Friendship is an umbrella
It shields you from the raging rain
But with one wild wind
That umbrella can tumble out of your grasp
Leaving you in the rain
Friendship is an umbrella
You can’t hide under them forever
But you can until the rain stops
Because after all
That’s what umbrellas are for
Prologue
I was running for my life away, away from everything around me, away from school, away from my life. She made it worse, She made my life the way it was and how miserable it was, now I can’t go back and undo it all. I’m stuck with the horrible choices I made and I’m trapped. The wet leaves of the forest slop and squish around my feet. A huge wall of trees shoots from the ground and stops me. I hear her cackling with delight as I fill with horror and can’t find a way away.
—
Hi my name is Ahlia and my life is perfect. I get up every morning at 6:00 am for school. I go down stairs and greet my grandmother. I was told my mom died when I was born and my dad left for a rich wife with five kids. I was left with my grandmother and never learned of any other life. I eat breakfast and get changed and walk the 10 minute walk to school everyday. I go to St. Alred High. I’m in 9th grade and really tall for my age. A lot of the time people point and laugh at me, but I know to go to the library and leave the world into books.
—
I go to my first class for the day with Bob Rickelson, the school jock and captain of the boys lacrosse team and every girl's dream. I however don’t care for him the smallest bit. This just makes him even more annoying and persistent. He tries to get me to fall for him. It never works.
(I highly encourage you to read this in a British accent)
I arrived at the base of a rocky mountain, well it was more of a hill, or perhaps a knoll. On top of which was a giant cave. This is where a dragon would live right? I dismounted my trusty electric scooter and looked the mountain up and down dramatically. After that I started to climb the treacherous small hill. Soon I reached the top and peered into the ominous cave to find a door? There was a door at the end of the cave. I cautiously entered the cave and slunk to the door. Then I leaned in and heard a faint sound, as if someone was talking on the other side.
It was at this time I questioned whether or not I should open the door. Alas, my curiosity got the best of me as I burst through the door. The scene I saw next was quite a sight to behold.
The room was fabulous, there were glistening white walls with towering pillars lining each side and intimidating torches on each pillar that lit the room with a low flickering light. In the center was a long table with blood red cloth running down the center and on either side of the cloth were golden plates. Surrounding the table were six wooden chairs with hand carved details. And in those six chairs sat five dragons, the sixth stood next to a small table to my left in front of a large projector screen with a slideshow on it. There was a red dragon, a black dragon, a green dragon, a blue dragon, and a brown dragon sitting around the table. The dragon standing at the projector screen was a deep purple and on the table next to him was a… peculiar object. It was a small TV attached to a blue headband. I turned my perplexed stare on the dragons at the table, all of which were now staring into my soul.
“Excuse me,” said a deep voice. I whipped around to find that the purple dragon was speaking to me, “You have interrupted my dinner party and the release of my new product, The Teleprompter Headband™ (buy one today and you’ll get a free t-shirt).”
I straightened up and turned towards the the dragon and cleared my throat, “Are you the famous dragon who has terrorized my queen’s kingdom.”
The dragon gasped, “Terrorize! How dare you say such a thing! I was simply trying to sell my product, The Teleprompter Headband™, to the citizens of the kingdom, it wasn’t my fault they’ve never seen a dragon before!”
I paused for a moment before responding, “Well, you must have done something terrible-”
“Nonsense, I did nothing of the sort. Your queen is a liar.” The dragon replied defensively.
“Can y’all stop this stupidity. We are in the middle of a presentation.” The Red Dragon said (who had a strong southern accent).
“Fine,” I said, “You may continue with your presentation, but while you speak, I will be waiting outside.”
Comfort feels like a blanket wrapped around you.
Comfort tastes like a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket wrapped around you.
Comfort looks like being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket wrapped around you.
Comfort sounds like leaves peacefully falling, while being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket around you.
Comfort smells like a pumpkin spice candle, with the sound of leaves peacefully falling, while being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket around you.
Image Source: Pinterest
It’s me again, Sam Rockmore, the guy who made Echoes of the Fallen, and ranked Chocolate Milk and every month of the year. This, however, is a bit different. This is based on a true story, yet it fits halloween.
I think there’s a demon in my basement.
This story is how it got to this point.
April 15th, 2012, State College, PA
I opened the tagless present and found it. The tickle-me Elmo. At first, the demon spawn was civil with us, functioning how it should.
October 15th, 2013, State College, PA
“H-h-hug m-me…” cried out the demon spawn in that robotic voice that toys running out of batteries would make.
I was just sleeping in a chair, with the tickle-me Elmo under the chair. This talking woke me up, and I started screaming (I was 3 ½ years old). I did only the most feasible thing; I threw it into the basement. As I closed the door, I noticed something. It was pushing itself upright. I slammed the door and locked it.
July 17th, 2018, State College, PA
For the past five years, this thing would talk from the basement and tap on the door, trying to get back out from the basement. I went to get an Ice Cream Sandwich from the freezer in the basement, and brought a knife for self defense. It was a very large chef’s knife, and it was the sharpest knife in the house. When I went to get the ice cream, two glowing eyes were fixated on me. I immediately knew it was Elmo, so I grabbed him by the throat, took the knife, and stabbed him to the wall. I took my ice cream, and went back upstairs, thinking I had killed him. I did not.
November 12th, 2020, State College, PA
That slowed it, but didn’t stop it. It barely talked in summer, but spiked in winter, especially around Halloween, Day of the Dead, Christmas, and would even sing happy birthday, on my birthday. Every. Single. Year. Today, it let out a garbled scream, so I went into the basement with a knife. I eventually found it, chopped off everything below the chest, diced that, and spread it across the basement. Well, except for the voice box and batteries, which I kept in my room so Elmo couldn’t get it, even if it survived. I chucked the other half into a bunch of spider webs.
December 2nd, 2021, State College, PA
It’s been talking still, even though it doesn’t have its lower body, which contains the batteries, and the voice box. I even tried mailing it to my neighbors, but to no avail. I know what I have to do.
January 3rd, 2022, Stockholm, Sweden
This part is purely theoretical. I don’t actually know what happened when it arrived in Sweden.
The demon spawn crawled out of the box and onto the street. It needed to get back, at any cost. It crawled back into the airport and was about to get past the TSA when one of the TSA people grabbed it. Its sharp metal slashed at the guy, allowing him to escape and get back to Pennsylvania.
April 1st, 2022, State College, PA
He’s back. I taped him inside his box, but he got out and returned to the basement. I don’t know what he’s doing down there, but it cannot be good.
September 23rd, 2022, State College, PA
I was in science, telling everyone at my table this story and one of them suggested sending it somewhere dangerous. Elmo won’t know what hit him.
October 15th, 2022, Pyongyang, North Korea
I have even less of an idea of what happened here, so I’m not even going to guess.
October 23rd, 2022, State College, PA
I was just checking UPS to see if stuff for Halloween was coming … He’s on his way back … UPS says that something is on its way from Pyongyang. I know for a fact that this is Elmo. What will it take to kill this thing??
Buzz
How would you feel if one day you woke up and glanced out your window to find a grown man in a beautifully made floppy hat holding a sleek and shiny sword in the middle of stealing your most prized possession; your yellow electric scooter. *Gasp* the AUDACITY. I know right! A man does not steal another man’s yellow electric scooter. So off I went to teach this dude a lesson. I scrambled out of bed and shuffled around the kitchen and swung the door open. However the stranger was speeding down the road with a puffed out chest and a stern look off into the distance.
“Hey! That’s my scooter! Get back here!” I shouted at him, but the stranger kept going, not looking back.
Then I was left there on my driveway, scooter less and pitiful.
Sir Gawain
I felt bad for the pathetic man from whom I stole this scooter, but my horse was injured and I was in desperate need of transportation. You see, I was on a quest to fight a dragon who was a highly dangerous threat to the kingdom. I was chosen to seek out this dragon that resided in the mountains just beyond the dark forest and vanquish it, if you will. I had everything ready, my floppy hat, my leather belt, my shiny sword and my confidence. Then, unfortunately, my horse tripped over a log and fell over. I had to resort to wandering the streets of a random neighborhood.
Now I had to find my way back on course toward the forest. So I sped through the endless amount of road until I came to a clearing with the entrance to the dark forest on the other side.
At last! I am one step closer to my goal. With the new found excitement and hope inside me I turned the electric scooter on the highest sped, gallivanting across the field to the tree line. I proudly sped through the forest, admiring its beauty and tranquility.
Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a dark figure who stood in front of me and accidentally ran over a tree root and crashed to the ground. I stood up quickly and approached the stranger before lifting my head to find the green knight who stood before me in the golden clearing; kissing his water bottle.
“Sir, sir! Pardon me but why did you think that standing in the center of a path would be a good idea?” I exclaimed.
The Green Knight looked up and gave me an annoyed glance.
“Why have you come here? No one ever does, in fact there is a dragon just up there.” The Green Knight said.
I sighed, “I have come to slay the dragon you speak of. The queen herself has sent me.”
“Then why are you wasting your precious time talking to me? You should be up there slaying the day away.” He asked.
I huffed and retreated back to the scooter before mounting it. I then jolted forward a couple times before gliding past The Green Knight.
“Really though? A water bottle?” I called back as I sped forward.
Prologue
“Cloud, why did you and your pack steal our prey?” Nightkiller shouted over the roaring wind and thunder.
“Because all of our territory's prey is gone! It’s winter, and all the prey has gone to the river!” Cloud shouted back.
“We know,” Nightkiller retorted. “We could have shared some of ours!”
“You’ve said that almost every winter, Nightkiller. But you never do! Why should we trust you now, after all these years?” Cloud spoke bravely into the rain.
Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder sounded around both packs. It was raining even harder now, and they couldn’t see even a deer-length ahead. The wolves heard a yelp from Cloud's side of the pack, and with that, they heard a faint sound of sizzling in the pounding rain that followed.
Nightkiller dared to move forward, to see what happened. As he got closer he saw the faint shape of Cloud lying on the slush covered ground.
“Look what happened!” barked Moon fiercely, the Luna, or Alpha Female, of the Sky Pack. “This is your fault!” As he looked closer, he saw that Cloud’s leg was staining the white snow red. There was a big wound torn into Cloud’s flesh, right to the bone that was bleeding heavily. Moon slashed Nightkiller across the face. The rest of Cloud’s pack howled, and Moon led them into war, not knowing what lies ahead…
Chapter 1: The terrifying Penny…
Emma lived in the middle of the forest. She has to worry about bears, falling trees and most of all Penny. Penny is an old witch who haunts the people who live in the forest. Emma will sometimes look out the window to see Penny standing behind a tree peering into Emma’s window, but Emma was used to it. Every night she checks and Penny is always there. This night was different…
Chapter 2: Different…
Emma was coming home from school one day when she saw Penny standing behind the same tree. Emma was confused because Penny only comes out at night so she was getting kinda nervous. Then Penny started walking away into the woods. Emma brushed it off and went to start doing her homework. “Mom?” Emma asked. “Yes?” Emma’s mom, Lauren answered. “Did you see Penny today when we were getting out of the car?” Emma questioned. “No, I didn't see her.” Lauren said with a disappointed look on her face. Emma was confused but she went back to her homework.
Chapter 3: Penny is here…
Before Emma went to bed she looked out the window and she didn’t see Penny. She was confused but also sorta relieved. She didn’t have to worry about seeing Penny that night. Emma went to bed and she woke up randomly in the middle of the night to knocking. Emma got up to look out the window in the door. She looked out and saw a box, she also saw Penny waiting behind the tree. Emma quickly opened up the door and grabbed the box quickley shutting and locking the door behind her. Emma couldn’t fall back asleep that night and she checked her window every hour to see if Penny was out there and she wasn’t. Emma got so anxious that she decided to open the box that she thinks is from Penny. She starts to open up the box…
Chapter 4: The women in the window…
Emma opened up the box and saw a brown bag that looked like it was found outside. Emma notices that there's words on it. All it said was “Hello.” Emma was confused so she flipped it over and it said “From Penny.” Emma decided to find a piece of paper and write “Hi?” then “Anonymous” She then placed it back in the box and set it outside the door. Two minutes later she heard another knock on the door. She quickly ran over and looked out the window on the door, she saw Penny standing right at the door staring into space. She waited for Penny to leave then quickly opened the door and grabbed the box. The paper this time said “I know your name is Emma.” Emma was startled and decided not to reply that night.
Chapter 5: Here she comes…
Emma was able to fall asleep again but when she woke up she looked out the window to see Penny walking up to the door. Emma thought she was looking for the box but she remembered that she didn’t write anything so she decided to find the box and write, “How do you know my name?” She looked back over at the window to see that Penny was walking away. She decided to quickly put it outside but Penny must have heard the door open so she came running. Emma saw her running so she quickly shut the door and double checked to make sure it was locked. She saw Penny in the window.
Chapter 6: The response…
Emma needed to leave for school but Penny was waiting at the door writing a response. Penny finally left and Emma grabbed the box. She opened the box and it said, “There's something you should know but it's not the right time.” Emma was scared and disappointed, she really wanted to know what she needed to know. She decided to reply right away saying, “Wait, what!? What do I need to know?” She left the box outside the door then left for school. That day was very gloomy and windy. It was raining and the wind felt like a hurricane. Emma returned home to find the box sitting on the ground in front of the door.
Chapter 7: Who knows?
“Emma! Emma come down here please!” Lauren yelled but Emma didn’t hear her. “Emma, get down here right now!” Emma was busy reading and writing the letter to Penny. “Coming mom!” Emma responded. She ran down the stairs. “Mom what do you want?” Emma asked. “Who is Penny?” Lauren responded. “There's notes in our trash bins outside that say ‘From Penny’! Why did I find like 13 of them?” Emma was shocked. “Mom. That's from Penny, the witch. How could you forget?” Emma asked. Lauren took a deep breathe. There was a knock on the door. Emma found another box. This time it said…
Chapter 8: Exist
Her mom grabbed it from out of her hands and slammed it on the kitchen table. “EMMA! PENNY IS NOT REAL!” Lauren said. Emma had no words. “But I have been getting notes from her!” Emma responded. She grabbed the note and read it aloud. “Emma, I am not real. I died many years ago. I died about 300 years ago today. That's why you're reading this right now. Many people before you have read this note, this same exact note and they were all shocked like you probably are now. But I am afraid, this is goodbye.” Emma was shocked and her mom said “Penny is not here anymore.”
The Guardian
I whisper your name
Dare to breathe it
Say it a little louder, till suddenly I'm screaming
Shouting it out
Because no one can hear
Because I'm not even saying anything at all
Instead, I'm sitting in my room
Writing down my thoughts of you
And maybe i'll send it in a letter
So you know I'm here for you
But don't you worry
No need to respond
I'm listening out for you
I can’t sleep at night,
But I can’t stay awake during the day,
I need help,
No one will help me,
“I can’t come today”
But I know i can
People don’t like me
And I think I don’t care
But I do.
This is how the world works,
People say I worry for nothing,
But I can’t help it,
People say i’m being dramatic,
But it doesn’t help me,
People say I need to calm down,
But I just need to sleep…
[Don’t be insensitive if people are insecure about themselves- it doesn’t help you and it doesn’t help them.]
I'm sitting on the roof
Staring at the clouds
Lost in thought
There is not a sound
My hand feels the moss
That surrounds me
My breath comes out in a puff
The cold surrounds me in a hug
But I’ll sit up here until night comes
And then climb up again, in the morning sun
I'll spend my days up here forever
As my mind drifts to the future
The future of the next day
And the end of all that came
Daydreaming on this roof
So that I can be away
When I don’t know what to write,
I take a walk,
I take a shower,
I think about life, then eat.
If those don’t work,
I take a walk,
I cry in bed,
take a shower,
think about life,
then eat.
If those still don’t work,
I take a walk,
I play some games,
cry in bed,
take a shower,
think about life,
then force myself to write.
It's raining outside, but if you don't look out the window you may never know
It’s sunny in the safety of your room
But once the storm is over the flowers will bloom
And do the flowers only look so bright
Because of the storm they just survived?
You may never know if you don’t go outside
So grab your hat and jacket and step through the door
And walk through the rain so that you can see the sunshine
And it will shine brighter than before
because now you will appreciate it more
And when you burrow down in the warmth of your house
It will be warmer and safer than the rest
Warmer than the people who would rather never know,
And better than the people who don't know the cold
I look through the window. The window that shows me to reality. The window that I can never seem to lock my eyes at all of the time, and always seem to forget about. The window is always there, with the glass shimmering and clean, because it is often not touched, by yourself, and others. You always have the option to look through it, but a lot of people don’t.
Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash
Chapter 1. That Time of Year
Halloween is Mia’s favorite time of the year. She loves the spookiness of the holiday, the candy is amazing, and the costumes are spectacular. But none of that could even compare to the joy she has when she gets to see the terror on peoples face whens she scares them. Every year she always scares at least 10 people, but last year she set a new record. 50 scares! This year she wants to break that record! So she needed to step up her game, scare people twice as much. Everyone at her school is on high alert. Even her best friend Meghan doesn't fully trust her.
“Come on Mia!” Meghan shouted, as her and Mia walked through the hallway. “I can scare people! Watch.” Meghan stopped and looked around for someone easy to scare. Mia rolled her eyes and kept walking.
“Just admit it, Meghan,” Mia said, walking away. “You just aren't meant for the scary business.” Meghan was getting mad. She dreaded this season because of Mia! Every year she saved Meghan for last, that made everything even more scary. Then Meghan had the best idea.
If Mia wouldn't agree for her to join her, then she would just ruin all of her plans. As the bell rang, Meghan ran to her room. Mia was sitting there like she was waiting for her.
“Come sit down next to me Meghan!” Mia shouted, waving her over. Meghan knew this trick of hers, there was a see through sticky fabric and when she sat down in it she couldn’t move. Meghan knew exactly what to do.
“Oh thanks for saving me a seat, Mia,” Meghan said, walking over to her.
“No problem, now sit!”
“Ok. Oh, whoops!” Meghan pretended to trip and spilled her water all over the seat and Mia.
“What is wrong with you!” Mia shouted.
The see-through paper started shriving right in front of her eyes. Mia was furious. “Whoops! Sorry Mia. I will just go get some paper towels.”
Meghan went off to get paper towels with the biggest smile on her face. She had done it! Meghan knew Mia well, and she knew that Mia wasn't done, so neither was Meghan. Meghan had a thirst for revenge. She remembered every time that she was scared, she remembered every time Mia caused trouble. Meghan knew what she had to do, she had to stop Mia once and for all.
Getty Images
Hallucinating sunshine when the sky is gray
So that it will be less gloomy on a gloomy day
Pretending that the leaves don't change
So that we will stay the same
I know the days are growing shorter
As is my time ‘till the days get colder
When you look back on the moments
Of a summer filled with sun,
Do you regret the secrets we shared,
Or instead are you glad, that we were friends
Even if it all changed in the end
I think of you
As the frost grows on my window
With a smile and a sigh,
But the smile lingers