Young Adult
The Old Stories
“There weren’t always Dragons in The Valley.” The wizened old man licked his lips after his withered statement, he had told this story plenty of times, and he would tell it many moreover, so long as there were people to listen he would recall this tale over and over again until he eventually fell asleep in his seat and Ysabelle would drape him in woolen blankets before ushering the little ones off to bed. Alane had heard the story plenty of times, yet, he always leaned forward when he heard that now familiar opening line,
By Jax Tolleson4 years ago in Fiction
The Dwelling Place
Chapter 5 Several weeks had passed since I had vowed to let the girls have more freedom outside. It was now the beginning of March, and the weather, being typical for where we lived in New York showed much of the snow was gone. I referred to this as mud season. Some days it snowed- though it never stuck for long -and some days it was warm enough that if you could stay in the sun, you could wear a tee shirt. Most days, the air, that was once void of any smell at all during winter, was full of rich earthiness. You could smell the sweetness of the thawing soil and the musk of last autumn's decaying leaves. The deciduous trees were still naked, and sometimes the wind howled through their rattling bare branches much like they would on Halloween. Spring was the eeriest time of year for me. It felt like a time when we earnestly awaited the wakening of the earth, and while we waited, we rested tired, sun-blinded eyes upon a seemingly barren and empty forest. The most considerable disparity between spring and autumn was our newly profound and unconscious appreciation of the sun. In October, after a long hot summer, the cold feels a bit colder, and everyone, even the kids, are willing to put heavy warm coats on at 40 degrees. In early March though, after a long cold winter, where you have seen the temperatures of -20 or colder, you welcome 40 degrees with bare skin that lusts for even just the smallest drop of sunlight. Today the thermometer read 50 degrees while the sun created the feeling of a temperature much closer to 60 degrees, and I was doing all I could to soak in every precious morsel of warmth. It fueled my inner being and I knew that when the girls got home from school I could never ask them to come in.
By Zeline Farney4 years ago in Fiction
The Fall
If you’ve arrived here please start at Chapter 1 Chapter 5 Aunt Nia The meeting house is the main room of an old community hall that was once pride of place in the township before The Fall. Now it is elaborately decorated with carvings and a moulded plastic taniwha above the doorway it is where Amaia, the council of elders and community members meet to discuss things of importance. Or not. The day to day business can seem anything but important.
By Himiona Grace4 years ago in Fiction
Duskwood: Return to the Forest: Nym0s PI
You stand near the entrance of the Aurora Bar, waiting for the arrival of your friends. It’s been several months since the group managed to free Hannah and save Richy, from the man without a face. You shiver and run your hands over your arms to stay warm. Jake had been missing for the duration of the time between now, and then, so you were shocked when he asked you all to meet with him. You’d worn your best outfit, something you kept locked away for special trips out with friends, and rarely worn. An off-the-shoulder, bodycon dress, that gripped tightly to your every curve, in a dark midnight blue, with a flowing offset sleeve on one side. The hem of the skirt clung several inches above each knee, sliding around on your thighs. Your heels pushed your height to new levels, and your hair fell over your shoulders. You’d been preparing for this day for the past six months.
By Gorejess Stone4 years ago in Fiction
EVAN
If you asked me today if I would go back and change what happened I'd tell you no. Back then I would have given my kidney to not have had gone through what I did. At times my heart hurt so bad I thought I was dying. I would have done anything to make the pain stop except be patient and wait for it to subside. I recognize now that I learned something from the whole experience of being broken not once, not twice, but three times. I had to make sure it was dead and over and the only way to do that was to keep twisting the knife he placed so sadistically into my heart. In the end, it showed more of what kind of person he actually was; not the kind of person I thought he was. It's amazing how intensely you can feel in such a short amount of time. The following events I'm about to share happened in the span of 3 months. As soon as it started, it ended. Like a tornado, leaving a mess of a human being behind in it's wake.
By Brittani Luker4 years ago in Fiction
Dragons in the Vale
"There weren't always dragons in the Valley.” Naythan read aloud from the diary of Gratianus Kylos, “I believe that at some point in the distant past the Great War in the East, of which little is known but both dryad and human scholars agree happened, drove from there at least one dragon to the West seeking to escape the magical chaos of the war. Although I cannot substantiate this with much evidence, I can think of no other reason to find this creature so far from the place of its making.
By Tomos Jackson4 years ago in Fiction
Pause
I didn't mind the bold whiff of the black coffee I made this morning. I quickly poured the brew with a copper french press into a mug. With a glance, I signaled to someone across the room if they wanted coffee. They kindly looked and nodded their head and walked away. I awkwardly escorted myself to my dark wooden desk from the kitchen with the mug and a few grams of sugar packets. As I sat in my leather chair, I scanned at my computer and I noticed a message at the top of the screen. ‘Chrissy’, it read in bold letters. Chrissy’s my only friend that I've made so far since I moved here a couple of months back. I started a new life as a journalist, to get away from whatever the past held me back. A new chapter opened, and it started when I met her. She has been there since day one. She’s almost like my best friend. Only now my heart sometimes skips a couple of beats every time I see her, but no one knew how I felt about her.
By Gabrielle "Gabby" Pineda4 years ago in Fiction
