You watch me from the shore

I’m screaming

for you

to come

save me

from here

*

The ocean is so cold

I can feel it move

I feel 

myself

growing 

numb

*

My lips turn blue

My throat is raw

I know

I’m 

bleeding

fear

*

Sandpaper skin 

Brushes my legs 

as 

the sharks

start closing

in

*

I drift farther away 

still bleeding fear

tasting 

death

and 

hate

*

A fin comes close

Cutting through 

the waves

Feeding

off 

my fear

*

I’m pulled underwater

Crystal bubbles floating up

Watching 

the light

of surface

fade

*

The water grows colder

and dimmer

and sweeter

As death 

comes swiftly 

near

The world . . .

       turns dark . . . 

                as they start . . .

                              to feed . . . 

author’s note: um…this is 2, 860 words…wow…heh heh *cough* sorry? ya don’t have to edit it right now, or at all, but just tell me what ya think-was it good or was it junk? it’s not veeeeeeeeeery good, but i almost cried closer to the end when i wrote about- *sniff sniff* YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO READ IT YOURSELF!! WAAAA!!! sorry. i’m good. not really. lol aaaaanyway, write on-yes, sandy, i borrowed your phrase -y’all! <3

Nearly a week later, we had known we couldn’t wait any longer. Tearfully leaving the children with Mara and Japheth, Shastara, Aaliyah, Adan, Wes, Gavin and I all set out to go to BLANK (don’t worry i’ll look back and find the name of the place the rennians were attacking at-ha ha i have NO memory…but ya’ll knew that already, so we’re good! ) .

We had been on the road for nearly four days now, and even though I had had time to heal, I wasn’t doing so well. I tried not to show it to the others, and for now I was able even to hide it from Adan-though it wasn’t his fault he didn’t notice I wasn’t doing well. His mind was very troubled, his thoughts lying with Janai and also the battle we had ahead of us.

Zane had already sent another messenger bird to us, begging us to hurry. Things were getting worse in BLANK by the day, and so if we didn’t pick up the pace, we would be signing BLANK’s death warrant, so to speak. We had to get down there!

Still, it was mid-morning on day four. The day had been going well, but my stomach was starting to burn with a greater ferocity than it had in a while. I credited it to the uncomfortable journey, plus my great nervousness at what lay ahead of us, but the pain was still too great to ignore. I had to make my horse slow its pace so much that I soon fell far behind the others.

Adan and Gavin had ridden ahead to scout out the road and make sure we wouldn’t be riding into a death trap, and Wes, Japheth, Shastara and Aaliyah all wearily rode in front of me. Everyone was too afraid, sad, and filled with pain (pain of the heart) to turn back and make sure I was there. I didn’t want to call out to them and ask for them to slow down-I was here to be a help, not a hindrance.

Mama…I heard Janai call.

Wait…what is Janai doing here? How did he get here?! my mind screamed. I whipped my head to the right, but Janai wasn’t there.

Ma-mama, help me! Janai wailed. His voice was full of fear-was someone hurting my baby?!

Ignoring the unreal pain in my stomach, I pulled on my horse’s reins, quickly urging him in the direction of Janai’s voice.

“Janai?” I called. “Hang on-I’m coming!”

~

Adan and Gavin rode back, more weary than before after straining their eyes and necks to look ahead of them on the road and in the shadows of the trees for any possible threats. “It looks like the coast is clear,” Adan said, rubbing his face. They all had stopped their horses, and had gotten off of them to talk.

Suddenly, Adan realized something.

“Where’s Aaleyah?” he asked, panic causing his heart to pound like a sledge hammer in his chest.

Horror filled each person’s face as they looked around frantically. Not even bothering to wait and see if she would come on her own a moment longer, Adan scrambled up onto his horse. “Hyah!” he shouted, kicking its sides with his heels. Please be alright, Aaleyah…please! he thought fervently.

~

Why were the trees spinning?

And why, for that matter, was I lying on the ground, staring up at them?

Where was my horse?

Where was I ?

Out of the corner of my eye I saw hooves-my horse must have thrown me off-or I had fallen off-and was now nearby.

I was struggling to sit up when I heard my horse whinny-scream-in fear. I sat up too fast and nearly fell back down again when the world spun crazily before my eyes.

Then I heard a different kind of scream-the scream of an animal about to attack…and kill. I looked at my horse and nearly screamed myself. One of the creatures created by the Dark One was flying through the air at my horse…and me.

Only by an extreme rush of adrenaline, I jumped to my feet, fire orbs already in my hands. I hurled them at the beast and it exploded into ash.

Then, though the sound had been muffled before, I heard crying. Turning my head once more, I saw a little girl, huddled against a tree, whiter than a sheet. “Mama!” she sobbed, putting her fists in her mouth to keep from screaming hysterically.

I was very feverish, but I had in fact heard a child call ‘Mama’-it just hadn’t been my child…a fact that made me overjoyed and also a fact that made me wonder who had left the poor girl out here, all alone.

I had just staggered over to her when my horse started to go crazy once more, snorting and pawing the ground. Please, no! I screamed in my mind. Not another one…

But it was another of the beasts, and I knew that I was now too weak to use my fire against it.

Once more, by an extreme rush of adrenaline, I grabbed the girl, made her put her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, and then scrambled up into a tree. Please don’t be able to climb trees, I thought at the creature, sorry that I could do nothing to save my horse from its inevitable death.

The creature toyed with my horse for a bit, delighting in its petrified, jerky movements…until it noticed my leg dangling from the branch I and the girl were on.

It screamed in rage and annoyance and rushed at the tree. I started to try to pull my leg up…too late. I screamed as it leapt up and sank its claws deep into my calf. I did not need this. This could not be happening.

Suddenly a burst of white light exploded from behind me. A sizzling bolt of it traveled toward the ground, hitting the beast and crackling as it did so. Its fur charred black, it was killed instantly, unable to withstand such a powerful bout of magic.

I turned my head to look behind me at the girl, my mouth all but dropping open. She stared back at me, her face petrified but yet determined. Was she really a Chosen One?!

But then my thoughts gave way to the growing pain in my leg…and stomach. I must have really had a large supply of adrenaline to go as long as I had. Even though I sat on a high-up tree branch, the ground was rushing up to meet me. I swayed, only just gripping onto a branch above me in time. I was going to faint…

No-I couldn’t! If I did, I and the girl would fall to the ground and I might crush her, tiny as she was. Surely the others must have noticed my absence by now!

Then, as if on cue, Adan’s horse came thundering into sight. “Adan!” I called, knowing I was going to faint any second now.

He leapt from his horse, shouting “Aaleyah!!” He saw my bloody leg, still hanging down from the branch, and raced over to the tree I was in. I saw him quickly take note of the charred carcass of the beast before turning his head back up to me. “Hang on, Aaleyah!” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Thankfully Shastara, one of the first people to arrive after him, appeared that very moment. “Here-take the girl,” I said wearily, my arms shaking with the effort of handing the girl down to Adan. He took her carefully and then set her down at the base of another tree close by. Then he came back, Shastara accompanying him, and, with me reaching my arms down to him, he and Shastara managed to get me out of the tree.

The others had come rushing back as well just as Shastara and Adan were laying me down on a bed of moss. “Aaliyah, please see to the girl. Japheth, Wes, or Gavin, I’m afraid one of you will have…to…catch my horse,” I said, gritting my teeth against my pain. Somehow I managed to keep my voice clear and calm despite it.

Adan gripped my hand. “Aaleyah, what happened?” he asked softly. I could tell he was struggling not to burst into tears.

“I heard the little girl calling for her mother…and strangely…I thought it was Janai,” I replied, trying my best not to gasp as Shastara put his hand on the wounds on my left calf so he could heal them. Then a wave of coolness was spreading throughout it, and I could relax if but for a short time.

I glanced around at the others, and saw, mixed with their fear and shock, guilt on each of their faces. What did they have to be guilty about?

Then it suddenly came to me. “It’s not any of your faults,” I said, knowing what they were thinking. It was especially to read Aaliyah’s expression-ever since we were little I had been able to ‘read’ her. “You thought I was right behind you.”

“It is our fault,” Aaliyah said woefully. “We should have checked on you, especially since we knew that riding your horse was probably making you feel weak and in pain. I’m sorry, Aaleyah.” Her voice cracked with emotion.

“It is not your fault. You’ve all been taking very good care of me,” I said, my calf burning even though Shastara had done his best to heal it. Really, Aaliyah. Please don’t feel guilty, I thought to my sister in my mind. Then I directed my attention toward the girl. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” I asked wearily.

“Tess,” she said, fear still very plain in her teary eyes. “I want my mama!” She looked to be four to six years old, and even though Aaliyah held her she was shaking. I knew what it was like to want my parents. It was an all-too familiar pain, one that Aaliyah had felt as well.

“Well…Tess…” I said, gritting my teeth against my pain as Adan sat me up and leaned me back against him. The others, meanwhile, expect for Aaliyah, who still held Tess, had already started setting up camp. There was no point in going on today. “How did you come to be here? Can you remember?”

“I…I don’t know!” she cried. “Where’s Mama? Where’s Papa? Why did they leave me alone?” Her bottom lip quivered, and we could all tell she was about to burst into tears.

I took a moment to look her over. Other than being extremely thin and having many scratches and bruises, she appeared un-hurt. I wondered if the Rennians had attacked the town or city she lived in, killed everyone, and her parents had only just gotten her to escape in time. The thought was terrible, but why else would a little girl be in the forest all alone?

But then, they wouldn’t have sent her alone. They-her parents, or at least one of them-would have come with her…so why wasn’t someone with her now? The whole thing was extremely puzzling.

Suddenly the three of us-Adan, Aaliyah and I heard someone calling, “Tess? Tess?!” We looked up to find a woman, soaked in blood, staggering toward us.

“MAMA!” Tess cried, wriggling out of Aaliyah’s arms and rushing toward her mother.

When they met, each wrapping each other in a giant hug, the woman staggered back a few steps. “Adan, she’s not going to make it much longer,” I said. “Get Shastara now.”

Adan picked me as gently and quickly as possible and went over the woman. “Ma’am, please sit down. We have a healer with us; he’s going to see to you,” he said, managing to keep his voice calm despite everything that was happening. Then he all but ran to Shastara. “Shastara, the woman needs help, quickly!” he said frantically, though he kept his voice low enough that Tess wouldn’t hear him.

Shastara dropped what he was doing and ran over to the woman. “Where have you been wounded?” he asked, his face paling at the sight of her.

The woman turned hopeless eyes up to him, though there was a bit of life and joy in them now that she held her daughter in her arms. “I think I’m too far gone,” she said almost inaudibly from her spot on the ground, where she had fallen to her knees to meet her daughter, who had been running toward her.

“Where?” Shastara persisted.

“Tess, I need you to get up for a moment, lovey,” she said gently to her daughter. Her daughter obeyed, though she didn’t leave her mother’s side. The woman turned her pain-filled gaze back toward Shastara, though she directed her next sentence to her daughter as before. “Can you go pick me some of those pretty wildflowers over there, my dear?” she said, looking at Tess again after a moment.

Tess nodded enthusiastically and scampered off, seeming to already have forgotten the terrors of the moments before. “I think I’m bleeding internally,” the woman said once Tess was out of earshot. “I won’t last much longer.”

“Adan, put me down. I have to go help Shastara-please,” I said to Adan, looking up at him.

“Alright, but I’m staying next to you the whole time in case you collapse,” he said, dropping a kiss on my head. He then carried me over to the woman and set me down, squatting next to me once he had done so.

“Are you the one that found her?” the woman asked me suddenly.

“Yes,” I answered, noting with grief how close she seemed to be to death. Tess would soon be motherless.

“Then you know of her…ability,” the woman said, staring at the ground for a moment before looking back at me. “She is a Chosen One-a powerful Chosen One. My husband was a Chosen One, but she is the first in both sides of the family to have so strong an ability at so…young an age.” The woman stopped mid-sentence, gritting her teeth as a wave of pain went through her body. Shastara was already working on her, having helped her lay down, and doing his best, but we all knew her death was inevitable.

“Where is your husband?” I asked, taking her hand.

“He’s…dead,” the woman replied, turning tear-filled eyes up to me. “No one survived the Rennian massacre of our town…no one but Tess and me. I’m…Sarra Grovan…by the way. Pl-please, promise to take c-care of my daughter.” Sarra was shivering uncontrollably now, and when I met Shastara’s gaze, I could tell from his eyes that she was not long for the world. “Pl-please,” she said, her teeth chattering and her eyes beseeching as she stared up into mine.

“I promise-we promise,” I said, looking up at Adan for a moment before looking back at her.

“Bless y-you,” she said softly, every word she spoke a great effort to do so.

Tess came scampering back at that moment, her hands full of a large bouquet of wildflowers. Her mother was hardly able to choke back a sob at the sight of her. “T-Tess,” she said, still shivering and her teeth still chattering. I removed my cloak and covered her with it, not caring how bloody it got. “M-Mama has to g-go.”

“Where?” Tess wailed suddenly, clutching one of her mother’s hands in both of her own. “I w-want you to stay!”

I squeezed Sarra’s other hand tightly, completely unable to imagine what it must be like to look at your child and try to explain that you couldn’t stay with them…that after these next moments, you could never be with them again. I choked back my own sob, and Adan’s grip on my shoulder tightened.

“I’m going to s-sleep now,” Sarra said, stroking her daughter’s face. “C-come here.” She hugged Taress to herself. “I’m g-going to sleep, and when I s-sleep I’ll go be w-with Papa.”

“But when will you wake up?” Tess cried, her tears streaming down her face.

I could see from Sarra’s face that her heart had just been absolutely broken. “I won’t,” she said, tears streaming down her own face, and making streaks through the grime and blood on it. The tears then fell into her blonde hair, though it was so dirty I could hardly make out the color. She had pretty blue eyes, and Tess was the very image of her, though her own eyes were big and brown. “But one day you’ll fall asleep too, all ready to take a l-long nap. And th-then you wake up in a lovely place, and P-Papa and I w-will be there too, waiting for you,” she said, trying to force happiness into her voice.

Tess only sobbed all the harder. “But I will m-miss you!” she wailed.

“I’ll miss you t-too, my beautiful angel,” Sarra replied, still crying. “I l-love you,” she said softly, lifting her head so she could kiss Tess.

“I love you too, M-Mama!” Tess cried, kissing her back on her cheek and hugging Sarra tightly…

And then she was gone.

Tess’s slow, high wail of pain and sorrow pierced the forest.

“Do hurry up, Cherish! All the men will be gone by the time we get there and the ball over if you don’t limp a bit faster!” Mariana called from the other room.
Cherish bristled at her words(while she thought how ridiculous they were-these events lasted ‘til the wee hours of the morning). How dare she tease her about her limp? She knew how simply the mention of it brought the horrible memories flooding back.
And that was not to mention how Cherish felt about going to balls. Every time that she was invited now, she felt a black fear and thick, strangling pain squeeze her heart. Getting dressed up and going to a ball reminded her of that terrible night eleven years ago, and at times the memory was so painful that Cherish would start crying until she had to leave, pleading sick.
“ ‘The men’ don’t want to court or marry a flirt anyway,” Cherish muttered under her breath as she rubbed her ankle one last time. All those years ago, when she had cut and broken her left ankle, it had started to heal crookedly before she could find civilization (the city had been destroyed-there was not one person left alive in it), and it would never the same again. It had left her with a dreadful limp, which caused her to move much slower than other people. She could also never dance at a ball (though this was really rather a relief to her) because of it, so instead she was forced to sit and talk with a million different young men- who were all drooling over her-as everyone whirled and twirled across the ballroom floor.
Still, her two sisters (by adoption-when she had finally found civilization she had been cared for in an orphanage, and when she was ten someone had finally adopted her) Mariana and Helana-the two terrors, as she liked to call them-were the most outrageous flirts she had ever seen. They would go to a ball or some other big event, show great interest in one man, and then flounce away to go flirt with fifty others, leaving the young man whose hopes they had just risen puzzled and disappointed. Cherish wasn’t sure they would ever settle down and marry. Flirting was ‘just too much fun’, as they would say to her.
To make matters worse, their parents, Anna and Rodger Renold, did absolutely nothing to stop them. In fact they all but encouraged them to flirt with every man they met, thinking that they would meet more men that way-instead of just sensibly meeting a few men and getting to know them.
And, in this chaotic life, Cherish was empty, broken, and unloved. Her parents didn’t love her, her sisters didn’t love her, and no one other than the very few friends she had in the city loved her. Oh, everyone (excluding most young women, who were furiously jealous, including her sisters) loved her beauty and the fact that her father was rich, but that was all they loved. Cherish wished that someone would take the time to really get to know her-she wished someone would care even a little about her and what she would like for once.
But that was never going to happen. Cherish would simply spend the rest of her life, followed and nagged by dozens of suitors, corrected and made ‘proper’ by her mother, and despised by her sisters and every other young women who wished they had her beauty…
Or so she thought.

~

The Grants were all finally decked out and attired, and they piled into a carriage and soon found themselves at the ball.
Mariana and Helana got out as fast as they possibly could, giggling and saying how they were going to do a contest to see who could ‘get’ more men at once-and each insisted she would win. Once more, Cherish felt sick having to listen to their foolishness. When would they grow up?!
Mr. and Mrs. Grant were next to leave the carriage, and they swept inside the small castle (as that was where their duke lived) with elegancy and grace.
Cherish, however, was the last to get out, and she dragged her feet getting inside the castle. Everything in her was screaming to turn around and flee the scene, but she knew she would just get lectured and punished by her parents if she did so, and her life was hard enough already.
So, wishing she could just blink and this would all be over-simply a nightmare-Cherish went inside the castle.
“Cheeeeeerish!” one of the older women squealed, coming over to her (and followed by about a dozen other older women). “You came, my dear! How positively lovely!”
“Hello, Mrs. Eckheart,” Cherish said, managing a plastic smile.
“Hello, my pretty!” she said, hugging Cherish and giving her a peck on the cheek. “It’s sooooo wonderful to see you, my dear!” she went on in her loud voice. No, really? Cherish thought. That’s basically what you said the first time you opened your large, loud mouth.
The other women ooed and aahed over Cherish as well, exclaiming that there had never been a more stunning woman in all of England. (?)
It was true that Cherish was beautiful. She had inherited her mother’s stunning looks with her long, soft black hair, sparkling blue eyes, skin the color of fresh cream, and pinkest lips-the reasons she was envied by almost every young woman her age in Fensworth, the small city where she now lived.
“Yes, well, er…thank you,” Cherish said when every woman standing around her had given her at least six compliments. They were kind to do so-she didn’t deny it-but she hated it. She then quickly excused herself.
This was all too much. There were all these people wearing silk, lace, and velvet…and they were all dancing. It reminded her too much of that night, many years ago…
She was suddenly yanked from her thoughts (as she tried to blend into the shadows in a corner of the room) when one of the musicians announced at the end of the latest song, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, we shall play Renveyla!” There was much cheering and clapping added to the applause that was only just ending (for the song the musicians had just finished).
Cherish felt sick as the musicians took up their playing once more.
It couldn’t be.
Slow and haunting, yet gracefully beautiful, the song began…
It was the same exotic music that had been played that night her parents had been murdered…the night her life had ended.
The room started spinning, and Cherish felt like she was being smothered. She had to get outside before she fainted!
She stumbled through the thick crowd of people, reliving every second of ‘that night’. No…get out of here…someone…help me…she thought. Her mind felt foggy, and her thoughts feeble…she was going to faint. She knew it…
And then, just when she didn’t think she could reach the door in time, she felt a hand firmly grip her elbow. “Let me help you, miss,” a soft young man’s voice said.
She wasn’t able to make out his face-or much of anything else-because the edges of her vision were black, and the blackness was spreading…eating up the rest of her vision…she could hear the blood rushing in her ears…she was seeing stars and spots…
Thankfully the man kept a tight grip on her elbow, and just as she started to collapse one of his arms went around her waist…and then they were outside.
Cherish gulped in the fresh air as she hadn’t been breathing. She gulped it in so fast she choked on it, and the man who had helped her out patted her on the back. “Are you alright, miss?” he asked once she was breathing a bit more normally.
“I-I think so,” she said, though she felt anything but alright.
She turned to get a better look at him…and then her mouth all but dropped open. Could it really be…
He was obviously one of the servants; Cherish could tell from the livery he wore. He was much taller than her, and his hair was black and long enough to be tied at the base of his neck. He had warm brown eyes, and he seemed to be of Arabic descent. He had a sun-tanned, handsome, kind face and was very fit.
“Was it…the music?” he asked in his fascinating accent, his eyes confused. He, of course, had no idea what was wrong with her.
Cherish looked out over the edge of the balcony. “Yes,” she replied softly.
“Well, miss, can I call for a carriage to take you home, or did you come with someone that I could tell about you needing to go home?” he asked.
His voice was deep, but it sounded familiar. Even his face looked familiar…but Cherish pushed it from her mind. “I came with my family, but don’t bother telling them. They won’t leave anyway,” she said bitterly.
Suddenly she blushed. She knew how that must have sounded. “It’s just…don’t tell them. I’ll be fine-their night shouldn’t be…spoiled…because of me,” she said quickly. Actually, a real family would show concern and get me home as quickly as possible if I wanted to go home, she thought angrily.
If he noticed her bitter tone, he didn’t show it. “Then would you like me to bring out a chair for you…or would you like me to stay for a bit longer until you’re feeling better?” he asked kindly.
“I would tell you to go, but I’m afraid I simply don’t trust my body not to give up on me. You could ask someone else to stay with me…I don’t want you to get in trouble…” Cherish said, letting her sentence hang. The truth was she didn’t want this man to leave. His kind, easy manner was already making her feel better.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, miss. I would actually get in trouble if I left you while you weren’t feeling well,” he said, smiling kindly. “Would you like to sit down?” He was still holding her up, and he looked over at one of the chairs on the balcony.
“Yes…I think I would feel better if I tried sitting down,” Cherish said, giving a thin smile. Everything had stopped spinning, but now her head pounded with a terrible headache. She wondered if she really would make it through this evening without collapsing.
The song was still being played inside, and Cherish kept glancing at the door, her mind screaming Make it stop! Make it stop! She half-expected pirates to come charging in near the end of the song (which was when they had come all those years ago).
The man stood dutifully next to her, waiting in case she should need something. The song was almost over, and Cherish knew with a sickening feeling that there was a possibility someone might later that night ask for it to be played again. Oh, why hadn’t she begged to stay home?!
“I am feeling better-thank you…” Cherish started to say, but she stopped, not knowing ‘the man’s’ name. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.” A deliciously cool breeze washed over her then, and she felt herself relaxing in the chair.
“Quasim-Quasim Leron,” he replied, smiling. “And it is my duty to be of assistance, so no thanks are necessary.”
“Still, I thank you,” Cherish said, smiling again, despite the terrible way she felt.
Quasim started to look very uncomfortable. “Miss, I think I’d better go get someone. You’re as pale as a ghost,” he said at last.
“Please…please don’t,” she said, sitting up and gripping one his arms. “I don’t want people making a big fuss over me.” She just as quickly blushed and removed her hand, feeling like a begging child.
“But you’re not feeling well-you need to at least rest,” Quasim insisted. “And I know just the place.”
He then managed to casually get Cherish through the crowd and into a small guest room in the palace that no one would know she had been in. He said that one of the maids, Sera, would come in and check on her every once in a while. Cherish thanked him, overflowing with gratitude at his kindness and discretion. The last thing she wanted was people making a fuss over her.
Of course, it would be nice to have a loving family that actually cared about if she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home…but her family simply wasn’t like that. They were too worried about themselves.
So, as Cherish lay there, feeling absolutely terrible even though she was resting, she imagined that her real parents were still alive, and remembered the wonderful life she had had with them…and for a short time, she was able to escape from her wreck of a life.

author’s note: this isn’t the best story, and i just started it today, and i need help w/ the title, and if ya’ll have ideas ’bout what it could be please put ‘em in your comment…and yeah…but tell me what you think anyway <3s, ya’ll! ttfn!

It had all started that terrible day, that ‘beginning of the end’.
If only she and her parents had stayed home that night she might still have a life.
Still, they had received an invitation to go to a ball celebrating the young duke’s birthday. The only reason Cherish’s parents had gone was to show their loyalty to their duke, and the only way Cherish had been coaxed into going was the fact that her parents were doing it when they did want to and she would probably see some of her little friends there.
It had turned out to be a lovely affair. The musicians had played wonderful, exotic songs and the food had been exotic as well. Everyone had been very kind (most people at balls were rather stuck-up and formal) and everyone had wished at least once that the evening never came to an end.
But then, suddenly, shouts had rang out across the city square-shouts of “Pirates!! PIRATES ARE ATTACKING!!!!” Total mayhem had broken out as filthy, awful pirates poured into the city and rushed into the duke’s large manor.
“RUN, CHERISH!” her parents had screamed…but, alas-just as they turned to find a way out themselves two pirates struck them down, and as they lay on the floor, bleeding and dying, they held each other in their arms until their chests rose and fell no more.
Cherish, who had only been seven years of age, had tried to make her way through the frantic crowd. The duke was being rushed out to safety, but many doubted he would make it. Many doubted that anyone would make it that night, but they ran for their lives nonetheless.
Cherish herself had barely escaped with her life. Indeed, as she had finally exited the manor, she had twisted-wrenched-her ankle on a huge piece of brick that had fallen to the ground when the pirates shot their cannons at the city buildings and she had fallen, dizzy with pain, expecting at any minute to feel one of the barbarians drive their sword through her back as she lay there.
But then, seemingly out of nowhere, a young boy only a few years older than her had appeared. He had somehow managed to pick her up and carry her into an alley.
Once inside the alley he had kicked open the door to an abandoned, decrepid house, closed it behind them, and then hurriedly taken her down the cellar of the old house.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” he had said in a hushed tone, wrapping her bleeding, broken foot in a cloth. Cherish hadn’t realized until now that she had badly cut it as well. “Don’t leave this cellar for anything!”
Then he had scurried away, leaving her speechless with shock, horror, and pain.
She had waited for seemed centuries…and still he didn’t come. No one came for her. She felt like she was the only one alive on the face of the earth.
Every creak she heard above her-which was really just the wooden floorboards of the old house shifting-had made her heart come up into her throat or pound so hard she thought it would pound its way through her rib cage…but nothing came, in the great darkness, to get her. She was just simply left alone to imagine all sorts of horrible things…and alone she would remain for the next three days.
And, when this pain-and-horror-filled, bedraggled, near-death girl would finally find the courage to come back up to the world above, she would everything strangely silent…
And she would find herself utterly alone.

author’s note: hey, ya’ll! this is the story i recently started that was keeping me from doing more AKF it STINKS , but tell me what ya think anyway!!! there’s not much of it yet, but i’ll keep on a’ writin’ it if ya think i should!

Lungs burning.

Calves burning.

One foot in front of the other.

Thoughts racing.

Heart pounding.

Wait-is my heart still beating?!

I’m gonna die.

I know it.

Turn corner.

Rush hour traffic.

Men coming…running…following…

Lungs gonna burst.

Legs gonna fall off.

Run.

Somer raced down the alley, her head swirling with all sorts of thoughts. Why, oh why were these people always following her…and trying to kill her?

Oh, no. Please, no! No! No! No! she thought. The alley didn’t lead anywhere-in front of her was a dead-end.

Somer skidded to a stop, panting. She whirled around, even now able to hear the pounding footsteps of her pursuers. What should she do?!

She looked at the walls on either side of her-they had no good hand-holds or foot-holds…

She was trapped, weaponless.

Helpless.

She was dead meat.

The men-all six of them-that had been chasing her-entered the alley. Upon seeing her, they slowed to a walking pace, evil grins on their faces.  Here comes death, she thought. She, however, was going to be brave and stand tall in her last moments. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

She took up the now very familiar karate fighting position, ready to knock the daylights out of the first man who was crazy enough to come near. She just had to get around him and deliver a quick, hard chop to the base of his neck-or, the top of his spine. A blow like that could kill. After that, there was nothing left for it but to just fight with all her strength-do her best.

Then, she would die…No! a voice  inside her suddenly protested. Don’t go down so easily! You can take these thugs! You’ve taken even more than them before, and even though those guys were smaller, they were still amazing fighters. And you defeated them all. Come on. Fight with everything you’ve got. Live.

Live.

Masquerade: 1.  a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises 2. to assume the character of (dictionary.com)

The test results are through. The first MASQUERADE post invited over forty comments, all between fifteen characters, in three days. Wow!

MASQUERADE is a tool to help you better understand your characters by seeing how they answer questions and interact with others. It also helps you flesh out the world and the people around them.

From now on I’ll turn out a MASQUERADE post once a week on Mondays. This way we’ll give characters a chance to talk, you a chance to listen, and us a chance to write and critique!

THE NEW RULES

1. Choose a character that you’ve invented.

2. Comment on a MASQUERADE question.

3. Sign your character’s name. (Don’t worry about changing the username. I’ll do that later.)

4. Start over with a new character! (There’s no limit on how many characters you choose to let join.)

The Characters

You can either:

1. Choose a character from a story you’ve already finished,

2. Choose a character from a story you’re working on,

3. Or invent a character for a story you haven’t written yet.

Although I’d suggest the last two, because this is an tool to help you write (making characters talk is a great trick for getting out of Writers Block!), using an old character is perfectly acceptable.

Enjoy!

If you had

HELLO

three wishes

*

what would you wish for?

Some of you live where wishes are possible. Are you prepared? Of course, the rest of you live in worlds that are as wishless as this one. But it’s always healthy to dream.

[don't know what a MASQUERADE post is? Scroll down to find the "Masquerade Introduction"]

Jack and Jill often fought;
They didn’t get along.
Their mother was deeply distraught;
She thought she’d raised them wrong.

Their mother sent them both one day
To the well atop the hill.
Jill was willing, but Jack did say,
“I will not go with Jill.”

Jack was threatened with a thrashing,
So he was forced to relent.
And so, Jill smiling, Jack’s teeth gnashing
Up the hill the two went.

Jack was very mad at Jill
While they were at the well.
So he pushed his sister down the hill,
And started to laugh as she fell.

He told his mom she fell on her own,
And he wasn’t to blame.
“She tripped on a big, gray stone,”
Said this annoying cabbage-brain.

The next day, when Jack got out of bed,
He still wasn’t penitent.
That is, ’till he fell on his head
-The PERFECT punishment.

What can’t you

*

live without?

*

Everyone has those little things that they couldn’t possibly live without. I’m not talking about big things (husbands or wives or children or sisters or brothers or parents…), I’m talking about the little precious things, like music and chocolate.

what do you do for fun?

Seeing as some of us come from wildly different worlds with, accordingly, wildly different recreation - this should be interesting.

(picture courtesy of teenink.com)

(inspired by the blog: come in character - which isn’t particularily clean, btw)

Masquerade: 1.  a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises 2. to go about under a false pretense or character, to assume the character of (dictionary.com)

THE RULES FOR MASQUERADE

1. Choose a character (that you’ve invented)

2. Comment on a MASQUERADE post as your chosen character

3. You may comment as many times as you want using different characters

A MASQUERADE post will ask a question that you’ll answer in character.

- hey, a conversation might even bloom between our characters! You never know!

Have fun!

Jesus where are you?

Lord God Almighty,

Where are you?!

Can you hear me?

Can you even hear me?!

Screams leave my mouth,

Unconsciously

My fists pound and thrash

I’m banging my head

Against the wall

My hands are bleeding

Can’t you seem I’m hurting?

Here I am,

I’m crying

I’m calling out

Answer me!

Isn’t that

What you said you’d do?

Has my entire life and longing,

Has it all been for nothing?

Doubts impenetrate

My mind

Are you even real?

I gasp, I’m shocked

I’m horrified

Did I… Did I

Just say that?

Tears come relentlessly,

I’m ghastly ashamed

Of my thoughts

My fist is in my mouth,

Holding back my screams

My body rocks

Back and forth

Back and forth

My breath comes in gasps-

Upset by my sorrows-my fears

All is silent

I dare not even think

To move-to breathe

I wait-I wait in anxious silence

And then it comes-His voice

“Have you so little faith?”

He’s disappointed.

Forgive me Lord! Forgive my unbelief!

But tell me God, How do I get more faith?!

“You need only ask”

I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just-

I’m so afraid!

“Oh be still my child,

Have no fear!

For I am always with you

And I will never leave you”

Then why-oh why did you not answer me?

I can’t say it-

Can’t put my thoughts to words

I feel guilty just for thinking it

But of course he knows my thoughts

“I did answer you”

Then why didn’t I hear you?

I think again.

“Because you didn’t listen.”

Forgive me

Forgive me

Forgive me

Will I ever stop saying these words?

Chapter Two

We, Will and I, had decided on a place to go. We would go abroad. To France. We would go to our Aunt Alaina, my mother’s sister (our mother was from France, where she lived to she married our father… an Englishman), who lived out in the country. She hadn’t visited us in several years, but the last time she’d been in England she had pleaded with me to visit. I’d never had the opportunity before or really the desire to leave my country-but this was the perfect chance.

We were taking the ship, The Flying Waves, in a fortnight. So I needed to write and send a letter to my aunt on the next available ship in France. I preceded to do so.

Mademoiselle Alaina

Chateau de Chenonceau

______, France

Ma chere tante Alaina,

Je regrette, chere tante, mais je ne peux pas donner tu que heure preparer. Je suis mais render visite a.  Preparer s’il vous plait pour mon frere, William, et moi. Nous avec sur, the Flying waves. S’il Vous plait

( Note to Readers: I will finish it in French later!)

(My Dear Aunt Alaina,

I’m sorry, dear aunt, that I couldn’t give you more notice, to prepare for my visit. But visiting I am. Please prepare for my brother, William, and myself. We will be coming in on, the flying waves. I also must apologize for the abruptness of this letter-but I must get this one the next ship out and will take this letter down to the docks immediately. I know you must be wondering why this sudden visit. But is complicated and a lengthy explanation which I will give as soon as I arrive.

Your loving neice,

Sophie Weatherbrooks)

I wrote my hasty letter in French, my first language. Father had been abroad when I was younger and learning to speak. So mother and my French nurse-maid taught me French. Eventually (when Father came home) I learned English, but with a heavy French accent. It was a rather humorous situation-to be English yet be more comfortable in my mother’s native tongue. And how shocked the dames were at finishing school-to speak with anything but an English accent was reproachable. I tried my best and eventually was able to speak perfect, flawless English. As of late though, I slipped more and more into French-or spoke English with a subtle accent. Perhaps it was a sign from God-this this was the right thing, to go to France.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the docks, Berkshire England

The docks was an inappropriate destination, for a young lady. But I wasn’t so young anymore, and William would’ve lost the letter before he even would’ve gotten to the docks, not to mention the ship. So at the docks is where I found myself, attempting to find the next ship to France. It wasn’t as easy as I’d thought.

The only time I’d been to the docks was when I’d had a fit of rebellion and wore men’s clothing and snuck down there. It had been quite an experience, the good Doctor Chaucer, who had been my mentor (my mother had thrown a fit at my “hobby” as she called it, but it was something I truly loved, so father had given in) had called upon me when a man’s leg was severed by a whaling —-, right in front of my eyes. Of course he’d thought I was a boy. I’d been scared out of my wits-not from the surgery I had to help him perform, that hadn’t bother me- no, it’d been the leering sailors and lecherous vagabonds that’d frightened me. But it had been worth it. That was the first time I’d met the Doctor and I had immediately took a liking to him.  And he as well to me, he became my teacher and my advisor. And I, his student and his friend. There was nothing I wanted more in the world then to be a Doctor. But women weren’t Doctors-they could be midwives, perhaps even good with herbs-but a doctor!  In all of England and quite possibly the world-there wasn’t one woman doctor, it was practically a sin.

I had, for my second time, dressed as a man. But there was a difference this time-I wasn’t dressed as a man out of rebellion, but rather safety. If I’d gone as a woman, I’d be taken as a “lady” doxy-and that just wasn’t an option. I weaved in and out of the busy streets-just like all the other men there, grinning that my disguise was a success. I’d thought my ruse flawless-I fit right in-no one would bother me, Aye I was short for a man-but I’d just be taken as a growing lad, but I’d thought victory too soon. For just as I was passing the alleyway on —–street, someone reached out and grabbed me by my breeches

“What do you think you’re doing here woman?” a deep, barely controlled voice barked. I opened my mouth to scream for help but the villain clasped his hand tightly over my mouth. I bit his hand and my captor uttered an oath. I tried to make a run for it-but he caught me again and put me against the wall, grasping my hands tightly and keeping a cautious distance away from my face. “Shush Sophie, It’s me!”

“Jean-Paul!” I exclaimed. “You’re alive!” My best friend grinned at me and let go of my hands to hug me.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded breathlessly. I pushed away from his to get a better a look, or truthfully to make sure he was all in one piece. He caught my hands again, but this time to reassure me, not to restrain me.

“I’m fine Sophie.” He smiled again, but the smile didn’t quite reach his sea-blue eyes.  “But what do you think you’re doing here?” Anger seethed in his tone. “How could you be so stupid! Here alone, dressed like… dressed like that! It’s indecent.” He narrowed his eyes as he surveyed my outfit.

“Paulie, you didn’t answer my question.” I used his child-hood nicknamed, trying to soften him up-intentionally not answering him, he wouldn’t like my reasoning. He didn’t answer, instead he let go of my hands, put his hands on my shoulders, and shook me. Boy, but he was angry. 

“I would like to know what you’re doing here Sophia.” He moved his hands to my waist and shook me some more. “Dressed… dressed like a man. Don’t you realize… what could…” He couldn’t finish his thoughts, but I knew what he was thinking. I could’ve been raped and left for dead.

I blushed but lifted my chin, I wasn’t doing anything dishonorable.

            “Delivering a letter. I answered yours now answer mine. What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t get leave-“

            “Sophia,” he sighed cutting me off. “I’m not on leave.”

“But then… Oh Paulie! Why did you do that? Whatever will we do?” He was silent, brooding. I thought for a moment and said, “I know! William and I are leaving in a fortnight to go to my Aunt Alaina in France. Oh Jean-Paul, you must come with us!” He looked disapproving.

            “You endangered yourself to deliver a letter?”

I sighed. What importance was this when Paulie was in danger? I refused to answer his menial trivia.

Jean-Paul sighed, “I’m a wanted man Sophia.” He said harshly. Then he gentled his tone, “I couldn’t do that to you…to William… to your aunt… especially not to you Sophie.”

“But what other choice do we have?” He was my best and dearest friend-if he had to run, I would run with him-to the darkest end of the earth. He saw the determined glare in my eyes and thought better of contradicting me.

“Where in France does your aunt live?”

author’s note: sorry this is so short again, ya’ll!!!!!! and sorry it’s so long over due!!! i just started a new story, and you know how it is when you start a new story-you can’t stop thinking about it or writing it for awhile

It hung over me like the blackest rain cloud.

Despair.

Doom.

As soon as I was healed, Aaliyah, Shastara, Adan and I would have to leave to go fight with the Rennians.

No matter where I turned-no matter where I went-I could not be at peace. Not real peace, anyway. I would always have to worry about losing something dear to me. I would always have to worry that things were about to suddenly get worse.

I felt like I was standing at the edge of a precipice-no. I was standing on a precipice that was only large for my feet. If I moved, I would fall and be done for.

So, while my joy was great that my dear husband and son were back, it wasn’t enough to keep me from beginning to sink into an indescribable depression.

I would lie in bed imagining all the horrible things that could all too easily happen. We could go, and then Aaliyah would die. Or maybe it would be Adan…or maybe even me. Or, while we were gone, a group of bandits would come and rob Mara and Japheth and the children and hurt them-or kill them.

I had long ago stopped trying to put my thoughts on a different course. Now I was simply too afraid and depressed to stop their direction, and I would end up laying there in my room, all alone, trembling and white as a sheet.

This great black cloud-this growing shadow-was choking me.

Drowning me.

And I could do nothing to stop it.

~

Adan slowly-and as quietly as possible-opened the door to Aaleyah’s and his bedroom. Janai was still asleep in his tiny bedroom, and Adan had just come back in from doing chores in the barn. He had gotten them done extra early so he could spend more of the day with Aaleyah and Janai, and now he intended to get a little more sleep.

He had just softly closed the door, and he turned around to find Aaleyah staring up unblinkingly at the ceiling. Why was she so pale?

His heart in his throat, Adan’s head spun. She had been healing-she’d been doing so well, other than for her depression-this couldn’t be true!

He forced his feet to carry him to Aaleyah’s side of the bed. She didn’t move, blink, or breathe. Adan could hardly breathe himself.

This could not be real.

“A-Aaleyah?” he finally managed to whispered hoarsely. A lump started to form in his throat.

No.

No.

The room started to spin before his eyes.

Aaleyah could not be gone.

“Adan.” The whispered word was spoken so quietly he wasn’t sure that he hadn’t imagined it. Aaleyah blinked and then turned her gaze to him. Her eyes filled with tears. “Hold me,” she pleaded softly.

He didn’t have to be asked twice. He sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her into his arms, filled with relief when he felt her warm body and steady heart beat. “Oh, love, you scared me!” he murmured into her hair. “When I saw you just laying there, not moving-not breathing…”

“Not…breathing?” Aaleyah said.

“You didn’t even so much as blink,” Adan said, alarmed.

“I was so…scared,” she whispered. It was like she was in a trance-she didn’t even look up at him. She just stared straight ahead.

“Of what, love?” Adan said, sitting back so he could look her in the face better.

“Of…of everything. If we stay here, the Rennians could kill us. If we go to stop them, we could still be killed. If we leave your parents and the children, they could be killed. I know your parents are Chosen Ones, but the Rennians already nearly succeeding in killing a Chosen One, didn’t they?” Aaleyah said almost inaudibly, her voice bitter. Her stomach burned anew at the memory of her near-death experience. “I can never smile, laugh, or be at peace without wondering what bad thing is going to happen next-what dark thing is lurking just behind me…waiting to grab me…” Her voice only rose slightly, but she was beginning to become hysteric. Even now the tears started coming. “There’s doom and despair following me everywhere I go! They won’t leave me be!” The tears were coming harder, and still she didn’t look at him.

“Aaleyah,” he began. Still no response. It was truly as if she was in a trance. She stared at the wall, her eyes unseeing-as if she was imagining all the horrible things happening-as if she was seeing the scenes play before her eyes.

He shook her, saying more sharply, “Aaleyah!”

She looked at him slowly, finding it hard to pull free from her trance-her fear. “They won’t leave me be!” she whispered fiercely, beginning to sob.

Adan pulled her back into his arms, hugging her tightly. “Ssh, love,” he murmured. “None of that is going to happen.”

“Y-you don’t kn-know that!” she sobbed, sitting back and therefore pulling out of his embrace. “You’re just s-saying it to make me feel better !” She covered her face with her hands, angry and filled with the deepest sorrow she had ever known, her sobs shaking her shoulders.

“You’re right, Aaleyah,” Adan said, trying not to be hurt at her refusal of his comfort and anger toward him. “I don’t know everything that will happen-but I have hope. I know that we will all do our absolute best to see that those things do not happen. I know we will give our all to ensure that they don’t, and other than that there is nothing for us to do.” He stood to leave, figuring she would need some time on his own, though all he wanted to do was hold in her arms and never, ever let go.

Just as he reached the door, he heard the bed’s mattress creak. He turned to see Aaleyah get up and struggle to stay on her feet-somehow she had managed to stand on her own. He couldn’t imagine the pain that must have caused her, and all because she had probably been trying to follow him.

He rushed back to her side. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?” he demanded to know, about to pick her up and put her back on the bed. “You’re going to make your wound bleed again.”

“I don’t care!” she cried, her tears starting all over again. “I’m sorry, Adan! Please just hold me again…please.” She said it in such a forlorn way that Adan’s annoyance that she was deliberately endangering herself melted. All he felt was an overwhelming love for her.

He gently drew her into his arms. “Oh, love,” he murmured sadly. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

“Don’t…don’t leave me,” she said, suddenly petrified that he would leave-that he would disappear before her eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Adan said, keeping his hands on her waist but stepping back a little so he could look at her face. “I promise you that, Aaleyah El’Hara.” His voice dropped to a whisper, and then he was leaning down to kiss her, his sweet, precious wife.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He could taste the salt of her tears on her lips, and the thought of her being hurt or sad made his heart seem about to shatter.

At last they drew apart, and Aaleyah moved her arms down to wrap them around his waist. She laid her head on his chest, suddenly so weary. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked. “I don’t do enough for you.”

“Adan,” she admonished, looking up at him, her eyes incredulous because she couldn’t believe he would actually say such a thing. “That is not true.”

“Then tell me what exactly you’re thanking me for!” he said, amused and puzzled. Who would honestly want to thank him? He sometimes wondered if there had ever been a bigger failure on the face of the earth.

“For being here-for everything you do,” Aaleyah murmured, her love for him showing plainly in his eyes, “but most of all, for being mine. For choosing me.” She raised a hand to stroke his face, forgetting all about her pain. She didn’t deserve him.

Adan sobered. “You wasted your breath thanking me then, love,” he said softly, smiling tenderly, “because without you I wouldn’t be able to survive. I need you, and I always will. You keep me alive-I should be thanking you for choosing me.” Encircling her waist with one arm, he brought one of his own hands up to her face to stroke it.

Her eyes welled up with tears once more. “I love you, Adan El’Hara,” she murmured, feeling like she was melting under his beautiful gaze.

“And I love you,” he murmured. Then they were kissing once more, and Aaleyah let her fear simply fly away…

And, for the first time in so long, she let herself hope.

For our one year annevercery, Dad and I had a thought that we could make a WE BOOK. That means I’ll collect all the poetry, short stories, etc… on WE and put them in a real life book (which I’ll publish on lulu.com). I’ll also have the “the WELex” (a dictionary of our terms: critty, para, chara, editations, etc…) in it, as well as any other fun, spontanous things we can dream up. Well, does anyone understand?

Mir