In middle school I had a boyfriend

Everyone said it was cool to have one one

But in reality it was cruel

My boyfriend would tell me I was fat

His friends made sexual comments

Him and his friends practically controlled me

There was one boy

My best friend

He would comfort and we would laugh

One day he became one of those boys

The ones who bullied and harassed me

I told my boyfriends sister

She sa...

Sorrow

Pain

Depression

Cops filled my home

Lights everywhere

So many people like tiny ants

gathering around their queen

My dad lay motionless

So indolent the cops stand

I knew

I knew why no one cared

The cops shot him

He screamed

Bleed

For what felt like an eternity

They did nothing

Nothing

I took them to court

No one believes a teenager

The judge dismissed

The cops smirked

That’s moment...

She told them.

Not in shouts,

but in pauses—

those long, trembling silences

that hung like laundry in the cold.

She spoke in bruises shaped like continents,

in sweaters worn through July,

in the way she flinched when cutlery clinked.

Her voice didn’t always need sound.

But it needed listening.

He was charming in crowds—

the kind who said “She’s lucky to have me”

with a laugh

sharp enough to draw...

Long ago, nestled deep within a silver-green marsh, hidden from the eyes of time, stood an ancient Chinese building known only as Qingshui Lou — the House of Whispering Water. It was built during the reign of an emperor whose name has since dissolved into the fog of forgotten dynasties. The house stood upon stone stilts, its dark wood lacquered with centuries of rain, its curved eaves brushing aga...

Mara knew the exact sound the front door made when her dad came home drunk. Not the soft creak of someone trying not to wake you, but the sharp, careless slam that rattled the coat rack. It was always late—always past midnight—and always followed by the clink of keys hitting the kitchen counter and a long, tired sigh like he hated himself for coming home at all.

She was used to it. Or at least th...

Every morning for the past seventeen years, Mara had made two cups of coffee.

One with a splash of cream and a spoonful of honey—for herself.

The other, black and steaming—for the man who once sat across from her in the kitchen, always first to speak, always halfway through the newspaper before she even took a sip.

The morning sun filtered through the same floral curtains he had insisted on keep...

Born just 13 months apart, they competed over everything: grades, attention, sports, who got the front seat. Their parents tried to be fair, but fairness sometimes felt like favoritism. Lena was quieter, more introspective, good with words. Max was loud, athletic, magnetic—he soaked up praise like a sponge.

By high school, their rivalry had hardened. Max teased Lena constantly. Sometimes it was j...

As far as I can see cars stretch for miles and miles

just like the rolling tides in the ocean.

The people are like ants on the jungle floor scurrying around.

The city is filled with laughter, grief,and anger it is almost

as loud as Niagra Falls.

As I observe I run my hand on the beautiful smooth marble

used on the buildings.

The air thick and smoggy to breathe.

Its suffocating like a thick rope...

I’ll make a deal he said

It won’t hurt you one bit he said

Just play a small game he said

If you loose then I choose what happens he said

If you win then you choose what happens he said

Sign this and you won’t be hurt he said

I lost at his game he said

Now you will forever serve me and please me he said

I turned to run but he caught me

No no sweetheart he said so sinisterly

You belong to me now

...

My capturer has left me alone in a dark , cold, damp basement. I have been gone for almost 5 years ,but everyday and every night I have been planning my escape. After being kept underground for half a decade I was ready to escape. Today was the day to escape Jim had gone out on a grocery run. He had become so comfortable with that he just let me roam around the basement. “ If you’re not here when ...