Rhea and Lyssa sit under the great oak tree, the one with the tire swing, the one where it had all started.

The tire swing hanging from the branches had seen them grow up since they were barely old enough to form the alphabet.

They've been meeting here each Saturday for years---they'd never missed a day, not even in sickness---and today is the day that will end. Because today is the final day befo...

(Second Chances by Gregory Alan Isakov)

An Evil heart is marked by black blood.

For the Good, it makes it easy to find distance between those with black veins.

For the Evil, it makes living impossible.

Dante, unfortunately, was one of them, and she'd paid the price ever since. Though she'd never committed anything horrible, her heart insists on pumping dark color through her body, signaling to an...

being locked into isolation,

unable to crawl

into any semblance of company,

is one of life's

cruelest chambers.

the echoes of loneliness

collide around you,

until the lack of love

is something

you can't just ignore.

you're forced to face it.

you're forced to compensate,

and in that reparation

of giving yourself warmth

instead of finding it elsewhere,

you learn a lesson

many will never know.

yo...

Research Log: Entry 407

Unnamed Specimen

Dylan Harper

- Specimen Status: Unconscious

- Specimen Description:

Approximately 6 inches in diameter---estimate by researcher. Deep red in color, dark spots across the top. Slimy, appears to be of structure similar to a blobfish. Red color may signify poison---may not be safe to touch. Small eyes, two. No visible mouth or nostrils. No visible limbs or...

in a world

where scrolling

feels more like

condemning thousands

to a death

they plead to avoid,

in a world where

the news

feels more like

a chapter

of a dystopian novel,

happiness

is less joyful.

more akin to

committing

the eighth deadly sin....

the mask is slipping.

for years,

endless years,

my front has remained strong,

appearance unwavering,

the smile across my face

a constant.

the mask is slipping.

when it happened is unknown,

how the descent began,

but soon enough

I won't be able to keep it up any longer.

the mask is slipping.

they're going to know.

they're going to find out

how while my days seemed joyful,

the nights that follo...

Once, there were nine kingdoms.

They each rested upon their own cloud, stacked one atop the other like pancakes. And each was named One through Nine, with Nine residing on the top level and One at the very bottom.

The higher your kingdom was, the more well off you would be. Nine had all of the most powerful people: the king, dukes, earls, lords, and anyone who was deemed important enough to serve ...

Andora entered the shop, and she was instantly pleased with the atmosphere.

The talisman shop had what seemed like hundreds of shelves, all ordained with wooden trinkets of all sorts. Opportunity screamed from each of them, just waiting to be useful to one of the witches to walk past them.

She made her way towards the register, taking secretive looks at each and every object. To be there almost fe...

some nights

I'll catch myself looking out the window

and the car will pass

a streetlight,

the bright beam shining across the road.

the light hits my eye,

traveling down

until it reaches my heart

to greet the ghost

of my childhood wonder.

I can feel her

as I gaze into the night,

and no matter how different we are,

how different I've become,

the streetlights still look the same,

and I'll still w...

It's the Dodgers' first game of the season, and like usual, I'm in the dugout, cheering on my boyfriend as he runs to first base while I wait for my turn to bat.

And, like usual, I'm getting shit from the guys.

I've never been as good of a player as James. I know that. I just wish that everyone didn't make such a big deal about pointing it out. It's well known that James Dalton is the team's big n...