The Phoenix - 2017-2018 Cleveland Heights High School Student Anthology

2017-2018

The Phoenix Cleveland Heights High School Student Anthology

Artist: Jenna Dent, Grade 12

Artist: Lisa Ware, Grade 11

The Phoenix Cleveland Heights High School Student Anthology 2017-2018

Table of Contents Aloha Aina...........................................................................................................................................4

Jenna Dent Nash and Mondays..........................................................................................................................9

Samuel Hermes Re: Blood...........................................................................................................................................13

Jesse Hodges Getting Out.......................................................................................................................................18

Sophia Lally Warriors of the Stars..................................................................................................................21

Shadonnal Miller Crushed, a Fractured Sleeping Beauty.............................................................................25

Alexander Pearce Dream Chaser.................................................................................................................................26

Jacqueline Rosales The Boy Who Cried Fairy Tale...............................................................................................30

Jayden Hodge

Student Artwork

Jenna Dent............................... Front Cover Lisa Ware........................................................ 2 Cas Hoffman................................................. 8 Aishel Brooks............................................12 Lisa Ware......................................................17 Londyn Crenshaw....................................20 Jacob Budnar.............................................29 Julia O’Donnell..........................................29 Aruna Pradhan.........................................29 Sylvie Crowell..........................Back Cover The Phoenix is a publication of Cleveland Heights High School and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.

The fictional stories published in this journal were written by students in Dr. Donna Feldman’s Creative Writing class.

The published artwork was created by students in Ms. Laura Skehan’s Studio Art class and in Mrs. Nancy Rich’s Jewelry class.

Cleveland Heights High School • 13263 Cedar Road • Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 • (216) 371-7101 • CHUH.org

Aloha Aina

By Jenna Dent

On the remote island of Moku, far away from what we call civilization, lived the ‘Okole family. The ‘Okole family was centered upon Aloha Aina, love of the land and appreciation of nature. The tribe lived makai- towards the ocean, in a tree house not far from a cliff.

Less than a year ago, a terrible disease wiped out almost the entire island. The only people left on Moku island were Alii- the father of the group, Wahine- the mother, brothers Ozzy and Hiapo, Hiapo’s wife Luna, and their children, Lani and Nalu.

Since the epidemic, Ozzy, the single younger brother felt like quite a loner. He tried his best not to think about everyone who used to live on the island, his friends, cousins, neighbors, everybody. His brother Hiapo now had a family, his father Alii grew old, and just died of natural causes.

At only seventeen, Ozzy stepped up as the main family provider, struggling day after day, living in isolation, scared and confused. Around his family, Ozzy kept his spirits high. He tried to bring positivity and energy to the group; he couldn’t help but smile around others.

Although deep inside, Ozzy had a deep kind of sadness, like somehow his life had no meaning. His job was survival, but there was no point. When Ozzy was alone, he was forced to think. Nobody to talk to, to distract him from his thoughts. Now, he was alone most of the time.

The death of Ozzy’s father Alii brought back the thoughts. After everyone was long asleep, Ozzy climbed out of the tree house and sauntered towards the beach. He laid in the sand and stared into the universe. The longer he sat there, the deeper he would think, and a tear fell off his cheek.

Ozzy’s heart began to beat faster and faster. He tried taking deep breaths to calm down, ignoring his heart, but it only beat faster. His foot became tingley and fell asleep; he tried wiggling his toes but they would not respond to his movements making him panic even more. Sweating, yet shivering and covered in goosebumps, all he could think of was that something was wrong, very wrong.

Without his father, Ozzy felt truly alone. Ozzy looked up into the stars, stood up, and looked at his father’s torch, as the color of the fire began to fade from his vision. His eyes were open, but he saw nothing. He could no longer feel himself, his senses were failing him. Recklessly, he threw his body onto the ground hoping to feel something. Ozzy climbed back into his hammock, and after what must have been hours of paranoia and anxiousness, he fell asleep in hopes of escaping this nightmare.

The next day, the Okole family woke up to dark grey skies, thunderstorms, and strong winds. Ozzy thought he brought on the weather as it replicated the madness of his mind. They spent the day inside, cuddling around the imu (underground stove), and eating the fruit off of the trees surrounding their home. Ozzy and Hiapo reminisced over adventures around the island and stories from when they were boys. They drank steaming passion fruit tea, and all tried to calm their minds and cope with Alii’s death.

The tea worked and allowed Ozzy to sleep deep and well that night. The next morning, Ozzy thought he snapped out of it and was ready to turn their situation upside down. The ‘Okole family was starving and tired from the recent rain storms.

With a, “ho ‘ala, Aloha Kakahiaka Hiapo. Hele mai holoholo.” Ozzy woke up his brother Hiapo and asked him to come fishing.

Hiapo began to move around for a second, and then he just about jumped out of his hammock. Determined to get out of this runt and make a good meal for a Luau tonight, they grabbed their fishing spears and nets to go holoholo. Just like old times, the men ran Makai from their treehouse all the way to the beach.

The beach was beautiful with bright aqua water, blue skies on one side and dark grey clouds on the other half of the sky, and a faded rainbow in the distance. Ozzy quickly dove into the water and speared two fish before Hiapo even jumped in. They caught eight medium sized fish wikiwiki. Then, with one large net reaching across the river, they caught dozens of small fish in a minute. Post storm fishing was the best, and they said, “Aloha Aina” for the fish, the island, god, and life.

Hiapo said he’d have to get back to the kids before they woke up. As they walked away from the shore, Hiapo went straight towards the nearest coconut tree. He knocked down coconuts and, looking for affirmation, said “Howzit braddah?”

Ozzy replied, “Ono grinds” and gave him a shaka, his hand with thumb and pinky extended. Then, Hiapo headed home with the fish and coconuts.

Walking along the treeline, Ozzy gathered as many good fruits and vegetables he could find, and he noticed something in the brush. He couldn’t tell what it was. An animal? It was an animal he’s never seen before, and it wasn’t moving. As he got closer, he realized that it was a girl. She was different than anybody Ozzy’s ever seen before. She had pale white skin and light yellow hair.

The beautiful girl was not from this island. Ozzy had no clue where she could’ve come from, who she was, or how she was.

She looked so helpless, lying in fetal position, alone in the sand, hiding behind a thin layer of greenery.

Still about 20 yards away, Ozzy slowly and calmly walked closer to her, attempting to position himself within her view of sight. She had still not moved, aside from her breathing. Ozzy didn’t want to scare her. He was now ten feet from her resting body and made a sound by shaking the overhanging branch above her, also sprinkling water on her. She remained still. At this point, Ozzy knew she must have been awake, too scared to move. He took a few steps away. She cracked open her eyelids, to see him a tall, strong island man with long, dark curly hair and a matching scruffy beard.

4

Ozzy picked two lehua flowers, placing one in his hair and walked back. Her eyes were closed, but when she sensed the man walk back towards her, she couldn’t help but smile. Ozzy delicately placed the lehua flower below her and kneeled by her side.

The girl slowly woke up, opened her eyes, and looked Ozzy up and down. Her blue eyes met his green eyes and they both smiled. She picked up the flower and put it in her hair as well.

In a smooth deep voice, Ozzy said, “Aloha” With his hands opened towards her “Komo mai. I’m Ozzy.” He pointed at himself, his voice slightly cracked, and he half smiled.

Her voice hoarse and soft, she replied, “Aloha, Ozzy, I’m Emily”. She was wearing tight black pants and a pink shirt tailored in a way Ozzy has never seen. She looked lost, and alone. They were equally confused by the other, but instantly bonded.

“Ozzy, I’m lost, would you mind letting me borrow your phone?”

“My phone? What is phone?”

“HaHa, you’re funny too. Seriously, I don’t know what happened to mine, but my parents must be worried sick about me!”

“I’m sorry, Emily, I really don’t have phone.”

Emily looked to the right, and turned around, looking in all directions. There were no other people, as far as she can see, no boats, swimmers, sidewalks, streets, shops, or restaurants. The only sign of human life was the island boy beside her.

“Ozzy, where are we?”

“Moku Island, Makai.”

“Moku Island, I’ve never heard of it. What continent are we near? Which ocean is this?”

“I’m sorry Emily, I don’t know continent or ocean.” Then Ozzy tried to explain the island to her, the river, the cliff, the beach, the treehouse, and his family.

Emily was confused by his ignorance of the world, of everything she knows. She tried to explain that she was a city girl, with an iphone x- living in New York City, with a Bodega and a Starbucks on every corner. Now she was here, on “Moku” island. In the middle of nowhere! Her knowledge of Moku island was as great as Ozzy’s knowledge of the New York subway system. Surrounded by unfamiliar things, and her only source of information is the island boy who’s never heard of Earth before.

“Ozzy, would you mind helping me? I’m starving.”

Ozzy smiled and stood up, “Yes, and you can help me bring food to the Luau tonight.” He toured Emily along the coast, and up the river. He showed her each fruit and vegetable. Ozzy must have climbed at least one hundred trees, picked the fruit, and tossed it to Emily. They shared the snack and bagged it for the Luau.

“Emily, still starving?”

Emily giggled “No, still lost though.”

They lugged back pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables and Ozzy told Emily not to be scared that they were going back to his home, to meet his family.

As Ozzy and Emily approached the treehouse, he could already smell Wahine’s amazing coconut sauce. He heard Hiapo playing with the kids by the water. Emily was still anxious to meet everyone. Ozzy and Emily came to the treehouse from the inland side, and Luna- Ozzy’s sister in law was sitting right there behind the house, weaving Kapa clothing and bags, she said “Ozzy, I haven’t seen you all morning. Who is Malihini?!”

“Luna, this is Emily. She is lost from New York” Ozzy proudly said.

Luna stood up and walked towards Emily. Luna was tall and strong, emily was short and skinny. Luna looked her into Emily’s eyes, touched the right side of her head and stroked her hair to her shoulder and warmly grasped her arm. Luna smiled, and said, “Nani (pretty), I will make you kapa and hammock.” The she yelled “Wahine!, Ozzy has Malihini!”

Emily looked confused and turned towards Ozzy and whispered “What is Malihini?”

Ozzy grabbed her hand and said “Newcomer, you are Malihini.”

Wahine- the mother of the tribe came to the edge of the treehouse. “Ozzy, Malihini, komo mai, come here!” Luna smiled and waved them off.

Wahine was making the banquet for tonight. She was more or less the mother of the treehouse. She has a thing for cooking and taking care of people.

Ozzy lead Emily up to the treehouse and said, “Wahine, ono banquet.”

Wahine said, “Thank you, Ozzy. You and Hiapo did a good job fishing this morning, and look at all this fruit you got. Malihini must have helped.”

Ozzy smiled and said, “Thanks Wahine, yes, Emily helped.”

Wahine introduced herself to Emily. “Malihini, I am Wahine. If you need anything, I will help you.”

Emily said thank you, and Wahine said, “Nice to meet you, and thanks for all the food, now get out of my kitchen you two!”

Ozzy and Emily departed from the front of the tree house to meet Hiapo and the kids, who were swimming and jumping off of rocks. Ozzy yelled “Hiapo, meet Malihini!”

Hiapo looked and was stunned to see Emily, a girl. She looked like someone he’s never seen before, and she was beautiful.

Lani, Nalu, and Kai got out of the water and happily ran towards them. Ozzy felt like it was going well and put his arm around Emily, and said “this is Emily, you be nice to her.”

They sat around on the driftwood talking, until it was time for the banquet. With Emily there, everyone seemed to forget about their recent loss. Emily told them that she was from a big city called New York, but she already loved it here on the island. She thanked them for being so welcoming, and for the amazing food. Wahine was a master at making different sauces, 5

and knew exactly how to use all of these tropical flavors, fruits, vegetables, and spices.

After dinner, Ozzy, Hiapo, and the kids went out looking for firewood. Luna invited Emily to stay in the treehouse, and she found a kapa that would fit, and showed her, her hammock. Alii’s old hammock, right next to Ozzy.

Then, they had a fire, sat around in driftwood furniture. On the line where the foliage met the starry sky, they could hear the ocean and the frogs. They drank their island brewed “fruit beer”, sang, and told stories. Lani took the kids to bed, and Wahine the early riser followed. Hiapo talked to the two for a short time, winked at Ozzy and said goodnight to Emily.

Emily and Ozzie stayed up talking for quite some time. Looking into the stars and laughing about dumb things. Like the difference between a city and a tree house. How New York had millions of people. More stars than there were in the sky. With buildings higher than mountains and volcanoes. This was incomprehensible to Ozzy. Emily wanted to show him the world.

They seemed to really get along. They knew what the other didn’t and gave each other company.

The next morning, they woke up to fresh coffee and cut fruit. Emily made sand castles with the kids in the morning, and they surprised her with a flower lei. She was falling in love with her new island life. Such a close knit family, they were so kind.

Their lives were so relaxed and being surrounded by nature was so calming.

Emily and Ozzy went to explore the island, and draw this map that Emily spoke of. Ozzy tried to understand Emily’s life in New York. The idea of millions of people living in a city with giant buildings, streets, sidewalks, cars, subways, stores, grocery’s, restaurants, parks. Internet, civilization, business, school, work, all of this was so confusing to Ozzy. He knew there was something outside of the island, but this was all so much. Ozzy never knew that there were so many people out there, but he was lucky enough for Emily to end up there, on the island.

“Emily, do you miss the city?”

“Of course I do, but this is like a good vacation for me.”

They each made a map. Ozzy’s map was a large leaf with different plants, sand, and rocks stuck to it where they are on the island. Emily’s island was a drawing on a rock with the walking paths, rivers, mountains, beach, and treehouse all drawn out.

Another day, another dinner, another fire, and another night. Emily was seriously falling in love. With aloha ‘aina, the island, the food, nature, with Ozzy, and this easy new life. The busyness and stressfulness of the city were all gone. She felt like for the first time in her life she could actually live.

The next morning, they were all relaxing on the driftwood furniture and eating fruit. All of a sudden Emily turned and seemed to jump, “It’s a helicopter!”

“What is that?”

“My parents, they’re looking for me.”

Emily jumped out of her chair and began digging into the sand, writing out H-E-L-P E-M-I-L-Y. She asked Ozzy to build a fire that would be visible from there, so he built the biggest fire they had wood for and threw in dead leaves that would quickly burn up into large flames.

Ozzy was more than disappointed, Emily would be leaving him. Emily seemed to be the only happiness in his life since the disease struck Moku.

The family came out and began to understand what was happening.

Ozzy and Emily stood on the beach embracing each other, awaiting the helicopter. Ozzy told her that these past few days with her have meant the world to him. Emily assured him that they meant the same to her. She said that she loved him, and couldn’t stand to leave him here.

“Emily, if you love it here why don’t you stay” “I can’t just leave my whole life already, I’m too young, I have so much to do. Ozzy, please tell me you will come with me in the helicopter. I can show you the world, I can show you everything!”

As much as Ozzy wanted to be with Emily and to experience her world, he could not leave his family. With Alii gone, they needed him to gather food, firewood, and help out with everything.

The helicopter must have seen them, it was rapidly coming closer. It landed on the opposite side of the beach. A tall white man with grey hair came out of the helicopter, him and Emily ran towards each other and Emily jumped into his arms. “Emily, my darling.”

“Daddy, I’ve missed you. How did you find me here?”

“Well it took long enough, I’ve been looking for days! How did you end up here? I’ll sue that airline!”

“Sorry for worrying you, but I’ve been having a really great time here, on Moku island. This is Ozzy, he’s really helped me out and showed me all around the island, and this is his mother Wahine, brother Hiapo, his wife Luna, and their kids Lani and Nalu.

They’ve made a home for me here, and I really want to thank them.”

“When we get home we can send them money. Emily dear, we need to hurry up and get back in the helicopter.”

Emily hugged each of them goodbye, and kissed Ozzy with tears falling from her eyes.

From outside of the helicopter, Ozzy said, “Emily I will never stop loving you” Emily replied, “Ozzy I’m coming back for you” That seemed to be the end for Ozzy. He was alone again. He knew it was too good to be true. His days became long and monotone again. He did the bare minimum and drank and smoked more than ever. Even around his family he wasn’t his charismatic self anymore.

One week later, Ozzy was sitting on the cliff, looking into the water. Trying to imagine what Emily was doing off in New York.

6

He saw something in the distance, and thought he must have been hallucinating. As it slowly grew bigger, Ozzy’s excitement grew. He ran down the cliff towards the treehouse and told Hiapo. Ozzy was praying it would be Emily, and they built another bonfire.

As the ship came closer, they realized how large and far away it was! Eagerly waiting the family put together a fruit salad, began playing music and made flower leas. The huge ship came closer with emily standing on the top, waving. Ozzy’s face lit up, and he screamed “Emily!”

Emily dove off the front of the ship, and swam towards the island. Ozzy followed suit, running into the water and swimming towards her. They met in deep water and embraced each other, casually sinking each other, hugging laughing, and happy as ever.

They swam to the island, and Emily proposed a gift from her and her family. On the large ship, they had several portable cottages and cabanas they would place on the island. Her idea was that Moku island would become a tourist vacation destination.

That people from around the world could stay on the island, and they would meet many people, make money from it, and Emily would be able to come up for about a week every month.

The ‘Okole family loved the idea! Emily welcomed her family, friends, and the workers onto the island. They placed the cottages and cabanas, and had another Luau.

After this, Moku island became very popular for its nature hikes lead by Ozzy, snorkeling, relaxing, stargazing, and gourmet food by chef Wahine. The ‘Okole family thrived, they loved sharing their lives and the wedding of Ozzy and Emily with others.

The business grew, and a few people even moved to Moku island, including Emily, and her and Ozzy’s baby Kai.

7

Artist: Cas Hoffman, Grade 10

Nash and Mondays

By Samuel Hermes

Nash really didn’t like Mondays. They were long, boring, and almost always cold. The most exciting thing he had ever done on a Monday was switch out a cup of red wine with a shot of brandy during his dinner.

His friends told him he had to get out more, see the sights, go to the local football field and watch a Gladiator’s game. Nash was gladly content with his slow life, going to the tavern to clean dishes, carry some boxes and barrels around, and head back home for a meal he bought just before leaving.

“Ugh… Dumb rain,” Nash grumbled and shifted his hold on his umbrella. The downpour had begun only a few minutes ago, and Nash had to be quick to get out his umbrella least his food get soaked. Walking home on Mondays were always like this for Nash. A downpour or some other natural obstacle slowed down his trudge home. Last week it was a huge gas truck that overturned in the road. A fire had sparked and nearly burned down half the town. Thankfully, Nash got out of the blast zone before anything could really happen to him.

This week seemed to be rain, possibly a thunderstorm if the dark grey clouds were any indication. He winced as his head throbbed from his growing headache. Another indication towards the oncoming storm.

“Gah-!” Nash tripped over a rock, landing flat on his face into one of the puddles that were forming on the road. He groaned, both in pain and in agitation. Even after all the hard work he put into keeping his food dry. “I really hate Mondays…”

“Nash Riivers. I have come for you.”

“Ah… One moment please…” Nash pulled himself up from the ground and stared down solemnly at his ruined groceries. The cabbage was broken across the pavement, the eggs were conjoining in one of the puddles on the floor, and the bread was soaking up water and seemed to wilt as a result. Nash sighed and quickly glanced around for his umbrella, seeing as he dropped it when he fell.

“Looking for this?”

Nash’s umbrella moved into sight, the rain slowly pooling in the overturned item.

“Ah. Thanks...” Nash reached to take the umbrella back, hopefully to protect himself from getting hit by the rain. While he knew it wouldn’t make him any more dry, he rather didn’t like the feeling of rain hitting his body. However, Nash paused as he saw the hand that was holding the umbrella. White bone, artistically painted onto a hand that was pitch black. Nash glanced up at the mystery figure with the bone hand; more bone painted onto pitch black skin to portray the placement of the skeleton on the outside of the body. The man had on a dark jacket, possibly a shade of green, with the hood drawn up as to emphasize the white paint even further. “...Fancy meeting you here.” Nash mumbled out while taking back his umbrella with a curt thanks. “Did the day of the dead come early? It’s only June.” The skeletal man shook his head only confusing Nash. “Okay… So, what then?” The man held out his painted hand, though Nash supposed it might not be painted seeing as it wasn’t washing away in the rain. Tattoos maybe?

“It’s easier to show you.” Ominous.

Nash squinted at the outstretched hand. Should he take it? He didn’t really know the guy and all the stylized paint doesn’t really do much to sooth his Monday nerves. The bones were drawn on very well, Nash had to admit. They almost looked lifelike, as if the flesh around them were clear to show the bone within. Nash dubbed the man Boney in his head.

A thought suddenly flashed into his mind. An absurd thought, though with his luck, a very plausible thought.

“Am… am I supposed to die?”

“Oh, heavens no.” The man waved him off in a nonchalant manner. Nash sighed in relief, the fear departing with the words.

“You were supposed to die at least twenty years ago, but that’s beside the point.”

The fear rounded back. The man’s hand once again outstretched, this time with an emphasis put on it.

“Please, we must be going.”

“Mhmmm…” Nash nodded slowly, confused. This man is truly strange. Walking up to Nash looking like a bad halloween character, and demanding to have Nash go somewhere with him while claiming to know when he was going to die. “Excuse me, but I must be getting home. I have to make sure I start cooking before the sun goes down.” Nash made to go around the skeletal man but an outstretched arm kept him from moving forward.

“I insist,” The man said to Nash with a more forced tone. “I promise you that we will be back before sundown.”

“That’s not the point. Why would I go with a stranger I just met? How do I know you aren’t a mass murderer?” Nash asked. It would be his luck to get murdered by a strange bone man on a Monday.

“I’m not. Please. Come with me.” The man once again moved his hand in front of Nash, his eyes seeming to almost beg Nash to go along with it. The dark brown eyes surrounded by the pearly white paint on his face. Intense those eyes are, almost like they stared into Nash’s soul.

Nash sighed again.“You won’t leave me alone, will you?” It was a statement more than a question.

The spooky man shook his head with a ‘hmph’ and Nash mentally groaned. He could try to get past the strange man, though the man’s larger size could be a problem. Maybe Nash would be able to turn around and go another way. Looking down at the messed up food on the floor, Nash’s will to exert the energy dwindled. Determination, or something very similar was shining through the stranger’s hoodie. He was really dead set on getting Nash to go with him.

Nash slouched, resigning to his fate. Might as well get this over with, the sooner this is dealt with the sooner he can get to 9

salvaging dinner from the wet remains of his groceries. “Can I at least get a name for my potential kidnapper?”

“Dante.” Curt and to the point. A no nonsense person then.

“Huh. Okay then Dante. Lead the way.” Tentatively, Nash took a hold of the outstretched man’s hand.

Dante smiled, his lips curling up to show actual bone instead of white paint. “Thank you. Now don’t let go.” And with that, Nash and the boney man moved from the middle of the wet road during a rainstorm. The wet grocery bag slumping, letting the contents spill out over the road.

#Part 2# Everything was blurry. Nash was being pulled along at extreme speeds, being taken by Dante to places unknown. It has been a short period of time since he had taken the boney man’s hand and Nash had gotten used to the blurry colors after the first ten minutes.

“Where are we go-AH!?” Nash yelled at Dante who suddenly stopped, sending Nash flying forward. The poor man crashed against the ground and rolled before coming to a stop on his back. “You could’ve warned me…”

“We’re here.”

“Huh?” Nash sat up. Dante wasn’t looking at the downed Nash, rather he was looking over and behind him. Turning his head, Nash couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise.

Standing tall over the two is a large door. The large mahogany door stood well over twenty feet tall with intricate designs around the edges. The designs looked like grape vines intertwining with itself with small angel like men working around the vines, picking grapes. On the center of the door are two figures painted on to look like they were embracing one another. There was no keyhole or doorknob in sight.

“You...You brought me to see a giant door?”

“No. I brought you here to go through the giant door,” Dante said, grasping Nash’s hand again and ushered him along in front of the large intricate door. The man raised one hand and knocked loudly three times. “We’re here!” A loud rumble came from the door which turned out to actually be two doors as they slowly slid open inwards.

Nash stared confusingly at the open landscape that was revealed behind the doors. Large fields of green sat snug against a wide desert and a mountain that seemed to be on fire. Each different biome was separated by what looked to be rivers from a large expanse of water in the middle. “Uh… Your mountain is on fire?” More of a question than a real statement.

“Yeah. Mount Fotunó does that every once in awhile. Come on.” Dante pulled Nash back onto his feet and pulled him along into the door. As soon as they passed through, the doors shut heavily behind them.

“So. Why am I here?” Nash said, looking around in awe of the many clashing biomes. “And where is here?” An afterthought.

Wherever they were, everything was out of whack. There was a desert storm that raged right next to a blizzard that ended where a rocky beach began. The fires on the mountain burned upwards where clouds seemed to circle around the mountain peak.

“To answer the why, think of this like a tour.”

“A tour?”

“A tour.” Dante moved before Nash with arms spread out, motioning to the raging landscape behind him. “As per orders, you’ve been randomly selected to tour the newly renovated landscape of the Nine Rings of Hell.” “...Those don’t really look like rings…”

“Taking in stride. Good good.” Dante nodded his head. “No, it would be more accurate to say ‘The Nine Planes of Hell’, though that doesn’t really roll of the tongue as easy, now does it?”

“No, I suppose not. And why me, exactly?”

Dante nodded again, seeming a bit more chipper than he was on the road. Maybe he didn’t like the rain?

“Like I said, random. Your name was put in with all the other people that were alive and we did a little lottery. Surprise surprise, your name was the winner.” Dante grabbed Nash’s hand again and turned to tug him along on the journey. “Now come on, we don’t have all day.” Dante pulled along Nash down a long dirt road that lead to the planes below, like a snake that moved back and forth as it descended the mountain they were on.

“The entrance that we used is called the Gate of Babylon, reminiscent of the actual Gate of Babylon, though not quite the same thing. This gate of Babylon acts more of a portal, rather than a wall of defence to the inner workings of Hell. It is one of the few entrances to the newly renovated Hell and the planes inside. The other entrances will be looked over as we pass by them on the tour.”

“Why’s it called the Gate of Babylon? Isn’t Babylon somewhere in Iraq or something? Or, was it Pakistan? Middle East?” Dante nodded and moved in front of Nash.

“Iraq, and great question. The answer is quite simple really.” Dante paused for a buildup of dramatic effect. Or he was embarrassed about the answer. Either or. “We couldn’t come up with another name, and it was just easier to use something relatively well known.”

“That. Seems like you didn’t try very hard...” Nash muttered as he looked back at the door he walked through. Gate? Door.

Nash decided to keep calling it a door. The doors looked a lot less impressive from the inside, though he supposed that would make some sense. Why would the inside be decorated if the beings on the inside were not supposed to see it?

“Yeah, yeah, not very original. We spent most of the budget on the renovations rather than the naming part. Anyway, we bet10

ter keep going as to keep the story short.” Dante once again started down the road, thankfully not pulling on Nash’s wrist again.

He was not a child.

“Story?”

“We live in the story of existence, why wouldn’t I reference it as such?” “‘Cause that’s called breaking the fourth wall and it’s weird?” Dante stopped mid stride and turned to face Nash. A look of Really? adorned his face.

“You try living in Hell for eight hundred years and tell me how that works out for you.” With that, the tour guide sharply turned back onto the windy road and continued in his stride. Nash stared at Dante’s retreating back and hummed.

‘I guess Hell would have that effect on people.’ And Nash walked down the path to catch up with the boney tour guide.

#Part 3# “This is the First ring of Hell. We call it ‘Darude’” Nash shot a questioning look at the boney man that stood beside him.

“Like the band?”

“Like the band.” “...I don’t know if I should laugh or be utterly disgusted.” Nash grumbled, staring out over the swirling sandstorm that covered the desert. Nash and Dante both stood on a cliff overlooking the circle of Hell, the sandstorm raging on only meters in front of them. From the distance they were at, Nash could only vaguely make out figures in the shifting sand. He shuddered as he imagined how painful all the sandburns would be.

Dante gestured to the large desert area. “Darude, as the first ring of hell, is where we put all those people who don’t really do anything good in their life, nor anything really bad, but more of a middle ground. For those people who don’t take any sides when it really counts.” Nash glanced over at Dante.

“Isn’t...Isn’t that Limbo? Why don’t you just call it Limbo then? And isn’t Limbo supposed to be a place where nothing really happens?” Dante shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s what I called it when I first came here,” he huffed. “We figured we would up the ante.Mix it up a bit. Actually give people something different than what they were expecting. Besides, the sand doesn’t actually hurt, think of it more like when you get a sunburn and the skin peels and it’s really itchy. Darude is like that. Annoying, but something that can be ignored,” my tour guide of the underworld said in a matter of fact tone.

Nash looked back to the circle of Hell and hummed. A place in Hell that doesn’t actually condone the soul to eternal suffering.

Who knew? And what did Dante mean by When I first came here? He hasn’t always been a member of hell - actually that makes sense. Lots of people die every day after all.

“Come along then, we still have much more of the landscape to see.” Dante announced to the tourist beside him and took a step forward. Normally, this would not be a reason to raise alarm. However, in this case, there was no ground in front of the skeletal man with which to tread upon, causing the tour guide to plummet off the cliff ledge. Down off the cliff’s edge and into the raging sands below. Nash stared down the cliff face where Dante fell off, trying but unable to see past the swirling sandstorm.

“Hey!” a voice called from below. “Come on down already!”

“What!?” Nash called back.

“Jump!” The voice seemed to sound like Dante, though through the wind, Nash wasn’t so sure.

“What are you, crazy!?”

“Oh, come on! Don’t chicken out on me!” The voice sounded annoyed.

“I’ll die!”

“You can’t die in Hell! It’s what makes the punishments so bad!”

“Bull!”

“Just jump!”

“No!” The voice went silent. The only sound coming from the valley being the rushing winds and shifting sands. Nash began to worry, as who he perceived to be Dante didn’t answer as he had been doing. What if he was left there? The tourguide leaving his reluctant tourist alone in the planes of hell. What if Nash’s inner worrying was interrupted when a loud crack came from around his feet. Surrounding his foothold, in a nearly perfect semi-circle, was a jagged crack in the ground. Which was slowly shifting down. Going faster actually.

“AH!” Nash screamed as the ground under him fell off the cliff and into the shifting sands below. As such began the long tour through proverbial hell on an average Monday in the life of Nash Riivers.

11

Artist: Aishel Brooks, Grade 11

Re: Blood

By Jesse Hodges

A soft breeze blew through the alley, a stray copy of today’s newspaper fluttering by. August 12, 3375, the date read. The headline was about another riot breaking out between hybrid protesters and law enforcement. A vehicle hovered over it as it blew into the street, the word Edenia printed on its side. As it parked in the road, several individuals poured out of it and two more behind it. Silently, they searched the alley for something, several minutes passing by before pulling out and leaving the site. For mere seconds, no sign of motion was found.

A young Adam, who couldn’t be any older than 20, looked out from behind a nearby dumpster. “ The coast’s clear,” he said bluntly.

“Ugh, finally,” an Eve, roughly the same age, responded. “One more second behind that thing and I was gonna lose it!”

The two worked their way from between the receptacle and the wall, the dark-haired Adam speaking again with a sigh.

“You would’ve been fine, Nemesis. Gleipnir would make sure of that,” he stated, referring to the other’s collar.

“Yeah, yeah,” the red-headed youth said. “Damn thing. That aside, Jericho, it’s pretty stupid of them not to have checked behind there, yeah?”

Jericho gave Nemesis a side-glance. “Are you saying you wanted to be caught?”

“Tch, you wish,” Nemesis teased. “I just expected them to be more thorough. Guess they’re not as desperate as we thought.”

She scratched at Gleipnir, wanting it to just fall off, but no dice. “Got a read on any Blackbloods?”

Jericho closed his eyes for a moment, before reopening them. “None nearby. If there were, they likely fled after Edenia showed up, and if we’re going to find them, we need to move. Now.” He started off down the sidewalk, opposite the direction Edenia left in. Nemesis was quick to follow, as she couldn’t risk being alone should she be overwhelmed in a fight. As they travelled, Jericho kept sensing for Blackbloods, but it wasn’t much help. They just weren’t around anywhere. At the same time, sounds of crowds grew louder as they continued. # It wasn’t much longer until the din peaked; as the two Sanguines came across the source: another riot. Businesses and cars were damaged and windows were broken on both sides of the street, with trash cans strewn about, and hybrids facing down police as far as the eye can see. “Well, isn’t this perfect,” said Nemesis. “How are we going to get through this mess!?”

As soon as she said that, a massive Enforcement Unit noticed the duo. It had a large, almost cylindrical frame, with a single red ‘eye’, turret-like arms, and insect-like legs on which it stood. It was unlike anything anyone had seen publicly, and it started on something resembling a beeline for the duo. Jericho looked to the sides, and found a somewhat clear path into an alley on their left. “Just follow me,” he replied, grabbing Nemesis’s arm and pulling her along. Getting out of the metal goliath’s way in the nick of time, they ducked into the alley, but bumped into someone on the way, dragging them into the shadows with them.

“Oy, what’s the big idea?” the figure asked. Nemesis and Jericho got up and brushed themselves off after falling into their makeshift escape route. In doing so, they got a better look at their unfortunate plus-one. He was a hybrid, one who looked to be a bird-of-prey variety. As he coughed, they saw that his shirt was torn to make room for his wing-like arms. However, they couldn’t take in much more as they remembered the threat of the gigantic steel menace, now turning towards them.

Jericho and Nemesis fled down the alley, the bird-Adam following suit. “Hey, where do you think you’re going!?” he yelled as he ran. As the machine broke through the alley, the sound clearly got his attention. “Woah! W-What is that thing!?”

The three ran in all manner of directions, hoping to shake their pursuer off their trail, but it wasn’t long before they hit a dead end, the droid visibly nearby. While Jericho and Nemesis armed themselves for a fight, the third among them was not so quick to the punch. But before any fight could break out, a new, fourth voice broke through the tension.

“That is enough!” it declared, the voice’s owner zipping between the parties and launching a volley of projectiles at the intimidating droid. In retaliation, the robot swung a punch at its target, missing and hitting a wall. This left it wide open for another volley. The two Sanguines soon joined in, leaving the behemoth with no room to counter until it finally fell. # With the deed done, Nemesis and Jericho were left panting in exhaustion and their avian accomplice was stunned at what he had just witnessed, while the last of the four descended to the ground.

“That takes care of that,” Jericho said, turning his attention to their savior of sorts. “Tell me, who are you?”

With that same attention returned to Jericho, a response was given. “I am Officer-Class Enforcement Unit Designation 10-T4, though my allies have oddly taken to referring to me as Rhapsody.”

“Rhapsody, huh?,” Nemesis asked. “Well, whatever your name is, it doesn’t matter. The real question is why you saved us, lady.”

Rhapsody looked down for a few seconds before responding again. “As an Enforcement Unit, I bear no biological sex, but I have been often called the opposite of a ‘lady’,” he clarified, his hands running through his long, gold ponytail for whatever reason.

“Still,” Jericho continued, “that doesn’t quite answer her question. How did you know to save us?”

Rhapsody was quicker to reply this time around. “I had seen my squadron’s Rampart-Class Enforcement Unit, an experimental prototype, remove itself from the current crisis in order to pursue the two of you. Once it had broken through the alley, I was quick to chase it down. For reasons unknown, it was… determined to kill you.”

13

“So, you let that damn thing loose on us without testing it!? What’s wrong with you!?” Rhapsody, Jericho, and Nemesis turned back to their other acquaintance as a reaction to his outburst.

Jericho spoke again. “And you are?”

“Don’t ask that like I just got here! You’re the ones who dragged me into this!” The bird-Adam huffed and turned aside. A few seconds passed before he sighed and continued talking. “The name’s Zephyr, for the record.”

“Aren’t you one of those rioters from back that way?” Nemesis asked, pointing back down the alley. Zephyr was quick to spit out his reply.

“It’s not like it was my decision! I just didn’t want to be excommunicated!”

Jericho raised an eyebrow. “Excommunicated? What do you mean?”

Strangely enough, it was Rhapsody to speak next. “Excommunicated. Verb, past tense. To be officially excluded from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church.”

The others looked unamusedly at the droid. “My apologies,” Rhapsody continued in response. “Did you not require a literal definition?”

Nemesis, rolling her eyes, turned back to Zephyr. “I’ll save Jericho the trouble of asking again. What do you mean, excommunication?” # As if he were forcing the words out, Zephyr answered in an almost strained tone. “I never really had any real personal stake in this damn race. Far as I’m concerned, as long as I’m intact, nothing else matters. See, I didn’t grow up around many others, and the ones I did grow up with, they had similar sentiments.”

His fists balled up as he continued. “But when the protests, the… riots started, ol’ Dad went and got real passionate. He told me that he was joining in, and that if the rest of us didn’t follow suit, he’d kick us out of the nest. Now, despite what I said before, I care about my family, so I did as I was told. Big mistake.” His face deformed into a scowl.

“By following my dad out there, I was granted the displeasure of seeing other hybrids either being shot down or causing collateral damage. No real in-between, to boot. I couldn’t stand it, I ducked out of there when I was sure I wouldn’t be noticed.”

He looked back up at the others, still scowling. “And I was just about to right when you rammed into me, actually. Right when you almost got me killed by that… that… thing!”

Nemesis sneered back, looking absolutely pissed off. “You sayin’ this was our fault!? For your information, wise guy, we’re on the lam here, and that prototype whatever-it-is wasn’t much help!”

Rhapsody cocked his head to one side, and then the other. “‘On the lam’? That is… an expression. You mean to say you are fugitives?”

“In a way,” Jericho replied.

Before he could say anything else, Zephyr cut in again. “Oh, please, you’re just a couple ‘a humans! How does that make you some special attention runaways!?”

At this point, Nemesis was livid. “You… We’re not human!” She tensed her entire body, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.

“Not. Anymore.” It was then that her appearance began to change a bit, the skin around her eyes, as well as the whites, were tarnished a pitch black. The same happened to her arms up to the elbow, though with tinges of faded red pulsing in and out of visibility. Jericho followed suit, any traces of Nemesis’s red equated by dark blues. # Rhapsody picked up on the event quickly. “You are Sanguines,” he said. “This explains why the Rampart pursued you, as it was specially designed to track, target, and eliminate Sanguines.”

“Who designed it, then!?”, Nemesis snapped. Without hesitation or surprise, Rhapsody gave a response that silenced her.

“The original designer of the Rampart-Class Enforcement Unit is unknown by name, however, evidence indicates their affiliation lying with the Edenia Organization.”

Nemesis’s eyes narrowed, as Jericho gave a disappointed sigh. “Why am I not surprised?” he asked himself aloud. “Of course they would design something for that purpose.”

“M...M-M…” Zephyr, who the others momentarily forgot about, was left stammering in fear as he saw the true Nemesis and Jericho. “M-M-Monsters! You’re monsters, the both of you!”

Nemesis’s attention darted back to the terrified hybrid. “Can’t you keep it down, feather-head? You’re going to attract unwanted attention-” She was cut off by the sounds of a distant, screaming crowd. It was coming from where the riot was. Something happened, and it didn’t sound good at all.

“I must go back,” Rhapsody stated. “As an Enforcement Unit, I must uphold the well-being of the people, and I cannot do that here now.”

Zephyr’s focus changed to the android. “And what about us, tin Adam? Huh!?”

“I will do what I can to return. Please wait here.” And with that, Rhapsody lifted into the sky and swiftly flew back where he came from. The rest were just left to wait, or, at least, they would if something else was not suddenly off.

“Nemesis, I’m picking something up, and it’s closing in fast,” Jericho warned. Nemesis’s eyes widened at this. Another enemy, perhaps?

“Really? Now you’ve got a read? Here? Now!?”

14

Zephyr, who finally got back on his feet, was clearly confused by the exchange. “H-Hey, what’re you goin’ on about?”

Jericho looked back at Zephyr, and without hesitation gave him a warning as well. “Zephyr, if you think we’re monsters as we are now, then I can tell that you’ve never seen anything like what’s on its way.”

The two Sanguines readied themselves for another fight, their breaths thoroughly caught after facing down the Rampart.

Nemesis bared her claws and Jericho spawned a spear from the ether, displaying another of a Sanguine’s odd abilities. “This might as well be your fight too, Zephyr,” Jericho continued. “Get yourself ready.”

“W-Well, yeah, of course,” the hybrid stammered, “but all I h-have are… th-th-these.” He got out two box cutters, clearly worn from use, and brandished them like daggers. His new allies weren’t exactly impressed, and given what was coming for them, they knew such things would be more hindrance than help. Regardless, the three stood back-to-back, as their new foe could come from anywhere. But soon enough, it made itself known. # From a shadowed corner came a surprisingly more human-like figure than expected, though it was very clearly not human. Its corpse-like form was that of a pale Eve with dark hair, her clothes torn and her mouth sewn shut. Her eyes were gone, replaced by a single violet light that flitted from socket to socket. A black, tar-like substance dripped from her limbs and back, and her body was littered with stitches. Her movements were very unnatural, almost like a puppet’s. But most unsettling of all was the harsh, raspy, distorted sound it made, only vaguely akin to breathing.

The only thing Zephyr could muster was a terrified, high-pitched squeaking noise. Even Jericho and Nemesis looked confused and unnerved by the creature. “Jericho,” Nemesis asked, “what is that?”

Jericho closed his eyes again, only for them to shoot open. “Impossible,” he muttered. “It’s… It’s a Blackblood, but… it’s also… not?”

Zephyr continued squeaking as Nemesis turned to face her fellow Sanguine. “What do you mean ‘it is, but it isn’t’!? Here I was thinking you actually picked up a-” Before Nemesis could finish her thought, the ghastly Eve sped towards the trio, lunging at them. The three got out of the way, followed by Nemesis being the first to get in close. She swiped her claws at her target, missing some blows and landing others.

But any hits she did land were almost instantly patched up by the ebon ooze seeping out, leaving Nemesis with a horrified and frankly disgusted expression. “Okay, seriously, what the. . .”

The feeling only worsened as the… “pseudo-Blackblood”... actually attempted to speak. “Wh-r- -s my -au--t-r?”, she brokenly hissed. As soon as she spoke, Zephyr raced up to her, his box cutters positioned for a strike. This caught the creature’s attention, giving Jericho an opening to prepare an attack of his own, followed by Nemesis. Their collective attacks did land more often, seeing as the monster wasn’t quick to block each of them simultaneously, but once again, her wounds were quick to repair themselves.

Now it was the creature’s turn. Her hands turned into large, fetid claws, still dripping pitch black, and like a cornered animal, she swung her claws with frightening speed and power. Nemesis and Jericho were able to parry, but Zephyr wasn’t as lucky.

One clean swipe was enough to take the bird-boy down. The two Sanguines were taken aback, expecting her to pounce on her fallen prey, but rather, her leap was for Nemesis.

Once she was pinned down, Nemesis struggled under her captor’s cold, disgusting grip. The breath-like sound was even more terrible to hear up close, but it didn’t deter her struggle. In enough time, she broke an arm free and scratched at one of the monster’s sockets. She let go, clasping the injury and letting out a sickening screeching sound.

Keeping a hand on the wound, the cadaver flailed her remaining arm wildly, landing a couple blows on her targets, who couldn’t heal their wounds as fast. At the same time, Nemesis and Jericho landed hits of their own, and as they were about to land the final blows, the creature surged with electricity before falling to the ground, her limp form twitching.

As it turned out, law enforcement, among which was Rhapsody, arrived at the scene and tased their target. However, before anything else could sink in, the world in the Sanguines’ eyes grew hazy, followed by sudden darkness. # Light once again flooded into Nemesis’s eyes. The sounds of a heart monitor faded into her ears. She was in some sort of hospital room; that much became clearer to her as she woke up. As she tried to sit up, a sweet-sounding voice cut through the almost-silence. “Ah, please, no! You shouldn’t get up yet!”

Nemesis looked to her right and saw a young Eve, presumably of Asian origin and garbed in a nurse’s uniform, sitting by her side. “What do you mean? I feel fine.”

The other Eve retained a concerned look on her face. “Still, from what I heard, you really took a beating, miss.” She put a gentle hand on her patient’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I’m all right!,” Nemesis spat back. “And don’t call me ‘miss’. Doesn’t sit right with me. And since I know you’re going to ask, the name’s Nemesis.”

The nurse was taken aback by Nemesis’s outburst, but was quick to recompose herself. “My name is Seo-Yeon. In any case, if you really feel better, I can escort you out. There is someone waiting to see you, after all.” Nemesis would have cocked her head at the mention of someone waiting for her if she wasn’t already getting out of bed and heading for the door. “Now, hold on,” Seo-Yeon interrupted. “I have to scan us out.” As soon as she brought up the detail, she got out an ID card and held it to a small wall-mounted scanner, which soon after opened the door.

As the two left the room, one question entered her mind as quickly as she asked it. “Where exactly are we?” This was met 15

with a stammering Seo-Yeon, fumbling over an answer that she seemed hesitant to give.

“Uh, uh, well, you see, that’s a- that’s a difficult case, and s-such… You know?”

Nemesis narrowed her eyes at her apparent caretaker in suspicion before turning back to the door once it closed on them.

The logo on the door gave her all the answer she needed and very much didn’t want. Edenia. Furious, she turned once again to the now-mortified Seo-Yeon, and without hesitation, threw her to the floor, scratching her arm in the process.

This attracted the attention of some nearby security guards, who tased Nemesis from behind when she wasn’t looking.

Unlike the creature from before, she wasn’t easily sedated, but she couldn’t do much against it, to her own chagrin. The guards picked her up under her arms, and dragged her off, Seo-Yeon having gotten up and now walking beside them. Nemesis shot the nurse another look, making her jump out of fear of what Nemesis could do to her.

As they approached the corner, two more guards came into view, carrying Jericho in a similar fashion. When Nemesis saw him, however, her mind didn’t jump to questions of what happened to him or where they were being taken, but of all things, she asked herself why Jericho didn’t jump to get that… thing off her.

Suddenly, Jericho’s voice broke through Nemesis’s thoughts. “Where are the others?,” he asked anyone but Nemesis in that moment. He did bring up a good point, though. What about Zephyr? Or Rhapsody? Or the monster? Seo-Yeon of all people was the one to speak up.

“That hybrid boy, Zephyr, I believe is his name, is currently resting. That anomaly did significant damage to him, but he wasn’t exposed to its essence long enough to turn into a Sanguine like you.”

“Speaking of,” Nemesis forced out, “what happened to that… thing!?”

Intimidated once again by the Artery, she continued. “We managed to detain it, and our top scientists are trying to determine what its cause of existing is. All I know is what they’ve disclosed, but not why. Apparently, they’ve codenamed it Mother and classed it as an… Arrested.”

“What does all that mean?,” Jericho asked.

“I don’t know! That’s all they told me!”

Nemesis stewed in irritation before barking at Seo-Yeon again. “And what about Rhapsody?”

“You mean 10-T4, don’t you?” The nurse hesitated a bit before actually answering the question, lest she sustain more injuries, or worse. “‘He’ is being interrogated as to why the Rampart acted out on his watch, since he was assigned to keep an eye on it at all times.”

“And the riot? What happened there with all the screaming we heard from the alley?”

Seo-Yeon paused another couple seconds. “All I heard was that a hybrid was stabbed in the back and killed during the event, and panic circulated from there. I also heard that the wounds match up with the ones that one serial killer is known for. Ludolf, I think.”

Nothing more was said from then on. Seo-Yeon and the guards led the Sanguines to an elevator, which made little sound until the typical dinging noise as they reached the top floor. “We’re here. She’ll see you now.”

Nemesis and Jericho were taken out of the elevator, but the nurse didn’t follow. The elevator closed behind them, implying that she was on her way back down.

Other than the guard’s footsteps and the sounds of them dragging their captives across the spotless tile floor, the only sound in the ivory room was the drumming of nails on the arm of the back-turned chair at the room’s end. That is, until she spoke.

“Well now. After all you’ve done, I should have more to say to you two, but surprisingly, I think just two words will suffice.”

The chair turned around to reveal a well-endowed, fair-skinned Eve with long black fingernails, longer lavender hair, and a stark white business suit over a black dress shirt. The Edenia logo was printed right onto her suit cuffs. Nemesis sneered, growling. Jericho’s brow furrowed a bit. The woman’s face, however, grew into a smug, condescending, and victorious grin.

“Welcome home.”

16

Artist: Lisa Ware, Grade 11

Getting Out

By Sophia Lally

It all started with a knock on the door at midnight. I think my dad knew it was coming, but he knew it would be his life or jeopardizing all of ours. He had always told me never get into the dope game, that it can either make or break your life, and it wasn’t worth taking the risk. I never asked him, “Then why are you?” because I knew the answer. He was too far in. I was the one who saw him open the door, I was the one who saw his life drain out of his body, and now I’m the one who’s in the dope game.

Two years later…

Mama took a breath, she was yelling but I could tell she wasn’t mad, she was sad. “Mama, I’m just trying to make us a living, so we can get out of here and into a place more safe. I know you don’t want to live here anymore, I can tell in your face everytime you walk outside.”

“Lamar, I AM NOT going to lose my son to the streets, the same way I lost my husband.” She walked over to my dresser and started dumping everything out. “Where’s the rest of it huh? I know you sell more than this” “Mama, stop it, you’re not going to find anything, weed is all I sell” “You’re greasy.”

“I am not lying Mama, I don’t got time for this, I got to go to work”, I said as I dug out my Walmart shirt from the clothes she dumped on the floor.

“Oh yeah, which job? Dope dealing or your normal job?”

“Maybe both,” I responded as I walked out of my room. # The longer I was selling, the bolder I got. I could easily be put into jail for this but making this money blinds me from that. I do stock and cash register at Walmart, but that’s also where a lot of my own personal customers buy from me. One simple slip up, and I know I’m in jail, leaving my mom and little sister to fend for themselves. That can’t happen. However, I was just too deep in. Especially when one of my most loyal customers came in.

“What’s up, Lam?” asked Tyler as I put the last of the boxes on the shelf and turned around.

“What’s up bro?” I said as I dapped him up.

“You got that sack with you? I got fifty.”

I pulled out my bag from my pocket and raised my eyebrows at him. He followed me to a place more hidden, so we can make the transaction. Just as he was counting the fifty out, and I tied his bag for him, a man with a deep voice said, “Excuse me, you work here?”

Tyler and I both turned around, he clearly saw what was going on. He gave us a side smirk and then pulled out a badge. That was the first real time I had an interaction with a cop, my heart started pounding, the only thing that came to my mind was my mom and my sister. I knew I only had one choice: to run. I put my stuff back in my pocket and dipped. I didn’t look back, although I knew Tyler was running behind me. I knew this was the end of my career at Walmart, where I just was starting to get promoted. Just like my dad said, it can either make or break you. I took the risk, and it was either lose my job or my life to jail.

The only thing that saved me was was the cop not knowing who the dealer was and who the buyer was…

“Hey baby Layla,” I said as I walked in the door and swooped up my baby sister. “Guess what I got you?”

“What!? What!?” Layla asked laughing. I pulled out my pocket a box with a necklace in it, opened it and showed her. Her eyes got wide and she covered her mouth in awe. There was a purple rhinestone outlined in white diamonds.

“I know it’s not the best present, not the new Barbie you wanted, but do you like it?” I asked her.

“It’s the best present ever!”

I turned her around and put the necklace around her and said I loved her in her ear as she ran off.

I took out the other box out of my pocket and opened it. I held out a pink rhinestone with white diamonds outlining it and unhooked it and walked slowly over to Mama. I quietly stepped behind her and put the necklace around her. “I love you Mama, I’ll make you proud, I promise,” I said as I walked away not waiting for her to respond.

I learned in life not to dwell on the past, don’t live in the present and work for the future, and that’s what I been doing, working.

I work when Mama thinks I’m working at Walmart, I work when everyone is sleeping, I work posted at the convenience store. Me getting caught just made me work even harder to get this money, and it feels so good. My goal is to get my mama and sister out of the projects by the end of this summer, no matter what it takes. # “You know there has been random shootings going around?” Tyler said as he passed me the spliff.

“Random? I don’t know about that,” I said as I blew smoke out my mouth.

“Oh yeah, it has been, you’re telling me they shooting 80 old grandmas for a reason? No they going on a spree, and they still haven’t been found.”

“Yeah, just more of a reason I need to get the out of O-Town.”

“You real serious about this huh?” Tyler looked at me.

“Yeah, I am. We live in the projects, where everyone knows my dad and him getting shot, my Mama don’t feel safe, I’m getting her out of here.”

18

Just then a car raced into the parking lot, bumping music, with all the windows up. Tyler reached in his back pocket for his gun. Then a female stepped out and another out the passenger door, and he dropped his hand. The girl who was driving was short and mixed with real curly hair and looked me up and down as she walked in the store. I couldn’t help myself but to look back at her and smile. The other girl was still standing outside, and I could smell the alcohol on her, I hate girls who drink.

Apparently Tyler didn’t though.

“Aye, she saucy, you smell it on her?”

“How could I not?” I said frowning. The mixed girl walked out the store, and I stopped her. “I’m sorry I can’t help but talk to you, you’re beautiful, what’s your name?”

She smiled. “Jordan,” she said as she got back in her car. “Oh my, where is Jess, oh my god, girl, if you don’t get in this car,” she screamed to her friend.

“You scared of us or something? You can’t stay and talk a while?” I said leaning down through her window “I don’t know you!” she said. “Jess, oh my” she stepped back out the car. Jess was too busy talking to Tyler.

“Look Jess made friends with my friend Tyler. Why can’t you be mine?”

“Jess is saucy, if ya’ll can’t tell.”

“My name is Lamar, I’m seventeen, and I live in those houses right over there” pointing across the street to the projects.

“Now you know me.” I smiled at her She laughed, “Okay, Lamar, you don’t happen to know anyone who might sell some bag there do you?”

I pulled out my sack and asked, “You mean me?” She looked at me with her mouth open, then smiled. Just then I got a phone call. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Lamar Sawyer?”

“Yes it is, who is this?”

“This is Dr. Lidney from Mercy Hospital, I have your mother here with me, you need to come down.”

“What’s wrong wrong with my mama?” I yelled without thinking.

“Lamar, we’re going to need you to come down here now to talk.”

I hung up the phone. “Tyler, let’s go now.”

“Where are you going?” Jordan asked.

“To my car,” I said without looking at her.

“C’mon, we’re taking mine. Let’s go Jess,” Jordan yelled as she pushed me to her car. “We’re friends right?”

“Thank you so much.”

When everyone was in the car Jordan handed me back a wrap and said I needed it, so I started rolling. She heard the conversation on the phone, and I was already digging her for caring enough. When we got to the emergency room, I was the only one allowed in. The first thing I saw was my mom, then blood, and I immediately started panicking. It took the doctors ten minutes to calm me down, and I still don’t even know what happened.

“Your mom has been shot in a random drive by shooting. She was shot in the leg, but she’s okay. Your little sister is in the daycare room right now, she is fine,” Doctor Lidney said to me. “Your mom is sleeping right now from the surgery of us taking the bullet out. The shooting happened about two hours ago and we started working immediately, a bypasser heard the gunshot and saw her laying in front of your house and called us.”

I waited an hour for mama to wake up, and when she finally did I kneeled beside her and talked quietly. “Mama, can you hear me?”

She nodded her head yes, I could tell she was in pain.

“The first thing i’m going to do is find the people who did this to you but second, look Mama I want to show you something,” I said as I stood up. “Were finally getting out of here, I promised you mama, I promised you. I picked up my backpack and started grabbing my money out. I just started throwing hundred dollar bills everywhere. I had a total of thirty thousand dollars in savings over these past two years. “Look mama, I did it, we did it. You don’t have to worry no more.” Tears started coming out of mama’s eyes but I knew they weren’t from the pain. # My father once told me to never get into the dope game, that it can either make or break your life. Now as I’m standing here in the hospital room holding my mama, I looked up to my dad and said “We finally made it.”

19

Artist: Londyn Crenshaw, Grade 12

Warriors of the Stars

By Shadonnal Miller

Being an Immortal star sign living in the skies, there’s a few things you could do with your time: play with Ursa Minor (but Ursa Major might attack you), redo your home on your respected planet, or even train for a series of fights that determine whether you keep your immortality or die and be a memory. This is how the line of the Zodiac make sure that every sign deserves to stay in the galaxy, a tournament that occur every time few million Earth years, which is only year to these beings. In the last tournament, Ophiuchus was the one fighting for survival, and she failed. Now it’s time for Pisces to make her placement known amongst the stars.

A turquoise arrow pierced into the navy blue trunk of the tree, only mere inches from her intended target (which was a fleeting butterfly). A celestial girl by the name of Pisces groaned in annoyance and dropped her bow, it hitting the grass with a soft thud.

“Missed again! I never used to be this bad, what is wrong with me!?” She hissed to herself, not caring about the volume of her voice. Neptune was her planet of residence after all, and there was nobody else around for her voice to irritate except for the fish and butterflies and occasional other celestial creatures. Huffing through her nose, she fell silent, listening to the sound of a waterfall near her.

Wanting to relax after a brief five minutes of useless training, her bare feet padded along the rather damp grass as she headed towards the sound of water crashing against rock and still water. Sitting on the shoreline of the pond that the waterfall dropped off into, Pisces ran her fingers along the water then raised her hand, a sphere of liquid rose from the water and floated near her face.

Her greenish-blue eyes lit up at the sight of a small lavender colored fish swimming around in her floating water ball, grinning, she lifted her other hand to wave at it.

“Hello little guy! Aren’t you just the cutest little fishy?” She cooed and waved her fingers at it, the creature pausing to stare at her. The fish noticed when her expression shifted from adoration to blank once a black scorpion crawled up her side and stood on her shoulder. The water sign placing the water ball back in the pond where it belonged using her hydromancy.

“What do you want, Scorpio?” Pisces hissed while her gaze landed upon the sinister creature as it crawled onto the ground and shifted shape into a boy with hair as dark as the night and skin as pale as snow.

“I am curious as to why you’re letting frustrations thwart your ability to practice.” His voice lacked much emotion as he sat with his legs crossed next to Pisces. He could tell that she was annoyed, it wasn’t that difficult to tell. With the way her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, she had irritation written all over her face. Not that it would stop him, he came here on a mission and not even her wrath - as docile as it was - was going to stop him. As annoyed as she was, she couldn’t help but be a little confused by his word choice. Besides, she got the gist of what he meant.

“I just stopped to take a break, besides, I think I’m done for the day so you can go back home, Scorpio,” she spat, her voice giving away how her mood was worsening. If there was one thing she hated, it was when someone would try to tell her what to do, even in the subtlest of ways.

“This isn’t the time to dawdle, Pisces. You know that the tournament is soon, and you must remain focused.”

“You don’t think I know that?! I do know what’s at stake here, but I also know that pushing myself won’t help either!”

The male water sign scoffed and rolled his eyes, here she was getting stubborn when all he was doing was getting her to see the bigger picture. Raising his hand to rub his face, he quickly tried to calm down with deep breaths. Scorpio has been around her long enough to know that getting mad won’t help. So he then reached out to gently touch her shoulder, inwardly cringing at how her muscles tensed up under his touch.

“Forgive me, but I shan’t just stand aside and let this go on. If you are as capable as you say then show me.”

“Shan’t?”

“Shall not.”

“Shouldn’t.”

“We’re getting off topic here.”

Pisces stared at him before she tilted her head, mouth opening but before she could ask, Scorpio cut her off by putting his index finger on her lips to stop it.

“Before you ask: Yes, I haven’t been to Earth in eons so my English is a bit old. Moving on.” Tutted Scorpio as he lowered his hand and sighed.

“As I was saying, you’ll show me that you’re ready for the tournament with a spar.” The look in her blue eyes said enough as she shot up to her feet, the pond behind her reacting to the sudden fluctuation in mood as it flew upward a few inches. Her feet hit the grass as she ran towards where she left her bow and snatched it up, running back to the pond and plucking up a black and white fish with her astrology symbol on its back. Squeezing it once, it then shifted and stretched to form an arrow. Usually she would summon her arrows, but when her fish turned into arrows they had a lot more abilities with it due to them being her creatures like scorpions belonged to Scorpio. It’s been so long since Scorpio and her had trained together, the last time she could remember was at least a few centuries ago back when Ophiuchus was around. At that thought, she lost a little hop in her step. Ophiuchus…

“Hiya!!”

21

Pisces was taken out of her thoughts as a silver haired girl pranced up to her, she was smaller than Pisces. Although she could recognize that star sign printed directly into her hair anywhere.

“Cancer? What are you..?” She trailed off while she looked back towards Scorpio, who had a tiny smile on his face. Cancers’ deep indigo bow bounced as the young girl hopped around Pisces with an aura that would just boost anyone’s mood. It only took her a few seconds to figure out what she was doing, first he says that she needs to prove that she’s strong enough, then before she can even get into battle stance, here comes Cancer….oh no. Scorpios’ grin widened the moment he saw the realization flicker in Pisces’ sapphire hues and he took a step forward.

“Yep! You’re gonna be fighting this little twerp!” he conferred, as he gently patted the top of Cancers’ head, causing her to huff.

“Don’t call me that!” Cancer playfully growled then returned her attention to Pisces. “But he’s right, you and me are gonna be fighting! How fun does that sound?” It was a rhetorical question, the taller and paler star sign only sighed and raised her hand.

The environment shifting as she moved the three of them to her own little battlefield. Which was a literal field. When she was told to create a battleground on Neptune, she took it quite literally. Dropping her hand, her feet moved through the grass as she moved back. Pisces fought Cancer before, with Cancer having a chain hook and her owning her bow and arrow, they both relied on distance to fight. Although, if Pisces could avoid getting hooked, she should be fine.

Scorpio had perched himself on a rock, far away from the two girls as they got into their stances. He was gonna watch them both, more specifically Pisces, He needed to make sure that she was ready for the upcoming tournament. He didn’t have to worry about Cancer - she was one of the top four, far away from being in the danger zone unlike Pisces. If Pisces lost in the Tournament, then she would be dead, gone, forgotten. He had failed Ophiuchus, he wasn’t going to fail Pisces. No words were needed, both girls of them knew this. Pisces focused her sights on Cancer across the blue field. Closing one eye, she cocked her arrow and pulled back on the bowstring. Once she inhaled, the arrow was released.There was a brief moment of silence until the arrow exploded into a mass of water, crashing down on the ground and travelled towards the other sign at fast speeds.

“Oh man, that’s big…” remarked Cancer as she began to spin her chain hook, quickly gaining momentum, slowly releasing the chain wrapped around her hand to extend her weapon. When her hand was on the ball end of the chain, the tsunami type wave was right in front of her. Cancer violently swung her hand down, the hook end of the chain flowing through the center of the wave and broke it apart, saving her from the waters’ strength.

As the water flowed around her, it crashed into the trees behind her, ripping the bark and leaves into pieces. Cancer grinned and wrapped the chain back around her arm and held the hook in her hand. Turning around, her eyes widened when she couldn’t see Pisces anymore, she couldn’t see much of anything! While Cancer was distracted, Pisces had formed a large and thick fog using the moisture in the ground.

The thing about making fog was that it wasn’t subjective to just the opponent, it would affect its caster as well. A very risky move on Pisces’ end, but as long as she finds Cancer first - all would be well.

“No fair! You know I can’t use hydromancy as well as you can!” Pisces rolled her eyes as she heard Cancer’s voice through the silence, didn’t she know that speaking would only make it easier for her to be found in the fog? But Cancer had a point, out of the three water signs, that being her, Pisces and Scorpio, Pisces was the best at it, most likely because of her love for water and anything that came with it. Keeping low to the ground, her eyes would dart to and fro in her search for a silhouette or anything that would lead her to her opponent. Crawling on the grass, her bow on her back, she moved, trying to be like a snake in the tall grass. That’s when she saw it, the lavender colored boots, moving right past her. Pisces stopped all movement immediately. If she moved then Cancer would hear her move through the grass. # Silence once again filled the area, that was until Pisces could hear chain rattling while the boots stopped moving. Her blue hook dropping suddenly, hanging only a few inches above the ground. She knew. Pisces had about five seconds at most to act.

Her right hand reared back and grabbed her bow, pulling it to her front as she sat up on her knees. Cocking the bow, she pulled a bit of fog from the air and turned it into an arrow with tiny arrowheads floating around the tip. As the shoes turned towards her, she aimed upwards and fired. Getting up and quickly ran in the other direction and with a hurried wave of her finger, the fog dissipated, Scorpio needed to see what was going to happen next. # The first thing Scorpio noticed was how Pisces was running away from Cancer when he could finally see her again; the second thing was the arrow flying into the Neptune skies.

“Where is that going…?” he asked nobody in particular, this was new, in all the tournaments in the past he never seen Pisces create fog, turn an arrow into a tsunami or whatever else she had planned for this wayward arrow. Maybe that’s why she’s running away? Looking back down towards the girls, he saw Cancer looking around. She most likely hadn’t noticed the fleeing Pisces. The sound of metal detaching brought both his and Cancers’ attention above. Scorpio didn’t see the arrow anymore. Did it break?

Pisces stopped and turned around, grinning as she saw that her opponent hasn’t moved from her spot. It’s all over now. Seconds passed, then tiny arrows rained down from the sky and Cancer had nowhere to go or to hide. She immediately dropped down, curled up and braced for the inevitable. She could only endure every arrow which cut at her skin, her dress, even her boots. When it was over, her curled up form wobbled before her body fell to the grass.

“Aw yeah!! I did it!” Pisces cheered and high fived herself, jumping for joy. She had nothing to worry about, this whole tour22

nament was gonna be a breeze!

“Looks like you have been practicing. I am elated to know that,” came Scorpio’s voice from beside her, Pisces squeaked and jumped, turning to look at him in surprise. Her eyes blinking before she laughed and dropped her bow to put her hands on her hips.

“Ha! I told you I could do it!”

“Y-Yeah…..we’re all happy for you and all, but that really hurt…” Cancer piped up from her spot on the grass a few feet away, eyes gazing up at the sky barely focusing. Both Pisces and Scorpio trotted over to Cancer and Pisces chuckled nervously. “..Are you going home now?”

“Mhm...see you at the tournament...” Cancer answered weakly.

They waved as her body turned into a multitude of miniature stars moving off into the sky and then into space, going to her home on the moon to regain her strength for the upcoming battle royale.

“As I was saying, I am proud that you proved me wrong.” He smiled, although his tone hinted that he wasn’t saying something that he should be. Pisces knew that Scorpio would rarely lie to her or withhold information unless he had a reason.

“I know, but you’re hiding something. I can feel it. And you know that my gut is rarely wrong!”

At her words, his magenta eyes cut away from her and looked down at the ground.

“All right, so I wasn’t supposed to come here to make you train with Cancer… I was actually requested to tell you that the tournament starts on the morrow. You’ll be fighting Aquarius when her planet starts retrograde...” He almost expected her to be mad, since Uranus’ retrograde wasn’t till the next day but when he looked back to see the fish sign grinning, he was definitely confused.

“That soon? Oh great! The sooner I start the better, that means I need to rest up and get mentally prepared!” she spoke a mile a minute, the environment shifting back to where the first started, at the pond. Pisces pushing Scorpio away even though she couldn’t exactly push him off of her planet.

“But Pisces--!”

“Nope! Go home, I’ll see you tomorrow!” # Staring at her for a minute, he sighed and shrugged. Giving her a wave and a soft smile before he too dissipated into stardust and floated off into space, her eyes watching him go before she turned and ran back home to her aquamarine littered cave and much tinier pond. Running onto the water, she inhaled, enjoying the cool breeze and tried to ignore the growing anxiety in her gut. Sure, she was confident, but she hated hurting those whom she called friends. It hurt her too, not literally, but even so, she had to do this. Feeling gentle ripples underneath her bare feet, she looked down to see black and white fish gently tapping her feet through the water. Fish kisses, for they sensed her inner turmoil and tried to alleviate that strain for a while longer.

Pisces was about to leave when she suddenly felt the wind pick up. It getting stronger by the second until she was lifted up off the ground. A shriek of surprise came from her as her arms flailed. The ground getting farther and farther, her eyes widened when the color scheme of the area changed from all shades of blue and purple to greys and yellows and even a little aqua.

Holding her hands to her skirt, she pushed the cloth against her legs to stop it from flapping around. Then the wind began to subside, slowly lowering the water sign to the ground which felt oddly soft, looking down, she noticed she was sitting on a cloud. Actually, the entire ground was clouds.

“Ah, there you are. We were thinking you weren’t going to show.” Pisces looked up to see a taller woman with grey eyes and hair that was made of water. Waves flowing from her scalp to the edges which was at her mid back. Behind her were stands where all the other zodiac signs sat.

Her confused gaze met Scorpio’s, and he immediately mouthed the words, my apologies. That’s all it took for her to realize the mistake. Uranus was in retrograde right now, the tournament had begun. Her right hand clenched the ground beneath her getting a fist full of cloud before she hurled it at him. The fluff hit Scorpio in his forehead and bounced off, showing her displeasure before she stood up and dusted off her clothes.

“Sorry. Aquarius, I just didn’t know the festivities were getting started so soon.” Pisces sighed. The air sign snorted and used the wind to propel herself a few feet away. Huffing, she extended her arm, her bow appearing immediately while she too, backed away. Her mind moving through plans and ways to take out Aquarius and fast. In the crowd, Aries raised her hand and a small star appeared overhead.

“When this sun dies, this fight will be over. If one of you knocks the other out, then that’s great. Just go,” said Aries, explaining the time limit although she figured that the two of them should know by now.

When she stopped, Aquarius threw out her hands at her sides then shoved them in Pisces’ direction, while Aquarius wasn’t a hydromancer like Pisces, she controlled air, using that ability to push and pull at the water with ease. Water flowed from her hair and gushed in large masses, the water moving up Pisces’ legs. It was already at her knees! Pisces tried to grab some water to create a scatter arrow but the water didn’t move. This water wasn’t obeying her at all. This was bad. The water was at her chest now, Aquarius was definitely trying to drown her. Pisces couldn’t even use her arrows, when she would fire one, Aquarius would use the wind to simply brush it off course. There’s one thing she could use that she was saving for further up the totem pole but now she needs it more than ever. # The water had began to pull her down, tugging at her legs until she was under the surface of the roaring waves. Her body be23

ing pushed in all sorts of directions, trying to disorient her. So she closed her eyes and focused on changing her form the animal that represents her - although she wasn’t very good at it - but it will help her in this battle. Inhaling, Pisces found that she could still breathe underwater, a smile blooming on her face. Aquarius must not know that she can’t drown if she can breathe in the water. Her legs combined to form a light blue fishtail with a sea green tail fin. A mermaid, not a fish. Close enough.

A pause in the waves movement. Pisces swam to the bottom and looked up. Aquarius stood on a floating cloud as her hair continually poured water into the arena. The image was blurry, but Pisces thought that she’d be looking for her, or more specifically, her unconscious form. She scoffed, bubbles escaping her mouth and she darted through the water and under the shadow of the cloud. The light above was dimming, the star was dying, and time was running out. Pisces had initially planned on using Aquarius’ own hair to drown her, but, since her hydromancy was out of the question, she’d have to figure out something else.

Above the water, storm grey eyes darted around, fingers flexing in order to keep the water flowing. Aquarius had thought that was enough water to put Pisces out of commission, it would put any celestial creature down under. But where was she?

Aquarius knelt down to her knees, squinting. Since her hair was still producing water, the foam and bubbles blocked her vision.

At that realization, her hand stilled and the water stopped flowing. Now it was only a matter of time until she spotted that elusive fish.

Within the watery depths, Pisces’ tail flicked as she stared up at the shadow of the cloud. Bubbles forming and moving right above her head, almost like being under a waterfall. When the bubbles stopped, she realized what Aquarius must’ve realized.

Without the bubbles in the way, she’ll be spotted much easier. But since she doesn’t have a particular weapon, all Pisces has to do is get in close, much like with Cancer. Flipping her body, her tail fin wagged and flicked wildly while she swam down to the floor, the clouds not being affected by the surplus of water. Putting her hands on it, her gaze shifted upwards, now being able to see where her opponent was clearly. Pisces was below her, and a few feet backwards, but it would still take her a moment to find her. Using all the strength in her arms she could muster, she pushed herself upwards, her tail taking the role as propeller while she swam faster and faster through the water. Swimming and pushing until her body shot out of the water, the back of Aquarius’ head being her target when she twisted her body midair.

“Surprise!!”

The look of confusion along with a slight hint of fear on her face was definitely a look to remember before Pisces used her tail fin to slam it into the center of her face, a slight cringe flowing through her body at the sickening crack that followed as her body - along with Aquarius’ - fell back into the water. Floating back to the top, Pisces saw the star above explode but small enough not to do any actual damage. But the battle was over. But who was the victor?

The water receded, returning to the water bearer, and Pisces had traded her fin for her regular legs. Her feet hit the clouds and her eyes went to the crowd. Cancer (wearing bandages) gave her a wink and Scorpio gave her a thumbs up. Glancing down, an unconscious Aquarius was at her feet, blood oozing from her nose. That would explain that disgusting sound. Internally hoping that she was okay, Pisces almost didn’t hear Libra announce the winner until everyone was chanting her name. A large and happy grin adorning her face as she laughed and threw her arms up, welcoming her win with open arms. # Scorpio had hurled himself over the edge of the railing, landing on his feet in the arena before he jogged over to Pisces. His grin getting bigger the closer he got. She would expect him to slow down by now but he wasn’t, her smile fading and was replaced with confusion. Why wasn’t he slowing down? Pisces felt a pang of anxiety in her heart, the fight or flight feeling growing and she was so close to choosing the latter.

“I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!” exclaimed Scorpio, tackling her in a hug while lifting the sign into his arms and spun around before she actually got to move. Laughter bubbling out of her throat when she was spun, the fear in her chest disappearing almost as quickly as it formed. He was proud of her, Cancer was proud of her, she really felt like a winner.

But within, she knew that this was only the beginning, and Aquarius was only the eleventh sign, directly above her, Capricorn was next. While she looked through the crowd her eyes met the burning amber gaze of Aries, her flame hair only flaring brighter as she huffed, and Pisces knew that she couldn’t let this win go to her head. Aries was the final boss. She will defeat those in her way, and prove to everyone, even herself that she is meant to be a Warrior of the Stars.

24

Crushed, a Fractured Sleeping Beauty

By Alexander Pearce

August is a simple guy. He enjoys the small things in life, such as a starry sky and feeding bread crumbs to birds.

“The greatest pleasure,” he says to the moon, “is to hold someone’s hand.”

The moon doesn’t respond, which August is used to. He leans back on the hood of his car and lets out a sigh.

“I’ve never been fond of kissing, ever since Beverly West tried to kiss me under the bleachers in the football field. I don’t know what kissing is supposed to be like, but I don’t think she was doing it right.”

The stars twinkle, several thin clouds passing over the moon and creating a dimmer light. A breeze rustles the corn stalks sitting beside the narrow road, like the farm is whispering secrets to him that he can almost hear. # Philip rushes through the hospital, ignoring the nurses yelling at him to slow down. Room 246. Room 246. Room 246. # “It would be nice to know what kissing is supposed to be like, though. Maybe it’s nice.”

August shuts his eyes, against his better judgement. He doesn’t even try to stop himself as he drifts away into unconsciousness. Only several minutes pass before he jerks awake to the sound of a car engine roaring in the distance. His mind takes a moment to start up fully, leaving him dazed and confused. He barely registers the roaring getting closer until fear kicks in; a car is speeding right towards him. # Philip bursts through the door, holding back tears as he stares down at the boy in the hospital bed. There are all sorts of machines hooked up to him, and his chest rises and falls serenely. Philip shuts the door behind him and, in a daze, pulls a chair up to the side of August’s bed.

“Auggie,” Philip whispers, staring at his best friend’s face. August doesn’t move. Philip doesn’t know what he was expecting. # August scrambles off the hood, yanking open the door and getting in as quick as possible. He looks around for somewhere to move his car to as the roaring gets even closer. His car stutters to life slowly, and he curses the old PT Cruiser. Headlights appear in the distance, rapidly getting closer. August inhales sharply, feeling panic strike his heart as the engine finally starts running. He puts the car into reverse and starts backing into the cornfield, silently apologizing a million times to the farm owners. # “I’m--” Philip can’t finish his sentence as tears start rolling down his face, dripping solemnly off his chin and onto his hands folded in his lap. “God, I’m so sorry.” He reaches up to August’s hand, resting on his stomach, and takes it in his own.

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Philip says. “I’m… I’m ashamed that I got out of it with only a c-concussion and a broken arm. Meanwhile, you’re…” He hangs his head, his breath coming out shakily. Guilt weighs down his heart, sinking it like an anchor. “I remember seeing your parents’ faces. They looked like they wanted to kill me on the spot. I… I kinda wish they did, then we’d be even.” He lets the silence sit for several minutes, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor. # August jerks his head towards the road, just in time to catch the headlights of another car mere feet away. His mind goes blank as the two vehicles collide. August is thrown from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat, and as his head cracks against the shattering window, the world goes black. # Suddenly, Philip sits ramrod straight, staring down at the hand in his. It twitched. It twitched!

“Holy-- Oh my God, I’m--” Philip sees the boy’s eyelids moving, fluttering, and a pair of emerald green eyes are suddenly staring into his. They blink rapidly, and a quiet groan comes from the boy. He struggles to move his arm over his eyes before realizing it’s being held.

“August!” Philip can’t help it, an impulse overtakes him and he plants a kiss on the boy’s cheek. It’s not long before he’s out of his chair, clinging to August and sobbing with happiness. “August, oh my God, you’re awake, you’re awake!” He pulls back to stare at his best friend, holding his hand like a lifeline. August frowns, his voice coming out soft and cracked “Do… Do I know you?”

25

Dream Chaser

By Jacqueline Rosales

¨Hurry, hurry, I’m going to be late!¨ I heard My older brother Louis yell as he quickly grabbed an enchilada out the fridge and went running out the door.

“Wait I’m coming,” Francisco squealed before getting hit with the door that Louis had aggressively slammed. “Ouch,” he began to whimper, which later turned into an obnoxious cry. Louis always manages to hurt one of us with his impatient actions; so inconsiderate, if I must say.

“It’s okay, Francisco. Hurry up so and your twin sister won’t be late for preschool. You do not want to disappoint Mama do you?”

His cries began to get louder and louder as the words slipped out my mouth.

“I’m sor- Please stop crying Fran, it’s okay. Hurry por favor, we’re gonna be late.”

“Fran, stawp swayin I wanna go to preschool,” said Julita, Francisco’s other half.

I finally managed to get the twins into the minivan and drove them to school. Afterwards, I made an urgent stop at St. Francis Hospital to check on my Mama, after the crash that my mama had sadly been injured in. It was a long hour and twenty-six minute drive where I managed to hold in my tears, but as I got closer, I no longer could find the strength to hold the tears in.

I finally arrived and went to the front desk where I saw a tall Mexican lady, who spoke in broken English, despite that fact she still refused to speak Spanish.

“Yees, Hola, how help you can I?” she asked as she flipped her hair and suddenly began to start stare at me. I saw pity on her face as she saw a tears fall down my face.

“Um, uh can you please let me know which room Maria Costanza is staying in, porfavor?”

“Si, crying not here okay?” she said as she stared into my eyes “Yes, yes, okay. Just let me know where my mom is, por favor.”

“Oh you hija?”

“Yes, I am her daughter.”

“Okay, she here, okay understand.” She pointed to a map in which she had colored in red ink.

I took the map and began to look at the confusing instructions placed it. I followed the path that the map lead for about fifteen minutes which brought me up to a hallway where the lights were very dim and gave off a very dark and depressing vibe.

The hallway floor was made out of cold hard cement covered in dust that had been sitting there for a while from the looks of it.

A cold breeze hit me every time I took a step forward. The hallway gave me chills taking my sadness away, turning it into fear.

I finally got to the room circled in red ink, room 203. The room was even darker than the hallway and I could barely see in it. As I stepped in, the lights quickly turned on and blinded me for a quick second, sending me into shock. After a couple of seconds of blinking repeatedly, I could finally see in front of me and what I saw was both sad and disturbing, causing tears to rapidly come falling down.

My mama was laying in the bed unconscious, her leg in a cast and her neck covered up. The only noise in the room was that of the machine that was connected to my mama’s nose. The mask that covered her mouth and nose made me shiver. The sense of not being able to hear my mama and her encouraging words distraught me. If only I was there to see the scene unfold, perhaps the man could be in jail. The thought of having an alcoholic driver around causing accidents and injuries sickened me. I sat down on the brown stained floral chair next to the hospital bed. I stared at the person who raised me and encouraged me to follow my dreams in such anger. Anger at myself, my family, and the world.

After a couple hours of staring into space and into my own thoughts, I realized that it was time to go pick up the twins. I got up and before I left I promised my mama that I would accomplish what I had always wanted.

“I’m going to do it for you Mama I promised you, that I would accomplish my dreams no matter what obstacles may come into my way. I love you mama.” I ran out of the room and into my car. I was in such a rush that I didn’t realize that I was going above the speed limit until I heard a loud siren coming up behind me. I pulled over in such worry.

“Now hello young lady,” said a tall old police officer. Do you know how far you were going back there?”

“Si, um, I mean yes, sorry force of habit, but I’m sorry, I’m just in a rush to go get my younger siblings from school. I just came from seeing my mama at the hospital, and I’m running late,” I said in such a quiet and timid voice.

“Well that is no excuse, and I’m sorry, but I have to give you a ticket, young lady.”

My leg began to shake and my tears began to fall down as the police officer handed me the ticket and walked away. I sat in my car thinking about my dumb decisions. I barely have enough money to maintain my siblings and I. How am I going to afford this?

“Ughhhh,” tears running down my face, I sat in my car I received a phone call.

“Hello,” I said in confusion.

“Yes, this is Principal Coleman calling from New Jersey Preschool. Your twins have been waiting in my office for three hours now waiting on their ride.” I could hear the anger in her voice. That’s when realization it hit me.

“Oh no, the twins, I’m coming I’m so sorry.” I turned my phone off and threw it onto the passenger’s seat.

After all of the chaos, I had forgotten about my own siblings. I immediately drove off and finally got to the school. They were standing outside in tears waiting for me. The looks of disappointment on their faces broke my heart filling me with anger to26

wards my brother. Knowing that he could have picked them up. Instead he relays on me to do everything. As soon as they saw me pull up in the van they looked up and ran like a child running to go hit the piñata. ¨I can’t believe you forget us,” said Fransisco with disappointment. ¨Yeah! Mama would nevor fogwet about us,¨ said Julita. ¨Guys look I’m sorry, please forgive me I’ll make tacos your favorite just please forgive me. ¨ ¨Mhmmmm tacos,” they said in awe as they looked at each other. As we slowly pulled up to the driveway and got out the van, Louis pulled up behind me beeping at me constantly yelling at me in rage. ¨Did you cook dinner I’m hungry?¨ He got out the van. ¨Para, stop. Look, I have been taking care of this family ever since Mama has been in the hospital, and you have not helped.

Look at this.” I pulled the ticket out my pocket and waved it in his direction.

“Why you get that ticket from huh? Were you writing one of your little songs again, that will most likely not be heard? Just give it up already Rose you won’t become famous.” He rolled his eyes.

“What?!” I said in frustration and I hurried up the stairs into our apartment, and the twins followed. I went into the my room, I sat down and stared at the ceiling. My annoying brother’s voice kept repeating again and again in my head.

Just give it up was the only phrase that I heard repeatedly and couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. I just could not understand the meaning of the hatred of my brother. After all, I was the one who kept the family together and ensured that everyone has what is needed. I even put my dreams a side for my family yet I get doubted by my own brother. As I began to get deeper into my thoughts, I grabbed my notebook and began to write my feelings. The book that had been hidden for months under my bed in a large shoe box. Mi vida loca, what a crazy life, I wrote down before closing the book and placing it back in its original spot. I began to walk out my room and into the kitchen, as I walked out I saw the twins waiting for me at the door.

“What are you guys doing?” I walked towards the kitchen.

“We’re hungwe, we want comida. How about those twacos you pwomised?” I heard Julita say as she put on her boots and struggled to zip them up. I looked at the twins and took out my wallet, I counted what I had and realized that I would only have enough for a box of cereal. Ever Since my mama got in the hospital my life has came to a pause, I cannot find a job, and putting my dreams on hold causes a huge pause in my life. I decided to go out and came up with a great idea. ¨Hurry put your coats on,” I said as we walked out the apartment. I grabbed the keys to my mama’s mini van. The twins got in, and I went twenty-five minutes away from home to a park where many people came to wander around and look at the scenery. Although there was not much to look at, the lake was covered in ice and there was snow everywhere, the typical December weather. I took my guitar out and covered my face with a black ski mask due to the cold, and the fact that my anxiety reached tremendous levels. ¨Stay here, okay? I’ll try to get money for tacos,¨ I whispered to the twins as I got out the car. All I received was a simple nod, but it was enough to ensure me that they would be fine alone. I opened the trunk and took out my guitar, I walked near the fountain behind the playground, far enough but not too far. I could still see the van from the distance, it was not close enough to where the twins could hear me or even see me. I got to a perfect spot next to a bench, where I set my guitar case down. I opened my guitar and took my pick out. I began playing my guitar and sang along. A couple people walked by not paying me any attention. A couple minutes passed by until I received my first dollar. It was by a rather older lady walked her golden retriever, she had short curly white hair and handed me the dollar. As I grabbed the dollar and she pulled away, she removed her scarf that covered her mouth and said, ¨Great job honey¨ she walked away not waiting for a response and continued to walk her dog.

After the old lady left, more people began to approach me and leave money into my guitar case. I was just getting ready to leave when I felt a strange presence. I suddenly felt scared and my anxiety grew stronger.

An older man, around his forties, approached me. He dropped his business card into my guitar case, and walked away. As he walked away he said, “I like the mask, it gives you a great touch of mystery.” As he walked away I stared at him and did not think much about his actions. I grabbed my belongings and proceeded to walk to the van, where I found the twins sleeping amongst each other. I opened the trunk and put away my guitar. I drove off to the nearest taco stand. Where I bought five tacos, I went home. The twins maintained asleep the entire way home. As we arrived, they slowly opened up their eyes and got out the van.

“Mhmm, twacos?” The twins stared at the bag in my hands. I handed them the bag, they sat down and began to eat with smiles on their faces.

A couple hours passed by, and I had not even bothered to look at my guitar case. When boredom struck me and curiosity ate me up. I opened the case and found the card. I stared at the business card that the old man had placed in my guitar case. I had finally felt like my dreams were coming true. The old man was not a scary stalker who I had envisioned in my head, he was a manager. A manager who could change my life for the best.

I woke up the next day excited to begin my day, I grabbed the business card and dialed the number on the card.

“Hello,” said the same voice that I had heard the evening before, “Yes, my name is Rose and you gave me your business card to me yesterday you probably don’t---” I said as I got cut off.

“Oh yes, yes. You are the mystery singer. I told my colleagues about you, and I won’t hesitate to sign you to my label.”

As I heard those words I immediately felt a moment of excitement. After I hung up the phone, I immediately went to his office after leaving the twins at preschool. The weather was still pretty cold so I continued to wear my ski mask. Following my GPS to a tall building. I walked into the entrance I saw a long table in front of me, where a tall lady stood. She stared at me as 27

I walked in and just handed me a clipboard. On the clipboard was a paper that I had to fill out. I filled out the information and realized that the paperwork had already been set up for me. I sat there in shock wondering why the manager, that I didn’t even know the name of who had spotted me.

I waited until I was signaled to get up by the secretary. I handed the paperwork to the secretary, who had not yet said one word. The door behind the tall secretary opened. The first thing I saw was the glistening of the tall man’s bald head. It was the same guy from the park. He did not even hesitate to greet me, he lead me into his office where we had a long hour talk. We talked about business and how my life was about to change for the better. # A couple months later around early July, I was ready to begin my first show as Rose. I traveled around the world over the past couple of months opening up for shows, not worrying about a single thing. Louis was nowhere to be found, and I was sure that wherever he might be, he is in shock. I took the twins with me, and they seemed to be happier than ever before. As I prepared for my first show ever alone, in Mexico my homeland, I realized that my dreams had become reality in a blink of an eye. My life was finally coming to a great upbringing. I was waited back stage counting the seconds that went by constantly pinching myself and reassuring myself that this wasn’t a dream.

Before the countdown could begin I received a call. “Mama” my phone screen said. This was the first time I had heard from her since I left the hospital.

“Mama,” I began to cry.

“Si hija, It is me. How are you?”

We talked for about five minutes. My mama had reassured me that she was proud of me and there was no need for me to worry about her anymore. The call had gave me a sense of relief.

All the years of hard work had finally paid off. Now I see my name in bright lights just as I pictured in my dreams and a bright billboard picture of my bedazzled mask. The mask had attracted fans and made me realize that my anxiety had finally paid off.

The crowd grew louder causing my heart to beat faster each second. I finally got up and constantly kept repeating the words I got this.

I walked up each stair that lead up to the stage I took quick pause bracing myself, and helping myself intake the loud cheering of the audience. I finally stood on the stage in front of two big red curtains that blocked my view from the audience. The crowd began to count down backwards in spanish as the curtains began to slowly open.

“DIEZ,” the crowd yelled. They repeatedly continued to count down until the got to one and the crowd suddenly became quiet. Until the loud noise of the curtains separating in such speed interrupted the silence.

“Mi vida loca,” I said, causing the crowd to go completely insane. I looked up at light which shined on the jewels my mask as well as on my dress had, I got a sense of reality. I realized that my dreams had came true, and I had become not only a dream chaser but a dream catcher.

28

Artist: Jacob Budnar, Grade 12

Artist: Aruna Pradhan, Grade 12

Artist: Julia O’Donnell, Grade 11

The Boy Who Cried Fairy Tale

By Jayden Hodge

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Noah, who for some reason, couldn’t resist getting himself into situations he has no business being in. Whenever Noah would get into a situation, and run to tell his parents, and the people of Mistmoor, but the people would always disregard his stories as if they were fibs, and he was lying, until one day, he had the chance to prove the people wrong.

One morning, Noah woke up on a beautiful sunny day to go into town to shop. Before he left, he greeted his parents with a goodmorning, and sat down to eat breakfast.

“Where are you going this early in the morning sweetie?” said Noah’s mother.

“I’m going to go walk into town. Hopefully I can find some apples to buy and bring home for tonight,” Nova responded.

“Ok, make sure you be safe and don’t you go getting into trouble either! I don’t wanna hear any stories about wolves blowing blowing houses down or whatever other lies you like to tell everyone!” his mother said.

“Sure mom,” Noah said, sighing.

Noah finished his breakfast and proceeded out the door on his way into town. He decided to take the road and not the shortcut through the woods, as the woods is where he always finds himself getting into trouble.

Once Noah entered the town, he proceeded to the fruit vendor section. He walked up to an apple vendor to purchase.

“Hello sir, can I get four apples?”

“Yea, they’re 50 cent each.”

The vendor took a step back and looked at Noah.

“Aren’t you that kid who always makes up those crazy stories?” the vendor asked.

“Well, yeah… but they aren’t stories or lies,” Noah responded shakingly.

“Yeah yeah, kid,” said the vendor. “That’ll be five dollars.” The vendor had a mean mug on his face.

Noah, looks down and sighs as he hands over the money, grabs his apples, and walks towards the way home. All of a sudden, Noah hears a kid and a vendor arguing.

“How dumb do you think I am? I’m not buying any “magic beans” for that much money! You must be crazy, you old man!” the kid screamed.

“Fine, it’s your loss, now get lost kid! the vendor yelled back.

The kid stormed off in a hurry. Noah walked over to the vendor to see what the deal was.

“You have magic beans?” Noah asked.

“Yeah you want them? They’re really magic, you plant them, and they’ll grown a giant beanstalk in seconds. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes,” said the vendor, clearly lying.

Noah though for a second. If the beans were really magic, he and his family would have enough food to eat for a lifetime.

“Whatever the price is, I’ll take them!” Noah handed over all the cash in his pockets and ran out of town with the beans.

Noah was so in a rush to get home, that he decided to take the shortcut through the woods. On his way home, he decided to plant the seeds in his backyard. Soon, Noah made it home. He ran to grab a cup of water, and then hurried to the backyard. He planted the beans and poured the cup of water on it.

“I can’t believe it”, Noah said, tearing up. “He scammed me, how could he?”

With tears falling Noah ran inside the house, to his mother to tell her about what happened. Noah was crying to hard, he couldn’t even talk.

“You better not be in trouble again. What did I tell you before you left? What happened this time? Did a girl steal from a family of bears again and break their things? You’re unbelievable!” Noah’s mother, screamed.

As Noah’s mother was yelling, he grabbed her hand to bring her into the backyard to explain. As soon as they entered the backyard, both of their mouths dropped in disbelief.

The beanstalk had grown, and it was indeed giant, going through the clouds.

“I can’t believe it!” said Noah’s mother.

Noah, still in disbelief, started to climb it. He must’ve climbed for about twenty minutes before he realized he wasn’t making any real progress. All of a sudden, Noah looks up, only to see a giant shadow of what seems to be a person. He then hears a deep and slow voice begin mumbling.

“Who is that, climbing my beanstalk trying to come up?”

Scared, Noah stays quiet. He then begins to hear the huge rumbling of footsteps. As the shadow fades, the footsteps stop and a somewhat human face appears.

“Human?” the giant figure mumbles out its mouth.

Noah let’s out a loud scream as he quickly back down the beanstalk.

“What was it sweetie? I heard the scream?” Noah’s mother asked.

“It was huge! It was a giant person! We have to go into town and warn everyone!”

Noah and his mother both ran into town to tell what had happened. Upon entry, wheezing and breathless, they gained an audience out of all the people of Mistmoor. Everyone surrounds them.

“Everyone, I bought some magic beans and planted them and a giant beanstalk grew within a few seconds! I tried to climb it, 30

but a giant head appeared! I think it’s a giant!”

“Why should we believe this kid?” said one of the townsfolk. “Isn’t that the kid who lied about breaking the giant statue that sat on the wall? We all spent days trying to put it back together! What if it’s another lie?”

The towns people started mumbling in agreement.

“I saw it with my own eyes this time.” Noah’s mom spoke out. “I know he makes up weird stories, but this one is sitting right in my backyard. I’ve seen it, he’s not lying. Come see for yourselves.”

“We will!” said another angry towns man. “You’ll be punished if you’re telling a story.”

Noah and his mother leads the people all the way home. Upon arrival to their home, to their own disbelief, they looked up.

“It was just right here,” his mom said.

“I don’t understand why this always happens,” Noah mumbles.

The townsfolk furiously started chanting.

“Liar, liar, liar!”

Another folkman steps out of the crowd towards Noah and his mother. “Liars! You’re both liars! We told you there will be punishment, and there will be!”

“But wait, there has to be an explanation for this,” said Noah’s mother, shooken up.

Ignoring her, the townsfolk surrounded Noah and his mother, and picked them up, high in the air. They carried them all the way back to town. They tied them up, as the tried to decide what their punishment would be.

Noah and his mother were both sentenced to death by being stoned by all the people of the town, in the middle of Mistmoor.

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The Phoenix • Cleveland Heights High School • 2017-2018 Artist: Sylvie Crowell, Grade 11

Artist: Artist Name