hello, hello. tonight i am carrying the weight of your love in my bones. it is surprising i haven’t collapsed yet + i get dressed in the clouds of hookah smoke + think of you. my collarbone has a ball around it from when i broke it in second grade. good morning. good night. when i get back will you take me around the city gardens? give me a tour of the modern art museum and kiss me under the...

Aiden laid next to me until I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, he was right outside the tent with a small fire going. There was a raven sitting next to me and I smiled at it. It was a beautiful bluish-black color with black eyes. She hopped closer to me but when I sat up, she flew away.
    Aiden came over to me, holding two steaming mugs. "How are you feeling?"
    I took the...

Get your laundry done every saturday morning; vacuum, mop, and dust your floor whenever you can, you know how bad your allergies get; avoid those rowdy raves and parties; I know you’ll be tempted by those girls’ nights out, but they’re a waste of your precious time; stay safe when walking or bussing through the big city at night; keep your keys and wallet close, and your best friends closer; don’t forget the thick jacket and blankets we got you...

The morning bursts outside; birds do not sing, but screech, their warning warble into the air; ants march, not steady in a row, not otherly to build, or feed, or grow, but off in a mass to the other hive, to kill; badgers burrow only deeper to escape--as I wish I could--they follow their tunnel network to a central meeting places; the moles are waiting there, to plot and plan and share information, to sign a treaty or wage a...

the dusty tomes of mythology.

i.
dusty crypts and intricate hieroglyphics adorn the stones of the land. pyramidal monuments house the three honorable dead. and khafre and his lion's body protect them, facing the sun's awakening.
fireworks of fresh green sprout from the banks of the northbound deltabound traveler who carries rich silt on its back. 
and masks inlaid with gold to honor the ones wrapped in linen.
there are feline goddesses and dog-head reapers of the dead from the land...

    Florence smiled up at Ronny, her dress billowing all around her. "I can't believe tomorrow is the day," she beamed, a skip in her step. Ronny grinned back, and took her tiny hand in his, kissing the back of it. He said nothing. Ronny had been courting Flo for nearly a year and a half. A short time, in his opinion, but he supposed that when you knew, you just knew. They entered a tiny café just a short walk...

I stumbled upon this site a fortnight ago. 
I came looking for a contest.
Instead, I found a community. 

People were sharing stories that I laughed and cried at. 
People were so accepting of each other. 
People from all over the world.
People of different races, genders, sexual orientation: 
 everyone was different
But we all shared one thing in common:
we all had a passion for writing.

I wanted to be a part of this community. So I immersed myself. 
...

if anxiety were an object
it would be a cloud
made of dust and steel
that weighs impossible amounts
while also weighing nothing at all

it would be just big enough
for it to consume you
but small enough
that you feel weak
for handing it off to someone else

it would be a choking smog
that grates at your lungs
and stops you from breathing

it would take the shape of chains
around your ankles
dragging you down
when...

Three reasons why this challenge isn’t for me:

1. I cannot, for the life of me, write lists. In fact, I’m absolutely terrible at them! The only lists I’ve written would be a to-do list, or a list of things to pack when traveling. Anything else- I just remember in my head. Even after writing a list, I’ll nearly always lose it. I enjoy the chaos of going through life without lists, so, I never bother writing them. 

2. I...

truffula trees reaching their soft tufts up through your imagination
a blanket cocooning you with the gentle sound of a guitar strumming
the quiet of the night without the darkness
giggles while you twirl in the middle of the schoolyard
the moment you see the person who loves your shadows away
a moment tacked up on the turquoise wall in your bedroom
the splash of a stream hidden in a magnificent wood
puddles reflecting the dawn of a brighter day