Page 1:
- Jump By Anonymous
- A Walk in the Park By Anonymous
- The Pride Interlude By Elsa
- Eyes on the Night By Zainab
Page 2:
- A Hidden Current of Hate By Anonymous
- Passions & Joy By Anonymous
- The Last Straw By Anonymous
- The Dinner By Anonymous
Page 3:
- A Meeting With Mom By Anonymous
- You Deserve a Smile By Zainab
- Too Late By Anonymous
- ‘Light’ – Short Story Extension By Nicolas
Jump
Her wavy auburn hair cascaded like a waterfall down her nape. Her skin glowed as rays of warm sun rippled across her face. Her sharp, attentive emerald green eyes darted around at the valley which lay beneath her. The hills rolled over each other and seemed to never end as the ripples of green continued for miles and miles. The purple coarse heather covered the hills like a blanket, and small, bright yellow gorse flowers peeked through the mass of purple and brown. The bottom of the valley loomed below her, and as she peered over the edge of her toes, the ground seemed to be moving to and fro.
I can do this. I will be ok. I can do this.
Reluctantly, she inched her feet slowly to the edge of the cliff. Her rosy cheeks puffed in and out, as she took big shaky breaths in an attempt to relax herself. Her eyelids closed around the gems of her eyes, and the soft fragile skin twitched with fear.
Her knees bent, and she lingered in a squat position for just a moment before the air rushed around her, enveloping her in a bubble, and down she fell. Down, down and down. The cliff rushed past her eyes in a blur and the floor seemed to be rushing closer to her face. With a swift motion, she pulled the lever attached to her side, and like magic, a parachute expanded out of the pocket on her back, and with a sudden jolt, she stopped falling and started floating.
The landscape stopped being a blur, and instead, began to be a coherent scene of brilliant blue skies dotted with fluffy white clouds and rocky hills covered in moss and smaller shrubs with red berries and multi-coloured flowers blooming.
A warm feeling flooded thorugh her shaking body. It seeped into every crevice, around every bone and into every muscle. A sharp laugh burst out of her as she realised what she had just accomplished, and then she finally relaxed letting her pride twist her face into a colossal grin as she slowly floated down to the ground.
By Anonymous
A Walk in the Park
He strutted with his head high, looking over the heads of people. He knew he was the boss. The finest silk wrapped around his body, and his best friend was right by him. He paid attention to no one while everyone stared at him with awe. They called him Sir Charles; no one but his friend was allowed to call him “Charlie”. Alex had named him after she got him 5 years ago from a breeder.
“Ugh, what is that?” Charles questioned, “That, that thing.”What is that?”Charles thought
He had been horribly annoyed with the city. New Yorker dogs were just disgusting. I miss my home, he thought. Nothing is ever good.
“Why are you not moving, Charlie?” Alex asked, “Oh, My God, Charlie, it’s just mud, come on, move!” Alex exclaimed “He usually is not like this” she tried to cover up.
“No, No!” Charles said as he pulled as much as he could,
“CHARLES!” Everyone stared
“Come on!”
“Ugh, that’s it” Alex picked Charlie up in her hands.
He could hear those laughs, those muffled words.
“ I can’t believe you!”
“ I know this is a new place, but it’s for me, too, we will get used to it, ok?”
“And now he thinks I don’t know how to care for a dog! Ugh, when I finally started talking to Tim more, that was so embarrassing!” she screamed.
Charles lay down on his bed while he stared at Alex cleaning the house, “How can she just be mad at me? I cannot walk on mud, I had just gotten my nails done YESTERDAY!” he reasoned.
———————————————————–
“Hey, Tim! How are you?” she could not stop smiling
“I’m great how is Charl—No, Charles? right?”
“He is fine, Charlie! Say hi to Tim.”
“A gentleman must always leave a lasting impression,” Charles thought, extending his paw with regal grace. Tim smiled. “Hmm, he’s cute,” he said. Charles smirked internally—of course, he was.
By Anonymous
The Pride Interlude
Karl couldn’t breathe. Air went through his mouth, but not enough reached his lungs. Was he turning light-headed, or was that just his imagination? The sun was resting just above the horizon, illuminating both water and skin orange. There was a slight chill to the air now that the sun was disappearing, but Karl left his sweater at home.
“Karl?”
A voice usually reserved for large audiences caught his attention. There she was. Calling his name. Sarah was still looking around, trying to find him amongst the crowd. Karl started to regret his choice of meeting at the pier. A famous attraction for locals and tourists, especially at this hour, was not fit for intimate conversations.
“Here!” he raised his arm into the air and rigidly waved it back and forth.
“There’s so many people here,” Sarah said as she approached, giving him a toothy grin. Her hair fell over her shoulders in fluffy waves. It was trapped under a marine cap on her head, squishing her bangs to her forehead. Orange rays gave her golden highlights. She was beautiful.
“Uh, I guess,” Karl cleared his throat. He felt his cheeks burning with heat, “Well, should we go then? Before it gets too cold,”
Sarah smiled again and turned around. It took Karl a second or two before he unfroze, trailing after her.
“Should I get that?” she asked suddenly. Karl blinked, startled, before clearing his throat more harshly.
“No thanks,” it came out snappier than expected. Still, he adjusted the bag strap to sit across his chest instead of hanging off of a lone shoulder.
“It’s really no problem. If-”
“Please, don’t worry. I can handle it,” Karl ran his hand through his newly-styled hair. This was not how he wanted to start the evening. How would Sarah take him seriously if all she saw was a cripple? An old man in a young body? If Karl was honest, his right shoulder had started acting up again. The area around his neck was tense, as it always seemed to be. Today, however, for whatever reason, one would think bones had replaced muscles.
“Not that I don’t appreciate you inviting me, but mind if we go down to the beach?” Sarah asked, “It’s awfully crowded here. Also, I wouldn’t mind taking my shoes off. These have been killing me all day,”
Karl could do nothing but nod. In these situations, you had less than a second to come up with a response and say it. He was too late, as usual. Next time. He thought. Next time, I’ll make her laugh.
“You know, I really like your hair today. Did you do something to it?” Sarah tilted her head, standing up after untying her shoes.
“Oh! Um, yeah, actually,” he avoided her gaze. He ran his absent hand through his hair one more time.
“Well don’t mess it up,” she frowned.
“Sorry?”
Sarah snorted. They continued their walk on the sand instead. Karl decided to leave his shoes on. It would be weird to take them off now, wouldn’t it? Just a few minutes after her. He had had all the opportunity to, but didn’t.
“Let’s go there,” Karl pointed toward an ice cream truck he knew would be there. Step 1: buy her something to eat. Sarah agreed happily and went up to order. She was about to pull out her wallet, but Karl beat her to it. In his rush, he accidentally gave the man double the amount. With a grunt, the man put their two cups with a spoon each on the counter. With an empathetic look, he hid the change under the receipt. Karl smiled gratefully and went to grab the ice cream.
“Let me get it,” Sarah smiled, but it was tight-lipped. Pitiful. Before he knew what was happening, Karl sidestepped in front of her.
“I got it,” he smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Sarah did not look convinced. Karl ignored it. He’d balanced more things before. The two cups fit easily in his hand, but the receipt was still on the counter. The queue was growing behind them, just like the pace of his heart, “Just a second,”
Karl put the cups back on the counter, careful not to let them fall over, deciding to take the receipt and change first. He just managed when a small kid tapped him on the back. Sarah winced.
“Excuse me, mister, why are you taking so long?”
“Leo!” his mother pulled him back by the shoulder. Karl thought she’d give him a secret smile, but all she did was raise her eyebrows expectantly.
“Maybe I should just-” Sarah started, moving to grab the cups.
“No!” he snapped. She retracted her hand immediately, a furrow in her eyebrow. They smoothed out quickly enough, taking the appearance of endless patience.
“Um, Karl?” Sarah paused, as if unsure if she could continue, “There’s a line, so we don’t have time for-”
Karl scoffed under his breath, “I can handle this. Just give me a second,”
Sarah opened her mouth to say something but seemed to decide against it. She smiled at him tightly with a nod to herself before stepping out of the way. Karl hurried, dropping coins in the sand in the process. They didn’t really matter. He grabbed the two cups with two spoons and rushed after her.
“Here you go,” he managed under his breath, holding them out to her. Sarah looked at it as if she wouldn’t even accept it, but in the end, she sighed defeatedly. With one hand, she took the cup, and with the other, she adjusted her cap. Karl looked away.
“You know,” she said after a moment, “I don’t expect you to just know how to do everything immediately. I’m here when you need me. Just ask,”
“I don’t need assistance,” Karl didn’t mean to spit out the words, but he wasn’t in control of his tongue anymore. He wasn’t in control of many things, it seemed. Which step was he on now? 2? 3?
Sarah scoffed and stopped walking. He had never heard her with such a hostile tone directed toward him before. Rude customers? Sure. Idiots on the street calling after her? Absolutely. Him? Unexplored areas.
“I’m not your nurse or your assistant. I’m your friend,” she looked up at him with hard eyes, “I’m not paid to hold your hand while you adjust. Thinking I’m obligated to do that is insane, Karl. It’s insane. What do you think of me? Do you think I’ll, I don’t know, laugh at you for needing help about something you can’t control? No!”
Karl’s breathing was heavy. He couldn’t look at her. Why couldn’t she just accept that he didn’t need help? He wished he could return to the beginning of the night. Before he messed it up. Sarah wasn’t supposed to look at him like that. Where were the toothy grins? The glittering eyes? She looked at him, expecting an answer. He couldn’t give her one. Not this version of her. Not when she demanded something he couldn’t give.
By Elsa
Eyes on the Night
Perhaps it was the fact truth had cut her heart Perhaps it was the fact 80% of what she spoke was a lie. Perhaps it was the fact she could endure anything and everything: nothing at all.
Maybe it was the fact she…wasn’t human?
Rolling her shoulders with a crack, Hana let her eyes fall on the city under her. The night gaze shone with pride, the moon’s smile glistening through the city windows. The night was young as cars buzzed on the streets.
The nights were moments when Hana could let her guard down, her muscles relaxed, and her eyes fluttered open. The daylight consumed her with its terrors, but the moonlight embraced her as gently as a feather’s touch.
The colors from the buildings blended in when she took her glasses off. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she dragged her legs to her chest. Trapped in a world where she was expected to be perfect, scheduled to be honored, and expected to make no mistakes, Hana desperately wanted to leave. But she knew that was impossible, that death’s door awaited whoever wanted to go against standards.
That is what reality had become. An endless cycle of expecting to be who you’re not. A dystopian fantasy from those books teachers made you read as a kid. Her fingertips had calluses from the rigorous writing; her legs were tense and sore from sitting in classrooms for hours. And all that tension escaped harshly when she was back home, doing housework.
Yet she knew she always had someone to depend on.
Footsteps echoed behind her, and an arm wrapped around her, soothingly rubbing her shoulder. She knew who it was.
“Hey,” she greeted the person. It was her friend, the only friend she’d had since she was a kid, Rina. Rina hummed and sat beside her, “Admiring the view without me, hm?”
Hana laughed it off and leaned against her, “Not anymore.”
Smiling, Rina let her eyes fall back towards the city.
No fear at this moment could get to Hana because she knew she had the key to unlock that trust deep within her, sitting right next to her.
The night passed gently as the two sat in silence, occasionally talking.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, not with her friend next to her.
By Zainab
Elements Magazine 