a campfire burns in the center of a circle

she can’t help but stare into the flame

what would it feel like to dip her finger in

surely it wouldn’t hurt more than when her father got mad

when he smashes beer bottles against the wall mere inches from her head

surely it wouldn’t hurt more than when dinner was too hot

and her whole body would freeze up waiting for her father’s reaction

surely ...

“How could you! How could you! I trusted you!” Lea sat on the stairs listening to her parents’ fight. Her mom punched her hands against her dad’s chest, sobbing and screaming.

“I stayed with you through your treatment. I gave you a daughter. I did everything,” her mom cries. Lea looked at her dad, just standing there, barely glancing at her mom. He looked down at her with something close to dis...

In a heart-shaped box, a mother keeps her children’s teeth, collecting them like coins or snowglobes. Out of love, of course. It's love that has her picking at her children's teeth, digging them out of their mouths. It's love that has her pressing a tissue against their mouths to stop the bleeding. It's love that has her drugging them so they can't feel any pain. She looks at her children now. All...

The first kill is the hardest. You’re hesitant, unsure if you’re doing it correctly, worried you’ll make a mistake and get caught. After you get away with the first, the rest are easier. But more than that: thrilling. I found my passion for killing as a young child when I squeezed the life out of my cat and lied to everyone that she ran away. I buried the body in our backyard. We now have a sprawl...

I watch as I’m drained out of him Slowly, slowly as he quietly fades away on the hospital bed I watch death’s grabby fingers clutching at air Eager to get its hands on him It pulls and pulls, making every vestige of me disappear There’s no point in even trying to save him Death’s chains are more powerful It steals all the beautiful flowers and I’m left with the charred, black ones I can admit, I’...

I shrugged my backpack onto my shoulder, the weight feeling like a boulder on my back. I flinched as yet another glass shattered on the floor, followed by my mother’s high-pitched screaming. “I can’t believe this! You gambled all our money away again!” And like always my father replied with a soothing “It was a mistake,” that always got on my nerves. My mother’s too by the sound of it. I walked...

“Don’t lie to me” You said, the first day we met You looked so serious then To me, at least With your sticky fingers clutching mine And your earnest brown eyes boring into mine “I have too many people lying to me already” All I wanted was to play freeze tag But you held me in place Until I promised So I did, to appease you I didn’t understand why you were asking Of course I wouldn’t lie to you...

A cold glass of water on a sticky, summer morning. A cup of hot chocolate and a warm blanket in front of the fireplace on a dark, winter night. The bright autumn leaves falling as you breathe in the crisp fall air. The bloom of flowers once again after freezing winter months. I trace my fingers across the words as they morph into something else. Suddenly I’m in the middle of the battlefield watchi...

I sip my coffee and eavesdrop on the conversation next to me.

“The Author hasn’t sent a note in 2 years,” one girl says in hushed tones.

“Yeah… do you think…” the other girl replies, the question left waiting for someone to finish it.

“They died?” I whisper from right behind them.

They both shriek and turn around.

Once they see it is me, they relax.

“Raven! How are you?” the first girl, Cas...

Love is strange Unexpected, but welcome Sought out, and disappears Sometimes it’s dark and twisted, Holding you in a tight grip Watching you struggle with glee A foolish game of cat and mouse Where pleasure is derived From seeing love suffer Other times it’s a warm embrace Sunshine on a sticky summer day Or eating popsicles on the front porch Laying in bed with a good book Or with your cat laying ...