Have you ever sat inside an anechoic chamber? Just staring at the jagged peaks, troughs and asymmetrical recesses carved into foot-thick, off-white foam on all six surfaces? The irregular shapes scatter sound in all directions except yours, absorbing everything. And I mean everything. Not even my quickening breaths bounce back. The result is… eerie. Isolating. Downright oppressive. The claustrophobic nothingness swamps ev...

Elena Rodriguez's hands trembled as she poured her coffee, spilling drops onto the worn cabin floor. Ten years as a forest ranger, and she'd never felt this uneasy. The storm outside howled, a sound she usually found comforting, but tonight it felt different—menacing, almost sentient. She glanced at the photo on her desk—her and her father, both in ranger uniforms, smiling in front of this very cabin. He had disappeared i...

Now that I’m alone I feel the aching start Upon my frozen throne The sorrow grows in my heart Phantoms place the palace floors Asking, shouting, demanding The only person left standing Answers I don’t have the questions for Crack’s alongside the foundation Crumbling before my eyes Cold stone once strong in its formation Shatters to dust from the skies Snowflakes mock me at their slowed pace I rule over this lonesome place...

“I hate you!” she cried; her temper as fiery as her hair. “I don’t wish to punish you, but to keep you safe!” he said sadly. “I lost your Mother to the land; I cannot bear to lose you, too!” Her misery broke his heart, but his duty was to protect her. Eventually, contempt grew heavy in her heart. Accepting fate, she reached for her father’s hand. “I love you!” she cried as their hands joined. Suddenly, the barrier dissipa...

“Stay below the waterline,” her father always said. But she was a redhead; she was stubborn and didn’t listen. She often defied him and would sneak out of their watery kingdom and head to the cove. Once there, she would not only poke her nose above the waterline, she would also lift herself up out of the sea and onto the rocks near the dry land. She craved the sunshine of the human world and grew tired of watching the sky...

Right now, Canadians are experiencing an unprecedented amount of stress and anxiety because of the pandemic, hoarding and isolation. Stores are closed, streets are empty, and there is shortage on the shelves of essential goods, such as toilet paper, kraft dinner, and cannabis supplies. Canadians have never faced such hardship. Comic relief is much needed therefore I am writing a parody of a famous rock band that I will ca...

I walked up from the Ventura River bottom where I spent the night. Nighttime in a homeless camp is very different, a strange mixture of camaraderie and distrust. Not unpleasant, but not great either. I was only interested in sleep without spending money. Short on funds, I decided that sleeping in the dry river bottom was better than an alleyway waiting to be rousted by the police. The homeless had a great quality of not a...

A quiet day to myself, dinner alone at a table for two, days without contact with another soul I avoid stepping outside at all, until I want even base interaction, and have to force myself to be social I’ll cut myself off for today, and ignore the world outside me, only to reach out to anyone come tomorrow All this seems so normal, the result of choices I made, the consequence of mistakes one too many I recoil from a simp...

Day Six: Sparks Fly Today was a different type of day; it was quiet and there was no drama or torture of any kind. It relieved me, but it also worried me. The disappearances of the guards I killed were stirring up suspicion, plus the doctor was dead, adding more fuel to the fire, but today it was quiet. Too quiet. Since it was normal, for once, I started to work on the bomb again. The time for escape was approaching, so I...

Day One: Initiation The first day was the worst. It started first as an ambush, then the start of a eternal nightmare. They led me down the entrance in the middle of no-man's land, where I thought I'd die. The entrance was dark and cold, like the hearts of the bastards who did this. The entrance shut, the light of day disappearing forever. The grip of the two male officers holding my arms was tight as the knot of a rope....

He shifted and squirmed trying to relieve his aching limbs. His arms hurt, his legs hurt, everything hurt. The ground beneath him was solid and punishing; it provided no comfort, no respite from the pain. In fact it only heightened his agony. He stretched, unfurling from the awkward ball he had been curled into, wincing as his muscles pulled and stretched, felt like they were tearing. His head ached and he knew, he didn’t...

Yesterday, I read about a bomb that killed a family in Afghanistan twelve hours ago-- four children, their parents and another man, a friend, perhaps, or a grand-parent who, just before their house exploded, was eating soup, talking, maybe laughing. In the photograph neighbors standing in the rubble raise their fists, a woman holds her weeping face. In Darfur I read about the raping of the women in a village by invading s...

Do you think the world would notice If one flower failed to bloom? Or if one snowflake melted Before it touched the ground? Never being given the chance to find Its place beneath the sun. *~*~* “I don’t see a heartbeat," I said with an understated urgency as my searching eyes darted between my husband, my doctor and the monitor. "I don’t see a heartbeat!” I got no response from either of them, nor could they meet my eyes....

SOLITUDE Claire lay in an isolation tank in her local spa and started to panic. What made me decide to do this? she thought.  She hated being on her own even in her own home when her husband was at work and her children at school. It was a nightmare situation for her. She needed loud music to keep her company whilst she kept herself busy with a cooking or a painting project, in order to smother the fear of being abandoned...