Ryan Sears

Martha Clark

Josh Reid

Jacob Culliton

A Shiny Pearl in a Greasy Bag

Running past a burger joint, 

my stomach at its breaking point.

From a distance far away

I saw Checkers in my way.

Didn't look like much at first,

but had to quench my burning thirst.

Once I'd opened up that door

and saw the classic old decor,

my mind traveled through time and space

waiting in that tiny place.

When the waitress came from yonder

the building of burgers from beyond her.

My senses did not disappoint

and found myself at a critical point.

"What to eat and what to drink"

She asked me with a tiny wink.

When she came back with my food,

from the bag the grease had spewed

which made me sorta hesitate,

but my stomach could not wait.

Kind of made my senses tingle,

with just one bit of that juicy single.

In spite of the okay display,

now I go there every day.

Mikayla Habina

Erica Lohan

Darkness in the Light

You walk down the street, up against the wall, away from all the people. The sun is shining brightly down on you and it gives you life.  Nobody looks over at you, they all just pass by without a glance in your direction. People step on you and your dreams everyday without noticing. But you have lived like this forever and it doesn’t phase you much anymore, they are just people anyway and you are much better off on your own. You choose not to show expression, if you do it means you care and you can’t show them that you care.

At night, you hide. You keep away from the parties and bars. You don’t like the feeling you get at them and you choose to disappear. You can still hear the music and the vibrations along the floor but they go through you and make you feel even more unwanted.  When you sleep you lie flat against the bed and the wall. It gives you comfort and you allow yourself to drift off into a dream state. In your dreams you feel full and lively. Everybody smiles and waves at you as you pass by them and they all know your name. You smile as your thick, dark hair blows in the wind. The wind feels wonderful against your smooth face and you take it all in. Every night you dream of the impossible and every morning you wake up, back into a dreary and grey life.

Your morning routine is simple. Get out of bed and go. Nobody cares about you anyway so you don’t try to make people notice. You are a follower. You never start anything new, but you are the first person to follow what somebody else is doing. When the big 80’s hair was in, your hair was bigger than others, now that straight hair is cool, yours lays flat against your head. You are never completely unique and that will never change.

As you get older, you feel as if you hadn’t aged but you know you have and that time will begin to run out soon. You think of all the things you have never done and probably will never do. Time as moved fast and you know it will not slow down.  You know you will never have kids or a family, and that you will die without ever feeling loved. But you have accepted this fact and suffer through everyday anyway. When you were young you felt like you were flying as you swung through the air and you long for the days when you didn’t feel so alone. You remember playing with barbie dolls and going on vacation. Everything about your childhood was good and you miss it dearly.

You never considered getting  a pet. They were too playful and they never left you alone. Especially cats. You hate cats. Kinda like you hate chalk. The color from chalk is impossible to get off of black clothes. That fear started when you were only a child, all of the other children would trace you as you laid on the cold pavement. You ate quite a bit of chalk dust over the years and you promised yourself you would never go near chalk again.

You had one friend as a child. Her name was Alice.  Alice would jump with you and play and you went everywhere together. She would talk to you and you had long periods of time were you would just laugh together. You always played the imitation game and you guys got really good at it. You tried to keep playing with her over the years, but she started to forget about you.

You used to spend every summer with Alice. You stayed out a little later at night and let yourself feel big and important. The sun would beat down on your face but you didn’t mind. The feeling meant that you were alive and it made you feel better than being in the dark. You and Alice would race down the street. In the morning, she would win. But at night you always reigned victorious. You saved your energy and gave it your all as the sun set behind you. Those were your favorite nights. When it got dark, Alice hung out with her other friends by a campfire. She didn’t talk to you then, but you sat next to her and enjoyed the warmth of the burning logs and the smell of roasting marshmallows.You even remember the time that she thought she had lost you. You had just watched Peter Pan with her and you guys went on a walk down the street as the sun was going down. Her little legs skipped along the pavement and you watched the sun set behind you. She cried when you disappeared and then she looked for you all night, but you were always by her side. When the sun began to rise, she decided it was time to go home and she walked back to her house feeling defeated. You walked behind her, heading hanging low just like hers. You longed to scream out and tell her that she had found you, but you couldn’t. Alice went to bed that morning feeling like you were gone forever, but when she woke up, you saw the biggest smile reach across her face from ear to ear. Things were good between you and Alice but she talked to you less and less every day. And then one day, she just stopped talking to you all together. She hasn’t acknowledged you since even though you see each other every day. Those memories are what keep you going today.  But even though you have those memories, Alice will probably never speak to you again and it eats at your emotions.

As your life has continued, you have gotten old so everything has gotten harder. You walk a bit slower and you ache often. Alice got old too. She stays in bed more often and only looks happy when the sun shines through the window. You like when the sun is shining because she can see you. You feel worse every day and you know that your time with Alice is coming to an end. You wish that things could have been different but you know that everything happened the way it was supposed to. You lived your life praying for things to change but you knew they never would, for you are only a shadow.