Fiction Foray

ANNIE HEWITT:

Yee Naaldlooshii

…

My name is Lillie Ilean Nez and this happened about a year ago to my friend Cammie, my boyfriend Nate and myself. I’m still not sure what to make of it, but I thought maybe writing it down and posting it would help me cope.

…

“That’s not funny!!!!” 

I shouted across the room at Nate who had been trying to scare me with old Native American folk lores. I, myself am part Native American, but never been a fan of scary stories or horror movies. 

“Oh come on Lills! It’s a little funny- back me up, Cam!” He looks over at Cammie.

“How m’ny ‘ime’s I got’a say-” She swallows her mouthful of food. 

“Quit calling me Cam. It sounds weird so use my actual name.” Nate rolled his eyes as Cammie looked over at me. 

“So Lillie you said that your great grandparents used to own this land right?” I nodded. 

“Yeah, the entire forest belongs to my tribe, my grandparents moved away and to civilization, but kept the property. Then they passed it to my Mom, so I kinda just visit whenever.” Cammie nods and Nate smirks and walks over to me pulling me to my feet and dragging me to a more open area of the living room. 

“Cammie, would you be a dear?” he asked. 

“You both are disgusting,” Cammie replies, rolling her eyes but smirks and dims the light and turns on some music from her phone while leaning against the wall. Nate just smiled down at me and we danced there. We had been dating for seven months, and instead of saying ‘I love you’ he would do small acts to show it. He would always say, ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ While I agree it would also just be nice to hear him say ‘I love you’ every now and then. We danced for a few minutes before hearing a sickening and deafening screeching sound. I pulled back covering my ears Nate doing the same. Cammie, on the other hand, moved to grab her headphones that hung around her neck. 

This went on for about two and a half minutes before cutting off. Cammie took off her headphones and me and Nate lowered our hands. We looked at each other, we all shared the same question that none of us spoke. ‘What was that?’ I was the first to act, moving to the window and looking outside. 

“I don’t see anything- Wait, something just ran across the tree line!” I mumbled the first part and shouted the second bit. 

“Well what was it?” Cammie asked, as Nate came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. 

“Not sure,” I reply, my own hand moving to place on top of Nate’s hand on my shoulder. 

”Probably just an animal though.” Nate and Cammie nod, but we all knew no animal could make a sound that terrifying. 

“Right…Well we should head to bed then,” Nate said, hand moving from my shoulder to my elbow to pull me away from the window. I just allow him to drag me a few steps before facing forward and walking over to Cammie. 

“You girls can head upstairs and get ready, I’ll lock up downstairs,” Nate said, already locking the door. Three locks on the front door and two on the back door. My grandfather installed them and I think I finally understood why. Me and Cammie ran upstairs to get ready for bed. We got changed and brushed our teeth, soon Nate kicked us out of the bathroom so he could get changed in there. I walked to my room I shared with Cammie and she grabbed my hand. 

“Lillie, be honest…Do you really think that was a wild animal?” Her voice cracks on my name and I could see the tears in her eyes. I squeeze her hand once, reassuringly. 

“Well what else could it be? Not like it could be human, our lung capacity can’t go that long without air.” She looks me in the eyes and I tense. Something about her demeanor changed, not into something malice, but something that painfully reminded me of my grandma. The same look in her eyes as she once had when warning me of our people’s stories. Tales from our ancestors, and our tribe. 

“What if it wasn’t an animal, or human- this is Native American land. You said so yourself! What if it’s something like–” I cut her off.

“Cammie, my people’s stories hold truth yes, but they’re still just stories. Not something to worry about. Besides, my people don’t have many stories about creatures in the night. We have a few but not many.” I pulled her into a hold, her back against my chest, her arms pinned by mine. She groaned and I grinned, pulling her closer wrapping my legs around her waist.

“You’re insufferable.” She huffed at me as I rolled my eyes at her running my fingers through her hair. 

“Shut up!” I replied. 

“Let me do this. It’s what my mom used to do when I got scared, while up here in the cabin when I was little.” She looked up at me with an irritated expression, with no fire behind it.

“So what, you’re gonna treat me like a child all because I’m freaked out?” she said with her usual sarcasm.

“Why not? You act like one anyways,” I reply with a laugh as she gasps dramatically.

“RUDE. How dare you, I do not act like a child! I’m just authentic,” I ruffle her hair.

“Not what that means, but sure,” I say fondly, running my fingers through her hair again, while humming an old lullaby in my people’s native language. I never learned my native tongue, but I knew how to sing songs from my childhood in our language. Never learned what they meant but it always calmed me down after nightmares when my mother would sing them. Quickly Cammie fell asleep so I maneuvered her in a more comfortable spot on the bed and under the covers. I on the other hand walked out of our room and down the upstairs hall, and knocked on my boyfriend’s door. He opens it up with a look of worry. 

“Lills? Why are you still up..? Is everything okay?” he asks and I nod. 

“Yeah, just anxious. I’m not sure what that thing was and I’m scared it’s either on or near the property still, or if it’s not it’ll come back,”  I say, rubbing my arm. A nervous tick I had since I was a little girl. He leans against the door frame and nods. 

“Yeah, me too. I’m not entirely sure what that noise was or what you saw, but it’s late. Tomorrow we’ll pack up and head home, tonight just try to get some sleep.” Nate brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. I sighed and kissed him goodnight and went back to my room. The next morning we all got up and got ready for the day. I made breakfast for the three of us and made coffee for Cammie and Nate, for myself I made tea. After breakfast we went upstairs to pack up our stuff to leave. Once we were packed up we brought our stuff outside only to find all four wheels on the car we took up here to be slashed. 

“My car! What the heck happened?!” I exclaimed, dropping my bag and running over to my vehicle and dropping to a knee by one of the back tires and tensing up. 

“What the heck…?” I mumble to myself and touch one of the slashes in the tire. A black, sticky, and thick liquid coating my pointer and thumb. I look back over to Nate and Cammie who had been quiet, but just as confused and nervous as me. I hold up my hand to show them the substance. 

“Oh gross! What is that?” Cammie asks, recoiling in disgust, meanwhile Nate reaches for his water bottle and walks over washing it off my fingers. 

“Lillie if you don’t know what it is don’t touch it!” Nate says rather in a tone of concern and disbelief. 

“I think it’s time we call someone,” he continues.

“This is getting ridiculous, whatever is going on I’m not having it.” I look up at Nate who was already pulling out his phone and sigh.

“No service.” I say matter of factly. “No rangers either. We’ll need to walk to town-” Cammie cuts me off.

“I’m not walking with some psychotic animal that screeches at a volume that could wake the dead! Uh-Uh! No way!” She snaps at me in a panic running back inside. Nate rubs his temples like trying to soothe a headache. 

“I can go into town by myself, you stay with Cammie,” Nate says, slinging his bag over his shoulder. I grab him by his shirt collar in an attempt to prevent him from walking off.

“Not happening. We don’t know what that creature was, and I have a feeling it’s what slashed my tires. You will not go off on your own. It’s all of us or none of us.” I release his shirt and cross my arms over my chest.

“There’s a radio in the shed, if you can hook it up and get that working we might be able to call for help. I’m gonna go see if my Grandma has any books on the forest’s history, and try to figure out what that was.” Nate was clearly displeased but considering he didn’t protest, or try to fight with me on it, I think we both knew I was right. Once we went back inside we found Cammie in the kitchen stress eating last nights left over dinner, barbeque chicken and boiled potatoes. I shake my head with a sigh that could almost be considered a laugh. Nate just groans and pushes past her to get to the back of the cabin, making Cammie yell something that no one could understand because of the food in her mouth. I walk down the hall into my fathers study of the cabin. It used to be the cabin’s library but after my grandparents passed away and my mom inherited it, my father changed it into his study but we kept all the books in the closet in the room.

I open the closet door and pull out all the boxes. Each had labels written across the top: ‘Family albums’, ‘Family History’, ‘Children’s stories’, ‘Our People’, and ‘The way of our home’. I sigh, my mother had always made labels sound odd. I opened up the boxes labeled ‘Our People’ and ‘The way of our home,’ and inside were multiple thick books. After going through both and finding nothing, I opened up the rest. Absolutely nothing. By now I was pretty irritated, because of how much time that consumed.

 “Maybe I missed something…” I mutter to myself and lean back against a shelf, not realising how light it was and moving it and falling back. In surprise I yelped and fell backward landing on my back against the ground. I groaned in pain, since the flooring was wood and hard and not carpeting. 

“Ow…” I sit up rubbing my lower back only for something to slip off the top of the moved shelf and to hit me on the top of my head.

“Ow! Jeez!” I shout and look at what fell. It was a hardcover book titled ‘Tóhonííł time yii’ tsídii halgai bee haz’ą́.’ I recognized the language. My native language, Navajo. Though because I was brought up speaking English I didn’t understand what it was so I pulled out my phone to translate it. 

“No internet…” I sigh and pocket my phone and dig through the books again for a dictionary. The one my grandparents had was in Navajo and underneath was an English translation. After finding it, it took awhile to figure out what it said, but eventually I was able to put it together.

“In the night…The creature on..All fours strikes? What does that even mean…?” I open the book to the table of contents and have to translate it all. Chapter 1 ‘Doozh ałhígíí’ or ‘Origins.’ Chapter 2 ‘Tʼáá aaníí ádaʼdííł hólǫ́’ or ‘The Why in Which is Cruel.’ ’Then there was Chapter 3, ‘Tʼáá aaníí éí’ or ‘What it truly is.’

I look at the page number ‘75’ and flip to it. I started reading and for the entire chapter’s translation it took me about fifty eight minutes. I did find out what it was, a yee naaldlooshii or what most people know as ‘skinwalkers.’ An ancient witch who had gained the ability to transform into an animal, but lost its humanity in the process. I get up with both books, and head out of the study. Unbothered to clean up my mess of old books and walk into the living room where Nate and Cammie were sitting in awkward silence. I drop the books on the coffee table and cross my arms, they both look up at me.

“A skin walker,” I announce aloud and both of them look at me confused. I sight and rub my temples.

“We’re dealing with a skinwalker,” I explained, and could see the moment they processed the information. We sat in silence for a good minute before Cammie spoke.

“How do we deal with it..? Is it human, an animal? Or like a dinosaur?” I smile and shake my head with a silent laugh. 

“A dinosaur, seriously Cammie? No, it’s not a dinosaur. I guess it used to be human, the book-” I gesture to the thick hard covered book next to the dictionary.

“Describes it as a wicked witch who gained abilities to turn into an animal though it lost its humanity in the process of hundreds of years. So now? I’m gonna say, yeah more of a wild animal. A predator.” Nate stays quiet for a moment, before asking a question I had no answer to.

“How do you even stop something like that…? If it’s hunting us, and can turn into an innocent looking animal..How do we get out of this Lillie…?”  His voice sounded almost broken. The first time I ever heard him sound like that, with terror. I bit down on my bottom lip.

“Not sure, but at least we know what it is,” I say, trying to sound hopeful. Nate just nods.

“Right…” Cammie mutters, we were all feeling uneasy.

“Nate, go up to mine and Cammie’s room. In the closet there’s a shotgun. If that thing comes back I’d rather be safe than sorry. Tonight we should all stay in the same room though.” I say deciding to take charge, even though I was just as lost as the other two. Nate gets up without complaint and goes upstairs. 

“Cammie, can you start dinner? Have Nate help you. I’m gonna see if I can get more answers out of the book.” She nods and gets up hastily walking to the kitchen. I plop down on the couch and grab the books. Nate comes back downstairs as I open them up. 

“I told Cammie you’d help her with dinner,” I announced without looking up. He groans, and ruffles my hair. I yelp in protest and swat his hand away.

“Of course you did, you’re lucky I love ya.” He says, in turn I felt my face heat up as Nate rarely says he loves me. Always actions never words, though considering our situation I guess he just wanted to reassure me of it. I smiled at him.

“Love you too. Now go before Cammie burns something.” I turn back to the books and Nate goes into the kitchen. After 45 minutes I finally put together an answer. ‘Ádiilnííł dóó éí tónteel nahalin biniinaa bił t’áá íiyisíí nahalnį́į́h, Tónteel nahalniih dóó áadi t’áá íiyisíí nahalniih.’ Then in the translation I put together, ‘With a bullet or knife dipped into the pure snowy white ash of a Biltmore tree, the creature of magic and evil will parish.’ I slam the book shut and get up and run to the kitchen where I ended up colliding with Nate who was holding a plate of food and our collision made dinner become our new outfit.

“Jeez Lillie!!! You need to be careful! You okay?” He shouts, and I nod. Cammie facepalms because my clumsiness is nothing new to any of us.

“With a bullet or knife dipped into the pure snowy white ash of a Biltmore tree, the creature of magic and evil will parish!” I quote the line from the book confusing the other two. I grab a paper towel to clean off my shirt, while Nate just takes off his. Cammie rolls her eyes at him for it, but averts her gaze to me. 

“Elaborate girl, we don’t know what type of Shakespeare literature that was,” Cammie deadpans while I huff at the comment.

“A Biltmore tree when burned produces white ash, a bullet or knife covered in it can kill one.”

I watch as their facial expressions change with the new information. Cammie seems confused and Nate looks as if I offended him. 

“What? What’s the problem now?” I asked. I was starting to get irritated, because I was being straight forward and direct.

“Are we even in a forest with trees like that?” Cammie asked, rather harshly. I recoiled at her tone.

“Higher up in elevation…We are at the bottom of the mountain in the surrounding forests but tomorrow we can hike up the mountain and-” I get cut off by Nate’s mean and almost angry voice. 

“Thats if we survive the night. It didn’t attack us tonight but who’s to say it won’t tonight? Maybe it saw us and is deciding to bring its ‘friends’! ‘Hey all you can eat buffet!’ We are teenagers Lillie, you and Cammie are eighteen and I’m nineteen. Do you really think we could survive that? Even if we do, do they come out during the day?” I opened my mouth but honestly I had no clue myself. 

“We didn’t see any when we got here during the day, we didn’t see any today. We saw it at night so I’m guessing that they are nocturnal.”

I say with confidence, planning on double checking for a solid answer.

“And if you’re wrong you walk out into predator territory. Lills, be realistic. That’s what we need. Not optimism. Guessing could get us killed. Tonight we’ll stay in one room, with the shot gun, door locked, and windows shut.”

Nate says with authority. I didn’t argue, I couldn’t. He was right but it was infuriating.

“What if we’re wrong- what if it’s just an animal?!” Cammie asks, she sounded unconvinced herself. Though, I knew she was just trying to break the tension.

“Then what the heck was the screeching last night? What was it that Lillie saw?”

Nate said, clearly irritated himself. The irritation only stemmed from his fear so I decided to address it when this was over. If we stayed alive.

“I don’t know, okay?! We are talking about ancient witches and- and magic! I have no clue but I’m trying to make sense of it all!” Cammie shouted before storming out of the kitchen. The stress we all faced was becoming toxic, and eating at us from the inside out.

“God she’s such a child –” I cut Nate off, it would have been one thing if it was teasing but him saying it out of anger was crossing a boundary.

“Nate enough. She has autism so we both need to be better at understanding that this is a lot to deal with for her- more so than for us. I get that you’re frustrated but please try to keep a level head.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair, dragging it down his face and nods.

“Yeah…Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go talk to her…” He runs upstairs and I let out an irritated noise of frustration. I wander upstairs myself and walk past the two in the hallway and into Nate’s room and change into one of his shirts. When I walk back out he looks up at me and smirks.

“Really Lills? My shirt?” I huff and pull my hair back into a pony tail. 

“Call it comfort.” I retorted, matter of factly. He chuckles and Cammie rolls her eyes.

“Disgusting. We are about to freaking die and –” Nate cuts Cammie off.

“Lets say optimistic, right Lills?” I nod sharply, as he continues.

“Good now let’s go eat the rest of dinner, before you decide it looks like a dress again.” My face flushes red and he and Cammie laugh loudly.

“Hey! It wasn’t like it was on purpose!” We headed downstairs again and re-dished up the food and ate silently. When we finished eating I did dishes quickly and joined Nate and Cammie up in Nate’s room. Nate and Cammie were in pajamas and ready for bed. I smile at the sight of my two favorite people in the same room not fighting. They always fought like siblings, but never truly hated each other. I go to mine and Cammie’s room and change into sweatpants leaving Nate’s shirt on as it was still clean. I drop mine and Cammie’s bags in Nate’s room and quickly go to the bathroom and brush my teeth before returning to the room, shutting and locking the door behind myself.

“Tomorrow we leave,” I announce and the other two nod. Nate walks to his bag, as me and Cammie climb into the bed. He takes out a bag of weed and I groan.

“Nate come on, that is a filthy habit, you know I hate it,” I say, he walked over to me pulling a lighter from his pocket. He kissed my forehead and walked over to the window and opened it up and sat down by it.

“Sorry, but I’m on edge and I’d rather have my nerves calmed, even if it’s only a little,” I sigh and lay back as he rolled up a joint and took a hit. I had never cared for drugs or alcohol. Though Nate never went overboard with it so I set boundaries of don’t do it often, don’t do it in a closed space near me, do offer it to me, my friends, or family but he always respected it. At some point, I had dozed off, and when I woke up it was to scratching on the front door frame downstairs. I sat up on the bed between Cammie and Nate and looked around, not completely self aware yet. The window was closed and the half finished joint on the sill. I shook Nate awake first.

“Nate- Nate wake up! Get up!” I whisper, shouted and he slowly sat up rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Baby what’s going on-” He was cut off by a sudden screeching sound,  which ended up waking Cammie who fell off the bed from the sudden shock. I get up and hand the gun to Nate and help Cammie up. 

“Stay in the room,” I say and go to the window and open it. Nate yanks me back having caught on to what I was doing.

“Lillie. No. Stay inside,” I shrug him off.

“Nate, I’m just gonna climb on to the roof and scope out the property.” I say as if that made it any less insane. He shuts the window and drags me back to the bed and pushes me back onto it. Now sitting on the bed he glares at me and I glare back at him.

“Stay.” He commands like I’m some type of dog. Cammie sits by me and leans her head on my shoulder. We sat like that for what seemed like forever when in reality it was more than likely just minutes. It’s times like these where having a clock in an old cabin would be helpful. It had gone quiet but no one moved till I broke the silence.

“I think it’s gone,” I mutter and Nate turns from aiming at the door and nods looking at us then at the window his eyes widening and aiming the gun. Me and Cammie turned to the window where a wolf stood but it was all wrong. It stood on its hind legs and leaned in forward, its eyes black and hollow, drool dripping down its jaw. Its arms looked like human arms with fur. The bone structure of a human, just covered in silky fur, the face of a wolf. Its teeth were yellow and decaying. The creature’s ribs showed even through the fur. It was wearing a pelt of animal skin that only covered its lower area, it was held up by a belt of string that held animal bones, and teeth like charms on a bracelet.

I stood up and dragged Cammie up with me, Nate shot the creature as it lunged at the glass shattering it across the floor. The shot seemed to throw it off and wound it, but just as quickly it healed itself and honestly it seemed angrier. I swing open the door and yank the two out and slam the door shut. The creature scratched and clawed at the door but I held it shut.

“Nate go downstairs, and into the living room! There should be a jump rope under the couch!” I shout remembering my cousins and I always hid jump ropes under the couch to irritate grandma. He hurried down the stairs and came back with the jump rope.

“Okay tie it around the door handle!” He tied it around the door handle and I took the other end pulling it tight knowing any slack could end in our demise. I tie the other end to the bathroom’s door handle and let go. 

“That will hold temporarily, we need to go right now.” I say

“Go where?! Lillie we almost just died!” Cammie shouts, getting worked up. I shove them into mine, and Cammie’s original room and shut the door locking them inside. 

“I’ll be right back!” I shouted as the two started pounding and kicking on the door. Shouting at me from panic. I ran down the hall ducking under the rope, feeling bad but all they would do is argue, and that would ensure our end. I ran downstairs and into my fathers study and grabbed a broom and started to hit the ceiling with the handle. Eventually hitting a loose board. I pull a chair under it, and push the board away. Sucking in my stomach I pull myself up and into a small hidden room. 

My cousins and I used to play up here all the time. The only light was the moon from the hole I climbed through so I could hardly see anything. I get on my hands and knees relying on touch to find what I needed. Eventually I found a box and opened it up and felt around the inside. 

“Found it!” I pull out a belt, a ‘Battle Belt’ from my fathers military days. I put it on and opened a few of the pockets and filled them with bullets, a pocket knife, flint and steel, and in the gun holder a hand gun my father taught me to use when I was sixteen. I climb out of the hole and come face to face with one of the creatures. The only difference with this one and the other was the color of the animal pelt. Before I could pull out the gun it lunged at me, its claws puncturing my thigh. I screamed in pain, and pulled out the pocket knife, deciding it had easier access and slitting the creature’s throat. It wasn’t deep and I could see it closing up just as quickly, but it gave me an opening to kick it off of me and jump out a window since it blocked the door.

Jumping out the window I cut my arm and leg on glass, but with my adrenaline at high it made it nearly unnoticeable to me except for the blood. I ran around the cabin and to the far wall where Cammie and Nate were in the room. The wall was covered in Kudzu vines which luckily is easy to climb without the worry of it snapping under a human’s weight. I grab onto a vine and start climbing up and onto the roof running over to the built in window and banging my fist on it. The curtains open and I see Nate there, his angry face turning into confusion and worry when he sees my bloody figure. He opens up the window and picks me up in a bridal carry and sets me on the bed. Cammie yelps in shock at my disheveled state and starts pacing back and forth.

“Lillie what the HECK happened?!” Nate snapped at me while tearing down the drapes from the window and ripping them, because they were already worn down from years; it wasn’t all too long before hearing the fabric tear.

“Theres another one downstairs, I was able to grab some stuff” I gesture to the battle belt, as he walks over to me with now three long pieces of cloth that once were curtains. 

“I can see that, but Lillie, why would you lock us in here?” He asks while carefully wrapping my arm in the cloth. I look up at him and sigh, wincing in pain as my adrenaline ceased away. He cups my face and I look at him.

“I-I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry…I was just worried you and Cammie fighting would get us all killed.” I stuttered. It was rare that I stutter, since I was good at staying calm and being on edge and anxious was the only time I fumble over words and stutter. Cammie looks over at me and walks over to me and slaps me across the face. Nate falls back in shock and I just stare at her.

“Next time say that and don’t shove us away and sacrifice yourself idiot! You could’ve died! If you get yourself killed I’m resurrecting you and killing you again myself.” Cammie snapped, I just stared at her before nodding solemnly, I knew she was right. I almost got myself killed because of impulse. Nate snorts and looks away.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself…” He mumbles and sits back up and lifts my pant leg up past my shin and wraps the second wound, I roll my eyes. He tugs gently on the right pant leg a silent question of, ‘Do you want to bandage your thigh or do you want me to?’ I shrug knowing I was wearing spandex underneath my sweats so I tapped on his shoulder twice, pacing on a non-verbal cue between us. He nods and helps me out of the sweats and bandages my thigh quickly and presses a kiss to my forehead when he finishes. I put my sweats back on and stand up off the bed.

“We still need to get out of here though. Our best bet is out through the window.” Cammie squaks indignantly out of protest meanwhile Nate was already climbing out the window. I walk over to Cammie and drag her with me. 

“Nate head to the side with the kudzu vines!” I shouted at him while still half dragging Cammie by her wrist, who was reluctantly following me. 

“So that’s what those are called!” He shouts back while running to the West side of the house Cammie and I follow right behind him. As Nate is half way down the wall I start climbing down and encouraging Cammie to do the same. By the time both me and Nate were on the ground Cammie was still on the roof. 

“Cammie, if you fall, me and Lillie are down here and can catch you! We don’t have time to wait, come on let’s go!” Nate shouts, and Cammie finally succumbs and climbs down the wall of vines, and once she was in reach both me and Nate grab her sides beneath her ribs and her hips allowing her to let go and jump down. We set her on the ground and I started running north of the mountain, the other two following close behind. As we ran we would hear the random screeching of something dark and unholy, which made my stomach flip and my skin crawl. We would pass by random deer, coyotes and wolves. We trusted none of them. We would hear accent chanting, so we pressed forward. We got to the bottom of the mountain in a clearing and I looked up at the sky and the Moon was almost at the very peak of the sky but was still in the East.

“It’s not even midnight…?” I ask myself.

“How can you tell?” Nate asks, and I point to the sky.

“The moon rises from the East and sets in the West,” I say bluntly, then huff. 

“It’s a long way up, let’s get going,” I say and the two nod. We ran up the mountain, the forest slowly thinning out until it was bare and foreign. As we made our way up the mountain I started to notice that some of the trees, shrubs, and bushes were decaying. I put it aside because the dying forest wasn’t our biggest issue at the time. We came to a small gathering of trees, about twenty in total. All black and decaying.

“No…” I run over to the trees and hesitate but touch a branch of one which comes right off. 

“No, no, No, No, No, NO!” I shout. Nate rushes to my side and places a hand on my shoulder clearly confused by my outburst.

“These were the Biltmore trees! They’re all dead and decaying and USULESS!!!” I scream out of frustration. Cammie makes a wounded noise similar to a child who walked in on their parents fighting. 

“What are we gonna do now Lillie?” Cammie asks, and I sigh before replying.

“We can keep going up the mountain…Theres a plateau on the other side completely made up of desert and despair….” Nate nods, and grips my hand. 

“Yeah that’s a good idea-” He gets cut off by a screeching from feet away. It was so close that this time we had to cover our ears. We waste no time running back up the mountain only to see one of those creatures.

“Run back to the forest!” I shout and redirect the direction where I was sprinting to, Cammie and Nate close behind. We ran through the forest hoping that this wasn’t a trap, or us being cornered. We ran back to the cabin that had emptied of the skinwalkers. Once we got inside we ran back up into mine and Cammie’s room where I took out a key and unlocked it. We entered the room, shut and locked the door. 

“What are we supposed to do now?!” Cammie shrieks, and Nate slams his fist on the floor- his lighter falling onto the ground from his pocket. That’s when I get an idea, before he can grab it I snatch it from the floor and look around the room. 

“Lillie, what in the world are you doing?” Nate asks, exhausted.

“Looking for- Oh screw it!” I say and take out the hand gun and shoot the wall. Chips of wood come flying off. 

“Lillie what the heck!?” Cammie shouts as I fire the gun a few more times and drop the gun to the floor and run to the wall. I had shot the bullets in a specific way so now it was easy to break off a piece. When I wrench the piece free I take the lighter and light the wood a blaze. I dropped the wood into the metallic trash bin and watched it burn into ash. White ash. 

“The house…It’s made of Biltmore wood!!!” I say enthusiastically and turn to Nate and Cammie who both stare at me before screaming in unison.

“WHAT?!” Nate presses a hand to his forehead and laughs manicly while Cammie just stares in disbelief. 

“So all this time we were STANDING on our solution!?” Nate shouts in irritation and anger.

“Apparently!” I replied. 

“…Then let’s burn this place to the ground,” Cammie says. I nod and Nate smirks.

“They’re gonna regret screwing with us, and ruining our get away.” He says this with murderous intent dripping in his voice. I place a hand on his shoulder.

“Nate. I get you’re upset, we all are but you need to keep your head. Don’t focus on revenge but focus on getting out of this safely. We are talking about fire, dark magic, and creatures that can tear us apart. We can’t afford to mess up.” I say in hopes of changing his direction of focus. He sighs and nods, placing his hand over mine that rested on his shoulder.

“You’re right…You’re right, I gotta stay level headed,” he says, coming back to reality. 

“So how are we gonna go about this? There’s at least two of them, but going through the forest and listening to them there’s probably like a hundred of them!!!” Cammie cries out in frustration. I sigh and run my fingers through my hair.

“A hundred is an exaggeration but yeah…They probably move in packs…I mean they’re like animals so I wouldn’t be surprised…We need to lure them into the house.” I say and Cammie instantly freezes.

“Thats suicide! Are you crazy!?” she argues.

“I’m sorry, do you have a better idea? We lure them in then escape through the window and light the place up!” I say holding up Nate’s lighter.

“The question is, how?” Nate chimed. I hold my breath, exhaling after twenty seconds. 

“The book and translation book is downstairs in the living room, I’ll go grab them. The creatures left for now so it should be fine…I’ll be right back.” I say and exit the room, walking with haste and finding both books where I left them on the coffee table, slightly scratched now but for the most part untouched. I grab them and run upstairs and back into the room. I instantly go to the table of contents and start translating. All in all it took fifteen minutes to find something that was helpful, but in the very back were a list of rules. Only a single page but it was still useful. 

I groaned realizing that this was gonna take a while but decided to make this easier on all of us. I got up and went to the desk that was against the wall and opened the drawers till I found a pen, and a piece of paper. I walked back over and sat on the ground in front of the window where the moon light shined making it easy to see. I tore out the list and grabbed the dictionary slowly translating it starting with the title

Hazhe’é: Nahat’á yee nida’niláago haz’ání, Yee Naaldlooshii

Title: Rules to stay safe when it comes to the creature, by means of it, it goes on all fours

1. Bééshį́į́h dóó tʼáadoo yínááłʼį́į́hda

1. Do not make eye contact with them.

2. Doo diné doo áłahjįʼ átʼéégóó bizaad ííłníʼígíí tʼáadoo yee yáłtiʼí.

2. Do not talk about these words to anyone who is not of the people.

3.Tłʼééʼgo tsídii naʼadloʼígíí bee hááh nízáád

3. Do not whistle at night.

4. Tʼáadoo ííńtʼį́į́hii bízhiʼ háínídzííʼí.

4. Do not speak the witch’s name.

5. Tłʼéeʼgo tʼáá sáhí nahodishgishgóó tʼáadoo yínííłgóó békéyahgóó bínídaʼdiilnííłgóó.

5. Do not be alone in a remote place at night in their territory.

6. Haa nínízingo doo bikʼehátʼínígóó bíídídííłtólí.

6. When you hear your name called, do not answer.

I showed them the paper and while they read it over I spoke up.

“Well, we’ve been talking about them, and both of you are outside of my tribe so that kinda explains the targeting. So let’s try something different.” Cammie read it over again and sighed.

“We could look it in the eyes..?” she said, but just at the thought I grimaced. Not sure why but I didn’t trust it to be the safest option. If we were gonna do something reckless it would be with the least amount of bloodshed.  

“Let’s not. Hmm…” I read it over again.

“Well, we don’t know any of their names, and we are already in a remote area..Lets try whistling?” I say unsure of it. Nate looks over at me.

“What’s the difference between looking it in the eye and whistling?” He asks to which I just sigh.

“Not sure but I have a feeling we would rather whistle than look one of them in the eyes,” I reply and he nods thoughtfully.

“Fair enough so what? We just run around the house whistling?” He asks, and Cammie replies.

“Why not? Unless you have a better plan ‘pretty boy’?” Cammie says while getting off. Nate rolls his eyes and gets up alongside her. He offers his hand to me and pulls me up when I place my hand in his. We walk out of the room and wander around the house whistling. I walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove and oven turning it up as hot as possible and flicking on lights and turning on faucets. Cammie walks over to me and looks at me with confusion.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“If I turn on everything, I might be able to start an electrical fire from over heating-” I begin to reply but get cut off by her.

“You’re insane. Just hope that if that works they’re already here.” I nod, realizing how this was a double sided knife. We both go back to whistling and I continue to sharpen this two bladed knife. Eventually we all met back in the living room. Nate was rubbing his jaw and Cammie was taking a break from whistling in total. I hardly registered that my jaw was getting sore as I looked out the window anxious for the creatures to come back. I was about to sit back down when I saw something dart through the trees. Then something else, and another. Eventually I see twelve pairs of eyes and I step back from the window. 

“They’re here! There’s six of ‘em!” I say, slurring my words slightly from rushing words faster than I could talk. Nate jumps up from the couch and Cammie stumbles off the chair she was in. Nate shows Cammie and me behind him as one jumps through an already broken window with an unholy screech. Two others follow that one and three others break down the front door. I fumble with Nate’s lighter and flick it on and hold my hand near the couch setting the fabric on fire which quickly grew into an angry, hungry, sun of heat that ate away at the couch and floors, the creatures already recoiling and trying to find a way to us around the flames. We start to run upstairs when we hear an explosion throwing us off balance and confusing us, though I quickly catch on. 

“Electrical fire!” I shout regaining balance and pulling Cammie up from where she halfway fell on the stairs, and pushing Nate forward. We run upstairs as another explosion shakes the ground we stood on. More and more screaming and screeching came from downstairs as flames ate at the house. We make it to what was Nate’s room and start climbing out the window. The smoke from the fire burned our lungs and we were all coughing and hacking, though none of us had the option to worry about it at the moment. The flames were already eating the carpet and bed. The walls surrounding us were a complete inferno of angry red orange and gold hungrily eating at the walls and nipping at the ceiling. 

We crawl through the windows scraping skin against the burning broken glass, and sprinting across a flaming roof that was collapsing. We climbed down the vines and some had caught fire so even though we tried to evade the flaming plants we were still being scorched by the inferno. When we got back onto the ground we ran to the front and just watched. The screeching makes Cammie wince, but Nate just grins manicly. Even if he never will admit it he did this for revenge not to survive. I just stood in the ashes watching what I had considered my second home burn into a pile of white ashes. A while later or maybe five minutes later the fire put itself out when there was nothing left to burn. The sun started to rise and without a creature harassing us we were able to focus on trying to steady our breathing and calm our smoke filled lungs. 

Apparently some forest rangers from the complete opposite side of the forest saw the smoke and drove down to our area. We tried to explain what happened but the forest rangers looked at us like we were out of our minds, and realistically we probably sounded crazy. Eventually I cut in on the conversation.

“Look, you don’t need to believe us but at the very least can you call someone to tow my boyfriend’s car and give us a ride into town?” I gesture to the car with the slashed tiers, the tar like substance now crusted and dried. One of the rangers, a man with a thick country accent, replied to my request.

“Of course, ma’am, my name’s Rick. Me and my team’ll get ya and yer friends situated. Come on, the trucks this way.” He gestured for us to follow as two others went over to the car. One examining the tires and cringing at the once sticky black goo, now turned flaky, and the other one on the phone with who I assumed was a person who would soon tow my boyfriend’s car into town. The ranger, Rick, helped Cammie into one of the two trucks. It was an old ford truck, the paint peeling off revealing its under coat of gray and silver metal. Nate helped me into it on the other side and waited till I was seated before getting in behind me. 

Once we were all cramped into the back seat of the truck and buckled, Rick got into the front seat and started driving. I had expected more questions, but I guess he decided the more he asked the more confused he’d be. Nate’s hand found mine and squeezed my hand which snapped me out of my thoughts. When I looked over at him he surprised me with a kiss. Not anything ‘extravagant’ but full of love. 

“Gross, can you two not wait till I’m a few miles away?” Cammie huffed, and I smiled at her apologetically, before returning my gaze to Nate.

“What was that for?” I asked, keeping my voice down so as to not disturb our driver. He shrugged and looked away but my hand remained in his grip. The drive was long and quiet but we made it to the city, the ranger handed us forty dollars and I looked up at the ranger confused. 

“Ya kids obviously went through something up there, and even if I don’t understand. I can give you this so y’all all can grab a bite to eat. Do any of ya need to borrow a phone before I take off?” We all shake our heads in a silent ‘no’ and thank him. He nods and gets back into the truck and drives off. We all walk down the street and find a cafe, we go inside and order. About fifteen minutes later we grab our food and leave since we were receiving odd looks from other people but who could blame them? It’s not everyday you see three teens covered in smoke, soot, and looking like death invited itself over to a party. We ate in a nearby park and sent our parents our location and asked if they could pick us up. While we waited we all discussed what happened. We decided if we were gonna tell people we’d talk to each other first. Otherwise, we wouldn’t bring this up again…

ELIZABETH FESSLER:

I was so enthralled by the ending of another one of my books that I didn’t notice the door creaking open or the quiet feet creeping towards my bed. Unnoticed by me, laughing arises, and an urgent hush quiets the giggling coming from behind me. Groaning at yet another devastating cliffhanger, I put my book on my shelf with unnecessary aggression. That’s when the hair on the back of my neck stands up, and I spin around. “Gotcha!” I laugh, lunging to tickle my annoying but cute younger siblings. Elsie and Louis are very curious 6-year-old twins with shiny brown hair and limitless imaginations; they are constantly searching my room for hidden treasures. Ending our brawl, I let Louis tackle me to the ground, feigning hurt and defeat as he celebrates. Interrupting Louis’s victory dance, Elsie walks over to me with a giant book in her small arms.

“What’s this, Annabelle?”

I frown, confused as I say, “I don’t know, I’ve never read that book before.” Relieving her of the heavy book, I take the book from Elsie and skim through it. “Wow, this book has over 1,000 pages!” I exclaim with excitement. “It’s called A Story Without Goodbye, but it doesn’t have an author. That’s weird. Where did you find it, Elsie?”

“It was on your bookshelf on the lowest shelf, all the way in the back where the dusty books are,” she says proudly. “I found it all by myself.”

A puzzled look spreads across my face. “But I’ve never seen it before, and I definitely didn’t put it there. I wonder who did it.”

Elsie never got a chance to respond because Mom yelled from the kitchen, “Annabelle, dinner’s ready!” Elsie and Louis sprint from my room as fast as they can while I examine the book for another minute. I set it down on my bed, and as I walk downstairs, I decide that my other series can wait; I want to read this mysterious book next.

~~~

The next day after school, I run upstairs and jump on my bed, grab the old dusty book, and open the cover. Inside the cover are the scribbled words, “Read this book, but beware, the words will be forever spare. Don’t dive in too far, or things won’t remain as they are.” Thinking nothing of it, I skip to the first chapter and begin on a journey I know will be long with this enormous novel. 

The main storyline is about a girl named Isabelle who gets lost in the woods running from her school bully. While trying to run away, she stumbles through a tree, entering a new world. Kind of like Platform 9 ¾, she just fell right through. Then she met a scared little girl hiding in a bush that did little to conceal her pretty pink dress and lustrous blonde hair. She had been hiding too. Her name was Summer, and they soon became inseparable friends. Their shared experiences helped them understand each other instantly. Isabelle helped Summer find her way back home, which was a cute village with cottages from a fairytale, with stone pathways surrounded by fields of flowers of all kinds. 

Isabelle and Summer have many adventures together, discovering new things and going on spectacular trips to explore what is out there in the world. They do so many amazing things together and find new treasures. One time, when they were going to the beach together, they saw a puppy with a broken leg lying in the sand. They took the puppy home and nurtured it back to health, and they named her Pearl because she looked like a pearl. This was my favorite part so far because I’ve always wanted a puppy, but my parents have never allowed it because they say my siblings and I would never take care of it.

Crack! The sound of thunder rumbling brings me back to reality as I yawn, realizing how tired I am. The rain patters against my window as I put my book on my nightstand and roll over on my bed. As of right now, I think A Story Without Goodbye is a pretty good book. It’s not the most exciting book I’ve ever read, but I like it. I’m about halfway through it, and I think I can probably finish it by next week if I really try.

~~~

I sit at the table with my elbow propped up, stirring my soggy cereal as Elsie and Louis rush to the table to get their own breakfast. I drop my elbow and look up to say good morning to them, but the sight in front of me leaves me speechless with my jaw hanging.

“Elsie! What happened to your hair!” I exclaim in shock.

Her beautiful brown hair has been dyed blonde, but it looks so natural. It is a shiny golden color that reflects the sun.

“Oh, that, I got a haircut yesterday. Do you like it?” Elsie runs her fingers through her hair smoothly.

“You didn’t get a haircut, you dyed it!”

Mom cuts in, “No, Annabelle, I took her to get a haircut yesterday, her hair’s always been blonde. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not really hungry anymore. I still have to finish getting ready for school anyway.”

“Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Mom, I will.” I give her a quick hug and run upstairs to think about what is happening in my life. Elsie has a different color of hair, and I’m the only one who thinks it’s weird! Are they pranking me or something? What is going on!

~~~

I remained confused all day because I had no idea why my family was acting so differently. Are they keeping something from me? Why won’t they tell me? I get home from school frustrated and tired, and I decide to continue reading A Story Without Goodbye because I don’t feel like doing the homework that I probably should be doing, but instead I’m practicing procrastination. I am very good at procrastinating. I end up staying up to read really late, but it was worth it because I am almost done with my book, and it is really good. I’m disappointed that it’s almost over, but every book has to end at some point. At least, that’s what I thought was supposed to happen.

~~~

Still mostly asleep, I yawn and stretch with heavy eyelids that want to stay shut and beg me to lie back down. I feel a shift in my legs, and my blankets rustle with the soft movement.

“Elsie, what are you doing here?” Instead of hearing Elsie, I hear a different sound that has my eyes shooting wide open and my mind wide awake.

“Ruff, Ruff!”

“Aww, a puppy! You’re so cute!” I reach over and grab the puppy, cuddling her close to me. “What’s your name?” I look and see a tiny blue collar with a pearly white nametag. I flip over the nametag, and inscribed in curvy letters, it says “Pearl.” “Wait, your name is Pearl; that’s the name of the dog in the book I’m reading?” This is getting really weird. I gasp as I realize why Elsie’s hair is different. Ever since I started reading that giant old book, my life has started to change. Elsie looks just like Summer, and now I have the same dog as her. This book is becoming my reality, and I have no idea what I’m gonna do about it. Who knows what will happen next, or what new people I will meet? I’m honestly scared of what might happen in the future. What if my life starts going into the book, and I lose the people I love? I can’t let that happen to me; I must do something about it before it’s too late. I sprint downstairs, searching for Mom to explain everything to her, hoping to find a solution in her. I look in my parents’ bedroom, the kitchen, in our backyard, and every other place I can think of, but I can’t find her anywhere. I can feel my heart beating faster in my chest, and my breathing increases in a rapid crescendo. My mind is racing with numerous questions and terrible scenarios, and I don’t know what to do. Aching pain comes to my head, and darkness fills my vision as I collide with the floor.

~~~

My eyes flutter open as beads of sweat drip down my face. My heart is pounding when I sit up and scan the room. Everything seems to be normal, but then I look down, and my eyes lay upon A Story Without Goodbye. I must have fallen asleep while reading because it is on my lap with the cover open, and my bookmark is absent. As I pick up the book, I remember the words scribbled on the inside: “Read this book, but beware, the words will be forever spare. Don’t dive in too far, or things won’t remain as they are.” Realizing what this means, I put my head in my hands and hope that this isn’t true. I don’t want things to change; I really, really, like my life. I love my family and my friends, and I can’t imagine what it would be like if everything were different.

I walk silently across the hallway to Elsie’s room, and I find her sound asleep on her bed, brown hair strewn across the pillow. I sigh in relief at the sight, glad that I might have just imagined it all.

“You know what, it was probably just a dream. I might be a little too invested in that book.”

Tiptoeing out of Elsie’s room, I head downstairs and prepare the epic tale I will tell my family that was all just a dream… or was it?

BRYNN KEUDELL:

Growing Up

When Amy was five years old, they moved to Pine Street, Colorado. Despite not even being able to ride a bike at the time, she remembered leaving their old house. She could recall the sad feeling that had pummeled her stomach at the thought of saying goodbye to the cherry trees that used to sway against her bedroom window. She grew to love Pine Street, though. The brand new house smell, the green grass, the mountains in the distance, and even the icy winters. But what Amy remembered best about moving to Pine Street was meeting Alison—her best friend. 

5 Years Old

“It looks pretty nice, doesn’t it, kids?” said her Dad. They were standing in front of 39674 Pine Street, Colorado. The new house. A dark shade of green, with white trim, and a big yard. It was pretty nice, but it wasn’t home. 

“It’s all right,” mumbled JJ, the tow-headed blond seven-year-old of the family.

“Come on, let’s go in!” her mom said, her green eyes shining with excitement. Mom loved new things. Amy hesitantly walked up the front steps, clutching Rosy, her stuffed bunny, to her chest. Dad unlocked the door, and they stepped into a bare entrance way. It was spacious, with white walls, and a door off to the side that most likely led to a garage. They kicked off their shoes and began exploring. “This pantry is perfect!” her mom yelled from somewhere in the kitchen. 

“I found a secret closet!” JJ shouted from up the stairs. 

“Look at this patio!” said her dad happily. 

Amy trotted up the stairs with Rosy and looked around. She wandered into a room with big windows and plenty of space. “This should be our room, Rosy,” she told the stuffie. She climbed onto the windowsill and stared out at the neighborhood. Would she have friends here? Mom said she would, but she hadn’t seen anyone yet. She missed Alex and Mia back in Texas. They were probably swimming in the pool or playing ponies in the field. 

“Come help unload the car, guys!” Amy grabbed Rosy and ran down the stairs. 

“Phew! Halfway done!” said her dad, sitting down.  After two hours of unloading the car and moving trucks, they had finished half of the job. Her mom handed out Capri-Suns and water bottles. 

“Well, what do you guys think of the house?”  she asked, plopping down next to Amy. 

“It’s really big, and really empty!” said JJ, showing just how empty it was with his arms. 

Mom laughed. “Yes, well, we don’t have anything set up yet, but it won’t be empty forever.” 

“Hopefully not,” said her dad, laughing along. 

“Amy, want to check out the backyard with me?” asked JJ. 

“Sure,” she said.

The backyard was big, large enough for a family of golden retrievers to comfortably play in. It had lots of green grass, a shed, a garden nook, big climbing trees, and a corner that looked just right for a swing set. “Wow!” said JJ, running to the trees. “This is perfect!” He swung himself onto the lowest branch and began his voyage up. 

Amy wandered around, looking for other kids. She went to the furthest side and peeked through a crack in the fence. Nobody. Just a yard filled with plants and gardening tools.  Amy was about to go grab the soccer ball from the car when she spotted a tucked-away corner of the yard that she hadn’t seen yet. It was filled with large leafy bushes. As Amy was looking, she saw a movement in the bushes. She walked closer, hesitantly approaching the bushes. Just as she thought it had been nothing, she saw it again. This time in the form of a girl, with messy brown hair and a bright pink t-shirt. “Hi! I’m Alison! But you can call me Ali. Who are you?” Alison said with a grin stretching across her face, and her dimples popping out. 

“Oh, uh, I’m Amy,” Amy said shyly. Mom had said she would make friends, but she hadn’t expected them to crawl out of the bushes. 

“Want to be friends?” Alison asked her. “My favorite color is yellow, I hate mushrooms, pasta, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and pickles, and I have two sisters and one brother.” 

“Sure, I’ll be your friend,” Amy said. She felt happy that Alison seemed to like her. 

“Oh, and I spell my name A-L-I-S-O-N,” Alison told her. 

“I spell mine A-M-Y,” said Amy proudly, glad Dad had taught her last week. 

“We can be best friends!” cried Alison. And that was how Amy met her best friend. 

8 Years Old

“Ah! Don’t get us wet!!” the girls screamed.  It was the summer after second grade, and Amy and her family had adjusted to the new house and school. Amy had discovered other friends, basketball, and that jumping out of trees to try and fly like a bird doesn’t work well. But she had gotten out of the cast a week ago, and it was peak summertime. Popsicles and swimming every day, playing with friends, going to the library, lakes, staying up late, and roasting marshmallows under the stars. Amy and Alison had become BFFs and even had matching bead bracelets to prove it. 

“Whoo hoo!” JJ and his friends whooped, running after the girls with squirt guns. They shrieked and yelled as the girls ran for their lives from the cold water. 

“Quick, get the water balloons!” Ali said to Amy. They ran to the backyard to grab the balloons from the tub. 

“We are gonna get you now!” Amy said as they pelted the boys with blue water balloons. 

“Ah!” the boys yelled and took off running. 

“We sure scared them off,” Ali said, laughing. 

“Yeah, we did. High five!” Amy said with a smile. Then she caught sight of a boy walking towards them. “Hey, look, it’s Tom. I bet he wants to play four-square. Want to play?” she asked Alison. 

“Oh, um, I gotta go, see ya later,” Alison told her. She skipped off before Amy could say anything. Amy just shrugged. She had kinda noticed over time how Alison never really hung out with any of the other neighbor kids. Alison usually only came around when it was just her and Amy. 

“C’mon, Amy, let’s play!” Tom said, having reached her. “Ok, sure,” Amy said, grabbing the rubber playground ball. 

“Did you have a good day, kids?” asked Dad, dishing up some rice. It was later that night, and the whole family was sitting down together for dinner. 

“It was awesome! Nathan and I went over to James’ treehouse, and we built a pulley system so we can get Everett up there with us!” JJ said, shoveling beans into his mouth. He was referring to the newest addition to the family, Everett, the chocolate lab that he had begged for for his tenth birthday.

 “You’re being careful, right, JJ? I’m not sure Everett would want to be in that tree house,” Mom told him. 

“Well, Alison and I made a fairy house out of leaves, and then the other kids had a four-square tournament. But I got second place. Tom won it all.” Amy told them happily, digging into her rice. She missed the condescending look that her parents gave each other over her comment. 

“Well, your mom and I cleaned out the garage, so it sounds like we all met our goals for the day,” Dad said. 

10 Years Old

“This is dirty too,” Alison said, tossing the sweatshirt into the laundry bin. It was fourth-grade winter break, and Amy and Alison were cleaning Amy’s messy room. A lot had happened in two years. Amy had made new friends, realized boys have cooties, and found a passion for baking. As for Alison, they had stayed BFFs, but it was hard since they went to different schools. 

“Ok, the closet part is done!” Amy said, hanging up the last t-shirt. 

“I’ll make the bed,” Alison volunteered. After a few minutes of cleaning, Amy’s mom walked in. 

“Hey, good job here. Do you want some lemonade, Amy? Freshly squeezed lemons from the Farmer’s Market,” she told her. 

“Mom! Don’t forget Alison!” Amy said indignantly. 

“Right, of course. Would you like some, Alison?” Mom said with a smile. 

“Yes, please.” 

“I’ll be right back then.” Her mom left, and the girls kept cleaning. 

“We should make cookies!” Amy cried. The girls had finished cleaning the bedroom and were trying to think of things to do. 

“Do you think your mom will let us use the kitchen?” Alison asked, remembering last time and the accident now known as the Great Explosion. 

“Oh, sure. I cleaned my room so she will be in a good mood,” Amy said with confidence. The girls headed downstairs. Just as they were pulling out the chocolate chips, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” Amy shouted. She pulled open the door to reveal Tom, Sophia, Jackson, and Mia. 

“Can you play?” they said together. 

“Um, I’ll check,” Amy turned to ask Alison what to do, but couldn’t see her from where she was standing. “I guess so. What are you going to play?” she asked them. 

“Kickball! Or wiffleball. Or both.” “I wanted to play in the field.” “We should hide and seek,” they started arguing on the porch over which idea to do first. 

“Ok, I’ll get my shoes and come out,” Amy told them. She shut the door and went back to the kitchen, not noticing that Alison was gone. Amy grabbed her shoes and headed out. A little while later, Amy had just come inside to warm up from the cold when she spotted the left-out bag of chocolate chips from when she was going to make cookies. It reminded her of how she and Alison were going to make cookies. Where was Alison? Busy? She had kinda just vanished earlier, and had never said goodbye. Amy and Alison had been besties ever since meeting in the bushes when the family first moved in. But through those six years they had known each other, Amy had noticed some strange things. 1. Alison rarely hung out with the other neighborhood kids. Even though she lived across the street. 2. She had a weird habit of randomly disappearing. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. 3. The rest of the family never talked about Alison or acted like she was there. Amy was constantly reminding them. All these things had been happening for a long time, and Amy had gotten used to it. All she knew was that Alison was always there when she was lonely, tired, needed a friend, or just wanted to talk. But sometimes Amy couldn’t help but wonder where Alison was, and why she had left. 

12 Years Old

“Ok. Notebooks, computer, pencils, markers, eraser, pencil pouch, locker decorations, binder, pens, and extra paper,” Amy said, zipping up the bag. It was the night before the first day of sixth grade, and Amy was anxiously looking forward to her first day of middle school. Based on what JJ had told her, sixth grade was a big step up from fifth, but Amy was ready. She had matured significantly recently and had even started babysitting some of the younger neighborhood kids. “Oh! I’m forgetting PE clothes!” she exclaimed, checking her list. She ran to her closet to grab some, just as a familiar voice said, 

“How’s the packing going?” Amy spun around, clutching her gym shorts, as Alison stood in the doorway of her bedroom. 

“Oh, Hi! It’s going pretty well, but I’m afraid I’m forgetting something. Nice shirt by the way,” she replied. Alison had also changed over the years.  Instead of the messy five-year-old with stains on her clothes, Alison had grown out her rich brown hair and had taken to stealing her sister’s shirts. And her favorite color is purple now. 

“Are you ready for middle school?” Amy asked her. 

“Yeah. I wish we went to the same school, though,” Alison said, plopping down on the bed.  

“Me too. We’ll see each other on the weekends, though I guess,” Amy said sadly. 

“I guess. You won’t be too busy to see me?” Alison asked her. 

“Of course not!” Amy said with a laugh. “Never too busy.” 

“That was a crazy week, huh, kids?” Mom asked them on a tired Friday evening. The kids had just finished their first week of the school year and were exhausted. The first couple of weeks were usually chaotic, and they were all feeling it. Amy had enjoyed her schedule and the new building and had spent time with her friends. 

“It was fun,” JJ said, chewing on his pizza. Amy nodded in agreement. 

Later that night, lying in bed, she remembered something. Alison. Where was she? Usually, she came over at least three times a week, but Amy hadn’t seen her at all recently. She sat up in bed. Amy got out of bed and crept to the top of the stairs to see if her parents were still awake downstairs. They were. She could hear the movie playing. Amy walked down the stairs into the living room. 

“Hey, Mom and Dad?” she asked them. “ Can I talk to you about something?” Her dad turned off the TV. 

“Of course, sweetie. What’s on your mind?” he asked her. 

“Well, you know my friend Alison?” Amy said. 

Her parents exchanged a look. “Sweetheart, I think it’s time we talk to you about this.” Mom said. Amy looked back and forth between them, confused. What were they referring to? 

“Honey, Alison isn’t real, you know that, right?” her Dad said gently. Amy stood there, shellshocked. She knew what they were saying and knew they were right, but didn’t want to believe them. In a part of her mind, Amy had always known that Alison wasn’t real; she was just an imaginary friend, but she hadn’t ever listened to that part of her brain. Whenever Amy needed a friend or felt lonely, like when they moved, Alison would always be there. But now that Amy was getting older, she didn’t need Alison as much, and it was getting harder to have an imaginary friend when she had real ones. 

“Um, yeah, I guess I do know that. She’s just an imaginary friend,” Amy said with sadness, looking at her parents. “She feels real,” Amy said goodnight to her parents and headed back to bed. But she didn’t go to sleep for a long time after that. She just lay and cried in her bed, because she was growing up, but more so because she had lost her friend. 

14 Years Old 

Amy was sitting outside on her front porch when she remembered. She had been scrolling through her phone when she glanced up and saw Carson, the four-year-old neighbor boy, full of joy, playing with sticks in his front yard. It looked like he was building a little house for them. Amy had an immediate flashback to when she and “Alison” used to make houses for the fairies. That was back when fairies and Alison were as real as cereal in the morning, or no school on Saturdays. Amy felt lost in her memory as she recalled all the fun times they had had together. It made her sad that she had grown up and could never go back.

Amy turned her head just as someone appeared in her peripheral vision. “Hi Amy!” Alison was standing on the sidewalk, smiling up at her. 

“Alison? Hi!” They both stared at each other for a second. “I didn’t think I would see you again,” Amy told her. 

“Well, you know I’ll come back if you really want to see me again. I can’t stay long anymore, though,” Alison said with a sigh. 

“You were a good friend. I miss you.” Amy said. 

“It’s ok, it’s time for you to grow up and move on to your adult life. I’ll come back if you need me,” Alison said. 

“Ok, bye,” Amy said. The girls smiled and waved as Alison faded away like she had never even been standing on the sidewalk. 

“Amy! Dishes are waiting for you inside!” Her dad called from inside. 

“Ok, coming!” she yelled back. She looked back at where Alison had been standing just a second before and closed the door behind her, not knowing that it was similar to closing the door of childhood.  

The End 

ZOEY MCCLENDON:

The Mouse

Squeak was always the last in his litter. 7 other siblings, 4 boys and 3 girls, yet he was always the smallest. His siblings would bully him all the time and acted like they were better than him. Even his mother wouldn’t help him when she noticed what was happening. Feeding time was especially the worst because all his siblings would run to get food, leaving almost nothing for little Squeak, which made it even harder for him to get big. All his siblings grew much faster than him, opened their eyes first, began to run around before he walked, and were covered in fur long before Squeak was.

 By the time all of Squeak’s siblings were old enough to leave the nest and explore, they immediately did, and now Squeak was alone with his mom. Despite the fact his mom clearly wanted the nest to herself, she didn’t seem to mind his company too much. She also didn’t often bring back a lot of food most days, probably because she was hoping she could go home one day and Squeak would be gone. It was a pretty nice life, but it was also short-lived.

 Once Squeak was just as big as his siblings were when they left, he got kicked out. Squeak was hesitant and pushed back but his mother would not stop pushing, and eventually she got him out. The outside world was terrifying. Right as he got outside he thought he had become blind, but it only took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light. Once his eyes had adjusted, Squeak realized he had to figure out how to get food. Although he had seen his mother get food before, it was so long ago he could barely remember any of it, except for one thing. Nearby the den, Squeak remembers flowers. There were hundreds and that means lots of pollen. So, using his nose to sniff the way, Squeak ventured towards the smell of pollen, and eventually reached a flower. 

This flower was a lot taller than the rest, but it was a bright yellow color that mesmerized Squeak. Plus, the smell of pollen was extra strong at this flower. Squeak began climbing the flower, which was difficult. He tried to climb but just kept slipping and falling, but he would not give up. It took a while but eventually Squeak figured out he needed to use his small claws to dig in the flower and climb. This realization made climbing the flower much easier, but still difficult. Squeak started getting pretty high up the stem when out of nowhere, it began to tilt, leaving Squeak dangling by his two front paws. Now was the real danger, he would fall to the ground eventually unless he figured something out. 

Losing his grip, Squeak thought this was it. He would fall to the ground and never reach his pollen, but then he realized something, he had a tail! Squeak quickly wrapped his tail around the stem, and used it to pull himself up. One by one, he got all his paws back on the stem, and began to climb again using his tail to keep him upright. At the top of the stem it took a little thinking, but Squeak found an opening into the flower and right as he entered the flower popped back up. He had finally made it! The pollen smelled so much stronger and the moment Squeak could he dug right in! After a long while of snacking, Squeak had gotten full and tired, so with nowhere else to go he snuggled up in the flower, pulling it over him like a blanket, and fell asleep.

It had become quite late, and a soft breeze had pushed the flower, waking poor Squeak up. Confused, he looked around but could not find any source of the movement. His whiskers were covered in all the pollen from the flower, and his fur was ruffled from his nap, but Squeak was not going to leave now. The flower had only gotten more soft, and warm, so he curled up in a ball once more, and fell asleep. 

ACE SANGSTER:

Disclaimer!

Please read before reading the story or providing commentary.

This short story has some dark implications and could be triggering. This story may be confusing because it is supposed to be solved over time and this is just one installation of the story so it may not be to your liking due to how unconventional it is in its story telling. This includes codes, ciphers, hidden links, hidden text, etc. Some of these links may lead to new, darker content not appropriate for this school’s context.. 

In the second half there is a lot of text copied over from the first half then purposely censored for a stylistic choice and a creative way of telling a message. There are some creative ways to read redacted messages like that; if you use any of these ways, it’s very likely you will find some content that I couldn’t completely get rid of due to the nature of the second half.

This is best read in light mode and formatted similarly to desktop. This story was created for discussion, analization, fan interaction, and solving –do indulge if you want to.

Enjoy!

♡♡♡♡♡

My name does not matter for the purpose of this article nor does anything else about my identity, I will not share information about myself nor others that are close to me.

The purpose of this article is to inform others of specific happenings I have seen and investigated my entire life, this will include as much info as I could gather in my years investigating this case. What you choose to do about this information is not my business but I hope you see this as a warning, not an instruction manual. This is the wolfsbane project and investigations.

-writer. log #1PAB001.001

PRTP. A   BT. 001  EXP. 001

90 percent of people have what is called a dere, some sort of power, it’s usually genetic. In my life I have found a girl who has “golden blood” as to put it, I will not be sharing her name but I will be calling her Teena Totin for the ease of it. As I mentioned before, Teena has golden blood, her blood is a distinct golden color and it can heal people, though she can’t heal herself. She has gone through a lot in her life and in my research i’ve been unable to find more than a handful of legal documents for her, and I don’t think she has an actual legal name, the only one I could find is nottelling,haha but she just came up with that one herself. 

Though, through a lot of trouble I managed to track down her biological parents, I will refer to them as Mrs. Totin and Mr. Totin for now, although Mr. and Mrs. Totin have never been married, to each other at least. I don’t believe Mr. Totin even knows of the existence of Teena Totin since once Mrs. totin gave birth she promptly abandoned Teena only for teena to be s*** *** * *********** *********** * *** ***** *********** * ** ***  *** ********** *** *** ****** *** ************ ********** ********* *

She was supposed to become a soldier, I hear she’s still a soldier.

-writer. Log #6

It gets worse with every source I find. My father is worried about me, rightfully so. I make so much progress everyday, getting closer and closer to knowing what happened to these kids and my family, and where they are now after everything, but I lose hope every day, especially seeing how I turned out.  Sometimes when you care for anything at all you get dragged across the ground like a heavy bag of meat. 

The world has hurt people. So I will hurt the world.

-writer. Log #12

WANTED

Height: 5’8

Eye: blue

Hair: ginger, wavy

Estimated age: 50-60

Gender: male(?)

Dere: controlled hallucination gas

Crimes: terrorism, trespassing, illegal use of dere, assault, vandalism, 

-002

I found a kid, she reminds me of myself. She’s probably only 12 or so but she makes my day better every time I see her, but sometimes she says things that reminds me of everything she’s gone through. 

Human nature is to hurt others; I’ve learnt that lesson many times in my life, and I’ll teach you that lessonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

******** *** ** *** ** * *** * * *** ** * *** * ** ** *** * ** ** ***** *** ** * * * ************ ***** ******* ** ***** * ******* **

rew up with a gang of criminals. They weren’t necessarily dangerous, just very, very desperate, and I happened to be in a desperate situation t

er legal name is Lisa Lowes, I believe her mother was most likely a casualty of training the kids. She’s a brutal and cruel child, she’s hurt someone just because that’s what she was told to do. disgusting. I heard in a fight that Lisa goes by Hakuda now, it makes sense with her skills, the way she fights and the way she uses her dere. She is a danger to me and my family, I will stop heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Government laboratory

burnt down!

One of the biggest government laboratories, sunflower lab-works, 

Recently burnt down, police have found only 3 casualties that they 

have yet to identify, but all of which were just children! 

A group of known past criminals were found near the scene 

though only a handful were actually arrested and most of them were 

trying to help. Is it actually ‘just an accident’ or is this the work of 

Graminera?! Killing our children who deserve to be protected from 

War? Two of the casualties were found clutching each other in the 

burning lab, is that how you want your children to die? Sunflower 

lab-works promises to protect your kids from war, donate and they 

can rebuild the burnt laboratory and keep working to protect your 

beloved children from the war against those nasty Gramineras!

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

*                                                  weamicge ellvu,                                                   *

*                                             rva ofjviox keimxgk,                                               *

*                                             cct x njcxqz mqogplhq.                                             *

*                                                 weamicge ellvu,                                                    *

*                                             rva ofjviox keimxgk,                                               *

*                                             cct x njcxqz mqogplhq.                                            *

*                                                  weamicge ellvu,                                                   *

*                                             rva ofjviox keimxgk,                                               *

*                                             cct x njcxqz mqogplhq.                                             *

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

My name does not matter for the purpose of this article nor does anything else about my identity, I will not share information about myself nor others that are close to me.

The purpose of this article is to inform others of specific happenings I have seen and investigated my entire life, this will include as much info as I could gather in my years investigating this case. What you choose to do about this information is not my business but I hope you see this as a warning, not an instruction manual. This is the wolfsbane project and investigations.

-writer. log #1

90 percent of people have what is called a dere, some sort of power, it’s usually genetic. In my research I have found a girl who has “golden blood” as to put it, I will not be sharing her name but I will be calling her Teena Totin for the ease of it. As I mentioned before, Teena has golden blood, her blood is a distinct golden color and it can heal people, though she can’t heal herself. She has gone through a lot in her life and in my research i’ve been unable to find more than a handful of legal documents for her, and I don’t think she has an actual legal name, the only one I could find is nottelling,haha but she just came up with that one herself. 

Though, through a lot of trouble I managed to track down her biological parents, I will refer to them as Mrs. totin and Mr. totin for now, although mr. and mrs. Totin have never been married, to each other at least, my best guess from my information is that Mrs. Totin cheated on her own husband with the foreigner that was mr. Totin and she got pregnant with Teena, she promptly abandoned Teena only for teena to be s*** *** * *********** *********** * *** ***** *********** * ** ***  *** ********** *** *** ****** *** ************ ********** ********* *

She was supposed to become a soldier, I hear she’s still a soldier.

-writer. Log #6

It gets worse with every source I find. My father is worried about me, rightfully so. I make so much progress everyday, getting closer and closer to knowing what happened to these kids and where they are now after everything, but I lose hope every day, especially seeing how I turned out.  Sometimes when you care for anything at all you get dragged across the ground like a heavy bag of meat. 

The world has hurt people. So I will hurt the world.

-writer. Log #12

WANTED

Height: 5’8

Eye: blue

Hair: ginger, wavy

Estimated age: 50-60

Gender: male(?)

Dere: controlled hallucination gas

Crimes: terrorism, trespassing, illegal use of dere, assault, vandalism, 

-002

I found a kid, she reminds me of myself. She’s probably only 12 or so but she makes my day better every time I see her, but sometimes she says things that reminds me of everything she’s gone through. 

Human nature is to hurt others; I’ve learnt that lesson many times in my life, and I’ll teach you that lessonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

******** *** ** *** ** * *** * * *** ** * *** * ** ** *** * ** ** ***** *** ** * * * ************ ***** ******* ** ***** * ******* **

rew up with a gang of criminals. They weren’t necessarily dangerous, just very, very desperate, and I happened to be in a desperate situation t

er legal name is Lisa Lowes, I believe her mother was most likely a casualty of training the kids. I heard it was her own daughter, Lisa that ended up killing her. She’s a brutal and cruel child, killing someone just because that’s what you were told to do? disgusting. I heard in a fight that Lisa goes by hakuda now, it makes sense with her skills, the way she fights and the way she uses her dere. She is a danger to me and my family, I will stop heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Government laboratory

burnt down!

One of the biggest government laboratories, sunflower lab-works, 

Recently burnt down, police have found only 3 casualties that they 

have yet to identify, but all of which were just children! 

A group of known past criminals were found near the scene 

though only a handful were actually arrested and most of them were 

trying to help. Is it actually ‘just an accident’ or is this the work of 

Harrinera?! Killing our children who deserve to be protected from 

war? Two of the casualties were found clutching each other in the 

burning lab, is that how you want your children to die? Sunflower 

lab-works promises to protect your kids from war, donate and they 

can rebuild the burnt laboratory and keep working to protect your 

beloved children from the war against those nasty Harrineras!

My name does not matter for the purpose of this article.

But it is important, and I’m proud of it.

Written by Ace Sangster

♡♡♡♡♡

Citations: 

Sangster, ace. “Wolfsbane project. exp. 004 and exp. 003” youtube, 9 sep. 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onrzPpLJyRA 

Thank you for finishing chapter 1

mfuud xtqansl!

EMILY SMITH:

The Long Road Home

The wind picked up as Charlotte and Liam left the Halloween party, their laughter echoing down the empty street. Charlotte’s witch hat was crooked from dancing, and Liam’s vampire cape trailed behind him as he unlocked his old Honda. “That storm’s coming in fact,” Liam said, glancing at the sky. I twas already dark purple and black, clouds swirling around.

“Good thing we left early,” Charlotte replied, tossing her candy bag into the car. “I don’t want to end up in a horror movie.” They both laughed, but it was a nervous kind of laugh, as if they didn’t want to jinx it.

They pulled onto the street, where the streetlights glowed orange through the fog. Rain started to hit the windshield, first softly, until it was pouring on the roof of the car. “The wipers can barely keep up,” Liam said, looking out. 

Charlotte leaned forward, “Is it just me, or is there no one else out here?” The road was empty and slick, stretching ahead. Trees on both sides bent in the wind, their branches reaching upward. Thunder crashed above them.

  The car shook, then sputtered. Charlotte glanced at Liam. “Please tell me that was just thunder.” 

“Nope, I don’t think so,” he said, sounding tense. The car coughed again. The dashboard lights flickered, and the engine died. They rolled to a stop on the side of the road, surrounded by darkness. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Charlotte dug for her phone. No signal. 

“Same here,” Liam said, showing his own phone. He looked around. “I think I saw a gas station a few miles back. Or maybe there’s one ahead?” 

“We didn’t pass one on the way to the party.” 

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s ahead. I remember that creepy billboard with the smiling kid holding a soda,” Charlotte sighed. “You’re lucky I trust you.” 

They got out of the car, the rain soaking their costumes at once. Lightning flashed above them, brightening up the road and trees and throwing frightening shadows across the ground. As they started walking, Charlotte had her eyes turned around. “I hate this. This is how horror movies start.” 

“Correction,” Liam replied. “This is how the second act of horror movies starts. The broken-down car is the first act.” 

“Comforting,” she contributed sarcastically. Another flash of lightning lit up the road ahead — and something shifted on the edge of the forest. Charlotte stopped. 

“Did you see that? ” Liam turned. 

“See what?” 

“There was something. Right over—” she pointed. Nothing was there now. Just the trees. 

“You’re jumpy.” 

“I’m smart,” she corrected. “Big difference.” 

They picked up their pace. Through the heavy rain, they spotted a dim neon light in the distance. It flickered, red and green, just enough to show the outline of a gas station. “Yes! Over There! ” Liam shouted. They ran, shoes splashing through puddles, hearts racing. The lights above the gas pumps buzzed and flickered as they made their way to the empty station. The building looked abandoned, except for a single thing in the window. 

“Do we… go inside?” Charlotte asked. 

Before Liam could answer, the door creaked open slowly. A dark figure stood in the doorway. Neither of them moved. The figure raised a hand and asked, “You kids need some help?” 

Charlotte gasped, “Definitely horror movie.” 

Liam managed to smile, but very weakly. “Sure, but maybe the kind where the good guy gets to do some goo.d” They went inside. The storm raging behind them, the road outside disappearing into darkness. The door closed, and the neon lights flickered again. 

Inside the gas station, it was warmer than expected. In fact, it felt too warm, considering how cold and wet they had been just a few seconds ago. The man behind the counter looked about sixty, maybe older, dressed in a flannel shirt and an old trucker hat. He smiled, something about it seemed off, as if he had practiced it too many times in the mirror. “You folks broke down?” he asked, already reaching for an ancient-looking phone behind the register. 

“Yeah,” Liam said, glancing around.“The car died a few miles back. Just stopped.” 

The man nodded slowly. “Happens a lot out here.” 

Charlotte wrung out her sleeves. “Must be a bad stretch of road.” 

“Maybe,” the man replied, dialing a number. He never brought the receiver to his ear, just let it ring. Jenna looked at the shelves. Dust covered everything, but there were no footprints. No tire tracks outside.

A calendar on the wall read October 1997. Charlotte whispered to Liam, “This place looks like it hasn’t been touched in years.” Before Liam could reply, the man spoke again. 

“Tow truck’s on its way. Shouldn’t be too long.” They nodded, said thanks, and sat down on two cracked plastic chairs near the window. The rain poured harder, drumming against the glass, and lightning flashed. For a second, in the reflection, Charlotte thought she saw someone else in the store behind them, a shadowy figure near the snack aisle. Charlotte turned, her heart racing, but nothing was there.

An hour passed, no tow truck or cars on the road. The man behind the counter hadn’t moved once. Charlotte stood up and said, “Hey, do you know how much longer…?” But the man was gone. Not behind the counter. Not anywhere. The phone still hung off the hook, gently swinging. Outside, Charlotte and Liam’s footprints in the mud? Gone. Just wet, untouched ground. Liam looked at Charlotte and said, “Okay. Now it feels like a horror movie.” They stepped outside into the storm, but the gas station seemed a lot quieter. Like it had never been there at all.

The rain had slowed to a mist, but the clouds were still low and heavy, and thunder growled in the distance. Charlotte and Liam stood in silence, staring at the gas station. It looked… different now. The lights that had glowed neon red and green were off, the windows were dark, and the paint was peeling. There was no sign of the man and the tow truck. Just the hiss of wind through the trees. “I swear it didn’t look like this before,” Liam said. 

Charlotte swallowed and said, “It didn’t.” 

They slowly walked back to the door, stepping carefully through the mud. But when Liam reached for the handle, it crumbled in his hand. Inside was darkness, dust, cobwebs, and rotting shelves. The chair Charlotte and Liam had been sitting in was there, but it was broken, lying on the ground as if it had collapsed years ago. On the wall, the calendar still read October 1997, but the page was yellowish, curling at the edges. Underneath, an unclear photo was tacked to the corkboard, a faded newspaper. Charlotte squinted, brushing dust away.

“LOCAL TEENS FOUND DEAD NEAR OLD ROUTE 9 GAS STATION — Halloween Night Tragedy.”
The victims were reportedly walking for help after their vehicle broke down during a storm. The gas station, abandoned for years, was believed to be the last place they were seen.

Charlotte’s hand trembled. “Liam…” He was already reading over her shoulder. His face had gone pale. 

“That can’t be real. That can’t be about us.” 

“But… It’s the same road and the same storm.” 

“But we’re not dead,” Liam said firmly, but his voice cracked. Suddenly, the lights in the ceiling blinked, just once. A loud, electric pop, then silence again. 

Charlotte turned toward the door and said, “We need to leave.” They backed out slowly; the gas station seemed to breathe behind them. 

As they made their way back to the road, the fog thickened and curled around their feet. Then headlights appeared far ahead of them, cutting through the mist and fog. A tow truck pulled up beside them, and the driver rolled down his window. “Y’all been out here long?” he asked. Charlotte glanced behind them. The gas station was gone. Only trees and shadows remained. 

“We… yeah, maybe a bit too long,” Charlotte said.

They climbed into the truck in silence. As it rumbled down the highway, Liam leaned close to Charlotte and said, “You saw it too, right? That article?” 

Charlotte nodded. “I don’t think we were meant to stop there.” Liam didn’t ask what she meant by that. Neither of them looked back. Far down the road, under a sky heavy with storm clouds, the old gas station seemed to flicker back to life, for just a moment.

Like it always did. On Halloween night.

After about twenty minutes of being in the tow truck, I felt a light push. Then I opened up my eyes slightly to see a very bright ceiling light shining in them. I shut my eyes, but I heard a voice say, “Charlotte…” I felt a nudge. “Charlotte, wakey wakey,” I felt another, but slightly harder nudge. “CHARLOTTE.” 

 I was finally awake enough to connect who was saying this to me. “You just interrupted my sleep and my dream,” I said. “Oh well, I’m sure you’ll have another dream sometime. We need to hurry so we can make it to the Halloween party and hopefully the storm doesn’t start earlier than it’s supposed to.”

Before we walk into the Halloween party, I say, “The dream I just had was about where Liam and I leave a Halloween party early so we don’t get caught in a storm. Then, on the way back home, our car breaks down, and we walk to a terrifying, abandoned-looking gas station that we passed on the way. Then, when we make it there, a creepy man behind the counter calls for a tow truck but never picks up the phone.” 

“I remember having that dream a few days ago. Maybe we shouldn’t leave the Halloween party early, especially since there’s going to be a storm tonight,” Liam said. “I think that that’s a great idea,” I then said. 

After the storm stopped, we drove home and watched the news before we went to bed. On the news, the reporter says, “This is the fourth Halloween tragedy that has happened. Two more local teens found dead near Old Route 9 Gast Station.

LIL ZUBER:

 Alone

There was what looked like a small, nice house with white paint on the outside and a wrap-around porch, where someone would read a book in the morning and set the jar of sun tea to get heated up in the afternoon, where a family would live and have family dinners in the dining room, and play card games on the coffee table, and it was that type of house. The paint chipped a little on the door frame from people kicking the snow off their boots in the winter and where the dog had scratched to let him in. Avery was a sophomore in high school, 15 years old, and a bit smart for her class of 78 kids. She walked down the sidewalk to her house, the one she had seen earlier at the end of the street where the bus had dropped her off.

She was just walking up the little stone pathway to the front door when it flung open, and her little brother Jack came running out with their rottweiler Thor trailing closely behind. “AVERY! Guess what, Mom made cookies for your bake sale tomorrow at school, and she said I can have two of them after dinner tonight!!!” 

“You’d better save some for me!” Avery exclaimed as she dropped her backpack on the porch and chased her brother around the yard with their dog jumping and running along with them. After a while, her Mom came out to sit on the porch with her book, like she always does when she waits for dinner to finish cooking in the oven. Ava walked back to the porch with Jack still running around the yard, throwing Thor’s stuffed squirrel. 

“How was your day honey?” Avery’s Mom, Beth, asked her as she walked up the steps of the porch and grabbed her backpack she had dropped there earlier. Her mom was a little above average in height, probably 5’6, she had green eyes with blond hair and freckles, and her mom said all the time that she was one of the prettiest girls in her high school class. She wasn’t wrong about this; she had the yearbooks to prove it.

 “School was okay, I guess. We had a very long science test/lab today, followed by an even longer Powerpoint presentation in history class that we had to take notes on.” 

Her mom smiled slightly at her enough to see her teeth and then responded. 

“Well, at least you had something to do all day, honey. The office was so slow today. There were probably three patients that came in today, not including me, Dr. Fred, and Molly.” My mom is a nurse at an ER in Helena, the biggest city near us. We live in the city of Clancy, Montana. 

“That sounds really boring,” Avery said as she walked to the front door with her backpack slung over her shoulder. 

“Would you please pull the Tater-tot casserole out of the oven when you get inside?” her mom asked. 

“Yes, mom!” Avery loudly said over her shoulder as she organized her things on the bench by the door and went to the kitchen. 

The kitchen was a muted blue-gray color with white/gray cabinets and the classic white and black marble island counter in the middle, with a big, almost U-shaped border of matching white marble countertop for the counters around it. Avery walked over to the oven and grabbed a toothpick from the little mason jar on the counter next to it. She opened the oven a big enough size to let some of the hot air out, but kept most of it still in there. She had learned this from her grandma, who had moved to Florida a few years ago. She said the cold was just too much for her old bones now, but it’s okay because now we get to go to Disney World with her when we visit. She stuck her arm in careful, not to touch the sides of the oven or the casserole pan, and poked the toothpick down into the middle of the casserole. “Clean,” Avery mumbled to herself as she pulled the toothpick out and set it on the counter. She opened the drawer next to the oven and picked out a set of oven mitts. She opened the oven wider and pulled out the casserole, setting it on the stovetop to cool before dinner. 

Then she grabbed two of the pumpkin spice cookies her mom had made that were sitting on the counter for the family, walked over to the entry hall, grabbed her backpack, and headed up the L-shaped staircase upstairs to her room. Her room was the second biggest, only to her parents’ room. Her room had white/gray walls with white trim around her closet and around her two windows in the corner of her room overlooking the driveway. She had the newest LED lights hanging up around the top crease of her walls. She always used those instead of her real lights; they made her room feel more like her, forever changing with just a click of a button or a steady color for as long as you want it. She had a regular-sized white door in her room that led to a bathroom all to herself, which her parents had given in and added when she started high school. She had argued that for personal reasons she would need one, so the 5-year-old named Jack wasn’t going through all of her stuff and asking what it was all the time. She kept her room mostly neat except for the few pieces of clothes that had missed her laundry basket and the papers on her desk. 

Avery walked into her room and tossed her backpack on the bed, one of the cookies in her hand already gone, the other uneaten yet. She then walked over to her windows and opened them both as much as they could go. She loved the smell of the rain, and it had just started to sprinkle. Avery then walked back over to her bed, got her homework out of her bag, and walked over to her desk. About 20 minutes went by, then Avery said, “All I had today was math” as she checked off her mental list of things to do tonight. Her basketball practice had been cancelled due to her coach being sick and her assistant coach being out of town, so it was one of those rare nights off from sports. 

Ava had just put everything back in her backpack when her mom yelled up the stairs, “Avery, come down, it’s time for dinner.” She hurriedly went downstairs, and tonight they ate dinner in the living room since dinner was easier to clean up if Jack spilled. The living room was the same blue-gray as the kitchen, but there was a couch and chairs instead of counters. They had one of those big light gray wrap-around couches where 10 people could sit on it and still have space. Her mom was a big member of the neighborhood book club and hosted most of the weekly meets at their house. Thor walked in with his big chew bone and sat down right next to Avery on the couch. 

“What do you want to watch, Thor?” Jack asked him, as Mom scrolled through the movies we could watch. Thor’s only response was soft chewing. 

“What about Mufasa? Would you like that guys?” Mom asked as she looked down at Jack sitting on the towel next to her feet. He sometimes got a little too messy to sit on the couch, especially when we watched a new movie and would get distracted. 

“Sounds good to me,” Avery said as she took another bit of tater-tot casserole. “Dinner’s great by the way Mom,” Avery added. 

“Thanks sweetheart, I added some different spices, and Mufasa it is,” she said as Jack looked impatiently at her. They all finished dinner before their Dad got home, but he walked in with the ending of the movie playing in the background. Jack sprang up and bolted toward him as he rounded the corner to the living room/kitchen area. “Daaaddd! Guess what, Mom let me watch Lion King 4!” 

“It’s called Mufasa, Jack, and there is no Lion King 4, silly,” Mom said over him, giving Dad a look that said, What are we going to do with this kid. Her dad was a tall guy, 6’5 is what his driver’s license said, he had dark brown hair, and dimples. He had a laugh that people complimented him on and a smile that made you smile. He worked and owned one of the Dentist offices in Clancy, so it was usually rare for him to get home this late, on occasion it happened though. 

“How was work, Dad?” Avery asked as she got up from the couch and went over to hug him. He hugged her back and picked her up enough to lift her feet off the ground, but to a height where she could still touch it. It wasn’t very hard for her to touch the ground (she was 5’10 in fact). “Work was good. Very busy today, though. My office lady Marie, had to go home and pick up her kids from school, so I stayed late today to fill in patient forms.” 

“Sounds like quite the day dear,” Mom said, still on the couch. “Okay, say good night guys, you know you still have school tomorrow,” Mom said as she rose from the couch to help Jack get ready for bed. 

“Yes ma’am!” Jack said while saluting Mom and then sprinted up the stairs. 

“You better brush your teeth, Jack!” Dad yelled up the stairs. 

“NO SIR,” Jack giggled from upstairs. 

“Guess I’ll help Jack tonight,” Dad said as he walked up the stairs. “Good night Avery.” 

“‘Night, Dad,” said Avery. After her Dad had gotten upstairs, Avery said good night to her mom and went upstairs to her bed to sleep hopefully longer than she had the night before.

The next morning, Avery woke up to the sound of rain and wind going by the windows she had forgotten to close last night. Avery closed the windows, then went to her bathroom to curl her dirty blonde hair with her new curler she had gotten a few weeks ago for her birthday. After she walked out to her closet and picked out a pair of white washed jeans and a white camo hoodie. She added some gold earrings with a little necklace that had antlers on it. Then she grabbed her black raincoat from its hanger by the door and put it in her bag just in case, because it sounded like a thunderstorm outside. “Avery, Jack! Breakfast is ready, please be down soon,” her mom projected up the stairs. She heard quick little stomps going down the stairs, and a big thud at the bottom with her mom laughing. She packed up her homework and headed downstairs for breakfast. 

The kitchen smelled like Sunday morning after church. Her Mom had made pancakes and bacon, with strawberry slices on the side. “Morning, Avery.” Mom was trying to serve Jack as he was bouncing next to her with excitement. “I woke up early this morning with all this noise and thought I would make us something nice for breakfast,” Mom said, smiling. 

“Morning, Mom, morning, Jack,” Avery said as she set her backpack down by the base of the stairs and then walked over to the island. 

“Sugar breakfast,” Jack said, sitting down at the table, already shoving strawberries in his mouth. Avery grabbed her plate from her Mom and went to sit down with Jack at the table. Breakfast tasted so good, like sugar and birthday cake, but with the sour sweetness of the strawberries. 

“Breakfast was sooooo gooood Mom,” Avery said as she walked over to the sink to rinse her plate off. 

“Thanks Avery. Jack, go get your shoes on,” Mom said as she grabbed her keys and purse and headed for the hallway to help Jack. “Avery, don’t forget your cookies for the bake sale.” Mom said over her shoulder. 

“Got it!” Avery called as she walked back to the stairs to grab her bag and slung it over her shoulder. In the kitchen, Avery picked up the plate of pumpkin cookies for the bake sale later today. The tray was cold, but more like holding a metal water bottle more cool than cold. She walked to the door and shut it behind her, smelling the crisp morning air mixed with the smell of rain and damp earth. The wind whistled by her as she walked to the car through the rain. 

“Are we stopping at Jamie’s house today to pick her up?” Mom asked as Avery slid into the backseat and leaned forward to place the cookies in the passenger seat. 

“Yeah, Jamie texted last night and asked if I said we could, but to be ready because we have to get there early to set up,” Avery said as she buckled up with Jack coloring in the back seat of their Mom’s suburban. 

They were always the family that brought the teammates to sports games or meets, and they would stop at a drive-through on the way home or bring the team snack bags. Her Mom said it was more fun seeing her and Jack’s teammates happy over fruit-by-the-foot, and Nutella breadsticks, and car pooling than driving there alone. They had just pulled up to Jamie’s big green house when she came running out the front door. Jamie flung open the door, tossed her backpack to Avery, and climbed in the backseat with her. “How’s it going, family number 2?” Jamie said. She always called their family that since Avery and her had become best friends in 2nd grade and hung out all the time. 

“Shhhhh, I was coloring in peace, but now that peace is ruined!” Jack complained from the backseat. 

“Hello to you too, Jack,” Jamie commented, smiling at Jack. 

“Everyone ready? We don’t want to make you guys late for school now do we?” Mom said. 

“You got it, Mom hit that gas pedal, and we can get there really fast!” Jack said happily from the backseat, his coloring discarded on the floor. 

“Not sure that’s all we need to do to get to school Jack, but you got it,” Mom said, laughing from the front seat. They drove down the streets till they got to the front of their school and Jamie hopped out and Mom handed the tray of cookies to Avery. “Have a good day, honey, and don’t worry, people will love your bake sale like bees love honey,” said Mom. 

Avery opened her eyes. Bright, fluorescent lights hit her, making her vision blurry and disoriented. She looked around, trying to remember where she was and why she was there. As her eyes adjusted, she took in the small, blank apartment of New York. Her head spun as she caught up to the present in a flash. It was just a dream. But it had felt real. A recurring dream, unfortunately. It had been a full ten years since the accident, yet Avery still recalled every vivid detail of her last day with her family. It had been a seemingly normal day: school, bake sale, basketball practice, hanging out with Jamie. But it had taken a complete turn when a drunk driver crashed his truck straight into the family car. The family had all been inside, except for Avery. Even Thor was in the back seat with Jack, erasing them all. Avery tried to take deep breaths as panic welled up inside her. She had improved a lot through the years, but the sudden attacks of memories and emotions still caught her off guard once in a while. Her therapist said it would stop eventually, but she had a nagging feeling that it would haunt her forever. Just like the dream. Avery climbed out of bed and went to the window. She stared out at the sleeping city. So much opportunity and spirit, even in a sleeping city. It was part of the reason she moved here. Avery took another calming breath as she watched a taxi stop by the curb. She had grown accustomed to loneliness. Even enjoyed it at times. But every once in a while, she felt it again, that sharp pang of being alone. 

ACE SANGSTER:

Isabelle’s Window

Age: 6

Time: 6:32 pm

Isabelle stared at the beautifully painted images imprinted on her ceiling,

Roses, lilies, delicate little butterflies, fluttering around.

Isabelle wished to jump, to dance like any other,

To kick the air and spin until she can’t anymore,

To grin and yell, to frolic through the fields that mused the numerous paintings and carvings within her palace that many would be pleased to be in themselves,

Isabelle laid in her room, hoping, wanting, to be free,

To see true, imperfect, beauty,

To see leaves among incredible, powerful, forests,

Dancing and twirling in the wind, just like papers and pages being thrown into the air in spite.

Age: 10

Time: 12:09 pm 

Piles and piles of read books,

Of ink stained pages,

Worn and written upon, 

Ripping and tearing, being worked till they’re unusable,

Again and again, Isabelle studied and scrutinized over her books, 

Dog eared and ripped,

Cracked spines and torn off covers,

Stacked and shoved in the corner,

Tipping and tilting, at the smallest gust, they’d come tumbling and falling,

But never shall the wind come in,

Not the smallest gust

The littlest breeze,

The tiniest breath,

Never, will the cool, heavenly, wind brush Isabelle’s little cheek,

Age: 13

Time: 7:34 am

Isabelle sat in her room, braiding her hair,

Thousands of little ginger hairs,

With just a little bit of wave,

Twisting and weaving,

Into delicate little braids,

Attached to her little head.

The way the human body can survive years without sunlight or any peers is beautiful

The way Isabelle’s body works is beautiful,

All from her little fingers with a little birthmark on her ring finger,

To her small ears, slightly pink,

To her boney, slender, shoulders without a single freckle,

To her dainty underused ankles,

To her ribs with such tight fitting skin around them you could count each one.

Age: 15

Time: 1:05 pm

Empty plates and bowls, 

Left with crumbs and drops of broth,

Single rice grains and hardened gravy,

Little bits of slightly rotten cheese stuck to the plates,

They would clink and click together whenever a maid came to collect them,

“She is to never leave this place.”

Words and whispers,

Secret agreements, about Isabelle,

Hidden decisions based upon fear and pain,

Saying that she shall be protected, from everything

That she shall be kept, from others

That she shall be hidden, from the world, and the world from her,

That she shall, never, ever, ever, leave the palace,

Age: 18

Time: 3:45 am

Isabelle wished and hoped of many things,

She wanted to go and be happy like the people in her books,

She desired to encounter peers and fall in love just like the people in her fairytales,

She craved the light and warmth from the sky just like the people felt in her poems,

She yearned to leave the very palace that she had lived her whole life in, 

The palace she was protected in,

The palace that was a beautimus, powerful, fortress, filled with art of all kinds, 

The palace in which she could not ever leave,

The palace that was the only thing she knew, only the pictures and words inside.

Age: 20

Time: 9:12 am

Isabelle wandered around the parts of the palace she was allowed,

The parts with no windows uncovered.

Perhaps she may find a new book

Though she almost never does unless it’s a gift.

Isabelle longed for a new story, something she had never heard of;

She longed for new words and letters assembled into new orders and styles.

Isabelle wanted a new book, a new story.

A big, beautiful door. 

It all but appeared before Isabelle, though she knew of the door before this moment.

She wasn’t allowed on the other side of this door,

However,

She is getting older, what horror could be just a few feet apart from her?

She’s older than most of the people spoken about in her ink stained pages,

Just a turn of the knob,

Just a push of the door,

Just a peek,

Just a glance,

Just a journey into a new frontier,

What harm could happen to little Isabelle with just a turn of the knob,

Age: 20

Time: 9:14 am

Shelves upon shelves,

Lining the walls, the beautiful, amazing, room, it was tall and wide,

It was huge, the number of books in the room, Isabelle probably could never read them all,

Thousands of thousands of books, the sheer amount of knowledge, 

of words, 

of paper,

Of ink,

In that room,

But Isabelle paid no mind to the books,

They were unneeded,

For they were illuminated, each and every one, by something bright, how?

Isabelle saw a beautiful light as she looked up, 

it hurt her poor eyes,

But she saw the most, incredible, vibrant, shining blue she had ever seen,

The blues in all the paintings in the world could never imitate such beauty,

It was just blue but she would walk a million, billion, miles just to see it, 

The amazing light shone on her face,

It took her breath away,

It lit up all the books, 

It was decorated with fluffy cotton, though it wasn’t quite cotton,

She had only heard about such beauty in poems, 

but no words could ever describe the beauty of, what was this called? The sky!

The sky… is beautiful.

Age: 20

Time: 9:43 am

Isabelle stood there,

Admiring the room and everything in it,

The light, the sky,

Words were unable to describe Isabelle’s feelings, 

20 years, never a single glimpse at the beautiful sky,

Why?

Why would they keep her here?

Why was she never allowed a peek, 

A glance,

At the sky, the outside? Why?

“Hey!” Isabelle wasn’t allowed in this room,

Never, never, never was she to leave the rooms the king and queen allowed her in.

Isabelle ensnared a book from the nearest shelf,

Hidden in her pockets she brought it back to her room after being taken away.

One book,

Rapunzel and other fairy tales

Age: 21

Time: 11:54 pm

Isabelle remembered seeing the sky,

What other things looked like that? 

Do flowers glow?

Do they also have vibrant, eye-catching colors?

Nothing like she had ever seen?

Or maybe butterflies and bees?

Do they shimmer and shine in the light?

What about the night sky?

Her books and poetry described a different appearance;

Like fireflies floating around a dark void.

She had never seen fireflies either.

Just a peek, she didn’t get in much trouble last year,

So why not now?

Just a peek, a glance, just like before!

Pushing her door open,

Taking a couple steps out.

A little look in the room, maybe get new books as well!

“Sorry princess!” A guard laughed at poor Isabelle,

Age: 21

Time: 12:01 am

“Let me in.” she demands

Please, 

Just a glance! She mentally pleaded

Nothing bad can happen! surely!

Though the guard refuses

“This is very important to me!” she snapped,

She tries to push the guard.

“Hey!”

Isabelle tried to get in, 

by any chance she got,

Though all Isabelle got was a couple scolding strikes from the guard.

Age: 21

Time: 12:22 am

Poor Isabelle got sent back to her room

To her miserable room, 

stained carpets and torn curtains, intended to cover a painted window,

Stacks of books, all used and torn,

She was just like Rapunzel,

Little Rapunzel, stuck in a tower for 18 long years,

Until a man came to let her out,

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair!”

Rapunzel got to leave the tower,

Poor Isabelle, prince charming is late.

“Isabelle, Isabelle, let down your red hair!” 

Isabelle, Isabelle, hair pulled and ripped

Isabelle, Isabelle, Delicate, pale, skin, stained by bruises now,

Isabelle, Isabelle, wide, innocent, eyes, that were ordered to never see the world,

“To keep her safe.” They said 

“We don’t want to see her hurt like us!!” They convinced each other,

Poor Isabelle,

No one to help her.

Age: 25

Time: 4:21 am

Isabelle sat in her room, 

She sat in silence,

Not a single noise or peep,

Every morning, if she listens hard enough,

She could just, barely hear…

Something,

What is it?

She might never know,

But either way, she has to wait till morning to hear it,

She doesn’t know, but the sound is the sound of trees in the wind,

Swishing and swaying,

Like the ocean, rolling in and away,

With birds singing in the branches,

With their magical tunes flying through the air,

Eventually meeting little Isabelle’s ears,

She wished to see whatever made these incredible noises,

Age: 38

Time: 12:34 pm

Isabelle Collected many things,

Books and pillows,

Drawings and blankets,

Thoughts and memories,

Thoughts of wanting to escape,

Memories of the beautiful sky,

Wants and needs,

Wants of being powerful, and letting the sun shine on her skin,

Needs of running in a field in beautiful sunlight or cool rain,

38 years.

In one week,

Just 7 days,

She’ll be 39,

39 whole years,

Never a childhood crush,

Or a glance of a real flower,

Or a friend to run around with,

Or a day in school,

Or worn a flower crown,

Or rode a bike,

39 years.

Age: 47

Time: 6:34 am

When she was a young woman,

She saw beauty,

She could hear beauty,

When she was a young woman,

She almost never felt pain,

She had new, wonderful, stories,

When she was a young woman,

She would stare at the paintings on the ceiling in awe,

She would play with the maids, 

When she was a young woman.

Isabelle wondered, what if,

Could she be able to make her own paintings?

Or her own story?

Could Isabelle make her own book?

Her own paintings,

Her own world,

Her own ideas,

Her own life.

Age: 50

Time: 2:10 am

Paintings from gravy and melted cheese,

From pasta sauce and butter,

Drawn on empty plates and napkins,

On the walls,

Of roses and lilies, delicate little forget-me-nots, 

Caricatures of beautiful things Isabelle had only seen in paintings and sculptures

Isabelle was creating her own paintings, her own world, hoping to one day see the real thing, how big are the very flowers she’s painting?

How beautiful are the little daisies?

Or the prickly little roses?

Maybe the detailed lavenders?

How amazing are her paintings?

Age: 61

Time: 1:56 pm 

The more time passed the more she learnt, 

and the more she hurt.

Isabelle was no longer the little naive girl,

Nor the defiant lady who saw the sky,

But she had beautiful paintings,

She was given paints and empty canvases,

She was given new paintings to base hers off of,

Soon,

Soon a new border will be passed,

Finally, 61 years old,

Her mother had died long before,

Her father entrusted his nephew, Charles, with power before he too left Isabelle,

His nephew was given one of many instructions,

“Don’t let Isabelle go outside,

To keep her safe.”

Age: 61

Time: 2:02 pm

“Isabelle!” They call it “Isabelle!”

A single little crate, barely a foot long,

But completely filled,

Filled with flowers and dirt,

A rose,

A Lily,

And several little forget-me-nots.

Isabelle marveled at the flowers,

The beautiful, amazing, vibrant, colors,

The little fibers, sewn through the petals,

The colors were nothing she had ever seen,

The way the candle light reflected off them,

Beautiful,

Without any words to possibly describe them.

There had little green shoots growing from the dirt,

Beautiful,

The way the dirt felt on her fingers,

It was soft, but sharp as well,

Beautiful,

“the flowers Isabelle!” charles exclaimed

“Not the dirt or the shoots,

Nor the leaves or stems,

But the flowers”

“but they are so beautiful,”

She whispered

“Every part is wonderful,

Every centimeter is filled with miracles,

Every little thing is incredible.”

Age: 70

Time: 9:32 pm 

Hours and hours, 

Spent painting,

Spent talking with Charles,

The cousin Isabelle never met,

She was a marvel to Charles,

Every little thing was beautiful to her,

How the flowers would grow,

How they would die without light,

But she was thriving with only candles.

But life and death is beautiful,

And she now believes anyone who thinks it isn’t,

Who doesn’t see beauty in everything,

Who doesn’t marvel at the smallest thing,

Who doesn’t stare at every little fiber of every little thing,

Is truly the one to marvel at,

Age: 79

Time: 7:43 am

“Isabelle!” Charles called throughout the castle,

“isabelle! I’m going to build a window!

In your own little room!!” Charles ran to Isabelle

She was laying in her bed,

Tired,

Surrounding her was paintings,

Some her own,

Some not,

Surrounding her was flowers,

Some dead,

Some close,

Surrounding her was plates and bowls,

Some empty,

Some not quite,

“isabelle! Listen! I will build you a window! 

You will see the world you should have always known!”

“I will see the sky? Once more?

Wow.”

A window in Isabelle’s room

Age: 78

Time: 6:32 pm

2 days before, 

Charles announced that a window would be added,

That Isabelle would dance like she always wished she would,

That she would see the world,

Isabelle was lying in her bed,

“Charles.” she called for him,

He never heard her.

Her flowers all died around her,

Her beautiful flowers she tried to nurse back to health.

Alone in her room, once more,

Wishing to see the world, once more,

Staring at the beautifully painted images imprinted on her ceiling, once more,

Wanting to see the beautiful world that mused the art among her palace, once more,

And once more, her parents called her away from her room.

…

6:32 pm.

Isabelle died, having never seen the sun.