Short Story

it is life, Mama!” Mama: “Oh—so now its life. Money is life. Once upon a

The low ceiling cowered above and the black plastic chairs formed a restless crowd around me. From my seat, I could smell the acute scent of cleaning fluid, whiteboard markers, and the nauseating perfume of the girl sitting next to me. Like so many other students, she exuded concentration. Her brows were drawn as her hand moved rapidly over the testing booklet, only pausing to reposition herself or cast an almost imperceptible sidelong glance. The effortlessness of her actions furthered my anxiety as I began tapping my foot uneasily against the speckled linoleum floor. Through the dusty shades that hung precariously in front the only window in the room, I could see the outline of a solitary building shadowed by the dense gray fog that clung to the courtyard outside. At that moment, I would have given anything to be able to run and scream at the top of my lungs. I had an inexplicable urge to break free from the confinement of that room and what it

I left and, as could be predicted, a soldier detached from the rest and followed me at a discreet distance. As I traveled along the sidewalk, I couldn't help but notice the campus's condition. Grass, too long neglected, was going to seed. The flowers were wilting under the drought-like conditions. I wiped the sweat from my brow as I increased my gait. It would be dark in another hour or so.

This small yet powerful voice shakes our morals to the concrete foundation, affects our decision-making and even persuades our choices made. The day was a very typical but a distinctiveness hung in the mist like the salty, crisp aroma of the great pacific ocean. My thoughts were blank, incomplete, tuned out by the muffling of the vehicle and the constant static of the radio. Switching lanes on to my usual route, I saw the leaves blow in the cool breeze, hovering like a small swarm of doves. The leaves have begun their cycle of life, changing into vibrant shades and hues of sun kissed orange and moribund yellow. Peering out the window, the environment grabbed my attention, and the constant sipping of the dark brew of coffee kept my eyes alert and attentive to all my sense into taking full effect. Life seemed to great, to perfect, to good, but in reality the covering mask was about to be

“Of course they aren’t helping,” Adia groaned, slamming the door to Heron’s Hideaway shut. It was our last midnight patrol for the week of camp, and it was supposed to be easy. But how was cleaning an entire building with just the two of us easy?

you'd gone to the office already. Which means you got in late. That's unacceptable.

General Patrick finally took notice of the trident on the uniforms of all of the men sitting at the table, not to mention the tape on the uniforms that read ‘US Navy’. “How the hell….” General Patrick said out loud.

You wake up and find yourself passed out on your friend's floor. For a few seconds, you find yourself confused, but then you remember the wild party the night before. Well, some of the party, anyway. Your memory goes fuzzy after these hot chicks starting passing around a few special drinks.

and saw her mom and sister, in their own bikinis. Smiling, she placed a handful of sun screen on her legs and rubbed it in, she continued up to her chest, neck, and face. Offering her sister, the bottle. Taking off her bikini top, she laid face forward, so her sister could place some lotion on her back, and places where she could not reach.

Flich will not stop talking with his mouthful. Walker seems use to it as his ear is literally chattered off.

Opening his eyes, the first thing Cisco was aware of was being in this completely bluish and endless storm of lighting and flashes of light, perfectly mimicking the SpeedForce’s ambience and sending chills in the young man’s spine.

The beeping of a monitor was getting annoying. With the sterile smell and constant humming of technology, Corvus could have really used some music. His body ached from the fight he had won, ached from the damage that was finally catching up to him. His bones had broken numerous times, something he could easily fix. However, now he was just getting his energy back while the lab coat people ran tests on him. They didn't need his consent for anything given the fact that this hospital was not really considered such, but it was the only place he could really go while staying under the radar of the native population here that would be happy to see a bounty hunter like him floating dead in the ocean. Obviously, this was something he did not want,

It’s weird to separate himself from his job. He doesn’t really like it. Which is probably why he’s stayed single for so long. Well, he has Rebecca, but that’s beside the point.

The humidity began to penetrate everywhere, crawling at its own pace, at the same time as the air became heavier, filling up with water, then the first drops finally came. Tapping at first weakly on the roofs, the rain intensified gradually to transform into a hubbub, at the same time as the ambient smell changed, a wet flavor of greenery spreading progressively. The horizon was grey, interrupted with green spots which were the foliage of trees shaken by the wind.

The smattering of rain on the roof overhead calms me, beating out an irregular rhythm like an anxious child unconsciously tapping his foot. The dim glow of my phone screen washes over me as I wait for the light to return, cut off by the flash flood inducing rain. I look around, and sigh; yet again, the lights on the ceiling are blank, leaving me with nothing to shield myself from the impending darkness.