Branth ran through the field, trying to escape from his brother with their sister Meera in tow. As they parted the long grass, Meera giggled, revealing their position to John the whole time. After a few meters, Branth plucked Meera off the ground and dove behind a large rock, shushing her with one finger to his lips.

She tried to stifle her laughter as they his, but that was almost worse than ou...

They say if you see one, run because the other three aren’t far behind.

Four boys, no older than thirteen, but the world carved the softness out of them early. Parents? Gone. Homes? Burned. All they had was each other.

They moved like shadows in a broken world, scavenging, tricking, stealing. They’d smile at you with dirt on their cheeks and knives behind their backs not because they hated you, bu...

family

the only

place where i

feel as if i

can belong and be me.

the world will keep rotating, but

nowhere else will provide this unconditional love.

cherish what you have before it disappears suddenly.

whatever you have, it can vanish before your eyes.

and this includes your most precious friends, and your family.

💔...

Ivy’s face contorted in a sour way. Her arm, she realized, was the place of pain after the adrenaline of running wore off. A shard of glass, thicker than a shard of anything she had seen before, was stuck deep in her skin. It had jammed its little way between her skin just enough to almost cause lasting damage.

Sitting in the infirmary she sighed, she didn’t wish for this to happen of course, but...

When your world dies, you do. That’s what the books I’ve read say. Then why am I still here? Why am I still alive?

I stare up at the dark, starless sky, wishing it would suck me up into its depths of oblivion. The moon watches me from its perch, a full moon shining ever so bright. I here the crunching of leaves behind me before the sound stops and I feel a warm body beside me.

“James, you look l...

I have a different relationship with each family member.

My dad is my adventure buddy. No matter how stupid the thing I want to do it, he will go along.

Volleyball, running, juggling, he will do it all.

My mom is interesting. She can tease me so much it’s unbearable, but she is the most loving person I know. She loved the horses and the boys and whatever else I throw at her.

My brother is kind ...

I run free with my brothers

They’re my friends for life

They’ve been by my side

Through joy and through strife

Bedside at my birth

They’ve been with me since then

And we’ll live our whole life together

And even be each others best men

Nothing can break us apart

We’re tight as can be

That’s something

Everyone can plainly see

I love my brothers

And they love me

Nothing can break

The bond o...

a great man was born

in dublin, 1939

oh, a country torn

by many a wretched swine

with more siblings than

fingers on two hands

born to a clan

deep in the lands

brought to a small home

on the wrong side of the Liffey

oh, but his heart did roam

told his Mam he’d be back in a jiffy

for how could he predict

he’d meet an english girl

Islington they had picked

they were married in a whirl

a kind sou...

We were visiting a family friend on his farm.

I remember running through the cornfield, towards the forest behind the farm.

We entered the woods, stepping over the rocks on the ledge.

Green floura grew through the cracks of the rocks reaching towards the warm golden sun. Yellow flowers began to bloom, dotting the ground how crystals sparkle in granite.

We follow the lightly tread dirt path.

I ...

A body was propped flat on our dinner table. This wasn’t the first time. I remember that first time, when my heart was beating so heavily in my chest that I thought I would faint. I had been 3 years old. Now, I was eleven, and my heart was still. Just another day.

“We’ll need to dispose of this,” Father said, his hands clasped behind his back. “Jackie knows what to do.”

That was me. I nodded. ...