When I wake up, I’m greeted with the harsh glare of spotlights, a microphone in my hand, and a sea of people before me.

I still. This was not what I expected to wake up to. Surveying the crowd, I realize that they’re all staring at me in anticipation, as though waiting for me to say or do something. In my sleep-addled state, I stand there silent for entirely too long, and as the whispers begin t...

I leave

For the first time.

It’s New Years Eve,

And you both come

To say goodbye.

Even though it’s Michigan,

And December,

And six AM,

And your twelfth birthday.

I’m gone

For four months.

We text each other

Every single day,

And play Roblox together.

It’s great, but I can’t see you.

And then I text you all:

My parents have bought

A house. In Florida.

But I come back,

And you all come...

I always admired astronomers. Always wanted to be one. And always have been one, I suppose. After all, isn’t an astronomer just someone who looks up at the stars?

On the day I tuned twenty, I discovered a new planet. My very own. I was ecstatic. After all, so long staring up at the stars, and suddenly I find a wandering star of my very own? It was my dream for years, and suddenly it had come true...

Ten years old,

Writing in my diary,

With poor handwriting

And misspelled words,

Planning out my wedding

To a boy I’d never spoken to

Just because

He went to my church.

Eleven years old,

Going to school,

Seeing all the girls

And how pretty they are,

Feeling not enough.

Not popular or cool,

Not pretty or cute,

Just there, existing.

Twelve years old,

Feeling forgotten.

Always second best

To my...

I don’t belong here.

These four words,

Echoing through my mind.

You shouldn’t be here.

I’m panicking, my heart racing

Like it’s trying to escape,

To leave while there’s still time.

The people I pass

All seem so big,

Staring at me

Like I’m an imposter.

I’m too small, too young,

Too lost, too dumb.

I don’t fit in

Among all these adults.

A little girl like me,

Not yet sixteen,

Going to col...

Sitting in a swing

In my home, my space, my refuge,

With her sitting by my side.

Falling out of hammocks,

Laughing at our cats,

As the lilacs bloom outside.

Sitting by a lake,

Eating the strawberries we bought

At a little roadside stand.

Sailing our little boat,

Cutting through the water,

Looking past the land.

Sitting on my bed,

Curled up with a book

I’ve read a thousand times.

Hearing al...

As the dawn creeps in, spreading light over the grassy knolls and down to the forest beyond, a young girl turns her face to the brightening horizon and smiles. Basking in the warmth of the sun and the gentle light that illuminates her face, she stands still, letting the peaceful magic of a quiet sunrise wash over her. Caressing her as gentle as a lover, the soft morning wind dances around her, lif...

I jolt awake, breathing quickly. Groaning, I flop over onto my other side, covering my eyes and flinching away from the meager light coming through the window. Stupid streetlights.

I was dreaming about it again tonight. That makes… five days in a row. A new record. Tonight’s dream was different, though. Somehow it seemed urgent, more insistent. There was a greater sense of panic, of terror, even...

As I walk through the streets of Shutar, my father’s city, my city, everything seems normal. It seems like a peaceful haven, somewhere people can come and make a living. According to my father’s financial advisors and his bankers, the kingdom was thriving and the people were well-fed, happy, and sheltered.

At first, that what it seemed like.

I walk through the market in the main street, disgui...

“Get down from there right this second, you headache of a person!”

No response. Keisha sighed, bracing herself to start climbing.

“I’m about thirty seconds from coming up there to get you, and you aren’t gonna like the consequences,” she warned.

Still no response.

Swearing under her breath, Keisha hauled herself onto the brick wall.

“If you make me climb all the way up there, I will shove...