Revealed: A Fictional Narrative

"Hey Laura, I'm sorry for making you feel bad back there." Carmilla was sad about making Laura cry.

“Why are you doing this? I did nothing to hurt you!”, Lisa screamed. “Let me go!”

“I want you to look at her and tell her you no longer want to be a part of our lives because she’s not worth living for.”

“You know, you hurt every time you come to visit her,” Zera replied, “You really broke her heart when you started defending criminals without remorse. She hates how you willing let criminals walk out of the court as free men…”

The small car pulled into the driveway of the frat house. 8:15 was the time; the party was already started. Mark noticed his friends’ cars were there as he got out of his own and hurried to the door.

The drive to tennessee was too long. I don’t enjoy sitting in our sedan squeezed between my two younger siblings for 8 whole hours. As we enter the downtown area, my mother asks me to give her directions to aunt Jane’s house off of our map.

Rhett sat awkwardly in the passenger seat of Link’s car as the man drove in silence. The whole day Link had been acting odd and quiet, every time Rhett had tried to start a conversation Link would curtly answer and end the conversation quickly. Rhett wasn’t sure what was wrong with the man, but he hoped tomorrow's episode wasn’t ruined by the man’s foul mood. As they came closer to his house Rhett decided to say something.

“It may not be a big deal to you because you’re not the one who has to give consent to end the life of the person who gave your life.”

He sauntered down the dark hallway, the thud of his boots echoing off the polished, concrete floor. The walls encircled him like a predator but he let them consume him. He had let the hatred and anger of his betrayal consume him long ago. He was only a shell now - a shell of the man he used to be. He was devoid of kindness and the action of mercy seem distant, well, he had never been a gentle man but he had lost the few feelings he had. He had always been a killer, a ruthless, blood thirsty General but he had lost even his love for his family after his betrayal. He could no longer look at his wife’s face without seeing the poor excuse of a son he once had. He was emotionless and that made him a great leader. He stood beside

“I do not know what I have just done!” Fleur exclaimed. I watched her carefully, not sure if I could trust her. “Answer me!” she shouted, I had not even realised that she had asked me a question.

My brow furrowed and I tilted my head, sure I had misheard him. None of this made any sense—the apologies, the guilt I could feel emanating from him. There was a part of me that would have loved to have believed that he had truly changed for the better. That he was repentant—at least a little—for his past actions. But this was all too perfect—too good to not be an act. That had to be what this was—some kind of facade that he was putting on with the expectation of … what? Getting me to go along with some plan? Getting me to do some kind of work for him and Ryan? I had no idea, I just knew that I still couldn’t even find my voice to even ask.

"You do not understand. The departure of a friend has left me in pieces and you are not what I need. Go away now.. I... I just need to rest."

your once-mighty presence faded to an empty glow your walls became beaten and broken fallen down, inside on show I found the key to unlock your heart dust shifted to the floor what shocked me was what lay inside your heart was simply no more your lines of lovers dwindled down all the people gone astray instead of vying for your love you've shunned them all away you wanted them to leave and yet it pained you to see them go had you hoped they'd turn around? it must have hurt when they didn't slow all the torn hearts have mended and the tears have gone dry now when your name is spoken it is nothing but a sigh you are not the person that we all once knew you broke down and never quite repaired but what I once said was true you never had a

I spent the majority of seventh grade looking at the back of Ryan Caneda’s head and sighing wistfully. He had all the trademarks of the Myspace generation and I loved him for it. Admittedly, the way his shiny brown hair swooped over one eye like an Anime hero was what intrigued me at first, but I knew I was caught: hook, line and sinker by the way he radiated mall-bought tween angst from every pore of his being. All the Spencer’s Gifts and Hot Topic stores in the world could convince me less of his profound individualism. I often spent my allotted hour of Internet searching for, then copying and pasting song lyrics into my online profile in order to trumpet the depth and anguish of my troubled soul, hoping to impress him. I dyed my hair pink and purple to match my “edgy” new style of dress, one akin to Ryan’s ratty band t-shirts and tight jeans. I noted with quiet fascination that he sometimes smelled like weed and beer, which made me fall even deeper in love with him because how dangerous. It was safe to say that 99% of my actions and reactions during this time were based on what Ryan would think if he were there with me.

The presentation of a single point of view results in assumptions and prejudices that do not account for the multifaceted nature of people and society. Considering Eugene and Father Benedict’s religious practices, oppression and intolerance of all things unchristian appears to be cemented into Nigerian Catholicism. However, this concept of a unilateral Catholic ideology is broken by Father Amandi, with whose tender acceptance of Igbo culture and loving nature, shines a light on the diversity of religious sentiments in Nigeria. Furthermore, Kambili’s father defies the usual mold of an antagonist. Eugene strives to show the truth through his newspaper and constantly helps those in need. Conversely,