Esme Short Stories

The darkness surrounded her; its pressure was oppressive like the depths of the deep sea. It engulfed her with the forfeiture of life; however it did not rip her soul from her body, instead it took theirs. She had lost people before, but never had their death been so profound as to diminish her own sense of self. Never before had the loss of someone been so close to her as to cause the quantity of grief she now felt. She couldn’t fathom how divers survived at the pressure of those oppressive depths or how some could even find beauty in the pitch black; there was nothing beautiful in their deaths. She didn’t know that the diver survives by slowly acclimating to the physical and mental strain; knowing that resurfacing

She forced my stiff neck upward and noticed for the first time another figure strewn upon the floor beside her. Her stomach dropped and bile began to rise in her throat. No, no, no, please let me be wrong. Using the little strength remaining in her arms she heaved myself towards the figure. She closed her eyes afraid to recognize the reality she was certain to be true. Finally after what felt like an eternity she opened my eyes and came face to face with her nightmare. Rhys lay his face pale and silent, there was nothing left for him to say, he had no voice, nor soul, nor life. Giant pearls of liquid rolled down her face splattering against her forearm stinging at the cuts.

thrown back into the water. As she continues to think, her thoughts begin to grow, and to

It was early in the morning: Ruby left the tent, bleary eyed, and made his way through the field. Unbound by the decaying fence, the cows had strayed to the far end of the clearing. Ruby hopped the fence and began towards them; knowing the ritual, they stayed put.

A California man offered a woman a ride to Wells Fargo and she accepted, not knowing what was about to be done to her.

When we look back at the book,then we automatically know that she got her arm bit off by a tiger shark and she lost 60% of her body’s blood. And she was Brave enough to go back in the water to be brave means to be ready to endure pain and; owning courage. Resilience means that when she falls she comes back stronger than ever.

A loud piercing scream, hit my ears. It was me. I screamed and screamed. I punched in the walls and let my body shake until there was nothing left to do. My throat was raw and my eyes were wild, inhumane. Soon I turned upon Heath and Clarice, who were standing there, gripping each other in fear. The terror of the creature that they thought they knew so well was suffocating them, closing around their lungs.

Trading blows for blows, Yuri managed to hold her own against them. Managing to avoid each strike, Yuri looked for an opening, trying to even her odds. Sabra used her vines once again, aiming them in Yuri’s direction. The vines entangled around Yuri’s legs, dropping her to the ground. Malessica’s body remained coated with concrete, enlarging her fist on the downed opponent. Yuri rolled out of the way, creating a blade to cut the vines off of her legs. Gaining some distance, she created an assault rifle, aiming at Malessica. Firing away at her, Malessica formed another scutum style shield. Malessica noticed the power of Yuri’s aura increasing, seeing her shield crumbling by the second.

Her breath shown in the cold moist air of the lake side. She quickened her pace, dashing from one underbrush to the next, twigs and branches scratching at her face as if begging for her to take them away with her from this wretched land, her breathing became increasingly vigorous. Her limbs grew heavy as more and more mud started to cling to her boots as if also wanting to go with her and the distance she had to cover seemed to become more and more. She started to think she couldn’t go on anymore, except for one reason and one reason only. The warm infant wrapped in blankets and cloth started to become heavier and heavier in her arms as she felt her body starting to fail her. But she couldn’t stop she had to get her baby to safety. As the sound of dogs barking and the hooves of horses and the screams of soldiers yelling,” She went this way!” “No this way!” The ever growing thought of are they going to find me, did I do all this just to get

While listening to the StoryCorps stories, three of the five that I chose to focus on all have something in common. Each story depicts in some sort of way that hard work goes a long way in life. The stories I listen to were, “Anytime they had a stunt to do with a black actor, they would paint these white guys in blackface.” “The way that I look at my job as a vendor, I am a professional athlete.” and “All of a sudden Dr. King drove down the street.” These three stories showed that when you work hard, good things come to you. The “black actors” story talked about two men who wanted to become stuntmen for real actors. These two men were rejected from many films but continued practicing in parks, and on the streets. They would dive off park bleachers

he tried to grab her hand, just as he almost had hold of her, the ocean spews her out only to swallow her back to its depths.

It was a cold and starless night, three children and their dog ran away from home. Their names were Tanuki, Susie, and William along with their dog Snake. Their were fairly young for their age but in respectful terms. They ran away from home to go camping together, when they were setting up camp Susie started talking about a legend. "They say when it's a full moon that a wolf with glowing white eyes as bright as the moon, will come to take you to your grave!" Susie spoke in a creepy voice, the others were a little frightened but they didn't show it. "Susie! Stop telling us such ridiculous carrot tales! We know of the legend already but your just trying make it real!"

As the powerful abyss consumes my convulsing body, my arms and legs propel me through the dark emptiness. The sloshing water lapping my ears, drowns out the sounds of the rushing water above, as I break to the surface. Tackling the sunlit board with one arm and hauling my limp body aboard the smooth, water-beaded paddleboard, a calmness immediately claims me, as I gaze above to the piercing blue sky. As I regain my footing on the wobbling yellow board, I can feel the sun’s rays dance over my skin and dry the water that cascades down my soaking frame. Leaning back and plunging the paddle within the depths of the Colorado River, my sinewy arms mechanically take shape, and thrust me forward.

The water dragged and strapped her down from all possible sides. The more she struggled the more disorientated she became. Left, right, up, down she couldn’t make any sense of it all. She pushed with her arms and legs but she couldn’t find any leverage, for all she knew she was forcing herself further down. Her lungs craved for more air and even though she knew she wouldn’t receive enough, her body still took a final breath. Cold water filled her lungs, burning her throat as if hundreds of needles had pierced into it. Her muscles relaxed and she was oddly calm for a moment - then everything slowly faded too black.

Although she was just attempting to swim alone, she saw this experience as a great failure because the fear or “encounter with death” prevented her from moving forward with the goal that she set for herself. The frustration that stemmed from this experience carried to that night where she asserted herself to her husband by defying his wishes. Her assertion was her first experience of freedom from oppression.