The Park

Michelle had become so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice the grass around her picnic blanket growing at a tremendous rate. With every turn of the page, the blades rose higher to swallow their prey.

By the time she finished the story and let out a sigh, the green wary had become impenetrable.

Love at First Sight

The weight of the silver frame felt sturdy in her hands while she caressed his picture. He's so handsome, she thought. His hair, his eyes, he's absolutely perfect. A warm sigh left her lips as she put the frame in her purse.

She barely noticed the alarm blaring as she departed through the broken window.

The Coast Without

I baited my hook and cast into the surf.

In my youth, this beach was far too busy to be fished, even on a cold cloudy day like today. The upside to being the last person was that I could stand with the waves as long as I liked, drinking the sea with my eyes.

The Night Wind

The night wind blows through my hair as I walk under a street light. A tingling sensation grabs hold of me somewhere between my ears and my throat. I stop and look back. No one is there. I don't care what my eyes say, I'm being followed.

My pace quickens and so does my pulse.

Ruins

He clawed through the ruins looking for bugs, rats, anything smaller than him. Imaginary conversations kept him strong.

"How can you eat that? That's not what people eat."

"It's what survivors eat."

"Do you really want to live like that?"

"Better to live like this than die like them."

"Just give up, kid."

"You first."

Slide

Tyler whooshed down the slide, but didn't stop at the end like his mother told him. He slid through the earth and beyond the plane of this existence. He came to rest in a place without time. He cried out for his mother and a hand reached down from the heavens to scoop him up.

Reminders

Mitchell looked at his reflection in the mirror on her nightstand, partially obscured by a ridge of white powder. He placed a platinum band on the table and walked out. He opened the trunk of his car to store his duffel bag but was greeted by an unused stroller.

The reminders would never go away.

Skyscraper

I ascended the side of the skyscraper as if I was walking along a sidewalk. I approached the roof and looked over the edge, the horizontal cliff. How did I get here?

I wondered what would happen if I jumped, not down, but across. Would I plummet to my death or simply change my perspective?

Acceleration

I thought time was slowing down at first. It started when my girlfriend was telling me about her day and her words got longer and longer. The raindrops outside fell like molasses from a spoon. Eventually, I could see waves of light as they left the bulb. I guess I'm just moving faster now.

In Between

I'm dead, but not a ghost. I feel flesh and blood emotions, but I'm not alive. The sun warms my skin every day and brings the hope that I'll soon ascend. 

It's not the company of angels I seek. I just want to move beyond, move up. I want to drift toward whatever may be.

COLD SECRETS

Standing at the mouth of the arctic cave, Emily was a pioneer. Nobody had ever dared to explore this trove of geological secrets.

"It's too dangerous," they said.

"It's too grand to pass up," Emily replied.

Then she discovered the light of a campfire and the cackling madness born out of bitter cold and isolation.