In an instant, without warning, a feeling of unrelenting suffocation drops in the pit of my stomach. An intense twisting and turning, swirling like a category five hurricane. My breath shortened, gasping, looking for a means of escaping this internal agony. My head aching, pounding, pulsing like an underground rave of unwanted thoughts. To what extent do I deserve this punishment? You may question my morals or ethics, a m...

While in Marine Corp ITR boot camp at Camp Pendleton, CA our platoon was on our full gear twenty-mile hike. We were drudging up a several hundred-yard dirt roadway puffing every step of the way when one of the platoon members, a "maggot" as we were referred to by our head drill instructor dropped out of the force march. He could not take one more step and simply fell to the side of the road. When our drill instructor saw...

30th of April – Season 3 “If you’re standing here tonight, then you’re part of the rebellion.” Angela’s words were filled with passion as she spoke to the small group of people in front of her. “If you’re standing here tonight, then you want what I want, which is to save Formula-X from self-destructing, which it will if my husband and your boss continues to go on unchecked.” Elenor Coetzee was one of the people listening...

Playing truant was always appealing. Always. Two nine-year-olds deep into their school days would always know better than what adults told them. Your years in school were not the best days of your life, and you don’t need to attend classes to get clever to get good jobs. They knew it all, so didn’t need to bother attending, and why do maths lessons and cross-country runs when it was much more appealing to play on railways...

You found me in the dark, A topographic map of my trauma Covered my body for you to see What a strange discovery you had made Extended your hope to me Lulled into a false sense of security Reached into my chest, ripped out my heart Just to watch it beat...for you The kindest words I've ever known, Have turned into vicious whispers The sweetest sounds I've ever heard Have turned into malicious echoes Expecting the hate to...

25th of April – Season 3 MONDAY MORNING “What do you mean I have to go to Fuel tonight? I don’t even have a race. And don’t tell me that it’s to show my support for my fellow racers because I know that you don’t care.” “You’re right. I don’t care about them. What I do care about is our craft.” “What does me going to Fuel have to do with our craft?” Blackcat opted to venture into romanticism when he answered. “When we firs...

As I Pondered my mind wondered feeling the pain that still remained Looking up I saw you there And you flew to a branch and perched yourself there Red is your colour, beautiful to see chirping away and staring at me reading my mind I hear you say It's time to move forward, easing my pain Before I knew it the visit was done, flying away towards the sun reminding me it's OK. and have some fun.

As good as I can remember, I was somewhere between four and five years old. Easter was fast approaching. In a matter of weeks, I would be starting school. My dad was at work and my mother took me for a walk in the park. It seems funny how I can remember that day so vividly. My mother was holding my hand as I skipped along to keep up with her. One hand held on to her, whilst my other gripped hold of a bright red balloon sh...

90s Country playing on the radio Memories flowing sunlight streaming A warm spring breeze blowing across our skin As we dance on the front porch It's not fancy but it's us The stars come out We head inside where We get tangled in the sheets The moonlight peeking through the curtains

Are you still there I whisper in thin air my heart, just won't repair but are you still there I know you are there and it may not have been fair the love that we shared that you sent me a friend to help my heart mend so I don't have to pretend this isn't the end.

Peering just above the berm, her finger on the trigger, she spies a fast-approaching force, more powerful and bigger. Squinting through her rifle sights, she takes a steady bead, while trying hard to focus on the soldiers in the lead. She squeezes off a burst of fire from her AK-47, sees Russian forces now reduced by ten – perhaps eleven. But now her spot’s been compromised – must move to higher ground, she raises up her...

When you kill a man, you take away everything they have, and everything they will ever have. It’s a big responsibility. It’s not something I enjoy, but it’s the only thing I’m good at. I don’t just go around killing people for fun. I work for my government, I’m a cleaner. Well, that’s what they euphemistically call me. I was recruited after I left the army. My job prospects were poor and my employment somewhat intermitten...

11th of April – Season 3 Penny felt a little uncomfortable with the cloth tied around her head. For one thing, it made it appear as though she was blind when that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, she could see right through the material. But she wore it so as to hide her scars. The truth was that she hadn’t expected to be back on Monday Night Fuel this season at all. But after what Plain Jane said about her before the Eas...

There was a girl I knew, once upon a yesteryear On an ordinary day - with the sky so clear They were the best days of one’s life College. So much to learn…and unlearn The yearning urges of puberty grow in volume No more bedtimes or parental on-looking Alone in the dorm -- wifi fun till dawn But I’d hear her crying and wonder why I’d hear his shouting and watch As her friends come ‘round less and less And soon I started to...

It takes time and patience, To cure my toxic ways, My awareness and presence, Needed now almost always, Live to die a little, I die every day Ask me how I am doing, I would lie in every way Hero of my own story? But who are the villains? Wear a cap every day, and battle my feelings, I look at the end of the bottle and get another one, There will always be another one, I tell myself sometimes… Life is funny till you get th...