I haven't had many friends, even during my childhood days. Ive never been able to make friends easily. The only friend I have is Srishti. She has been my best friend, my only friend since I was a little kid. Her family shifted to my neighbouring house when I was five. It started as a simple 'Hi' to each other every morning in the school bus and grew into the best friendship bond of my life. We were practically inseparable during our school years; even though we were poles apart. Srishti thrived on people as we grew up, she was always surrounded by them and I was the one who enjoyed solitary time reading a book or sketching whatever inspired me. If I was on the introverted side of the seesaw, she was on the other extroverted side trying to keep me up and out of my solitude. She was my protector in school from all the bullies who thought I was some sad and gawky girl, she was the only being who I could trust and be myself with. But yes, school friendships take a toll when you enter college and it gets more complex when you are in different cities. We went our separate ways for our graduation, she went to Mumbai and I continued in Delhi. We wrote and called each other quite frequently in the early days but then days turned to weeks and then months. I tried keeping in touch but she was always busy with either a college event or a play or just hanging out with her new friends. She was occupied with her new and thrilling life and here I was always missing her and being updated with her life events only through social networking sites. I travelled to Mumbai various times to meet her when she completed her graduation, when she got her first job and even when she got a promotion. We mostly went for lunch and she largely spoke about her, I was never a topic of discussion. But then there was nothing great happening in my life. I was into coding which required hours and hours of working on a computer in confinement with no need of human interaction. She was into event management and every project had interesting and funny anecdotes which was amusing to hear. Hence I didn't mind at all to have conversations which centred around her. I did feel hurt though when I received her wedding invitation via an email, she had planned a grand five day wedding in Goa on the 15th of the next month which was only 25 days away. Well, I deserved a personal call from her at least. Or was it too selfish of me to think about myself, she would undoubtedly be busy with her preparations and would have forgotten to call. After all I am her best friend and she would have expected me to understand. There was no doubt that I needed to attend this wedding. I was pulled out of my thoughts by some baby's shrill. This flight was taking longer than I expected. Delhi to Goa is a 2.5 hour journey but thanks to the noisy bunch of aunties in the back, this flight seemed like a never ending torture. The couple sitting beside me were trying to pacify their new born and of course annoying the hell out of me. Yes, I hate babies and grown ups as you know by now. I cannot stand people of any size. They are bearable if they are in their own space but these small ones are just pure nuisance. I looked out of the window and sighed. It was upsetting to think that Srishti had not answered any of my calls I had made since receiving the invitation. Of course, she must have been really busy. Come to think of it, going for her wedding is awkward. She would be tied up with her wedding ceremony, what would I do there as a guest. It's a full fledged five day wedding and Srishti has invited many of her friends. Thinking about seeing that many people is daunting and my social anxiety is screaming. But I can do anything for Srishti and this was her big day and I couldn't miss it at any cost. Finally, the flight has landed and a little excitement builds in me, after all I am seeing my friend after so long. I quickly take a cab to the five star resort where the grand wedding is being held. Her haldi ceremony is already in progress and Srishti is glowing in the floral jewellery and the yellow silk saree. I wave her from behind the crowd but she definitely cannot see me. She is surrounded by her family and relatives who are taking turns to apply turmeric and oil on her face, hands and feet. I enjoy sitting in a corner and looking at the beautiful bride, now dancing away on the sound of live dhol players. The ceremony comes to an end and I finally muster the courage to meet her while she is surrounded by her numerous friends. However, all anxiety goes into dust when she smiles and hugs me. She is as excited to see me as I am to meet her. She introduces me to Anay, the groom and as I turn to talk to Srishti, there are a new bunch of friends who pull them away for some dance practice. I turn to my room to freshen up for dinner and cocktail party in the evening. I come out of the room in the evening and stand in the balcony to bask in the beautiful string lights and lanterns put up in the garden area. And the beach view in the background makes it look picturesque. I look out for Srishti to accompany her downstairs when I hear yelling and screaming from a room on the left. I walk towards the source to understand the commotion when I recognise Srishti's voice. She is screaming and I can overhear words like 'betrayed' and 'trust' from the room. I sneak in towards the room and crack open the door slightly and see Anay and Srishti arguing. I walk towards Srishti who is sobbing and Anay is just staring at her blank faced. I hold her hands trying to console her when she looks at me and drops herself on the bed."What's the matter, Srishti", I ask. She thrusts a mobile in my hand which has a messaging app open. I quickly glance at the long chats between Anay and a woman, Neeti. A small glimpse is enough for me to know this is not a friendly chat, the messages are outrageously flirty filled with kissy and heart emojis. I look at Anay who seems completely dumbfounded. He kneels in front of Srishti, "Babe, this is not me. I have never heard of that name before in my life. Let us call back on that number and get this clarified. I am begging you" "Anay, look at the messages. You have expressed your love numerous times to her, you have even met her at hotels; I don't know why are we getting married if you have no interest in me." I am still looking at the chats when there is a notification from an app. "What the hell" I shout loudly and Srishti turns and looks at the mobile phone. Its a dating app. Srishti takes the phone and goes through the dating app chats. Anay was having similar conversations with various other females. "You are sick. Now how many women am I supposed to call and clarify." "What are you talking about" saying this Anay takes the phone and goes through the chats "Oh fuck, this is not me Babe. I have never had this app in my phone. You have to believe me, I have only loved you and never even thought of anyone else. This is some kind of a joke. Please trust me, this is all fake" "Trust you??? What trust? Get out of my room and get out of my life. I don't think I even know who you are" Guests have started gathering outside the room looking with concern. Srishti's parents hurriedly enter the room alongwith other close relatives. Srishti is shaking with anger and shock. She has held my hand so tight that I think my palms are going numb. The same messages and app chats are now being read by her parents and they are looking at Anay with disgust who continues to plead that he is innocent. Everybody has something to say and various sessions of discussions take place but eventually Srishti has the last word. She gets up and leaves the room declaring the wedding is cancelled. Anay runs behind her but everyone knows by now that its in vain. She has made up her mind. By morning, Srishti has packed her bags and is now ready to leave the resort. The air is glum and filled with tension. I have packed my bags too as there is no point in staying back now. I sneak in behind Srishti and whisper "I cannot let you go alone to Mumbai like this, let me accompany you for a few days and then I will leave for Delhi". Srishti turns towards me "I was in fact planning to go to Delhi along with you, I cannot go back to Mumbai right now with all this emotional baggage" We get into the cab and leave for the airport. Srishti shuts her eyes and goes to sleep as we sit in the airplane to Delhi. There is a baby yelling behind us but that doesn't bother me anymore. I am elated with this turn of events. A little coding got the fake messages and dating app chats installed in Anay's phone. It was so easy to break into that moron's phone. He was such a fool that he didn't even realise that his phone had gone on update mode several times and had unknown apps installed. Srishti is better off without that halfwit. Finally, we will be back in Delhi and I will protect her from all such morons. I, too shut my eyes as its time for some sound sleep.


In a isolated village deep down in the heart of the lushes jungle of Congo along the long river banks surround by trees and birds circling the crisp air the fresh smell of the rivers flowing. There was a young mischievous yet very intelligent young boy Yadidya was a dreamer and always aspired to live across the river. His father Jhon was a farmer he spent most of his labourer-es yet for fulling days on his stretches of land with garlic and ginger. He was a generally a happy man of 8 he always sang and danced, although he was a very religious man and had strong cultural believes. Yadidyas father Jhon always spent time educating his son on strong values and principles,But somehow Jhon knew his son had a curious and restless heart that was always yearning for more. Yadidya and his 3 elder brothers would go to the markets of Kinshasa it was 20km away from where they lived and farmed their goods, They would head down to town 3 times a week so they could sell the ginger and garlic to the streets vendors and restaurant owners the streets of Kinshasa were always noisy and full of business men and woman doing their best to sell off their goods. Yadidya was intrigued by how everyone use to barter and he wished he could be apart of the exciting, condensed and changeable environment . The market was vibrant the aroma in the air was filled with different types of food. The boy was inspired and so dreamed to be apart of all the excitement. Rhoda his mom was a seam mistress she had the most exquisite dress and suit designs for all occasions. Her dream was to be a well know famous designer who made garments for the rich and famous. ‘’Mama Mama’’ yelled Yadidya from the gate Rhoda stood up in absolute shock,’Whats wrong!’’ Rhoda screamed ‘’Please Mama make me a stylish suit’’. Out of frustration Rhoda smacked her son on his back ‘’óuch’’ ’said Yadidya ‘’Why did you do that’’’’ I thought something was wrong.How many times should I tell you about yelling at the gate’’.’’Sorry Mama but I need your help’’. Rhoda asked what is it for son. I’ve got an interview said Yadidya. Rhoda could not help but laugh. Yadidya how many times do you want me to tell you its not good to lie.I am not lying mama, please. Okay ,okay come show me what you have in mind. Yadidya and Rhoda sat down and looked through several catalogs of different designs he found one he liked. He stated imagining himself walking into the market with his yellow and blue window pane shirt, a big knotted red tie gleaming silk brocade and leather knit suspender and navy slacks. He started speaking to him self ’’Good morning I am Yadidyh Lar the most successful entrepreneur in the whole of Congo How do you do. Rhoda shock her head and wondered what her son was up to, she got to work After days of work Rhoda was done ‘’Yah, Yah’’ she yelled. ‘’Yes mama I'm coming ‘’he walked into her studio and he was completely frozen with excitement and enthusiasm. ‘’Thank you, Thank you Mama ‘’he gave his mom a hug and kiss with absolute gratitude Ýadidya I am warning you no stories ’I promise Mama ‘’he said. Rhoda knew he was up to something and wasn’t being truthful. John walked in ‘What is going on here!’Good Morning dad I have an interview ’What?’said John in complete disbelief he looked over at Rhoda.She shrugs her shoulders and smiles. Yadidya actually did not have a solid plan. His mom gave him some francs and of he went to town any way. His suit was well-tailored and striking. As he was in the taxi he was lost in his thoughts of whats to come he started doubting his own ability to get something out of it. The taxi had reached its finale destination lost and confused he just walked around look as prim as could be. In his walk of of confidence and conviction A strong and well-groomed man that looked like he didn’t belong in the hive of activity stopped him,’’Were did you get your suit I beg a pardon Good afternoon I am Mr Kalonji. How do yo do. ‘’ ‘’Very well sir I am Yaddiaha pleased to meet you,’’ ‘’What fine manners you have young man ‘’ ‘’Thank you sir ‘’said Yadidya.’’ Well, the suit sir I made it my self this is what I do for living to support my family’’. The man was taken aback by his skill and bravery. Mr Kalonji immediately invited the boy to his office so they could discuses business .Mr Kalonji was prominent business man he to had his hand in politics he was a very influential man tall dark and handsome, he looked as if he spent a lot of time working out. Mr kalonji had a intention to renew his vowels, it was a surprise for his wife of 20 years, so he was looking for a designer. It so happened they meet and he took liking to his suit. He just knew Yadidya was the right person for the job. Exhilarated and over the moon Yaddiya had even forgotten he couldn’t sew he had always helped and watched his mom get on with her work, but he no real knowledge of putting the garment together. For a moment Yadidya could hear his mom in his head ‘’Yadidya lies can get you into trouble. He choose to push his thoughts aside. They finally arrived at Mr Kalonjis majestic Mansion his the architecture of was precise and elegant. Yadidya had never seen some thing like it in his young life Yadidya could not help but ask if he could take a tour around Mr. Kalonji's house. Delighted and proud of hie abode he happily allowed the young man to explore. As they were walking Mr kalonji told Yadidya he had a surprise for his wife. I will need 30 suits and 40 of your most elegant dress Yaddiya just felt his tummy doing somersaults Never in his wildest dreams did he think this would be possible.’’ Will you be able to deliver’’ ‘’ Yes sir definitely without a problem”oh no what have I done’’ he thought I can not even ask Mama to help me. ‘’Is everything ok Yadidah?’’ Mr. Kalonji had noticed the boy had drifted away. Of they went to the dinning room were lunch was served the table was full of all sorts of treats he was overwhelmed and in complete euphoria. So tomorrow I need you to bring me your portfolio of work so I can see your work so I can decide on the style and design. He gave him some money to make his way home. Yaddiyas lies were catching up to him. He arrived home and Rhoda was sitting on her patio that’s what she did every late afternoon to let go of her days load, She looked up ad saw her son was worried about something ’’Yaa what seems to be the problem?’’ ‘’Nothing Mama I didn’t ever think working would be so difficult ‘ ’SO what did you do. ‘’ ‘’He took me around his mansion I also indulged in the best lunch ever. Sorry mama your cooking is still the best.’’ Rhoda was very confused but decide not to prop further. Everybody was winding down and getting ready for bed Yaa went to his room to think about his day his solution. Yadidya decide to take his mother portfolio and left very early in the morning before anybody spot him. ‘’Were is Yaa?’’ Jhon asked at the breakfast table’’ I don’t know ‘’ answered Rhoda’’ I’ll go and check on him’’. Rhoda got to his room and he wasn’t there “”I think he left for work ‘’ ’’Work”” exclaimed Jhon . Jhon shock hi head in dismay ‘’I don’t have a good feeling about this.’’ Good Morning Mr Kalonji how are you today. Very well and you? I see you have something for me Yes sir let me show you. Mr. Kalonji admired and loved everything his eyes saw. ‘’We shall begin today.’’ ‘’Today!’’ Yadidya said in shock Is their a problem Mr Kalonji asked ‘’ No sir I just cant believe you gave me the job’’. Yadidya took out is handkerchief to wipe his face. Off they went into town to source the best fabrics and materials that Yadidya would need to do his job, after a long day of shopping Mr. Kalonji asked Yadidyh to make him a shirt although he was experienced in measuring he walked toward his new work station confused and worried he sat down then pretend to be looking in his bag for something’’ oh no’’ ‘’Whats wrong ?’’ asked Mr. Kalonji ‘’I left my work glasses.’’ ‘’ Very well then we have had a tier some day anyway I will get my chauffeur to drop you off at home.’’ Yadidya was so happy about the gesture that he had forgotten that Mr kalonji would now know were he lived. As the sun was setting in the village of Kasi cows begin guided home, the chickens heading to their pens and the air was full of, the smell of traditional food. Rhoda was sitting outside on her patio she enjoyed doing that every evening with her tea and a book. A strong black car caught her attention it was rare seeing a vehicle like that in there neighborhood. To her surprise Her son steeped out of the vehicle and thanked the driver Yadidya’’ What on earth were you doing in that car’’ ‘’Good evening mama that was Mr Kalonjis driver my new boss Rhoda shock her head ’’ I hope you not getting yourself into trouble’’. Yadidya smiled nervously’’ of course not mama’’. Yadiday ran to his room his reality had dawned on him what was he going to do.The thought of asking his mom to play along crossed his mind again but how would he even convince her. He tossed and turned all night the break between night and day had approached the silence in the air was so comforting yet daunting the morning cold hit him through his blanket something he had never felt before. He just lay in his bed and didn’t move a muscle. He could hear the call to wake from the roosters the cows heading to the fields to go graze. Mama warned me about this what will I do now he felt so parallelized by his thoughts.Rhoda was shocked to find Yaa fast asleep ‘’Yaa, Yaa its noon and you still in bed” ‘’’I am not feeling well’’ ‘’ Mama Whats wrong’’ ‘’ my head and body hurts’’.’’ I will bring you some tea you should feel better.’’ Nightfall had approached, Jhon was surprised to see Yaddiya at the dinner table. While the family enjoyed their meal and each other's company, there was a knock at the door. ‘’I wonder who could that be ‘’said Jhon’’ And to whom do I owe the pleasure’’ ‘’ Mr. Kalonji ‘’’ Yaddiya could hear the man’s voice, he so wished the chair could swallow him. ‘’I am Yaddhas boos he did not arrive at work today We have a very big project to start ‘’ Curious and puzzled Jhon asked him, ‘’ what project ‘’ ‘’I have a wedding coming up and we agreed he would be responsible for making the garments’’ Jhon gasped ‘’Yaddiya garments ‘’ ‘’Yes sir your son told me was a designer’’ furious and amused he welcomed the gentlemen in. Take a sit Jhon called Rhoda and Yadidya and introduced his wife Jhon narrated the story to Rhoda.She laughed what? ‘’Yaa what have you done’’ ‘’ I am so sorry mama I was not thinking’’ ‘’But what have I told you about lies’’ ‘’Yes mama I am in trouble now’’ Rhoda and Jhon ashamed and embarrassed apologized to Mr kalonji for their misleading behavior. Mr. Kalonji was angry, ‘’I have a wedding it is in a months me I decided to take Yaddiya because of the suit he was wearing and the portfolio of work he had brought me. It was breathtaking. I must say your son, is very intelligent and his confidence is what took me.’’ Mr. Kalonji if its any cancellation I can take the job. The portfolio and the suit you saw him wearing were made by me. Relieved. Mr. Kalonji accepted the offer. Mr. Kalonji walked over to Yadidya,” Son lies are not good li you could have put your family in serious trouble’’ ‘’ I am sorry Sir I have learned my lesson.’’ Mr kalonji laughed I must say it was very silly of me to have believed you could have made all those garments like the old saying goes every thing happens for a reason Although Yaddiya had lied he managed to unknowingly get his mom her dream job. He learned his lesson luckily for him, but lies got him out of trouble.  The End


October 31st is always a time for scares. Two friends in high school, Millie and Cole decide to go to a graveyard to spend there Halloween night in 1990, what could go wrong? At Cole's house there watching movies while his parents are trick-or-treating with his little sister Sally. Millie is fine with staying at his house all night watching horror movies, but Cole has something else in mind. 3 movies in and it is already 10 p.m. Cole's parents are back and his sister is passed out on the couch from all the candy she ate. Millie puts on another movie as Cole watches from the couch on his phone waiting to see what she put on. When he hears music he looks up to see 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' playing. He looks at Millie and rolls his eyes, "really? this movie why?" Cole asks while smirking. Millie smiles and says "why not? we've already watched 3 scary movies, scared your sister with one of them, and anyways it's my turn to pick the movie since you picked the other 3" Millie stats while pointing a finger at him. At the end of the 4th movie Cole is ready to leave, so he gets up and drags Millie with him. "Where are we going" asked Millie, "Were going out, don't worry it will be fun" Cole replys. Halfway to the cemetery Cole wants to go to Millie gets suspicious about the area knowing exactly where there heading. "Cole im not going to the cemetery at midnight" Mille says worriedly "Oh you'll be fine it's not like anything will happen" Cole says more excited than ever. "Its a cemetery Cole, have you never seen pet sematary, or Night of the living dead!" Millie states. "Stop being such a wuss " Cole says, Millie stops talking and tries to not be scared. When they get there Millie automatically wants to leave, but Cole doesn't let her. "Come on Millie you don't want to leave me here alone do you?" Millie stays quiet for a second before answering "Well I guess not...fine i'll stay" Millie dramatically says while rolling her eyes. Millie keeps her head up and carefully listens incase anything were to happen. Cole reads the gravestones as they walk down. One catches his eyes a little more down from where he stands. Millie isn't paying attention when he leaves as she's turned around looking at a tree she saw move. When she turns back around and sees Cole is gone she freaks out looking everywhere. Cole goes to the grave he saw and reads the name 'Zack Payton' it reads. But the thing that's off is that it looks like it has been disturbed and has a blanket and pillow, he gets brought back out of his thoughts to Millie yelling at him. "You left me alone how could you!" She yells at him, "Millie calm down, i'm sorry I got distracted. She calms down a little but is still shooking up from that. Cole looks back at the grave and the grave wondering why there's bedding. They hear something behind them, they both pray it isn't what they think it is. Cole slowly turns around to see a tall man in all black standing behind Millie. Cole's eyes widen as he grabs Millie's wrist pulling her behind him. She sees what he's looking at and almost starts screaming but she's in such shock she cant even move. Cole looks to the side yo see a branch, 'it won't be the best but it might work' He thought. He goes to grab it, but the man grabs it before him. Cole is still holding Millies wrist as he pulls her with him trying to get out of the cemetery. Millie new it was a bad idea to go there and she was right. As they run the man isn't to far behind them, Millie is still in shock not knowing what's happening. The man isn't to fast, but Cole doesn't know what to do so he's jogging instead of running for his life. If Millie wasn't there he would be out of the graveyard all ready but he doesn't want to scare her more than she already is. Cole looks behind him to see the guy is gone, he slows down and looks for something to grab. To his luck he finds a metal rod, he runs to it and hides with Millie behind a grave. There both out of breath, but they are both trying to be as quiet as they can be. Once they catch their breath they hear footsteps. Millie tries not to cry when she hears this, while Cole is figuring out what to do. Cole jumps up and hits the guy in the head with the rod. Millie goes to find something to protect herself, she remembers she has pepper spray and a switchblade in her small backpack. Millie grabs both and runs back to Cole, when she gets there she sees the man on top of Cole with something on his neck. She runs over and stabs the guy in the side. immediately the guy grabs his side as Millie grabs Cole. The man looks at Millie and lunges at them but she pepper sprays him. He falls to the ground, and Millie runs with Cole out of the cemetery. As soon as they leave Millie calls the cops telling them what happened. When the cops get there they arrest the man who is known as the brother of Zack Payton, Zane Payton. Millie turns to Cole and playfully hits him "I told you it was a bad idea to go to the cemetery" Millie says acting mad, "Yeah, yeah whatever it was still an adventure" Cole says while smirking. Millie laughs as they walk back to Cole's house to explain to his parents why they were out until 3 am. When they get to Cole's house they see the lights on and look at each other knowing they will get scolded for being out so late. Now they know not to listen to Cole's crazy ideas.


The Wendigo You and a group of four of your friends are huddled around a tiny campfire, the bitter cold cutting through you like a knife. You can see your breath every time you exhale, and the cold air hurts your lungs each time you draw in a breath. Watching the fire dance, you can’t help but remember the park ranger’s last words to you. Telling you that not to go up the mountain today, a storm was rolling in, but that if you did to be back before night fall or you’ll be stuck up there until spring. You laughed it off and headed up the mountain, but thanks to the “expert navigator’s” directions you and your group get off the beaten path and quickly become lost. Night fall came just as quickly as the snow did and everyone deciding to wait out the storm. Your group picks out a spot and start building a fire, hoping that help will come quickly. You realize the meager rations your brought for a weekend hiking trip will only last you until the end of the week if you are careful. The snow flurries in, the wind ripping through your coat. You spend the time huddled together and try to keep the fire going. You shiver through your first night as the waiting turns from hours to days, then to a week. You check your bag and realize that your rations have been exhausted. You and your friends try hunting for food, but you catch nothing. You’re not exactly the hunting type, after all, you’re from the suburbs. The most “hunting’ you’ve done is sneak killing Zombies on Xbox. Besides, your small pocketknives and hatchet can’t take out big game and you don’t know how to set traps for small game. Your body is screaming for nutrients. Your group hasn’t eaten in days, maybe weeks? You’re not sure, the days have been blending together. The bitter cold continues to cut through you, you haven’t felt warm in weeks. Your clothes have begun to hang off your emaciated frame allowing the wind to wrap around your skin. Then suddenly, one of your friends stumbles and falls to the ground, you quickly rush over to see what’s the matter. You shake him, check his pulse, and try CPR but to no avail. Your friend has succumbed to hunger and the elements. You suggest that we give him a proper burial, but one in your party has a different idea. A taboo and macabre idea. An idea so dark that it takes you a moment to realize what he’s suggested. That you eat him. You put up a fight, people don’t eat people… what would we tell the authorities? …. His family? But the growling of your stomach says otherwise. You protest again, but one of your friends has already gone off to find firewood. You watch as another begins undressing him and using a hatchet to cleave off his limbs. You’re handed a cup of thick, red liquid. Steam flows upward as the hot blood contacts the cold air. The fire roars and your dead friend’s leg is now roasting. The smell is something familiar, like sizzling pork. The next thing you know you’re looking down at a steaming piece of cooked meat. You stare at the hunk of meat, disgusted at the thought of eating it. You went to school with him, his kids are friends with yours… before you can think about what you’re doing, your body takes control, and you feel your teeth have sunk into flesh. The warmth of the meat radiates throughout your body. Your stomach screams for more, you take a drink of the blood. So warm, slightly metallic, but satisfying. You devour your meal and go back for more until the four of you have picked the bones clean. Each one of you takes an article of clothing and settles in for the night, resting assured that you know have the strength to wait for help. That night, you toss and turn. Visions of your friend dances in your mind, something is chasing him. You see the warmth of his breath rapidly inhaling and exhaling as a large pale figure gives chase behind him. The pale figure pounces on his back and rips into him. Crimson blood flows on the porcelain white snow. You run toward the figure, trying to help your friend. The pale figure turns its head slowly toward you and lets out a blood curdling scream. You freeze in place as it turns its body and runs toward you. It pounces on you; you try to fight it off! It pins your head to the ground and right before it goes in for the kill, it looks you in the eyes. The face is familiar, a face you’ve seen many times…. Because it’s your face. The shock wakes you in a cold sweat and you sit up from a dead sleep. The warm morning light hitting your cold body, the realization of what you have done settles on you. The four of you create a story in which your friend walked off to get help and you haven’t seen him since. You look at your hands, they are pale and gaunt. They look a pasty pale white, almost waxy looking. *Is this from the cold? Did they look like this before?* You ask yourself, but your brain is in a fog. The only thought in your mind is hunger. Your stomach growling and gnawing, feeling every pang wash over you. You need to eat. The growling of your stomach permeates your mind, the only thing on your mind. You want more, more food, more… flesh? You look around your camp, looking at your friends intently. Your head pounding and stomach screaming for more. You stare at them like a predator stares down its prey. Focused, determined, hungry. After what feels like an eternity, you spring into action. You grab a hatchet, lifting it over your head and dropping it into the skull of your nearest friend. Blood spurts around you and the sound wet bone snapping echoes in the air. You remove the axe and plunge a pale hand deep into the cavity pulling out bits of brain. Your cold hand steaming in the bitter frozen air. Devouring what’s in your hand you reach for a second helping, the feeling as it slides down your throat throws you into ecstasy. Blood flowing over your cheeks and down your neck. You laugh and reach for more. The other two scramble to their feet and begin to run, you quickly twist your neck in their direction. Their muscles are far too tired to attempt and escape. You twist your body in an ungodly position, you hear bones cracking as your body begins to contort. As the pair are running, one falls to the ground. You run after, pouncing on their back and snapping their neck. Your look around for your last friend and find them running through the forest. You look up and let out a blood curdling scream. You bound after him, running more like a dog than a person. You knock him to the ground, he rolls over on to his back waving his arms to try and protect himself. You place a hand on his head. Your fingernails now long and black, pinning him to the ground. Your other hand pins down an arm, you lunge toward his exposed neck, ripping out a chunk of throat. You gulp it down, that feeling of ecstasy returning. You begin dragging him back to the makeshift camp site. Months pass and the snow begins to melt, spring has finally arrived. Ripping a chunk of meat from a deer carcass, your head snaps from side to side. You hear the familiar sounds of human voices. You slink out of your cave and take refuge in a large bush just off the hiking path. A couple have made their way up the mountain and stumbled upon your campsite. One of them notices something moving in the bushes. A woman nudges her husband, “Look honey, a deer! I think it’s a buck!” As she points at the antlers. The woman brings her phone up to take a picture on her phone. She’s about to take the picture when she notices a pair of red eyes pear back at her. The husband grabs her shoulder to try and pull her back, but it’s too late. You lunge at them, your deerskin cloak flapping in the wind. You knock the man to the ground, pinning his arms and legs. Your stomach growling and your head pounding, blood boiling. You rip a chuck out of his chest, the blood flowing out and mixing with the dirt on the ground. The wife tries to run but you grab her by the hair and smash her face into a nearby tree. You collect your bounty, a trail of blood follows you as you take your bounty back to your dark, musty cave.


Trigger warning: depictions of drug abuse

As he's leaving for work, of all times! "Ding, ding," the bell sounds again. There's no getting around answering the door. He has to get past whoever's there in order to leave, and he's already running late. He flings it open and it bangs against the wall. "Great, there's two of them!" he thinks, eyeing them with a rapid scan from the business shoes to the tops of their fedoras.

"Whatever you're selling or preaching, I'm not interested!" he asserts with a cringe-accented tone that has always worked before. But the two men aren't stepping aside to allow him through. Mid-morning sultriness with the rattlesnake sound of locusts in nearby bushes adds to his sweat. What on earth could they possibly want? Their faces are as void as their voices are silent. Hard as rocks, pale as death, stale as statues. At the end of the eternal moment, the shorter of the two cracks his lips to speak.

"Are you Glenn Smith?" It's a calm, robotic voice.

"Yes," he answers with a questioning tone.

The shorter of the two burly men turns to the taller one with an almost undetectable nod. A metal jiggle inside the taller one's jacket pocket joins the rattle of locusts.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

Glenn smiles with a disoriented glare in his immature eyes. "What the hell's going on here?"

"Just do what you're told," the shorter man says. A curl of oily hair hanging down from under the fedora rests pasted against his shiny forehead. Glenn obeys the order with hesitation and protest. They nudge him inch-by-slow-inch toward a dark-windowed sedan they've left idling in a lion-like grumble.

"I am not getting in that car! Not until you show me your credentials and give me some kind of damn explanation for why I'm being detained!"

The shorter one seems irritated. First real sign of a human pulse in him. "Your name is Glenn Smith. Correct?"

"Yes, I told you!"

"Then the case is closed! Would you please get in now?"

"The case is not closed! Did it ever occur to you...cops...hitmen...whatever the hell you are how many 'Glenn Smiths' there are in the world? You got the wrong man, I'm telling you!"

The prison preview on four wheels snickers at Glenn's words as its a/c pump kicks in again. "Just get in, Sir!" the taller one says through clenched teeth. "You know what you did."

The back door thuds shut. A minute ago, the sounds of summer were unnerving. Now in their muted distance, they're inducing homesickness. The rectangular, matte-black barrel of the shorter man's weapon ensures total cooperation from this point on. Cooperation, or termination. The sedan shoots away from the yard Glenn may never see again, and before his stomach settles from the g-force of the jolt, the three are several blocks down the street and counting.

Glenn's job is more important to him than anything in the world these days. It isn't just the pay, it's the family he has there. He can't afford to lose it. His soul and sanity can't. He glances out the window to his side. They've been headed down the same street as the office for a while now. Soon they will pass it by. He dwells on the five years he was there. All for nothing. He always knew his thirties were going to be a time of downhill change, but he never dreamed they'd be the decade he'd lose everything. His freedom, his dignity, his friends, his home - and from the looks of these two...thugs - possibly his life. He's seen this scene in movies. Read it in books. The gun, the car, the clean-pressed gray suits, the hats, right down to the line: "You know what you did." He never thought he'd be living it.

"I demand my right to an attorney!" The shout pierces the ears of all three, including his own. He sees the taller one smile at him in the mirror. The shorter one joins him in expression after pulling his cupped hands away from the sides of his face.

"Calm down, and listen to us." Glenn tries to do that by getting lost in the blur of concrete and greenery as they pass by the buildings in the business district, but all it does is amplify the dread over his wrecked career. "Unfortunately," the shorter one says, "due to the nature of this crime, you're not allowed representation."

"The nature of this crime," Glenn repeats in a mind whisper, rather than question the truth of the man's statement with further shouting.

"You know what you did." This time, the taller one smiles with his teeth as he gazes at the trembling reflection in the back seat.

Glenn leans toward his own lap, head shaking, the trembling increasing in intensity. He knows what he did. He knows exactly what he did. "Oh, Robbie," he ponders with weeping for the words.

The sedan has stopped. The two men nod to each other, and the shorter one lifts Glenn's head up by the chin with his calloused-over hand. "Hey! We're here. Exit the vehicle slowly and uneventfully, please." Glenn does several doubletakes, trying to verify that what he's seeing isn't real.

The men do a quick check of their surroundings as the gun barrel remains pointed at Glenn's side. The taller one wraps his hand around the door handle to Barbara's office building, but stands there for a moment before opening it.

"You'd better hurry or you're going to be late for work," he states with that same teeth smile.

"You know what you did," the shorter one repeats one final time as he pulls the trigger. A long wire with a bright yellow flag and the word, "BOOM!" written on it pops out. "At 12:00 AM last night, you, Sir, turned thirty years old."

"Happy birthday, Sport," the taller one exclaims with a pat on the shoulder. "We're event entertainers. Your awesome boss and co-workers paid us good money to treat you today, so you be sure and give 'em a big thanks!" Glenn creeps his way into the building, knowing full well what's going to happen next.

"Surprise!" eight people yell at the tops of their lungs. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." they sing in an off-key chorus filled with smiles and giggles.

"These guys are also magicians," Barbara relates to him pointing at the two men. After work, we're gonna have a big catering party and they're gonna put on a show for us!" She shakes Glenn's hand. "Thank you for all you do here."

He stares at the floor, with his hand over his stomach. "Thank you," he mumbles.

"Are you sick?" she asks.

"No. It's not that."

"Well, what is it?"

A long minute passes. "Let's go outside to some fresh air," she suggests. He follows her in slow steps.

Her eyes lock with his. "Now what's bothering you? Come on, it's your birthday! Liven up a little!"

He looks at her as though bullets had just fired from her mouth instead of words. "It would have been my best friend's thirtieth this year too."

She shakes her head, copying his stare at the ground. "I'm so sorry to hear that. It's always terrible, losing a friend."

"Even worse when you're the one responsible for it."

She doesn't have to ask. The stagnant quiet suffices as her question.

"Fifteen years ago, I gave him one of those 'spice' cigarettes as a birthday present. We were young and stupid, and I didn't think it was any big deal because I'd been smoking them like crazy without a problem." He removes his stare from the concrete and places it toward the sky. "I was wrong."

Barbara puts an arm around him. "It was shortsighted of me to pull this birthday stunt on you, and I am very sorry. I had no idea..."

There's a pause.

"You know: Having been young and stupid is a fact of life for all of us. I tried spice a few times myself back in the day. There were those of us who were lucky, and some who weren't. I know this can't bring your friend back, but believe it or not, what happened was not your fault. I've worked with you for five years now, and I believe I know you well enough to know you would never deliberately do anything to harm another human being."

She copies his stare into the sky.

"To be able to forgive anyone is hard, but to be able to forgive yourself is one of the most important things ever in life."

The door to the building pops open as the two men head back to the sedan to retrieve their cases of magic props from the trunk.

Barbara smiles at Glenn. " Please go have some cake, will you?"


I was walking home yesterday, and I saw a piece of lightning sticking out of the ground. I squinted at it, looked behind me and back. It was really real, that was for sure. Between the bus stop and the corner, it was. I looked at it. I pressed my pupils on it real hard; I didn't want to miss a single detail. It went up into the sky. Man, oh man, lightning is hugely huge! "Jesus, how did this get here?" I asked. Nobody answered my question. I approached one slow step at a time. I went with caution. As you would. I mean, who knows what it might do. The lightning was powder black. Not bright white. It looked burnt. I suppose lightning is only white when it can jump around the sky, but this piece had gotten stuck. It had lodged itself into the world and solidified. It was planted. I scratched my skull. Then for no reason at all, I said, "yes", because my thoughts made sense. I agreed with myself, and then I said, "interesting". I poked it with my shoe. I did not die. I relaxed a bit. Just in case you have not seen some, let me tell you lightening is very fat at the part that sticks into the floor. It looks skinny when it is shooting around in the sky, but that's just an optical conclusion. Fat. It is fat. And then it goes up and divides, then that bit also goes up and splits. So tens become hundreds and hundreds, thousands, and all that, and all the subdivisions result in millions of little sticks sticking out. Protruding into the sky. I took three steps back. Measured with my eyes. Took another step back, then I ran, jump-stepped the trunk and launched up to grab the lowest bow. I grunted. Ufffff. But I got it alright. My hand gripped nice and tight. I hung, took a breath, curled up and swung my left leg higher to hook it on the bow. Next, I slowly mounted the joint to straddle the shoulder. Now I was sitting in the lighting, at the first branch. I felt quite equestrian. I parted the side with my palm. I climbed into the thing and shuffled along one branch until it ended, and right there, I saw this tiny little bullet on the tip. I squinted at it. I lay flat and had a little sniff. It smelt like gunpowder and lemon. It smelt like it was very busy. It smelt like something wanting to happen. I looked around. All the twig ends had bullets on them, and they're were millions of them. Smooth and little and itching. They wanted to pop. They wanted that so bad that I could taste it, like a tingle of steel on the tongue. "Oi, oi, what's this then?" I said to the tip. And then I could not believe what happened next. You see, the little bullet said absolutely nothing at all. It pretended that I was, in fact, not there. But there I was. The wind blew, and my hair shivered. "So what the hell d'you think you doing here?" I asked. "I am waiting for spring! And then I am gonna explode, and you are gonna die when you see how fucking beautiful we all are!" said the tiny bullet. I squinted. I looked around. The entire giggle was giggling very, very quietly. A sorority of sisters all holding the same secret. It was quite electric, really. Infectious. And then my head started nodding, and my sense of humour leaked out all over my face, and I found myself grinning real hard; my eyes were so happy that they got a bit wet. "Of course y'are," I said, "You know ezactly what you gotta do. Don't ya?" The bullet said no more, she nodded back and forth on the twig, and after a moment of cosmetic reflection, I slid away, shuffled backwards, reached the start and got down. Then, on the floor again, I hugged the big black trunk of lightning, dusted myself off and carried on the walk back home. I reached the corner and looked up, and that is when I saw another piece of lightning, much farther down the road, but it was getting late, and it was time to turn off the main road and go home. I could not visit that lighting too, so I screamed at it. "Yo, yo. Yo!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, "I am watching-ching you!" and then tapped my eyeball and pointed to it. All the branches with all their buds wiggled at me in the wind, they looked pretty hysterical, and I had a profound sense of accomplishment. The wind was roaring with the laugh of the loaded giggle. The violence of spring was on its way. All the pieces of lightning were armed and ready to do what they do. They know how to be who they are. They know how to be happy with their one task; they have done it for millions of years. I wish I knew how to be happy like that. I wish I also knew what job I should do. Sometimes everything makes me feel very, very confused. My role here is not obvious to me. I am trapped inside the pip inside my head. I don't know what I am designed to do. I am very undefined. I do not have a forest to belong to. My heart sank slightly, and my brow dropped as I turned the corner and headed to my cardboard house under the bush next to the highway bridge. The bramble hid it well. I crawled inside. The chill of winter was softening, thank God. I closed my eyes. An image on the back of my lids reminded me of what had just happened. It replayed the cheeky little bud on the twig. It made my eyes wet a little and my mouth smile a lot. Maybe my job should be to witness the beauty of spring? I can definitely try that. I know I would be fantastic at that. Yes. I will be the witness to how lightning blooms. That's ezactly what imma gonna do.


I have never believed in time travel or traveling into the future or the past, but I do believe it is possible. I have read so many fiction books on the subject, HG Wells’ classic, ’ The time machine’ is my favourite. But I could never imagine that such a thing could happen in real life; well, here is a tale, my friends and I wonder if you’d like to believe it or not but all I will say is that it is true. I will concede it could have been a hallucination but that is something induced by ancient Hindu tomes. the Puranas. I remember driving to the city of Mumbai through the Western Ghats, a mountain range. It was the monsoon season, and it was likely to rain anytime, and I was expecting it. My expectations were confirmed when the dark clouds in the sky darkened further, and raindrops began to beat on the earth, as rain fell it created a dull pattern, and very soon the visibility was reduced to zero.  I wanted to stop but decided to drive a little more distance to a small temple of Lord Krishna by the side of the hill which I had visited so many times in my earlier drives. I have now entered the Ghats Mountain range and I’m slowly making my way forward with my fog lights on. By instinct, I knew that the temple was close by, but I could not immediately see it as it was shrouded in mist and fog but very soon it became visible.  I will witness the beautiful small temple of Lord Krishna. it was normally looked after by an old priest who I have got to know and would spend time talking to him over a cup of tea that he would prepare. As the temple loomed before me, I hoped he would prepare a hot cup of tea for me. I stopped before the temple and looked inside but due to the thick fog, I could not make out anything. The rain continues falling and the distant mountains are not visible as the thick fog has enveloped the entire area. I decide to make a dash for the temple instead of sitting in my SUV. I get out of my car and head towards the temple which is a few feet away. I made it to the temple in about 10 seconds, remove my shoes, and go inside. I am now relatively safe from the rain and outside I can hear the thunder crashing as it reverberates in the mountains. I looked around but could not see the priest and I called out his name. There was no response and I wondered where the priest had gone. I pay my obeisance to the deity and simultaneously close my eyes. I do not know how long I kept my eyes closed but it must be at least a minute or maybe even more when a slight cough caught my attention and I open my eyes. In the semi-darkness, I was taken aback to see a lovely young woman emerge from behind the statue of the Lord. She smiled at me and said,” I know you are looking for Ramprasad the priest, but he has gone for some job, and I will prepare you a cup of tea. I have a feeling you desperately need one.” I did not reply but I just sat down cross-legged on the stone floor signalling my assent. She returned from the small room behind the deity with a cup of tea and give it to me the weather has now turned cold, and the rain continued to fall outside. I looked out of the temple and could not see anything as the entire area was shrouded in fog. She held the cup in her hand, and I gratefully took the cup from her. As I took the car from her my hand touched her finger. I like felt a strange sensation and I could now see the girl more clearly. I was taken aback by her ethereal beauty but what struck me was that she was not wearing a blouse and her bust was covered only by the Pallu (wrap of her sari). She almost looked like an enchantress who has come from heaven and my mind could imagine the beauty of her body. She was fair; I will say ultra-fair with a slim waist and firm bust which I could see in the low light. The girl was a thrilling sight and as I took the cup from her, I took it to my lips. I close my eyes and take a sip of the tea which was a little sweet. Now, something unique happened and I heard a crash Thunder I open my eyes instantly and see outside the temple a chariot with four horses and in the chariot, I could see the girl who had given me the cup of tea. As the horses neighed, I realized that I was wearing armour with a sword strapped to my belt. The girl was beckoning me to come to the chariot and I was wondering what to do. I come out of the temple and walk to the chariot and mount it. The girl stood by my side and now I could see her clearly; she was almost like a princess bedecked with jewelry. She was beautiful and radiant, and her beauty glowed. If I were to use modern terminology, I would say she would be extremely sexy. The girl, whom I will call a princess whispered to me, “climb in, my warrior and just save me from the evil Bhagel who is following with his troops.” I climb into the chariot and put my arm around her and find that she’s soft and pliable. I involuntarily say, “yes I will save you.”  I hold the reins of the horses in my hand and the beasts neigh with froth emanating from their mouths and they surge forward. The chariot now begins to move, and I can hear horses' hooves some distance behind. I hold the waist of the girl with my left arm, encircle her and hold the reins of the horses. She is close to me, her body joined to me as with my right hand I lash the horses, and the chariot speeds forward. As my Chariot moves forward, I can hear a bunch of riders coming behind me and I lash the horses and they pick up speed, and soon the chariot thunders across the hills and dales’. The chariot is now moving at full speed and I’m getting away from the riders and the sound of the hooves recedes. I look at the princess and say, “we are pulling away from the evil Bhagel, and now princess where do you want me to take you?” She looks at me quizzically and says,” you know where to take me, my warrior, take me to your abode and make me your woman. this is the vision of the Lord.” “But princess I do not know you.” “When the Lord gives a gift, it has to be accepted and he has told me that I am your gift, but you have to win me”. “Win you?” “There is a rider coming head-on, you will have to fight him because he is Bhagel, the evil one.” I look ahead and I can see that a rider is coming, and he holds a lance in his hand. The princess says, “do something, this man is a master with a lance, and can shoot it from 150 paces.” I also lift my lance which is attached to the chariot, and I let it go. I remember the time when I was in the Academy and practiced throwing the javelin.   I lift and throw, the aim is unnerving and strikes the rider in the chest. He falls from the horse, his leg stuck in the stirrup, and the horse panics, and he’s pulled away to the mountains. The princess turns to me and says, “you have saved me from the man now you can have me if you want.” “If I want?” “Yes” “But I am bewildered”. “You should never be bewildered by god’s gift”. I pull the horses back and bring the chariot to a halt and ask the princess, “What next?” “There is a beautiful lake with a small hut by the side, take me there”. “Where is the lake?” “Just behind the clump of trees.” I get down from the chariot and cradle the princess in my arms and walk towards the clump. I cross it and low and behold is a beautiful lake and a lovely hut by the side. I wonder, ‘is all this real? and I’m telling myself what the hell is going on man.’ I walk into the hut with the princess and what follows is something that cannot be described. It is ecstatic and hedonistic, more like a sophomoric delight. Outside the horses are neighing as I accept God’s gift. I close my eyes and I am conscious that I am sitting cross-legged on the bare floor of the temple now I can see the priest coming slowly towards me and he says, “I have been watching you for quite some time. You have been meditating in the Lotus pose to the Lord doubtless you have received a great gift.” I look at the priest and say, “I don’t know what you are talking about because there was a beautiful girl here who came from behind the deity, and she gave me a cup of tea.” The priest only smiled, “it is not possible there is no girl here and I had just gone to the market to bring some ingredients which I have brought and now I shall prepare you my customary cup of tea.” “But I already had a cup of tea which was given to me by the girl”. The priest looked at me and he had a radiant smile on his face,” I think sir, you have been transported to another world when you were meditating to the Lord. I don’t think anybody gave you a cup of tea, it was just the Lord decided to reward you with what you desire the most.” “But the cup of tea” “There is no cup of tea”. I looked around and could not see any cup of tea and I scratched my head and looked at the priest and said priest,” I have had a strange experience.” The priest just smiled at me and said,” the Lord gives fulfilment. All that happened is real for you. but it shows that you are in the eye of the Lord, and you have accepted his gift.” He soon returned with a cup of tea which I drank. As I sipped the tea, I was wondering about what had happened, or maybe I just dreamed it, but it was very real. I left the cup of tea after I drank it and came out. The rain had stopped. The weather was clear, and I sit in my SUV and start the ignition and move forward. I desire to come again to the temple wondering if I could have that delicious dream again. The story does not end here. Two years later I had entered the polo ground at Bhopal for a polo match.   I was moving towards my horse when I saw the maharaja of Dewas. He saw me and without pretence walks to me with a lovely girl by his side. The maharaja smiled and said, “Colonel, this is my daughter, and she also is adept at horses and was keen to meet you as you are a well-known polo player.” I looked at the girl. I was wondering what to say as I was tongue-tied for the simple reason that the girl standing before me was a carbon copy of the princess on the chariot. it’s something like Ripley’s believe it or not. I stood tongue tied as my heart beats quickened. The princess held out her hand and I kissed it. I didn’t know what to say and heard the princess say,” I will enjoy the game of polo with you.” It was a robust game, and after it ends, we move over to the Shamiana where we had a sumptuous lunch spread with unlimited beer. The Princess remains mostly with me, and after the luncheon suggests an afternoon ride in the hills. I readily agree and, in my heart, I know that what is happening is something which is not ordinary. We rode the horses across the hills and dales, crossing a small wood shrouded in greenery. We crossed the wood with me following her on my horse. As the wood cleared, I was surprised when before my eyes opened a view of a small pond with a hut. The adrenal rushed to my brain, and I realized that I had seen this beautiful scene earlier. I could not correlate how this had become reality. I dismount from my horse and in a moment step towards the adjacent horse with the princess astride and lift her from the saddle and cradle her in my arms as I carry her to the hut. She makes a small protest, but I am overwhelmed with the dream which I had experienced and press forward. At the same time, I realized that what I’ve seen was a reality, as I was transported into the past. As I push open the door of the hut and softly lay the princess on the mat and kiss her, it dawns on me that time travel is a possibility. I open her blouse and suckle her nipples whispering, “princess, you are god’s gift, this was inevitable…” What happened next is another story for another day but I know the incident did take place in another world in another life but it is all linked.


Write about someone who’s lived on a tropical island their whole life and is leaving it for the very first time. We Must Bid You Adieu Maria had never heard of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate change activist nor has she ever heard of the shrinking ice caps and the loss of habitat for polar bears. She has not seen the poignant images of polar bears on ice floes searching for food. But she knows something is seriously wrong with the climate. In her village of Tebontebike, in Abaiang she is photographed standing beside an uprooted coconut tree. This tree used to be 100 metres from the shore, but now the sea level has risen and this is creating havoc for the islanders.

Maria’s fate is similar to that of the polar bears-because of global warming the ice caps are melting. The polar bears are hungry and desperate. Because of global warming, the sea levels are rising and the islands are being submerged under water. We associate coconut trees with idyllic tropical islands but when these trees are uprooted, the dream turns into a nightmare.

“Why is this happening?” her grandson Tiaon asked.

“It’s because of global warming” his grandmother replied.

“How does that affect the sea level?”

“It’s to do with the melting ice sheets. Our beautiful island is very vulnerable.” She went on to explain about the rise in sea levels which was approximately 3.2 metres annually since the early nineties. She told her grandson that Abanuea and Tebua Tarawa had already disappeared. And if something wasn’t done, their whole island would be submerged.

Tiaon looked concerned. Usually his grandmother would be telling him about the different names for coconut which indicated their stage of ripeness. Every culture has a unique vocabulary which evolves in response to the circumstances of their daily lives. In the Inuit language there are many different names for snow, including ‘qinu’ which was slush, ‘aputi’ which was snow on the ground, and ‘qanik’ which was falling snow. Maria would tell stories about the men going out in their sarongs to collect shellfish and that when he was a man, he would join them.

“And why have we moved the babai pits?” her grandson asked.

“Because of the rising sea level” she replied. And then she said, “the sea brings us the fish, and we are dependent on it. But when the levels rise to this extent, it takes our land and our livelihood is threatened”.

A root crop known as taro is planted in the babai pits and because it is a carbohydrate, it is widely cultivated in coral atolls.

A meteorologist, Edward Lorenz introduced the concept of the ‘chaos theory’ where he postulated that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, a storm would destroy the half of Europe. So when the polar bears float on ice floes it means that the ice caps are melting and as a result the melted water causes the sea level to rise and as a result Maria’s coconut tree lies on the sand like a fallen hero in a Greek battle and she is forced to move to her babai pits. And then when the sea levels rise again, more and more of her island will be swallowed up and she wonders where it will end. Where will her children and grandchildren move to and how will they survive?  So Maria’s fate and that of the polar bear were inextricably linked. The bear is ravenous and it is searching for food. Maria is not at the edge just yet but as she stands beside the fallen coconut tree, she knows that this is an ill omen. If there were no coconuts how could she make toddy, her family’s favourite drink which was made from its sap? And how could she make kamwaimwai, which was made from the coconut sap? And how would they survive without the fish and the shellfish and the taro?

Maria’s faith was a great source of inspiration. Her mother used to tell her about how Catholicism was brought to Kiribati. Two labourers, Betero Terawati and Rataro Tiroi had been converted while working on a coconut plantation and they asked the Pope to send some priests to Kiribati. So Maria prayed earnestly that the sea levels would subside and they would lose no more land.

The islanders had gathered coral rocks and built walls in order to protect their land against the rising sea levels but these measures did not address the underlying issues of global warming.

Maria loved Abaiang. To her it was a tropical paradise. Although she had lived a simple life and needed to work hard, she had always been happy and never wished for any other life. When Tiaon’s mother died, she looked after him and she tried to do her best for him. But how would he survive if they had to leave their beautiful island and their simple way of life? Tiaon would lose his inheritance as he was an only child and he presumed he would fish and gather seaweed and that he would never want for anything. He would never be able to grow sweet potatoes or papaya. He would never be able to rear pigs and chickens and cattle. He did not enjoy academic study and as soon as he came home from school he would immediately go out and help his father in the fields or he would help him gather shell fish and sea weed.

The islanders had meetings in the local community centre to discuss the way forward. Their leader relayed to them the policy set out by their president Te Beretitenti Taneti Maamau. Maria listened to his vision statement on tackling climate change. The speaker talked about 1992 UNFCCC on Climate Change and the 2015 Paris Agreement and after a while she started daydreaming as she felt it was too vague and all she could think of was the uprooted coconut tree and the ever encroaching sea and she felt that these accords would not stop the rising sea levels. It was a bit like King Canute trying to order the tides to desist.

In her poem ‘Our People on the Reef’ the poet Jane Resture wrote: For what is happening to the beautiful isles we know? Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau the Marshall Isles that place of smiles The rising sea will reclaim our ground nothing but water will abound our people forced to leave for higher ground. While far away they pour their fumes into the clear blue sky not knowing and never caring why

the world is beginning to die. So land of our forebears despite how much we cared for you the time will soon be when we must bid you adieu.


“When am I?” was the first thing I said when I got out of the pod. I knew where I was. I was in the same room where I had been on June 10, 2020, the day I would travel to the future. If all went well, a team of scientists would be awaiting my arrival on June 10, 2050, thirty years in the future. “Something must have gone wrong,” I told myself; there was no one else to talk to. Water was dripping from the ceiling and there was a funky smell in the room. I tried a switch, but the light didn’t turn on. Apparently, there was no electricity. Fortunately, my pod had its own power supply in the form of a battery with an extremely long life. The only light in the room was coming from the large window in the East wall of the Kunos Tower, named after Mel Kunos, the founder and CEO of Kunos Industries. I walked to that window and looked down from the tenth floor. I shuddered at what I saw outside. As far as the eye could see, all buildings were in ruins. Streets and facades were overgrown by lush vegetation. I didn't see a living soul on the broad lane that divided the city in an East side and a West side, only a bunch of rusty car wrecks that looked as if they were thrown there in a random order. “I have to get out of here,” I said. Walking towards the door, I stumbled over something. To my horror I discovered that I was stepping on human remains. I recognized the silver necklace of Dr. Fey who had been at the buttons, operating my pod. On the other side of her desk, I found the dead body of a second person. “This must have been Dr. Blake,” I mumbled. He was the inventor of time-traveling. There had been a third person in the room on June 10, 2020. Dr. Thompson was Dr. Blake's assistant. I looked at where he had been monitoring my journey through the fourth dimension, and there he was —or rather: there was what was left of him. “It’s as if my voyage to the future wiped out the whole city, maybe even the whole world!” I uttered in despair. “Am I the only person left alive?” I remembered how Dr. Thompson jokingly informed me of a lunatic who had broken into the lab, claiming this would happen. The stranger had somehow managed to bypass security and intended to sabotage the experiment. He had been arrested and taken into custody before he could do any harm. We laughed about it. We had done the Math; nothing could go wrong. The door jammed, but I managed to enter the hallway. The elevators didn’t work —obviously. I had to take the stairs down. That was quite a challenge. When I reached the seventh floor, my way was blocked by debris. “There must have been a fire in this part of the building.” Talking to myself was my way to keep my nerves under control. I went up one level and found another staircase that brought me to the third floor, where I met another obstruction. Eventually, I got on the ground level by lowering myself to the terrace of the company restaurant on the second floor and taking the outside stairs on the back of the building. “A drink!” I said. “I need a drink!” I went back to the restaurant, hoping to find a bottle of booze that was still intact. Much to my surprise, I came upon an improvised habitat that was built half inside, half outside the main room of the restaurant. There was a water supply, probably consisting of rainwater; herbs were growing out of flowerpots; there was a small bed on the inside; one spot on the outside looked like it had been used for a campfire for many years. Someone was living here. I was not alone! The kitchen of the restaurant was ransacked. The cellar was too dark to explore, but given the large number of empty bottles piled up in the kitchen, I don’t think there was any alcohol left. I quenched my thirst with water and decided to wait for the person living who lived here. I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up, I smelled food. “Who are you?” I asked the woman who was preparing a meal. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You told me to wait for you in case something went wrong, but I lost track of time. I wasn’t aware that today was the day thirty years had passed.” “Anna?” I asked. Anna was a woman I had been dating in 2020. She worked on the ninth floor. Back then, we were about the same age. The strange woman in front of me looked like an older version of the Anna I knew. If Anna had been waiting for me for thirty years, she must be sixty-something now. “It was so lonely waiting for you,” she answered. “What happened?” “You came to me the day before you were scheduled to travel to this time,” she explained. “You said you had already made the trip to the future, and that you had come back to warn us for the disaster that was about to happen. You asked me to trust you and to help you in case you didn't succeed to stop the experiment.” “The lunatic!” I realized that the stranger Dr. Thompson had told me about wasn’t a stranger at all. It was me —a me from the future— who had come back in an attempt to prevent the catastrophe we were about to cause. I had failed. “You sounded crazy that day, but I was in love with you. I did what you asked. An hour before the experiment would take place, I used your credentials to get access to the backup pod in the basement. I waited there for half a day.” “You survived the cataclysmic event in the shelter of the time-traveling pod?” “I survived, but when I got out of the pod, it was still 2020. Since you are here today, I’m assuming we’re 2050. I’ve been the only person in the world for thirty years. I’m so happy to see you, but I already know what you’re going to ask me next.” “What am I going to ask you?” “You’re going to ask me to send you back to June 9, 2020, to prevent the catastrophe. That’s what you told me that exact same night. If you failed, I needed to wait for you so that you could try again. You needed someone in 2050 to operate the pod from the outside to travel back.” “Yes, that makes sense! If only I could undo this disaster.” “No, it doesn’t make sense. What is done cannot be undone. We’re trapped in a time paradox.” “What do you mean?” “If someone is needed to operate the pod from outside, who sent you back the first time you returned?” “I … I have no idea.” “It’s a paradox. You came back from the future before you ever went there, and now we’re trapped in a loop. The current me will never see you again if you go back. The past me will have to wait for thirty years once more. Everything that happened will happen all over again. Who knows how many times it has happened already?” “Maybe this time will be different!” “I don’t think so, and anyway: it doesn’t matter anymore.” “Why not?” “I dismantled the backup pod many years ago, trying in vain to go back in time myself.” “And my pod?” “I destroyed your pod while you were asleep.” “But that means that…” “… we’re the only two people left on this world, my love.”


        “Hey Carol, we’re going to the store for some munchies want to come along?” Brenda asked her friend.          “I don’t think you and Sarah should leave the apartment tonight, did you see the moon?” Carol absently said as she gazed out the front room window.        “Why should we stay home?” Sarah wanted to know, just catching the tail end of the conversation.         “Carol is afraid the moon looks strange” Brenda joked.         “Are you now into some new age mysticism or something Carol?” Sarah frowned. Carol frowned back at her two roommates, Brenda never took anything serious and nine times out of ten, Sarah would follow Brenda’s lead. With a sigh Carol went into the kitchen, leaving her roommates to joke about the scary moon. She wasn’t really upset with them, just frustrated. She felt something was off tonight but what she didn't know. Being annoyed with her friends was a common accurance, they were all very different and sometimes their personalities clashed. They had been friends since the beginning of sixth grade and now they were in their junior year at Barcley University.  Their differences are why they got along so well too, because they balanced each other out. Carol was a very serious person, but she was extremely introverted and quiet. Brenda was an extrovert, loud and boisterous and take charge kind of person, and Sarah was the easy going, she liked to make sarcastic remarks about almost anything. tension relief and ice breakers she'd call them. The best thing about their friendship was how the girls dragged her out of the shell, getting her to have fun and open up.             Tonight though, she had a bad feeling when she gazed at the full moon. It was brighter than normal and it had three rings that seemed to run thru it, unlike Saturn the rings looked like they went through the middle of the moon not around it. She’d never seen anything like it.  She’d just gotten off the phone from her mother when Brenda had come into the front room. That was part of the reason she was unnerved. Her Mother was very superstitious and the moon had set her off on a tangent. She had kept going on and on about the bad omen. Something terrible was going to happen, she didn’t know what but she made Carol promise to stay inside tonight. After hanging up the phone Carol had went to the window and looked at the moon herself, it gave her an eerie feeling,  No stars were visible tonight, and the sky had a cloudy over cast but the moon shown dazzlingly.  The rings emphasized it. The outer ring had a hazy orange luminous tint, the next ring was a pale blue and more defined, the center ring was very distinct, it was a pure white band that seemed to pierce the center of the moon.  She could kick herself for falling into her mothers melodramatics. It was a bad habit she was trying to dispel.              She went back into the front room as the girls were getting ready to leave.              “Hey Carol, if the moon eats us you can have my purple sweater.” Brenda laughed.              “Oh! And Carol if we’re zapped by aliens, you can tell Todd that I did like him, I wished I had accepted his invitation to the dance.” Sarah told her seriously.              “You wished you had gone out with Todd?” Brenda exclaimed with surprise. Sarah looked at them with a sorrowful expression, then instantly burst into gales of laughter. “Heck No! But you should have seen your faces. Gotcha!”             “I hope the moon falls on your heads.” Carol yelled to them as they walked out the door.  She followed them as far as the porch and watched her friends cross the lawn on the way to their car. She looked up at the moon, a chill ran down her spine. Her gaze was forcibly torn away from the moon by screams. Brenda and Sarah were frozen in place, shaking violently, their screams piercing the quiet of the night.  Immobilized in terror Carol watched her friends withering in pain. It was only when they both collapsed on the ground that she was able to move. She rushed to them crying out their names, she gathered Sarah’s body to her chest rocking her. Her head bowed and tears rushed down her face in anguish. After a moment she felt Sarah’s chest move, joy filled her she’s alive. Slowly she lowered her to the ground, her chest was rising rapidly, so was Brenda’s she noticed, but their eyes were tightly closed and both were making muffled noises. It only took a second for her to realize that they were both trying to stifle laughter!             “I thought you were dead!” Carol yelled at them as she jumped up and kicked Brenda in the leg.             “Oww, that hurt” Brenda choked out between bursts of laughter.             “Oh momma, hold me again” Sarah chortled rolling on the grass.             “I can’t believe you just did that to me!” Carol cried out. She turned to run into the house but Brenda grabbed her pants leg and pulled her down to the ground between them. Sarah wrapped her arms around Carol and Brenda grabbed her hand.            “I’m sorry, it was a bad joke, we didn’t mean to make you cry.” Brenda told her.            “Me either, but don’t you think that maybe it was a little funny?” Sarah cajoled her. Carol wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a small smile.

           “Ya maybe little”             Brenda reached over and gave Carol a big hug then Sarah wrapped her arms around both of them. All three sat there laughing and rocking.            “Get a room!” Someone shouted from one of the apartments. This caused the girls to collapse in laughter again.              “Time to go.” Brenda said standing up. Just as she reached down to grab Carols hand, a brilliantly bright light shined down, temporarily blinding them. A sudden chill over took their bodies like they had just walked into a meat freezer. Almost instantly freezing winds enveloped them. Then as rapidly as it had started it was over, the cold was gone and all was quite.

            “What in the world was that?” Sarah asked shakily, rubbing her eyes and blinking to try to clear the multitude of spots away.              Brenda glanced around, everything was dark.

             “What happened to all the lights” she wondered aloud. Sarah finally able to see again, she stared at her surroundings. It was to dark to see anything but faint impressions. There were no lights anywhere, no porch lights, no street lights, even the moon, now covered in clouds barely shone.

            “Carol, what do you think?” Brenda asked.              “Obviously it’s a power outage, you won’t be going to the store now.” She laughed.

"Why wouldn't we still go to the store?" Brenda crossly asked. “With no power they won’t be letting anyone in the store.  Well Mom was sort of right, but a power outage wasn’t too terrible for a bad omen." She chuckled, wiping sweat off her brow. Wow, when did it get so hot? She had thought the weather was cooler, probably from humidity, a storm had to of knocked out the power and would be hitting them soon. That had to be it.             “If a storm is coming we should go in.” Carol told them.             “What storm? I don’t see any signs of a storm.”  Sarah exclaimed.             “What other explanation would account for the power outage and the sudden heat.” Carol asked.             “I thought I was the only one sweating, but I don’t see any sign of a storm, no wind, no lightening and no thunder. So I don’t know if that’s it, but we should get back to the apartment just in case.” Brenda told them.             “There was a lot of strong wind, a moment ago. I thought a blizzard had landed on us for a minute.” Sarah shivered thinking about how cold that had been.             “We need to get back to the apartment, what if that was a tornado and now we are in the eye? I’ve never been in one but I’ve read that there is quiet and no wind in the eye of one, sooo.” Brenda shrugged.             “There has never been a tornado in this state, ever.” Carol argued.             “First time for everything.” Sarah mumbled as she headed off toward the apartment. Sarah had only taken a few steps when she fell flat on her face. Brenda was right behind her, and followed her down when she tripped over Sarah’s leg.              “What the Heck!” Sarah yelled when Brenda fell on her. Carol started laughing when she saw the vague outlines of the girls on the ground.              “I thought you two knew how to walk”              “Very funny Carol, I stepped into a hole, that’s why I fell. I don’t know Brenda’s excuse.              “My excuse is a clod fell in my way, now help me up Carol!”  Once they were all standing Sarah grabbed the phone from her pocket and turned on the flashlight. Instead of the nice manicured lawn they were use to, the ground was uneven, covered in rocks and weeds. Slowly Sarah moved the light over the area, none of it was as it had been. The lawn was gone, there were no vehicles in the parking lot. Actually there was no parking a lot either. Bordering on panic Sarah turned the flashlight toward their apartment. A building was there but different. It was elevated, so where their apartment had been now it was just structure holding up the floor above. The floor above was dark, nothing illuminated it. Vines shrouded the whole place.  Dumbfounded the girls stood there staring at what was once their home.             “Well, we aren’t in Kansas anymore?” Sarah stammered quietly, her voice sounded like she was close to tears. Brenda stepped closer to Sarah, she was shaken, and usually she was the strong one of the trio, but now she felt lost. Brenda had no answers for what they were seeing.               “It was the moon, my mother told me to beware.” Carol spoke up with certainty.                “The MOON!” Brenda shouted. “Give me a break, I am sick of your loony mom’s warnings.                “Do you have a better explanation? Miss I’m the boss and know everything!” Carol yelled back.                “STOP! Both of you please, we need to work together to figure this out and get home.” Sarah cried. Brenda and Carol wrapped their arms around Sarah,               “I sorry” Brenda whispered. I’m frightened, I don’t have any idea what to do.                “So am I, we can’t go snapping at each other now. I know you don’t want to hear what my mom said,” Brenda started to interrupt her but Carol put up her hand and raised her finger, silencing Brenda.. “My mother said the rings through the moon were a bad omen, she must have heard something about it before.”                 “Okay so what do we do now?” Brenda asked.

                “I don’t know” Carol uttered in despair.                 The girls froze, something was moving out beyond their sight. They heard a growl and a clicking, no it wasn’t a clicking exactly, it sounded like teeth smacking together.                “We need to hide.” Sarah whispered.                “But where?’ Carol quietly asked.              “To the building thing.” Brenda yelled when whatever they’d been listening to started crashing toward them. The girls ran to the building searching for stairs, but there were none to find. The creature was getting closer and its roar was sounding more ferocious, it was closing the distance in a frenzy.  Frantically the girls looked for a way up, occasionally glancing over their shoulders fearing the creature would be right behind them.                 “Here, Here, we need to climb hurry” Brenda excitedly tried to push Sarah up a thick vine.                 “I can’t climb a vine, I’m not Tarzan!” Sarah whined.

               “Just go! Now” Brenda demanded as she shoved Carol to the next thickest vine and followed behind Sarah. They scrambled up the vines as the creature reached the building. Carol screamed when the creature grabbed the vine she was climbing. It shook it like a dog in a tug of war battle, but with none of the playfulness. The violent twisting was making her sick, she felt her shoe come off and she almost lost her grip. I’m going to die she thought, clinging to the vine.

             Sarah and Brenda came to the ledge and crawled over. They both tried to see what was happening to Carol. They could hear her screams between gasps and quickly uttered prayers but they could barely see her. The ledge they were on shuttered from the violent attack on the vine. Carol lost her grip of her left hand and swung uncontrollably with each jerk of the vine.             “Give me your phone.” Brenda screeched, grabbing it from Sarah before it even cleared her pocket. She turned on the flashlight and swung it toward the creature below.   It was hideous, it was black with mossy hanging fur, it had 6 incredibly muscular legs. It was using its front two as hands grasping and tearing at the vines. The claws at the end of each appendage looked razor sharp and long. It gave the vine a mighty twist and Carol went flying. The creature turned toward Carol as she lay on the ground frozen in terror. Brenda shown the light directly at the monster to try and get its attention and as soon as the light hit its body the creature started shrieking and withering in pain, it smoldered for a few seconds then it went up in a puff of smoke.              “What the h……” Sarah started to say.              “Come on let’s get down there and make sure Carol is okay.” Brenda shouted and swinging her legs over the ledge, she scrambled down the vine. Sarah followed at a slower pace, all the while complaining, “When did I suddenly become a monkey hanging from vines”.              “Are you alright?” Brenda panted, sliding to a stop beside Carol.              “Is it gone?” Carol peeked around Sarah who finally climbed down the vine and joined her friends.              “Yes, it just went poof when the light hit it.” Sarah laughed slightly.              “Wow! I was sure I was going to die.” Carol cringed. The relief they felt was short lived though. Out of the corner of Carol’s eye she saw movement, and she stiffened. Brenda became aware that they weren’t alone about the same moment.               “You should have seen yourself……..” Sarah stopped mid sentence when she noticed her friends rigid stance and followed the direction of their eyes, there were black shapes coming toward them. Probably twenty or more. Carol stood slowly up next to Brenda and Sarah scooted closer too.             “The phone Brenda.” Sarah whispered. Brenda took the phone out of her pants pocket and tried to turn it on, when it didn’t immediately come on she brought it up to her face and tried to turn it on again. It wouldn’t work, it must have gotten broken when she slid down to Carol. The girls crept closer together as they watched the figures silently close in around them. The moon was slowly peeking through the clouds and illuminating the area. The girls could see that the shapes looked vaguely human, they had two arms, two legs and one head. But there the similarities ended. The moonlight was bright enough now to see that their skin had a grayish tinge to it and their arms hung longer almost to their knees. Their heads were proportionately larger too. With two extremely large red eyes.  Carol almost wished the moon would hide again so she could take her eyes off the creatures.  The creatures/people encircled the friends, there was no where they could run. Each second the moon shone brighter, the rings eerily glowed and the horror of their features became more distinct.

             Carol glanced up at the moon, her fear soaked brain could only wonder how something so beautiful could be the death of them. Simultaneously several things happened; the creatures started shrieking and rushed the friends. The girls hugged each other tightly and closed their eyes and waited for death. An icy wind blew frigid gusts around them and a brilliantly bright light shot down from the sky and engulfed the friends.              Brenda was the first to open her eyes to the silence around them. At first she only opened one eye to peek around. She saw a street light in front of her.

            “You guys look! Were home!” she shouted. Sarah and Carol let go of each other and looked around, they were home. They were standing on the nice green lawn in front of their apartment. Their relief was so overwhelming Sarah screamed for joy and Brenda and Carol joined in, all three were jumping up and down, like over stimulated toddlers in a frenzy of excitement.                “Come on you three shut up! People are trying to sleep.” Someone yelled from one of the apartments. Still laughing, but quieter now the three friends linked their arms together and headed to their apartment.                 “I don’t think we should tell anyone what happened tonight” Brenda told them as they reached the door.                  “No one would believe us, except my mom.” Carol sighed.                   “Yep, they’d think we were nuttier than a fruitcake.” Sarah tried to get a little laugh. Except no one laughed, but each knew that from now on they would be cautious and beware the strange moon.                                                                                CJStevens


After a month of moving and unpacking, I was finally able to relax in this quiet little neighborhood. I do not regret leaving my pack, from the people that have raised me but being future pack leader is not my cup of tea. The idea of it makes me feel...tense and I do not do well with tense. I do not like making decisions for others or hear complaints. I rather live a quiet, lone wolf life away from my father’s pack. My mother was disappointed but in an angry disappointed way. Alright! She did not like my idea and nearly tried to kick my ass into next year. For crying out loud, I am only 29! Anyway! My name is Sasha Garcia, I am six feet tall, shoulder length shaggy white hair, soft brown skin, sky blue eyes and Hispanic. The pack I come from is called Los Lobos Avellana , strong in numbers but I do not want to think about that right now. I have a whole new life ahead of me to think about. I look around the neighborhood and smiled, taking a seat to people watch as I took in the cool crisp air of fall. I watched kids play on the road: basket ball, skate boarding, chalk drawing and such which seems to be the norm here. I could already catch the scent of a grill being started: charcoal and fire starter fluid. I turned my attention back toward the kids, the parents and the rest. I do not usually people watch because I was already surrounded by people I knew and well...I always preferred to go to the mall and relax there, people watch, lunch or read. Having this much quiet would take some getting used to but I know it will be worth it in the long run. I had already met some of the neighbors when I started living here for a week, many of them were nice while others...well, they were quite nosy, Very...nosy. I actually had to close my front door after the last nosy neighbor, she kept trying to look past me and into my home. I did meet a couple with two boys, one is Christopher and the other Jason. They even brought me a plate of chocolate chip cookies, which was nice though..those cookies did not last the night. My stomach started hurting but zero regrets, okay maybe a little but mmmm! Those cookies were delicioso! Maybe next time I should have a few instead of scarfing it down like an animal. With a contented sigh, I got up and turned to make my way inside. “Christopher!” I heard the parents shout. I turn back around, taking only a split second to see what is going on. The road is currently vacant of kids for the oncoming vehicle that is coming down at nearly 60mph and no way of stopping. I spot little three year old Christopher running after the ball that rolled onto the road and I only have a few seconds to save that boy if I use every energy in my body. Without a thought of hesitation, I bolted for the boy before he could become a pancake on that diver’s windshield. At this point, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion: Spring boarding myself in front of a speeding car, my arms wrapping around the boy and curling my body around his to soften the impact as we hit the unforgiving concrete. “Ooooowww….” The wind got knocked out of me, at least I know how Loki felt for that moment when he got slammed around by Thor. “I am going to feel that for the next few minutes...” I muttered as I slowly started to sit up, Christopher crying and disoriented but he is safe. His mother knelt down beside me as I tried to regain my bearings while I held the boy in my arms but slowly, my grip loosened as his mother gently took him from me after she hugged me tight. Too tight! “Thank you so much! Thank you!” “No problem...” I groaned as I was helped up to my feet by one of the neighbors. Demetri, I think. “That care did not even stop to check for injuries or anything. Why not?” I asked. He shrugged, “not sure but it is not the first time that has happened. I see that car all the time, we would even catch it on the news but for some reason the cops can’t seem to catch the driver.” He says as we watched the car make an immediate sharp turn around the corner. I thought for a moment on this, “how often does this happen?” “Not often, just enough to warrant those Children at Play signs but that doesn’t work anymore. I’m not sure how to keep the kids safe with that kind of lunatic behind the wheel.” He sighed as he rubbed his big hand down his face. He looked tired and concerned, as he should be. “Did you ever think of having someone at each corner of the street with a whistle? They could blow a whistle to warn the parents that are outside to watch for kids before the traffic comes down the road.” I suggested. He looked at me and a grin spread across his face. “That is great idea! Thanks, Ms. Garcia!” “Friends just call me Sasha.” I smiled back, pat his shoulder and turned away to make my way back home to relax with a movie and dinner. I might have to go job hunting soon, just...not yet. I want to relax. Before I could take a few more steps, I felt a little body collide against mine and arms wrapping around my waist. I looked down to see Jason with a tear streaked face, “you saved my little brother! Thank you!” The look on his face pulled at my heartstrings as I knelt down and hugged him tightly, “hey now, carinio. No need to cry. He’s safe now. You should be hugging him right now.” I say softly which registered in his head. He gave me a tight hug, I returned it and let him go so he could quickly make his way over to his family. I stood up, a warmth spread in my heart as I watched them for a moment before turning away to head home for my much needed relax time. Though...that driver is going to be a problem for this quiet little neighborhood if it comes around again. Maybe some investigation should be in order but...not yet. Rest and relaxation time for me! Fin Los Lobos Avellana =The Hazel Wolves Delicioso =Delicious Carinio =Honey, dear, sweetie.