I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS

        Weakly I stumbled, over the past two or three days I had lost way too much blood to his torture. But I decided that I needed water, even if that meant possible death.

“H--He--H--Help!!” Someone yelled.

Slowly I turned into a room, a boy who looked barely scratched had his hands tied up.

“Oh my god,” he said as I staggered toward him.

“You’ll be fine if you’re not difficult,” I whispered.

Quickly he nodded, I smiled and walked out of the room. He would be fine if he wasn’t going to be difficult, but of course he was going to be difficult. A wave of dizziness came over me and I gripped the wall for support.

“What’re you doing out of your room?” He said.

“Water,” I mumbled.

“Water?” He laughed. “Water?”

“Yeah,” I nodded a little.

“I’ll give you water,” he grabbed me by the shirt collar and dragged me down the hall.

At this point it was easier to keep my eyes closed, I couldn’t do anything but let him drag me around.

“You should’ve just asked for water, I wouldn’t have to do this then.” He pulled me down the stairs, things got colder the further we went.

“Knowing you you wouldn’t give me any,” I told him.

“Maybe,” he smirked. “Here we are.”

He tossed me into a concrete room, scratching me up more than he already had.

“If you want water so bad, here it is.” Water pipes creaked and a cold stream of water rained down.

It was freezing, as quickly as I could I pulled myself into a ball, watching all of the blood seep into the drain. Slowly the water got warmer, I stopped being in the ball I had wrapped myself up into. I felt clean, well, as clean as I could be. The water being warm only lasted for a minute or two, gradually the water became blistering.

“You wanted water,” he shouted over my cries for him to stop.

“I don’t want it anymore,” I begged.

“Are you sure?” He sang.

“I’m sure!” I pulled my arms over my face.

“Fine.” He said, shutting off the water.

My skin was burning, most of the blood had rinsed off and I could see where he had gotten me exactly. He looked at me with a softness in his eyes, I braced for impact, expecting him to hit me.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling me up.

I could barely stand, I felt dizzy and sick.

“Come here,” he wrapped his arm around me, leading me to a chair. “Sit.”

At this point I couldn’t really fight him, and I truly wanted to stop moving.

“Okay..” I said, shakily sitting down.

“Here,” he handed me a mug filled with cold water.

“Thank you,” I said gently, pulling the cup out of his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he said as I gulped the water down.

“I shouldn’t have left,” I said, handing the cup back to him.

“Stop blaming yourself, you guys are always blaming yourselves.” He said, wiping my arms off.

“How many of us are there?” I asked.

“That’s unimportant..” He answered.

“Not to me,” I told him.

“To me it is,” he wrapped a white bandage around my arm, blood instantly seeped through the first layer.

“What happens when you’re caught?” I continued asking pointless questions.

“I’ve been wondering that lately myself,” he sighed, wrapping my other arm in a white bandage.

“If I make it out of here I promise I won’t tell them,” I shifted, feeling like it was weird for him to suddenly be nice.

“You’ll get out of here,” he smiled.

I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS

A weak, bandaged girl sat in front of me.

            “We need your information,” I told him, being as gentle as I could.

            “I promised I wouldn’t say anything,” she shook violently.

            “That doesn’t help, we need you to tell us what happened while we were there.” I was slowly getting frustrated.

            “You don’t understand, the way I got out was by promising to not say anything.” She glared at me.

            “But you’re out, why can’t you just tell us how he looked?” I begged for information.

            “I know he’s watching,” she pulled her legs up to her chest. “I know he’ll get me if I break my promise.”

            “Forget it,” I shook my head, walking out of the room.

            “She won’t say anything?” Damien asked.

            “Nothing! She thinks he’s still here!” I kicked a chair, making a banging noise echo throughout the hall.

            “What’s she doing in there?” Damien looked through the one way glass.

            The girl had turned around, she was talking to what seemed like nothing. Quickly I flipped the switch that let us hear what was going on in there.

            “I know you’re still there,” she said, looking at the corner of the room.

            Out of nowhere a man in a floor length black jacket appeared, his face was concealed by the massive hat he wore.

            “What the?” I whispered, confused.

            Slowly the girl rose, wearily she walked over to the darkened figure, using all of her strength to move.

            “How’ve you been?” He asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.

            “I appreciate them more,” she nodded.

            “Good,” he pulled her into a hug.

            She gave a shudder but returned the hug, they looked like they could’ve been family. It was weird. Damien and I stood in silence for a minute or two, not processing it. Quickly enough I got into action.

            “Get me a gun, Damien.” I whispered, knowing what to do.

            “What?” He asked, a little stunned.

            “Now!” I shouted.

            “Here,” Damien fumbled, pulling a gun off of an officer who was standing by.

            I took the gun from Damien, slamming the door open. The man looked me in the eyes and disappeared.

            “You made him leave,” she looked at me like I was at fault.

            “Where’d he go?!” I yelled.

            “Right behind you,” his voice was suddenly in my ear.

            Instantly I spun around, but he wasn’t there.

Why Should People Read Homestuck?

I think we all know those teenagers who have a mind set to  five percent vocabulary and zero percent imagination. Now there’s a group-- a small, small group of people out there who read a little thing called Homestuck.

Most people (outside of the Homestuck loop) usually aren’t interested in it because they think it’s creepy or weird. But to those in the Homestuck family, we accept each other, and we know that at page one we didn’t think we’d get so involved. Around 10,256,124,130 computers have visited MSPA’s website (the website that hosts Homestuck). And yeah, a lot of that is probably people with computers that broke or died and they had to replace it, but it still doesn’t lessen the size of our family.

There’s always the question of “Am I wasting my time reading this?” or “What’s the point in reading this?” as someone who’s been introducing Homestuck to people, these are questions I hear a lot. The two first acts of Homestuck aren’t all that bright and flashy, plots are set and the story develops, that’s really why those acts are around. But those two first acts teach storytelling skills, things to make you think about when you write.

Now what about those teenagers who aren’t too bright, what does Homestuck have to do with them? Well,  Homestuck widens your vocabulary with words like “Abscond”, “Strife”, “Sylladex”, and much more! Homestuck also introduces unlimited imagination to the reader, causing limitless topics to cover. Important lessons are covered as well, things like “Never give up,” and “Respect your elders,” are two of the most prominent lessons taught.

One of the best things taught in Homestuck is how the you present yourself. All of the characters act certain ways, there are the violent ones and the peaceful ones. The way the violent ones contrast though is odd. Karkat has this violent manner about himself because he cares about everyone so much, Rose has this silent violence where her words manipulate the conversation into the direction she wants. Aradia’s peaceful in a depressed way that just makes her calm, Jane’s one of the peaceful humans too (before she freaks out in Godtier.)

More people need to read Homestuck because they can learn so many great things, and because it’s a wonderful story.

The Giver Response

        The Giver and Unwind are similar because they're both dystopian futures, they're also similar because in both societies they figured out how to deal with unwanted things. In The Giver, they've eliminated the chances of war and choice, in Unwind they've made it so you can eliminate your child if they're a trouble maker or if you cannot take care of them. Both futures seem to be perfect at a glance, but little things are sticking out that makes it difficult to keep the perfect cover. 

Preview

                You’re a killer. No, wait, you’re not a killer. Don’t lie to yourself, you know you’re a killer. No, you’re the killer here, I’m not. We’re the killer, and you know it. Thoughts raced through my head as I stood in the bloody room of Mary Jane Kelly. Suddenly I snapped back to reality, slowly looking down at my hands to find them bloody.

                “Not again…” I mumbled, searching for a cloth to wipe my hands on.

                This had happened many times before, suddenly realizing I’m standing in a crime scene without realizing I’m the murderer. He had taken over again—he being Jack. Quickly I pulled myself together, taking away Jack’s musty appearance and replacing it with my own dashing self. Jack hadn’t been here long, if my memory is correct his first appearance was August, but the murder on August 7^th isn’t the one that gave Jack the attention he wanted.

Cirque Du Araignee - Act 6

Things are dark, very, very dark

Noise pulses through your veins

Echos through your head

Your screams aren’t audible above the shattered notes

Above the cracked beat

A hurt symphony plays the notes that shake the air

The final draw that pollutes the atmosphere

That makes it viral

That makes it deadly

A killer lullaby makes the dark room tremble in time

Ticking along to keep the beat

Ticking along to end the life

Tick, tock, tick, tock

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick

How Fast We Run

       When I walked in the classroom she was sitting toward the back, surrounded by guys. I made my way to where I usually sit, which was conveniently right next to her. At this point they were in the middle of a conversation, but I was able to catch some of it.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” One of the guys grinned.

“No,” she nodded. “But I did scrape my knee when I crawled up from Hell.”

“Oh, uh, look at that,” he stuttered before he walked away.

       I burst out laughing, how could she be so charming yet so sour? Quickly she glanced at me and smiled. All of the guys awkwardly walked away, unsure as to why she hadn’t fallen for one of them already.

“I see you found your way to room 204,” I laughed, still amazed at how well she pulled off her bluntness.

“No help from you of course,” she scoffed.

“Sorry that you walked away so suddenly,” I said all fake defensively.

“Meh, whatever,” she shrugged.

       Okay..?

“So why’d you ditch me earlier?” I asked.

“You know people don’t like it when you ask a lot of questions,” she told me.

“Just curious,” I shrugged.

“That’s cute,” she smiled fakily.
"Thanks?" I guessed.
"It's such a shame," she patted my head.
"What's a shame?" I asked, disregarding her previous comment.
"Nothing," she smiled sadly.
"Now why don't I believe that?" I questioned with the non existent people around us.
"Funny, funny," she said sarcastically.
"So what's your name?" I switched topics.
"Why's that important?" She avoided the question.
"Come on, what's your name?" I asked again.
"You really want to know?" She sighed.
"Yes!" I told her.
"My name's Kennedy," she shrugged.
"So she finally has a name," I nodded.
"You're weird," she laughed, shoving me.
"But as a human being I was curious! You're already so mysterious and not like anyone else here, I needed something to humanize you."
"Human," she laughed. "Such a fun term."

Freedom

                The story “Ribbons” by Laurence Yep tells the tale of an 11 year old girl named Stacey whose life flips upside down when her grandmother moves in. In the story Stacey’s mother creates rules and becomes childlike when her mother is around. These rules limit her daughter’s life and interrupt it for the time being. This act in general causes people to ask: Do parents really want their kids to be independent?

                Independence is something we as humans strive for. Parents seem to want their children to be independent, but at the same time they want their children to depend on them. It’s a trade that not many parents are clear about. Independence can be a terrific thing but it can also be a very destructive thing; although there are some people who go through life clinging onto everyone they meet, it doesn’t mean it’s an okay thing.

                There are two ways someone can be independent as well as dependent. Someone can be independent and be respected because of their success as an individual. There are also people who are independent who are making damaging choices because they’re too independent or they’re being independent in a risky way. People could also be dependent in a unpleasant way, where they cling and never do anything without another person. But being dependent in a good way might mean they could ask for help if they needed it.

                In “Ribbons” Stacey’s mom applies these rules and forces them onto her kids. Living your life around your grandmother isn’t really independent if it’s a forced system. Stacey’s mom refuses to stand up to her own mother, acting like a child (when her mother made a comment about the stairs) because of how her mother saved her from Communists. She doesn’t really act independent when her mother is around in fear of being inadequate. Although she has a family of her own and is an adult she still follows her mother’s every order.

                Personally I think parents should want their children to have independence at the right age, being independent too young or too old can change their maturity and attitude towards everything. Stacey’s mom shouldn’t have set so many rules for her kids; their grandmother should love them no matter what. She needs to act like an adult around her mother, not giving in at every order like a child. Independence can be great, but in the wrong circumstances it can change everything. In this case though, Stacey should have been given the choice to be independent. 

Reincarnated Pt. 1

Second part to "Virus" (make sure to read it first)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wh--What is this?” Josh stuttered.

We weren’t greeted by what we thought we’d be greeted by. Our feet were soaked in green grass, an indigo sky stared at us. Off in the distance fuzzy yellow lights were visible.

“Where do we go?” I swallowed my fear and stood tall.

“Toward those lights I guess...” He squeezed my hand.

“Then let’s go,” I held back tears, not used to the fresh air.

But neither of us moved. We stood still, taking in the vast space. The open fields were nothing like we’d ever seen or dreamed about.

“Josh..” I started, not sure how to ask this.

“Yeah, Phoebe?” He looked at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence.

“Do you remember when we first m-- when you were put in the box next to the one I was in?” I rethought my question halfway through. We never had the choice of meeting each other.

“What about it?” He didn’t get where I was going with this question.

“You told me about the city. How much you loved it.” I repeated the facts, the facts that had been going through my mind since day one.

“Well, yeah, but those lights.. They couldn’t be..” He thought aloud.

“But they might be.” I looked at him.

“It just doesn’t feel the same,” He blinked.

Now I was in no position to judge. I had never been to the city and I had no idea what it was like. Right now I needed to trust his judgement.

“Please take me away from here” - Owl City

“C’mon,” I pulled his hand as I took our first steps into this new world. “We have to keep moving, they’ll find us if we stay here.”

Which is true, if I hadn’t been so soaked up in our little world I would’ve noticed the red lights flashing and the blaring sirens. But Josh stood still, aware of the sirens and lights.

“Phoebe, whatever we face out here in this new place.. I promise I’ll protect you,” He looked at me, completely serious.

“Okay,” I nodded slightly, not used to Josh being this real. “Now c’mon, we really should get out of here.”

“Okay,” He laced his fingers through mine and stepped along with me.

As we walked the sirens buzz faded, but the fuzzy yellow lights stayed at a far distance. The building we had just exited was fading, we knew that without even turning around. We knew if we’d turn around we’d just get a good look at the hell we left. That’s not something we want burned into our retinas forever.

“You do know why they kept us in there, right?” Josh asked as we walked up to a river.

“Yeah,” I looked into the water, wondering what freshwater felt like.

“We were put in there for a reason, so what happens now?” He thought aloud.

“We’ve gotta adjust to this environment,” I shrugged, kneeling next to the river. “And we’ve gotta keep going. No matter what.”

“You think we made the right choice?” He kneeled down next to me.

“Anything’s better than that place.” I shook my head.

“But what if this world’s worse?” He asked.

“Nothing is going to be worse than that.” I slowly put my feet into the cold water.

“But it.. Okay..” He sighed, not going to fight it.

“You don’t have to agree with me, you can have your own opinion. I just don’t think that anything can get worse than that hell hole,” I shrugged, displacing the pebbles that had settled so peacefully in the bottom of the river.

“So what? You're another person, so of course you look different. What do you need to be ashamed for? Besides, I'm free to be with whoever I want. No one has the right to say anything about it.” – Ciel Phantomhive

“Well, I.. I guess we haven’t really been able to have our own opinions so.. I’m just not used to it yet I guess..” He followed me into the water.

“But now we get to run our lives,” I smiled at him.

“You make a point,” He smiled and looked down at the clear water.

“How far do you think we’ve gone?” I bent down closer to the water, looking at the minnows swimming by.

“Not far, at least..” Josh looked behind him. “Woah..”

“What?” I asked as I scooped up one of the smaller minnows, making a bowl with my hands so it could swim around.

“I can’t see it anymore..” He looked around, some sign that we hadn’t walked that far.

“Wait, what?” I stood up, still holding the minnow.

“It’s gone,” He twisted his head around, looking.

“Gone..” I whispered. “We’ve left it now.”

“A dead fish?” He looked at me and the little thing in my hands.

“What do you mea--” I looked down at my hands, none of the water had escaped, but the fish had floated to the top and wasn’t moving.

Instantly I dropped it.

“That means nothing,” Josh shook his head, denying any answer to what just happened.

“The truth never set me free” – Paramore

“Let’s go...” I stepped out of the river.

Josh followed me, trying to think of a logical explanation for what just happened. For a while we just walked in silence, but after awhile we ran into a field with just dirt.

“What’s that?” Josh looked over at the trees that had popped up.

“What do you mean?” I looked at him.

“There’s a house.” He pointed at something.

“Can I help you?” Someone behind us asked.

As I turned around I realized how closely this girl resembled my sister.

“Ashi?” I asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to ask anyway.

“No.” She shook her head. “Karen.”

“Oh.. You just.. My little sister.. You guys look a lot alike,” I stuttered.

“Ah, well, I can’t say that I look unique,” She laughed, a thick country accent presenting itself.

“Do you live there?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, my brother’s family lives there too,” She stated this like everyone knew it. “You’re not from around here.. Are you?”

“No,” I shook my head.

“And you came from that direction,” She pointed the way we had come. “And there’s nothing that way except for...”

Her eyes widened, her mouth hung open.

“What..?” Josh looked at me, unsure.

“You’re escape-ees,” She looked at us like we were some freak animal.

“So?” Josh asked.

“You’re dangerous people,” She shifted slightly, thinking.

“You don’t know what it’s like there,” I looked her in the eyes, hoping she wouldn’t turn us in or something.

“You’re safe here, don’t worry,” She laughed comfortingly.

“Oh thank god..” I whispered.

“C’mon in, they’re probably lookin for you right now..” She ushered us into a two story wooden home.

“Karen, where--” A boy who could’ve been her twin started. “You brought fugitives in?”

“They’re not bad people,” She shrugged.

“They’re fugitives. The police are lookin for them.” He also had a thick accent.

“We can hear you, you know.” I looked at him.

“Never said you couldn’t.” He snapped.

“We’re not dangerous. We just--” I started.

“You are too dangerous. You were put in that place for a reason. You would’ve been put to good use if you had stayed there.” His face started getting red as he yelled.

“You don’t know what it’s like,” My voice cracked as I defended my decision.

“Stop, Phoebe.” Josh put his hand on my shoulder.

“All we need is a little help,” I begged.