I am pulled towards pain, as I watch them all waste away. All my friends engage, and I feel enraged. Must I stay away? I glance and reprimand with a glare, but I cannot bring myself to stare. Innocence and the Deen or, party and face trouble with the unseen? My heart is pulled closer, and my chest feels weaker. Should I disobey? Nay, I cannot afford to stray. I have been given only one chance, to prove worthy myself to the Lord of the Vast. I must not...
I was no longer sure about the time of day. Not a ray of sunlight was apparent to signify the morning, nor was there a sliver of moonlight to signify the night. All I was certain about was the opacity that engulfed the atmosphere I was trudging through. The air felt moist against my forehead as I blindly roamed on, and made me wonder if I was passing through a dark, dense fog. I wandered and wandered. The surface beneath my feet was rough and uneven. At one point...
I know a woman who sells perfume, and keeps me apprized of the richest scents in bloom. Whenever I find my fragrances nearly finished, I peer into her shop window before the store hours diminish. Ever ready is she with scents that enliven the air: Freesia, Jasmine, Vanilla, and Pear. Finally, when I manage to tear myself away, the fragrances linger upon me, far from decay. I then see a man parting from a blacksmith marked, It seemed on his journey home he embarked, In a state unfit, unclean...
Continued from ‘A Friend to Remember: Part I’ Kalia got upset at the worst of things. I walked over to my mother’s car after school, stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk in front of the school. Being called a terrorist was just something I ignored, something stupid that media sensationalized and used against us. What Jamie had said to Kalia was a failure of an argument, and it was senseless to play along with those who tried to anger her. I opened the car door and threw my...
It was another year at beloved public school, another year at Valley Falls High – home of brand new desks and bats in the ceiling. Lockers slammed and kids laughed as I walked through the halls, bumping shoulders and finding pathways in the crowd. I sighed. Summer had flown by in a midst of summer reading and relaxing, but it was too late to run out of school now. Walking into chemistry, my first class on my first day of junior year, I noted the nonexistent “Welcome Back” vibe...
