He'd been swimming fine at first- perfectly fine- but there was a current and nobody was watching. He tried and tried to swim to the surface, desperate to get out, his lungs burning. He couldn't hold his breath much longer, he struggled, he could see the sunlight, but he couldn't reach it and his mouth opened and he felt the water clog his lungs and run down his throat. He was choking and he could stop it. Jeremy thought...

You've been playing outside in the snow for the past half hour, and even with the gloves on your hands, they are frozen, and so's the rest of you. Your dad opens the door and you rush inside to find a slightly steaming bowl of Alphabet soup! Your mother smiles as you giggle, looking through the letters, trying to make your name, Laura. You finally do so and point to it for everyone to see- even the baby brother in your mo...

I've walked past this dining room many times. When I was seven, I walked past it, out the door and to the car. We were headed to the hospital to see my Daddy. Mother didn't say at the time, but I know now that he was dying and I was leaving to say goodbye. I remember the passage through the room being a happy one, because we were visiting Daddy, but now, looking back, it has a very morbid, depressing tone to it. I got my...

***Setting: Right before the dividing line of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, meaning that the creatures that were killing during the apocalypse aren't quite dead yet and any other changes that happened haven't yet been fixed or undone, but the human race, what's left of it, is starting to come out of hiding in slow trickles. Testing the waters, if you please, to see if Earth is still able to house us. This is about two hun...

"With these tears, I cried... Lord knows, I tried... And how can I let go when you dwell in the shadows of my heart?" -Shadows of My Heart by Halestorm. This rollercoaster. I'm so tired of it. I'm so exhausted,  I want it gone. It won't leave me alone- why won't it leave me alone? This pain, oh this pain, it hides in the dark depths and comes out when I'm weak, when I'm tired or hungry or just lonely, and it washes over m...

An intruder alert comes over the intercom, and the other students hide under their desks. She was talking to the teacher and his sort-of teacher's aid, so she's now heading under her desk. The door slams open and a man with a gun walks in before the teacher has time to lock the door or even react fast enough. The shooter is familiar to her, but she has no time to register anything- the gun is pointed at her teacher and sh...

A whole different world-a world with layers and chambers.Things swirl around-blue and purple smoke,pink and red sweetness,yellow and green tartnessrainbows of confusionand blackness deeper than space.There is no key to this world,you have been locked out-for fear you will destroy it,and release the blackness into all of it-all the layers,all the chambers.If you want in, you must fight-a long, tiring struggle for one world...

When we landed it was about noon- though we didn't care much about time, we cared about the light in the sky- and at the point that I started realizing what was happening (the moment when I start remembering), I'd say it was about two o'clock. Some guys (of about eighteen to twenty-one in age) start shouting about swimming out. I think it's a good idea- what's the worst that could happen?Nobody stops the guys- nobody real...

Before you get all excited like I'm going to tell you juicy details of a cruise gone wrong — chill. It was not a cruise ship, it was a ferry. We were actually heading to an island a few miles out from that one — a normal island. The ferry driver decided to check out what was in the mist, so instead of continuing straight forward he shifted left a touch. (I suspect he was new and naive and had never heard about the suspici...

An island, small enough to travel by foot at day, and dangerous enough that if you are on the ground after the sun starts setting, you will be killed. An island of nocturnal creatures specifically created to kill humans... acidic water for fifteen feet out on all sides... then mist that gives away nothing and stops everything within from escaping. This is the story of how I survived all of this and got away alive, but thi...

Stabbing.Burning.Aching.Tearing.Sides.Ribs.Muscles.Chest.Lay still,Breathe shallow breaths,Don't laugh,Don't yawn,Don't cough,Don't cry.Just deal with it.

Heart beating, slowly, in her chest. She can hear it- like the pounding of a drum. It aches, physically, because of the pain emotionally. What happened? What set her off? The pain radiates in electric waves through her whole body. She does not know what to do- it kind of scares her. She curls in a ball, facing the wall, corner of her bed. She tries to cry- relieve some of the pain- but tears won't come. She lies there and...

A music player in the corner of the room plays nonstop drums, guitars, basses and keyboards. She does that to cover her cries before the knife slides across her thighs.

She was new, how could she have known? (Break up with her, have a fling, do something, back together again) The star quarterback. Handsome. Gentlemanly. Kind. Humorous. (The star quarterback. Monster. Acting. Angry. Dangerous.) The cause of the bill every month for PTSD counseling and her purity pledge being broken. (The cause of her pain, nightmares, and shame) She should have listened to the letter.

Lips. They open and say nothing, giggling instead. Then a brain fuzziness. Then nothing. Then a bed and her brain is foggy and she has a migraine. His breath smells of alcohol, wafting into her face from the right. Then she notices a bit of dry blood on the sheet below her and between her thighs. Then running. Then chasing. Then screaming. Then police. Finally, crying.