All That You Can't Leave Behind

You are alone in a room. You have 2 minutes till your death. You have a phone. Do you make a call? Who do you call? Growing up I was led to believe that when you die it will be of old age, in a hospital bed with loved ones surrounding you. You are able to say goodbye to those you care for and tell them what you have been waiting and wanting to say. Even if they aren’t there it is important to let them know everything and tell them what they mean to you. And no, this isn’t just so you feel better

People scurried like rats through the isles of the toy store, nabbing all gadgets low-tech and high-tech until the store shelves were barren surfaces. As the dry and cold winter night was locked outside, a band of young cashiers face the stampeding last minute shoppers. An elderly woman stands next in line, clutching a box containing the latest Captain Something action figure. Upon approaching the counter, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a handful of crumpled ones, fives, and coins that

empty, you won’t be thinking about the adjective. You only think of the void it brings, the objective that those words mean the nothingness behind your eyelids when you close them. But, it really means the space in between everything else. And when you lose something so suddenly, is the distraught, the anger, solely written only on your face? Or maybe it’s written on the void of your eyes too, as bright white specks. I suppose I should call this social isolation: when your mind fails you too much

for 12 days out of the year. You go to church once a month, Ella. Why won't

isn’t a bad thing, it’s just realizing that what you did was wrong, and how you can learn from it. The afternoon started like any afternoon would, I was up in my room reading, when a quiet voice from the kitchen called to me. “Claire, will you please come down?” The voice echoed. I went down the stairs and into our kitchen, it was filled with the wonderful smell of my Mom’s famous brownies. “Yeah?” I sighed. “It’s a nice day out, why don’t you go ride your bike with your brother?” My Mom suggested

to lie, I'm sure Santa heard that. Now do you want my help, or not?” the girl tryed again. “ I do” the boy said. “My name is Lucinda Wellington Jones, what's yours? ”she asked. ”Jason Lee Coast” he said, and looked up. She was smiling and she had a tiny pixy on her shirt. The train stopped and a ticket collector came in. Jason whispered to Lucinda that he had got to get out off the train, because the man who came in could be very cruel. ”Who told you that?” Lucinda asked. ”Mum” Jason said. “Well

Nino stared at me the whole entire time as Eli and I ate the food. I’m not talking about him just looking at us. I’m talking about a real stare down that you can feel at the back of your head someone staring hard. When I do lock eyes with Nino he wouldn’t look away he would try to hold my gaze for as long as he can, as if he’s trying to talk to me through he’s eyes like I would understand. Eli never left my side again after finding him with Marie by accident. Marie been shooting glares at me if she

“What happened last night…?” Jim thought to himself trying to make sense of everything. “Did you catch all of that Lytton?” “Yeah but the power that came from the wound didn’t register with any faction. It was not magic, demonic energy, erosion, or any kind of science I am familiar with… If anything I would say it was divine energy because of that golden

my fingers and slid into bed. Once school was over, I ran all the way home, desperate to check the mail. I pushed through the door and grabbed the stack of mail on the counter.

asleep to the sound of the shovel beside me tapping the wall by my head. Waking up to the sound of wind blowing over my head and a sharp pain in my side. A sharp rock stabs my gut and dirt gets in my eye as I sit up. Where am I? I’m alive, that’s all I can say. Any clue to where I could be is hidden by the stone walls that surround me. The gray concrete hiding any roads or the buildings that would otherwise be visible. The sun is shining and a lone cloud floats in the blue skies. At least she was