after wave.

“Surrounded by loving people!? Yeah, more like self-loving people. Face the facts Danni-girl they don’t care a single teaspoon full for you. The only reason they put up with you is because it’s a means to use you against each other, as simple as that. There is no love , not anymore. Our showing up brought an end to that.” The sting of words opened an even deep, fatal wound.

“No! No! Danni don’t listen! Your parents love you very much and very deeply. They might be divorced, but that’s not because of you! It never is!”

“Ah-hah! See that Danni-girl? It’s never about you, never is and never will be. This is why you created us, because you have no one. And do you know why you have no one? It’s because-“

“No don’t listen Danni!” the interruption held no lasting effect.

“-of you. Yes, you are the one and only reason why you are alone. It’s all your fault.” The last line was delivered quietly, softly, almost as if knowing a roar would have shattered her to pieces of hard cold broken glass.

“No” the single sound reverberated, rippling waves crashed against her, bringing realization that the sound came from her own mouth.

“Yes” both whisper and roar merged together to become one voice.

. . . . . . . . . .

“Danni. Danni!!” the female voice rose to an ear shattering screech, setting teeth on edge. “Danni! Get your butt down here right now!” A crash sounded down below, underlining the sudden demand. Her feet sent up a thudded sound as she descended the stairs. A fiery glare met her hurried attempts.

“What took you so long? I don’t have all day you know!” this was underlined by a huge swing of booze. “Life is not all about you, you know.” She scolded.

“Look who’s talking.” With a sudden jerk of surprise she clamped her hand over her mouth, staring in horror at her mother. Realizing that after a few seconds of her mother not reacting, she realized the voices had come back.

“Go away!” her very essence screamed.

“God, you’re such a freak! It’s the voices again isn’t it? I knew I should have listened to your father and put you in a mental hospital.” The line was sent with malicious intent hitting home farther than she could ever imagine.

“No” almost doubled over from the pain of betrayal she whispered brokenly, “No he would never do that to me!”

“Hah but he did! He can and he did. Why do you think you never go visit him anymore? Because he was busy? Yeah he was busy, busy making a new, perfect life. A life without a drunken wife and a crazy daughter. It’s your entire fault!” The mother screamed as she flung her empty booze bottle at the girls head. Barely missing hitting her, the bottle slammed into the wall behind her.

“Look at what you made me do! It’s your entire fault! Your fault, yes it’s all her fault, not mine, never mine. She made me do this, become what I am today.” The mother muttered brokenly as she crawled along the floor searching frantically for a new bottle.

“Look at her. What a pitiful creature she is. And she talks about you being at fault?” this was sneered with pity.

“She’s drunk already? It’s only 9:30 am!” tsked the whisper in dismay. “No wonder your father left her, but he should have at least brought you along.”

“Do you want to know the real reason why I fought so hard to keep a messed up thing like you?” this was suddenly asked from the pitiful creature on the floor. “It’s all because I could get money, yes because of the child support. Did you know he pays me $500 a month for you? And guess where all that money goes… not your college fund, that’s for sure. No, it goes to my booze and drugs, to me, all to me, which it should be in the first place.” She sneered forming her once pretty face into a mask of pure ugliness.

“That %$#^! Who does she think she is taking your future away from her!?” the roar cried indignantly. “I say we dispose of her right here and now, it wouldn’t be too hard, also you’d be so much better off without her.” This shocking theory was met with total silence.

“That’s enough!” a malevolent tone reverberated from the doorway.

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the shrill shriek held despair and outrage. Scrambling to gain her feet, she fell flat on her face with a cry of despair. “No, no, no! How? How did you find us? You can’t take her away! You just can’t!!!!!”

“Pfft. Like she really cares about our Danni!” the whisper scorned.

“More like she only wants the money for her booze.” The roar stated factually.

“Maybe now Danni will have a peaceful home? I mean, now that her father has found her, he’ll take her away and truly love her.” The tiny whisper pointed out hesitantly, almost hopefully.

“Daniele lets go.” The man stated holding out his hand. All of the sudden cackling erupted from the pitiful creature on the floor.

“I wouldn’t touch her if I was you, she’s crazy you know.” The cackling continued. “Oh yes very crazy indeed. YOUR child hears voices in her head, voices that talks to her and tells her to do God knows what. I’d be warned if I was you, to keep your precious new family safe from her erratic plans.” She warned with a deadly seriousness.

“You will not talk about my daughter like that ever again!” pride swelled in the girls heart until she looked over at her father. The man had drawn his hand hastily back, safely to his side. Throwing a hesitant glance toward the girl he gave a curt command, “Come.” And that was all.

The ride to the man’s house was silent, a silent so think that the glaciers of ice deep in the arctic tundra would be envious. This silence was only broken by the ringing of an incoming call.

“Yes?” the word was thrown out curtly. “Oh hello honey. Yes, yes. I have her.” A pause. “No dear it was worse than I expected, they were in hovel of a home, barely big enough for a dog let alone two people.” Another pause. “Yes honey she was horrid you were right of course. Now that I have the girl we can stop paying child support.” A pang stabbed deep in the girl’s chest, seeming like thousands of razors were slicing trough.

“So now you are not even good enough to be titled as his daughter?” the roar cried out.

“No! We can’t be walking into another one! I don’t think Danni can handle going through this again!” the whisper despaired voicing the girl’s thoughts aloud.

“Yes dear, I know, but it is as we have feared.” A long lengthily pause, the only sound was the muted screeching that could be heard over the phone line. “I know dear heart. We shall discuss this when I get home. Everything shall turn out fine, I promise you.” Silence. “Yes dear one, I love you too. See you in a few.” He hung up.

. . . . . . . . . .

“She can’t stay!!!!!” this declaration was sent firmly. “She is a danger to the children! I won’t have it! I just won’t!”

“But my dear heart, we have no evidence that she is mentally unstable, the only reason I know is because that woman told me so. I don’t think we should believe her.” The man cajoled.

“No! It’s you who does not know, you are the one who has not been close at hand these past few days. You have been off to work every day; therefore, have not seen what I have. The girl talks to herself, as if she is carrying on a conversation with other people! Not the normal talking to yourself, but actually pausing and listening as if someone was right there talking to her! It’s not normal!” the parade ended on a screech.

“Now, now, Honey it can’t be as bad as that. Maybe you’re just embellishing?

“No! I know what I am talking about! But that’s not all! Oh no siree! I’ve caught her at times when I’m talking to her she would suddenly start and clamp a hand over her mouth like she said something horrible. She would then stare at me with those wide, distrustful eyes of hers and wait, as if she expects me to hit her! And you know what? Sometimes I itch so bad to just smack her a good one! But mark my words she is crazy!”

“Honey-“

“Don’t you “honey” me! I’ll give you a choice Henry; it’s either the girl or me and the kids. Now choose!” she demanded.

“Barbara… what would you have me do?” this came out as a world weary sigh. “ She is my daughter, my own flesh and blood.” He wheedled.

“That thing is out of its mind! It is not safe to be around the kids! I want it gone!” she demanded.

“Alright love, but where? Where should I put her? There is nowhere, the child services won’t take her because she is too old and has a chance of being mental. So then where would you suggest?”

“Why a mental hospital of course!” the woman stated simply.

“See Danni girl? It is no different than last time. They too don’t love you. The only difference between both of them is that one was willing to keep you for money and the other is willing to get rid of you for a new life.” The voice whispered silently.

“Do it, Do it, Do it!” the chanting echoed off the empty walls magnifying the small, tiny whisper into a roar of thousands. “Run away, run away from these horrid people! They won’t miss you! Yes, yes, yes. No one will care. Who are they to tell you what to do? What makes them any different? Any better?” was screamed angrily piercing sharply into the dark tunnels of her ears.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Whispers soft as mice crept under the thunderous echoes. “Don’t do it! Your safer here, where there is a warm bed and plenty of food. Stay, stay, stay.” What would they think? Your parents; what would they think?” whined the pathetic voice from the deepest cracks in the broken heart.

“They’d think you’re crazy, which of course you are. And of course they already know.” The roar pointed out diplomatically.

“Exactly!” was cried out in despair trying vainly to overpower the thunder.

“What’s the worse they can do? Put you in a mental hospital? Oh wait, we are to be in one!” the sarcastic reply scorned back.

“That’s not true! Don’t listen Danni, you are in your room, at home, surrounded by loving people.” Comfort was sent wave after wave.

“Surrounded by loving people!? Yeah, more like self-loving people. Face the facts Danni-girl they don’t care a single teaspoon full for you. The only reason they put up with you is because it’s a means to use you against each other, as simple as that. There is no love, not anymore. Our showing up brought an end to that.” The sting of words opened an even deep, fatal wound.

“No! No! Danni don’t listen! Your parents love you very much and very deeply. They might be divorced, but that’s not because of you! It never is!”

“Ah-hah! See that Danni-girl? It’s never about you, never is and never will be. This is why you created us, because you have no one. And do you know why you have no one? It’s because-“

“No don’t listen Danni!” the interruption held no lasting effect.

“No” the single sound reverberated, rippling waves crashed against her, bringing realization that the sound came from her own mouth.

“Yes” both whisper and roar merged together to become one voice.

The single word opened up crevasses of hurt hidden deeply by time, slowly, painfully spilling out tidal wave by tidal wave, the heart bled.

“Danni! Can you come down here for a second?” Came the man’s voice.

“So the time has finally come.” With a start the girl has realized that this voice was not one of the two that has kept her company for many years, no instead she realized that it was her own. Slowly walking down the stairs the daughter met her father’s eyes.

“Go pack your bags, girl, and meet me back her in fifteen minutes.” The demand came out harshly and the fathers eyes slid away from his daughters forward gaze. Without a word the daughter nodded and moved slowly back up the stairs.

. . . . . . . . .

The ride was eerily silent, not a word was spoken for good of the first half of the ride. The without any warning the father spoke.

“My wife told me to take you to a mental hospital. She said that it was either her and the kids or you.” He threw the girl an apologetic glance. “You see I had to choose her and the kids, they’re my new life, so perfect and different than before.” His voice held a desperate plea for understanding. The girl had nothing to say.

“But you see I couldn’t, I just couldn’t do it! Even though you are my past, you are still my daughter, my own flesh and blood. I couldn’t put my only daughter into a mental hospital. Sure you don’t speak much, carry on conversations with yourself, and even sometimes act strangely but that doesn’t mean you’re out of your mind! No, I just couldn’t do that to you. So instead I found this place over the internet.” The car stopped in front of a sunny looking house. “I think that this place will be much better for you, much happier. The lady I talked to said that they treat kids like you with normalcy, that you will get love and affection. She even said that you will learn how to cope and be able to live normally. Unfortunately I won’t be able to come visit you. This is good-bye.” The man had tears in his eyes, from what the girl still could not understand to this very day, but she likes to fantasize that they were sorrow from sending her away.

Opening up the car door the girl steps out into the ray of sunshine. Up at the house, the front door opens and a kind looking lady steps out onto the porch, slowly making her way toward the younger girl. Faces of all color, shapes, and sizes appear behind the lady.

“Hello, you must be Danni.” Without any warning the lady envelopes her into a warm cinnamon scented hug. “It’s so wonderful to meet you!” pulling back the lady gently cups the girls face. “Don’t worry dear heart, the voices will never hurt you and if you so wish, will soon go away. You are welcome here with open arms. We hope you will soon call this home.” The lady smiled with true warmth. Slowly turning away the young girl watches her father drive away with a single glance back. Spinning back to face the lady the girl finally smiled.

“Yes” the young girl’s voice, the whisper, and the roar sigh at the same time.

-THE END-

-By Carly Loyd

Age 16