When I moved to the big city, everyone warned me.

“Nobody cares about you there. You’re just another stranger.”

“You won’t make any friends!”

“Either people ignore you or they swear at you, and those are the best-case scenarios.”

Well, I was a grown-up, and a lot of people live in the city. I can handle it, I thought, and I moved into a downtown apartment with my cat, Chloe. I unpacked my boxes a...

A tree is the earth stretching out its hand,

opening its heart to the spirits of the land.

Inviting you to lie down, to take a rest

under its autumn crown, on its breathing chest.

Beneath the willow, you will find

a soft pillow to rest your mind.

Close your eyes, take deep breaths,

hear the mice burrowing in the depths.

Leaves in your hair, your head enthroned on roots,

your royal lair, surrende...

Kira did not have much. She lived with her son, Lukas, in a single-bedroom apartment. When it was lights out for eight-year-old Lukas, it was lights out for her. Every waking second she spent with her ray of light. They read together, they watched TV together, they played cards together.

Kira did not have many friends, nor did Lukas. She had no time for them, being a full-time nurse and single mo...

Am I supposed to have fun? Loren asked herself. She tagged along with her friend group, barely keeping pace on this carnival night. The lights were bright and smudged. Loren had been cleaning her glasses a hundred times, but her vision was still blurry. She felt her heart pound; her head felt empty; her eyes could not focus on anything. Out of the color-puke white noise of the carnival, the voices...

The bed was covered in feathers; the sheets were sliced. Stuffed animals were strewn across a flokati carpet, and the flower-patterned curtains fluttered gently in the warm wind. The last rays of the day flooded through the open window, coloring the chaos in orange.

Like in a daze, Gilda picked up the blanket from the floor and put it back on the bed.

“Mary is not under the blanket,” the red oct...

Where there is light, there is always a shadow close behind.

One moment I was happy, now darkness clouds my mind.

Where there is a shadow, there is always a light close behind.

It may take time and many moments, but there is happiness to find.

...

Who knitted you, whimsical sweater?

Did they sit by the fireplace?

Or in the sun by flower beds?

Who carved you, little keychain?

Do they love chunky whales?

Or do they just like to carve them?

Who decorated you, my precious pie?

Did they draw your icing flowers one by one at dawn?

Do their sugar-burnt arms hurt from kneading?

Do they shed a tear

when a cake fork stabs the marzipan?...

“So?” Ella looked at him. His diamond. Fairy face, luscious lips, big blue eyes.

Patrick snapped himself out of his daze.

“We can be there at eight.”

Ella’s eyes traveled down to her phone, typing in the address.

How could someone have such elegant eyes? Such slender, dainty hands? Her ocean eyes met his again. They glistened with tears.

“Patrick… I feel like your friends… they don’t want me th...

In a world full of roses

Be a bee

Flying from blossom to blossom

Take a nip

From the mornings dew pearls

Take a dip

In golden flower dust

Take a rest

On a pink petal pillow...

"So, what do you think?"

"Hmm... It's perfectly accurate. Evidence of your true skill and talent."

"Thank you."

"Maestro... You captured my smile but where is my happiness? There is no glimmer in my eyes. They look empty. The expression is flat. Like... painted."

"The canvas only shows what I saw. Let me fix it."...