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• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  Losing John

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  John and his license expired last week. He had warning, of course. The date was stamped right on the front and they kept reminding him to get a new one. I told him too, told him that nothing lasts forever, not even for him. That, when time runs out, it’s gone, and he’s be screwed. How could I ...
• Fiction > Historical Fiction
  It's A Pity About Your Head

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  "It's really a pity about your head." They say, looking at it. I must admit, it's a rather nice one. Having had it for 22 years and seven months, I've grown quite fond of it. They pull my hair away from my neck as a sharp jab in the back sends me to my knees, thrusting my no...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  How You Look At It

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  I was eleven when Billy Johnson threw a water balloon. It landed in a rather unfortunate location, or so it seemed at the time. They called me The Wetter for the rest of the year. For a while I guess I let it get to me. Maybe I moped a bit. Maybe I considered complaining about bullies to the prin...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  Fork Pineapples and Vietnam Veterans

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  I look at the pineapple. What a useless, hideous thing. I pick it up, cupping the golden bulb in my hand, watching with detached interest as the leaves rattle, my hand shaking ever so slightly. What are you supposed to do with something like this? Put it on your mantle when you’re not using it? T...
• Fiction > All Fiction
  Warhorse

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Warhorse. Panting, straining, muscles rippling as he runs into the battles of man. Into the battles of man. Why? He is prey, built to run away from the enemy, fly with the wind, fleeing for his own life. He is not a predator. He has no fangs, no claws, no lust for blood. Yet he runs into the roar o...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  We Are The Warriors

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  We are the idealistic ones. Believing we can make the world better, Thinking we know where to find what we’re after. Trusting our leaders will place our targets, On the heart of all the pain and unrest. We are the faces behind the guns. Shaving our hair and donning dress blues, So many yo...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  You'd Better Sit Down

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  You’d better sit down. Four bitter, dreaded words my Dad says to my mom about every three years. By now, she knows what comes next. He hears silence over the receiver, then the creak of our cheap kitchen chairs. “What?” She asks, her voice low, threatening to break. My brother and I s...
• Fiction > Thriller/Mystery
  Loyalty

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  That’s when my life ended. No, not when the scream rang out. Not when I heard the shot. Not when the force of the impact sent me to my knees. My life ended when I turned around, gasping for air with a giant dent in my bulletproof vest and I saw HER holding the smoking gun. She was everythin...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  First Day Back

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  I wake up feeling like P. Diddy. Actually, no, I don't. I wake up feeling like Elizabeth Veldspar. Liz for short, which is always, since I'm only 5ƈ''. So I wake up and I know I feel like Liz and not P. Diddy because, last time I checked (which, admittedly, was never), P. Diddy had two leg...
• Nonfiction > Travel & Culture
  Packing Tape

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Packing tape. An unassuming name for an unassuming product. Many people can go through their whole lives without giving it a second thought. While it is no more than a minor modern convenience to most people, packing tape means a thousand things to a military family – but most importantly, it repr...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  Wonderful

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  “Hey, ain’t life wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, isn’t everything wonderful now?” Everclear blares from my battery-powered alarm clock, jolting me awake at 5:13. I get up at exactly 5:13 every morning so I don’t wake up to my mom screaming at me that it was 5:15 and I ne...
• Fiction > All Fiction
  The Monster

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  “It’s a terrible thing, a dark mark of evil upon the world. No one knows when it will strike, or where, or who. It does not discriminate. It doesn’t care who it kills. It doesn’t spare the young or the old or the women. It doesn’t care what kind of life they lived, it just kills them,...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  The Bodyguard

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  A shot was fired today A gun wrapped in a window cord A hired finger on the trigger A leader in the scope A sound like fireworks A rippling scream echoing from the crowd A squad takes down the man to blame A president stands to joyful tears. But today was not a happy day When ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  The Dance

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Would you like to dance with me? Not on the floor – it’s much to crowded With it’s spinning smiles and blaring noise A dance just between the two of us One we can share and never break Not a waltz or a grind or line, silly boy But a dance around the broken glass Stabbing at each oth...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  The Question

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  I must find the question In a puddle of myself As I slip like a fool in the mud The dark surrounds me in the absence of the melon moon No trust in my veins The ricochet of my ‘strength’ I long for the dizzy thrill of life But I am broken. I could find the answer To the troubles that I f...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Heartbreak

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Grab a heaping bowl of chocolate ice cream Stuff it in my mouth while sitting in front of the heater Calms me down when I wanna scream Crank up the Taylor Swift You know she’s got a song for exactly how I feel Rock on when my soul needs a lift Text like crazy to my best friend Go on abo...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Fleeting

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Life stands out A unique and flickering fire. Revered and loved Like a childhood hero. But then it’s gone Just a blip on the radar. Like a town Without so much as a stoplight. Or a story With a empty ending. Fleeting....
• Hot Topics > What Matters
  Thank You For Your Service

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  You see them in the airport, the line at Wal-Mart, the U-Haul rental center. Standing there, shoulders a little straighter and hair a little shorter than those around them, dressed in baggy camo BDUs and combat boots. They are our nation’s soldiers, and sadly, they often go unnoticed, and are so...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Fleeting

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Life stands out A unique and flickering fire. Revered and loved Like a childhood hero. But then it’s gone Just a blip on the radar. Like a town Without so much as a stoplight. Or a story With a empty ending. Fleeting....
• Fiction > Historical Fiction
  Hey Brother

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  I quake with relief, the adrenaline slowly fizzing out of my blood. I am free. Free from the whip, no longer feeling the bite against my flesh. Free from the plantation and it’s endless rows of bloodied cotton. Free from the dogs, their snapping jaws far from my heels. Free from the Master, hi...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  To Dare - Prologue

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Jade dashes toward me, ebony locks bouncing franticly, a loaf of French bread clutched in her small pale hands. Her five-year-old face is dripping with tears of horror and shame, and I reach out, folding her into my arms. That’s when I hear the sirens. She is sobbing her apologies, but it is too l...
• Fiction > Thriller/Mystery
  Invisible

  

  By AsIAm, Somewhere, NC

  Brittany Tisdale is striding down the hall, taking my breath away. Her blonde hair swishes around her shoulders, her smile sparkles like a thousand diamonds. Her clothes fit her perfectly, accentuating her curves without making her look like a – no. I won’t even say that word in a sentence de...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  If I Could Tell You A Secret

  

  By AsIAm, Coats, NC

  Dear Best Friend, If I could tell you a secret There are so many things I would say I’d tell you I’m secretly in love And I might even tell you it’s with your brother I’d tell you about that website You saw me clicking off of I’d let you read those texts I hurriedly delete ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  The Battle

  

  By AsIAm, Coats, NC

  I can hear the drums tap-tap-tapping I can feel the earth shake under marching feet I can see the bright light of exploding gunpowder The gray transports carry them to the battlefield The barrage is relentless The soldiers are everywhere Drumming out a tattoo Marching out to Waterloo Fla...
• Fiction > Thriller/Mystery
  The Mask

  

  By AsIAm, Coats, NC

  She stood, regal as a queen and mighty as a goddess, at the bottom of the old-fashioned spiral staircase. Her green eyes, like clear sharp emerald crystals, bored into the soldier’s very heart and shot shards of ice into his blood. “Nyx, darling.” She stalked cat-like towards where the cri...