The Weed Scene

Novel: Betrayal Under Lock-Up(Working Title)
*Scene not finished*

 

                Despite the heat of the midday sun, Nate decided to work on weeding his garden.  It could have waited a few more days-it wasn’t that bad=but he knew himself well enough to know when he needed an escape and to Nate, gardening was his escape.  When he was tending to his vegetables, to his plants, he did not matter: they mattered. He could stop trying to take care of himself; he could stop all the whirling thoughts inside his head. All of his energies, thoughts, feelings…they turned away from himself to the things he was responsible for taking care of and helping to grow.

                He grabbed a bottle of water and headed out to his shed, put on his gardening gloves and shirt, and headed out to begin weeding. Whenever he gardened, the world blurred away and nothing else existed.

                The world did not blur away this time.

                His thoughts and emotions still revolved around Alexis and Maddie. They were twin suns whose gravity was causing all his thoughts and feelings to spin around them. The more he thought about one the more he thought about the other. He found this insane…the two women had never met, yet they were linked forever in his mind. He couldn’t escape them, and neither could he escape his growing sense of guilt and confusion.

                As he pulled and yanked on weeds that were threatening to destroy his vegetables, Nate thought.

                He loved Alexis. He loved her strength and how she assumed he was strong as well. She was a woman who did what she believed had to be done, no matter the risks or consequences; a woman who applied her own logic and her own rules to the world. She did not hide her feelings, but instead voiced them loud and clear.  He had loved her as long as he had known her; leaving their relationship had never entered his mind, even when she went to prison. Yet, Waiting was still hard. He and Alexis had known couples separated in this same way, and these couples had not made it. It was hard to love someone that you could not be with. Love was touches, smiles, being together. Yet he knew love was also dedication, and he was dedicated to Alexis, especially knowing that she was in prison because of him.

                And then there was Maddie. The girl he never saw coming. The girl that was the last girl on earth that Nate would ever expect to be falling for. and as she took over his heart, his guilt and sense of betrayal grew.  

                At first, there was no guilt, no sense of betrayal. He and Alexis wrote regularly, in addition to his weekly visits, and in one of her letters she told him he could hook up with other girls. In typical Alexis fashion, she was blunt and said she knew that he had physical needs, that he was human and that she did not expect him to become a monk in her absence. The last line in that same letter read:

Share your body, but not your heart Nate.

 

 

Shifters & Alterers: Prologue

​​​Tittle: Shifters&Alterers (working title)
​​​By: Madeline Eaton
Prologue
​At midnight in the Redwoods of California a group of fifteen men stood waiting. There wasn’t any of the panic one would see from people when they are lost. On the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying being in the woods. Had a person stumbled upon these men they would be paralyzed from fear and shock. These men had eyes like a brilliantly burning fire, hair as dark as a black hole that stood out in sharp contrast to their cream colored skin.
​“Shifters,” said a man whom appeared to be in charge, “the Alterers will be here soon. In the interim, I urge you to be on the lookout for any sighs of humans or beasts.” The man began to step down from the rock from which he had spoken when an angry voice from the crowd rang out.
​“Ryan, why do we all have to be here…again?!This is the second meeting we have had with the Alterers in a week! I can safely speak for every shifter here when I say that this one should be between Catherine and yourself only! Alterers are not to be trusted and unsafe to be around, we all know that! Why are you risking all our lives and our powers?”
​Ryan looked out into the crowd, already knowing who had spoken. He had been Head of the Shifters for decades and he took his position of leadership seriously. It was not about power and prestige for him but about taking care of the people of whom he was in charge. And Ryan believed you could not take care of someone unless you knew them. He prided himself on knowing each and every Shifter and what was going on in their lives.
​“Brent, this event affects all of us, every Shifter and every Alterer alike. That means that we all have to be here. As long as you are a Shifter, then that means you too. Unless you would like to give up your power.” Ryan said in a voice full of authority.
Brent did not answer but simply walked away to the edge of the clearing, and stared at Ryan, his eyes full of anger.
Ryan looked in Brent’s direction and thought inside his head:
We need to talk Brent. It was unacceptable for you to challenge your leader in public.
A few seconds later, a new thought arrived inside Ryan’s head like an email arriving in an inbox:
Of course sir.
​Ryan looked in Brent’s direction and caught his eye. Brent gave a head bow, a sign of respect. Yet Ryan detected a subtle undercurrent of anger and sarcasm in both the nod and Brent’s reply to Ryan’s mental message. Before he could think further of it, a young man stepped in front of him.
​“Ryan! Nice to see you again, it has been such a long time since I last you!” the young man said with a boyish grin.
​“Lucas Dublin, isn’t it? Last time I saw you was at your Shifter Ceremony. You sure have changed since then.”
​“Yes sir, I have. I have changed my appearance many times since then. I can now change any aspect of my person, and I have expanded my powers to be able to make changes which are not standard human appearances.”
​“Very good Lucas! I am sure that you will be a powerful Shifter of the Person. Have you told your parents yet?”
​Lucas’s boyish grin immediately dropped and a gloom seemed to settle over the boy. “Yes sir, I did. I told them before I left Dublin to come here, actually. They…” tears filled his eyes as he spoke… “They told me never to come back again sir. They said that they did not want a freak for a son.”
​Ryan, though shocked and full of sympathy for Lucas, was not surprised. It was not uncommon for Shifters, or Alterers, to be disowned by their families once they revealed their powers. The race of humans was not one which tolerated anything different, unusual, or hard to understand. He put his arm around Lucas and said in a gentle voice:
​“It’s okay, Lucas. A lot of Shifters have been disowned by their families upon revealing their powers and ended up reconciling in the end. Sometimes all the family needs is time to get used to the shock. If not, you will always have us. We are a family and we take care of each other. Why don’t you move in with me for a bit? You can get settled, find a job, a place to live?”
​Lucas swallowed down his tears and agreed. Yet as Ryan walked away, Lucas thought of how his powers had cost him his family. As much as he loved his powers, Lucas was not sure if they were worth the price of his family.
​At that moment, the Moon went from a Crescent to a Harvest Moon. The wind picked up in pace, racing through the woods and creating a howl-like sound. The Shifters stopped talking and started looking around, knowing what this meant.
​At the South end of the clearing, they saw fifteen women walking towards them. They were dressed in hoods of various colors, unlike the Shifters who were all wearing matching blue hoods. The women’s dark eyes stood out from the bright colors of the hoods. Their red hair shone in the moonlight like fire and their olive toned skin added to their beauty.
​The Shifters had, upon seeing the women, formed a semi-circle and the women walked into the cleaning and formed a second semi-circle and completed the circle of the two groups. Ryan and a woman from the newly arrived group stepped forward into the center of the circle.
​ The two faced each other in the middle of the circle, extended their left hand towards the other and a jet of blue light shone out of their hands. It formed a circle among the group, which meant, to the Alterers and Shifters, the unification of the two groups within the circle.
​“Catherine, a pleasure to see you again.” Ryan said with a smile.
​Catherine walked right up to Ryan and kissed both his cheeks, saying “Ryan, still as beautiful as ever.”
​Ryan, not used to intimacy with women, blushed. Upon seeing his blush, Catherine smiled flirtatiously and stepped back a few paces. While this had been going on, the rest of the circle had been eyeing each other with the same look in all their eyes: distrust and unfamiliarity.
​Ryan and Catherine then turned around so they were back to back, switched sides, and walked forwards a few steps. They began walking around the circle, greeting each member of the opposite group. They then walked to the center of the circle again, the rest forming a single line facing them.
​“Shifters and Alterers,” said Ryan at a nod from Catherine, “we are glad that you are here. I know you all have heard what has occurred and, as with any news, rumors are sure to have sprung up concerning it. We are here to not only settle these rumors but also to inform you on where we go from here.
​“In order to settle any and all rumors we will relate the events which have occurred,” Catherine paused, gathering her thoughts, “we informed you last week of our knowledge of Veronica Rivers, a child with the Shifting of Voice power. As we all know, there has never been a female Shifter in our entire history and neither has there been a Male Alterer. This has lead us to conclude that Veronica Rivers is the Female of The Prophecy.”
​While no Alterer or Shifter spoke, it was obvious from their expressions that emotions were mixed: some looked angry, others looked scared, yet some looked happy and overjoyed.
​“However,” continued Ryan, “last night the Rivers home was attacked. It seems that intruders broke in and attempted to kidnap the child. The Rivers died defending their daughter.”
​At this Ryan stopped speaking and looked to Catherine, who asked if there were any questions. The questions were fired one after the other:
​“Why did they want to kidnap the child?”
​“How did you learn of this event?”
​“Were they Magical and how did they learn about the child in the first place?”
​Catherine and Ryan looked at one another and Ryan began speaking once more.
​“Ever since word of the Child reached us through a Shifter neighbor of the Rivers, we have had this Shifter keep an eye on the Rivers and the child. When he arrived home last night he noticed their front door open, went in to investigate. He went in, saw the two bodies, and went upstairs, where he discovered a pair of hooded figures with the child. They struggled, and while he managed to stop the kidnapping, the figures escaped. From his testimony, they were Shifters and Alterers, which means that…”Ryan trailed off, unable to say the words.
​“…that these hooded figures are in our midst at this moment.” Catherine finished for Ryan.
​At these words, murmurs, as soft as the cooing of a dove, filled the night. Eyes became filled even more fear and mistrust. It was only their respect for their leaders which kept accusations from filling the night air.
​“The child is safe,” continued Catherine, “but needs to be protected. She cannot fall into the wrong hands. She must be kept safe, away from people who would seek to destroy her or her powers.”
​“I say, let’s destroy her!” Brent’s angry voice rang out suddenly, piercing the night, “The Prophecy is our doom, and it would be the end of the Shifter and Alterer power as we know it! She cannot be allowed to live and develop her full powers!”
​At these words, there were various reactions within the group. There were nods of agreement, the widening of eyes in shock, and still others were silent. Ryan and Catherine, while shocked at these blunt and cruel words, knew that it was not the place to investigate their speaker.
​“Brent, this is the second time you have spoken out in disrespect! This time not only against your leader but the Alterer leader as well! Please leave this meeting and we will talk about this at Shifter Headquarters tomorrow morning.” said Ryan, anger in his voice.
​“Oh, I’ll leave all right.” Brent spoke in a chilling tone. He turned his back to the group and walked once more towards the edge of the forest. This time, however, he kept going, disappearing into the darkness.
​Ryan, despite having a bad feeling about Brent, knew the meeting must continue. “Now, we have decided that the child will be cared for by an Alterer and a Shifter, whom will marry and adopt the child as their daughter. We need one Alterer and one Shifter to volunteer for this assignment” Ryan asked the group, not expecting any takers.
​He was wrong.
​“I’ll volunteer,” said Lucas Dublin in a strong confident voice, “I lost my family on the same day this child lost hers. It would be my honor to care for her and to give her a family.”
​Ryan and Catherine spoke in hushed tones to one other, Ryan filling Catherine in on Lucas’s family situation. After a few moments, they faced Lucas and as one, they nodded.
​Catherine then spoke, asking for an Alterer to volunteer for the assignment of being the child’s mother.
​Tense moments followed. Finally, one Alterer stepped forward.
​“I’ll do it.”
​Catherine gasped. The voice was of her younger sister, Anne. As a sister she did not want Anne to be the doing this assignment, yet as Head of the Alterers she knew her sister was one of their most powerful Alterers and would dedicate herself to the protection of the child. Again, she and Ryan spoke in hushed tones, turned to Anne and nodded as one; Catherine with tears in her eyes.
​“Lucas and Anne will be married and adopt the child. A new last name will be assigned to them, as well as where to live. None but myself and Catherine will know what name and what location, and they must never contact family or friends. They are not allowed to reveal their powers to the child nor explain her powers to her, though they are not to conceal her powers from her,” Ryan said, addressing the entire group instead of Lucas and Anne, “agreed?”
​At this point, Alterers and Shifters nodded, with only Lucas and Anne saying “yes” out loud.
​“Very well then,” said Catherine, her voice trembling, “it is agreed. Shifters and Alterers, you are dismissed. Lucas, Anne, come with us. We have a lot to do.” Upon these words the blue light surrounding the group slowly dimmed until it was gone. The Shifters and Alterers dispersed in a Southerly direction, in their two separate groups.
​Lucas and Anne watched them disperse, looked at one another, and turned and followed Catherine and Ryan in the opposite direction.
As the night continued its journey towards morning, the group of four continued walking. They walked in pairs, with Catherine and Ryan a few steps ahead of Anne and Lucas. Anne and Lucas spoke not a word and not one look passed between the two of them. Catherine and Ryan, however, spoke in hushed tones to each other, occasionally stopping to look around.
After about an hour of walking deeper into the woods, the leaders stopped in a clearing similar to the one which they had just come from. Ryan spoke first.
“Anne, Lucas, we want to thank you for volunteering for this assignment. Catherine and I appreciate the commitment to the child which you have demonstrated with this act. However, we want to make sure you fully understand the sacrifices and challenge which this…assignment, for lack of a better term…will require of each of you.”
“Ryan, sweetie, we should probably sit down. We have a lot to explain to them and I don’t want them standing for the next hour or so.” Catherine spoke up.
Ryan smiled, as he always did when Catherine showed her caring, motherly side. It was a side which he did not see often while the others never saw at all. He waved his hand and there appeared four chairs.
“Please, take a seat.” As they all took a seat, Catherine took up where Ryan had left off.
“The first aspect of this assignment which we wish to address with the two of you is the marriage aspect. As mentioned in the meeting, the two of you will marry. You will be husband and wife and will not be allowed to determinate that marriage. No exceptions. Are you both truly willing to marry a stranger? A stranger that you will be married to for the rest of your lives?” Even though she addressed Lucas and Anne, it was her sister which Catherine looked at as she spoke these words.
“Yes, I am,” Lucas replied, “I want to give this child a family, a home. I want her to be raised by people who will protect her and always be there for her, no matter what happens in her life or who she grows up to be. My own parents did not do that for me. Their love turned out to have a clause of normalcy in its requirement. I won’t let this child experience that. I am fully ready to commit my life and my love to this child, and will do whatever it takes in order to accomplish this.”
“I could not have said it better myself,” spoke Anne, “this child will face many difficulties in her life, many hurts, many betrayals. She will always be the main prey of those wishing to destroy her. I may not know her but I want to protect her. I want her to grow up happy and confident and safe. If that means marrying a stranger, then that is what I will do.”
“You also understand that you must not ever contact anyone that you currently know? Not family or friends?” Catherine said, still addressing them both but looking at her sister.
“Catherine, may I please address you as my sister?” Anne said in a clipped voice.
“Of course, Anne.”
“You keep looking at me when you are saying these things, as those you think that I don’t understand these things and will change my mind as I hear you explain them to me. I understand exactly what I am getting into, Catherine.”
“You’re the little sister Anne. Are you truly ready to never see Mom again? Or Dad, Carson, or Emily? Never to speak to any of them again?” Catherine snapped, no longer able to hide her sisterly concerns behind the mask of Head of the Alterers.
“Catherine, I may be the youngest. The baby of the family. The one whom none of you want to see grow up. But I have grown up. I am not just the youngest in our family anymore. I am a rare and powerful Alterer: an Alterer of the mind and of the person. I am strong, I am powerful, and I am caring. You know I am the right Alterer for this, Catherine. You know it in your soul, and you have known it since the second I spoke out. So stop acting like you think I making a mistake and don’t know it.”
Ryan and Lucas were stunned into silence. Speaking out against the Head was not done, it was unheard of. It was usually caused for punishment. Yet as the Head of the Alterers’ sister, Anne could get away with things the others couldn’t.
Catherine listened to her little sister, heard the passion and the power in her voice, and knew beyond a doubt that her sister was correct in all of it. Her little sister had grown up to be a powerful alterer but also a powerful woman whom still had a caring heart despite her great power. No other alterer would be able to protect and love the child. Catherine had not known this since her sister spoke out though. She had known it since the second she and Ryan had decided what was to become of the child. Catherine and Anne looked at each other, and while no words were said, it was all understood.
“All right, let’s move on,” Ryan broke the silence, “we have a lot of things to take care of tonight. You both understand that the child must be aware of her powers but you cannot explain her own powers or yours to her?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we guided her in the use and development of her powers?” asked Lucas.
“In theory, yes it would be,” Catherine answered, “but as long as she is unaware of the existence of Shifters and Alterers, of the prophecy, of all of this, the better of she will be. We want her to have as normal a life, for as long as possible. There will come a time when all of this will have to be explained to her but it shall not happen until it must happen.”
Lucas and Anne nodded, realizing the truth of the words.
“Now, we must explain several things which we concealed at the meeting.” Said Ryan.
“What do you mean sir?” Anne and Lucas replied as one.
“The attack of the Rivers home occurred as we explained, except that the parents of the child were not dead when they were found but merely Mind Frozen.”
“Mind frozen? But sir that is a truly rare…”began Anne.
“Alterer power? Yes, it has not been seen in decades. We were not aware of any Alterer with the ability. We must conclude that the Alterer responsible has either kept this power hidden or it was a recent development of their Mind Alterer abilities.”
“Wait, what is Mind Frozen? I’ve never heard of it.” Asked Lucas with a puzzled look and tone.
“Mind Frozen is an ability that goes along with the Alterer of the Mind power, though it is extremely rare. It allows the Alterer to freeze your thoughts, your memories, and your entire brain functions. You have no awareness of what is going on around you, you become a vegetable. The state only lasts 10 minutes, after that the victim ‘reawakes’ but with absolutely no memory or awareness of what occurred during the state” Explained Anne.
“Then we are dealing with a powerful alterer.”
“Yes, we are. Not only a powerful alterer but an alterer very skilled at hiding their power.”
​There was silence for a few minutes, as all four of them thought of whom amongst the Alterers and Shifters had turned traitors. Finally, Lucas broke the silence by asking what had been done with the child’s parents. Once again, Catherine answered.
​“I Mind Altered their memory. As far as they are concerned, they have never had a daughter. We removed all traces of the child from the home; they believe they interrupted a burglar in their home whom knocked them out with a blow to the head with a bat.”
​“Any chance they will Reboot?” asked Ryan, using the term for when victims whom had had the Mind Alter power used on them recalled what they had been made to forget.
​“Mind Altering a person’s mind so they forget someone whom they love is very…unstable. Love can never truly be made to be forgotten, and while I can take away the memory of their daughter, I can never take away the love they felt for her. I can only merely…hide it within their own mind. Sometimes the person finds the love and Reboots.”
“What do we know if that happens?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it.”
It was at this point that Anne spoke out.
“Why were the rest told the parents were dead?”
“We know that the attack on the Rivers was made by Alterers and Shifters, but unfortunately we do not know who. The blue light of unification, as you know it, is actually an Emotion Reader. It allows Catherine and myself to be able to read the emotions felt by each Shifter and Alterer. Tonight, while there was anger and fear felt by a lot of the members, there was no malice or betrayal felt by anyone. Since the light only reads the emotion being presently felt, it can only be deduced that they have somehow figured out the true meaning of the light and therefore covered their malice and betrayal with anger and fear.” Ryan spoke these words at a fast pace, like he was ripping off a painful Band-Aid.
“No Shifter or Alterer was missing tonight, so the traitors now believe the parents of the child are dead and will not track them down hoping to learn the whereabouts of the child. It keeps both the parents and the child safe.”
​After thinking for a few moments, Anne broke the silence with a surprising question.
“Sir, if Lucas and I were to fall in love with each other, our powers would disappear, making us unable to protect the child. What would occur if that were to happen?”
Catherine and Ryan looked at each other, neither one wanting to speak. This was a subject which had naturally come up when they had formulated this plan, yet they had not been able to come up with a solution for the scenario which Anne had just asked about. Finally, Catherine answered.
“We don’t know, Anne. All we can ask is that you do your best to never let that happen. Keep your relationship loving and caring towards the child and towards each other, but never let it develop into romantic love.”
Lucas and Anne were shocked. The Head always had the answer; The Head always knew what to do, what should occur. In this moment in which Anne and Lucas realized that all the rules and expectations they had, no longer applied.
Catherine continued speaking, “we will check in with once every 6 months, keep you up to date on what is going on and also to keep track of the child’s development. You may choose to say that the child is your own, or that you adopted her. We will leave that up to you.”
“The location which you will move to is a small town in Texas called Abilene. No one should think to look for you there and it is a good place to hide away from the world. We have already bought a house for you there as well as vehicles. Lucas, we have also supplied you with US citizenship, and before you ask it is legal, we have a contact. We will all five of us fly there tonight, Catherine and I shall help you settle in and then we shall leave you.”

Lucas and Anne nodded as one. With that, all four stood up, the chairs disappeared with a wave of Ryan’s hand.
Pointing to the East, Ryan said, “Our path is this way.” All four began walking yet this time they all walked side by side.
***
After they were gone, two figures stepped from the shadows. They both wore hoods which covered their faces, one in white and the other in blue.
“So the child is to be taken to Abilene, Texas. A place where no one should think to look for her. Lucky for us we followed them, or we never would have found that child.” one of the figures whispered as a stray red hair peaked from the hood.
“Yes, but we must be careful. As much as I want that child destroyed we cannot risk acting now. The botched attempted at the Rivers home means that the Heads will be keeping all of us underneath a microscope.” The second figure spoke in a cool and controlled voice.
“So we let the child go? We must act now! They may plan to move the child from place to place as a security measure!”
“No, I know Catherine and Ryan very well. They have chosen a small town that most likely does not show up on a map. They do not expect her to be found, they are confident in that.”
“Yes, they are. But neither are they expecting anyone to have followed them and listen to their conversation.”
“We must wait. I want to destroy both children from The Prophecy at once. That means we wait until they find each other.”
“The Prophecy states that they will take our powers from us, correct?”
“Alterer Boy and Shifter Girl are fated to become one, to fall under the most ancient of spell of Permanent True Love. They will unlock each other’s full powers and together reverse The Power to how it was at the beginning” The figure recited.
As it was being recited, the first figure stood listening, as though a powerful prayer was being recited, a prayer of doom.
“It cannot be allowed to happen. Our powers must not be taken away! They both have to be destroyed! They must die!” the first figure shouted in anger.
“And so they shall” said the second figure in a chillingly evil voice.
The two figures stood in the darkness of the wood with only the moon as a witness to their evil plot and their true evil nature.
​

​
~ 1 ~

Mazy's Secret, Part 1

 “Mazy, you want to come with us to the Baskin’ Robbins after school?”

Mazy McNair looked up from the book she was reading in the school’s atrium. Her best friend Lucy was looking at her with an expectant look on her face. She knew what the answer would be. What the answer always was lately.

“Us? Who else is coming?”

 “Matt and Sheila.” Lucy said naming two of their friends who had recently starting going out.”

“What about tony?” mazy said with a smile. Lucy and Tony had started going out a few months ago but it was obvious she was crazy about him.

Lucy smiled. “It goes without saying that he’ll be there.”

Mazy laughed. “It sounds like this is a couple’s thing, so I am afraid I’m going to have to actually, for the first time ever…turn down a trip to Baskin’ Robbins.”

Lucy   and Mazy had known each other since 3^rd grade and had been best friends since the first day they met. After 9 years of friendship, the girls thought of each other more like sisters than friends, even though they couldn’t have been more different.

Lucy was the more outgoing of the two. She would try anything at least once and seemed to always be looking for the next thing she could try. Her parents had tried for years to get her to start thinking before she acted but they finally realized it was part of who she was. As long as she didn’t do anything dangerous or stupid, they went along with most of her ideas. With her shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, long eyelashes, slim figure, and creamy skin she had always been a target of crushes from boys and seemed to like the attention. Which is why she never dated one for very long; too many boys were interested in her to stay with only one. Tony however, had changed everything. All of a sudden, dating all the boys she could was no longer important. What she wanted was to be with Tony. There was no longer any reason or desire to keep looking. She had found the one for her. Strangely enough, Tony’s calm nature was good for Lucy. Since they had started dating she was slowly becoming more likely to think about something before she did it.

Mazy on the other hand, was the complete opposite. She was the one more likely to make a pro/con list, talk to adults, friends, think about it, etc. before she made a decision. As much as loved Lucy she never went along with her plans, although she always admired her friend’s ability to not be afraid to try something new. In looks she was also the opposite of Lucy: she had thick black hair down to her waist, eyes so blue they looked purple and full lips. She also had creamy skin but with freckles.  She had never been into dating as many guys as possible but tended to date boys she felt she could have a real relationship with.  Her parents were proud of her but wished that she was a little bit more like Lucy, which was funny because Lucy’s parents wished Lucy was a little bit more like Mazy.

“Mazy, please come with us! It’ll be fun and I promise you won’t feel left out.”

Mazy looked at her oldest and best friend and wished that she could believe her. But the truth was that they both knew she would feel left out in the company of two couples. It would be an emotional disaster for Mazy.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m not strong enough yet.”  Mazy said, tears welling in her eyes.

Lucy sat down next to Mazy. “Mazy, I know you’re still hurting. But staying away from people isn’t going to help. You need to get out, be with your friends.”

Mazy shook her said. Lucy couldn’t understand what she was going through.  No one could.

“Mazy, you have to face it sooner or later. I know you. You think that if you keep yourself buried in your books, ignoring people, that the hurt will go away on its own. It won’t. You have to get rid of it, and one way to do that is to be with people. We all care about you and want to help. We want to see you at least start to deal with this.”

Mazy shook her head. She knew that Lucy and all of her other friends meant well and were worried about her. But she knew that she was dealing with it in her own way. What she was doing was helping the pain to go away.

“I’m sorry Lucy.” Mazy said before getting up, gathering her books, and walking away, leaving Lucy behind with a worried look on her face.

Just like she had done everyday for months, Mazy went straight home after school, locked herself in her room, and did her homework. She knew her parents knew she was still upset but to them, it looked like she was starting to heal. This came from the fact that they saw her going out every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night to “hang out with friends.”

She was halfway through her algebra homework when she heard a knock at her door. Sighing, Mazy got up and opened it. As expected she saw her mom standing there.

“Mazy honey, can we talk?”

“Sure mom.”

“Honey, I know we’ve asked this of you every day for months, but are you doing ok? You go out every weekend night, yet you don’t look any happier. We’re worried about you.”

Mazy, though annoyed that they couldn’t just leave her alone, answered what she always answered.

“Mom, I’m fine. I am still hurting and it will take a long time before I am happy again, but this isn’t just something that I can get over in a few weeks.”

Her mom signed. She knew that what Mazy said was true. Losing someone you cared about, especially the way Mazy had, took a long time to heal, if it ever healed completely. She sometimes wondered if the most anyone could expect of Mazy was not for her to heal but to learn to live with it.

“Ok honey. Just know that we’re always here for you if you need to talk.”

“Yeah, mom. I know.”

Her mom hugged her and left the room. Mazy went back to her homework; waiting for the text message she knew would come. The text that had come every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night for weeks. It came at around 8:

Mazy, the path is clear babe.

Mazy deleted the message as soon as she read it. She put on a sweater over her red tube top, jeans, and sandals. In her backpack she put her denim skirt, make-up, and cell phone. She told her mom she was headed to the library to meet up with some friends to study.

“Okay honey. Call if you’re going to be late ok?”

“Sure mom.”  Mazy kissed her mom good-bye and headed out the door. She got in her car and drove to where they usually met. She stopped at a gas station on the way, changing into the New Mazy that she had created after she lost Scott. She took off the sweater and jeans, put on her skirt, and her make-up. She shook out her hair from her pony tail and let it hang loose. She got back in her car and 15 minutes later she arrived at the park across from his house, where they usually met. She looked at him as he got into the car. He was SO hot he still took her breath away, even after 3 weeks. From the look in his eyes, it was clear he was thinking and feeling the same. She leaned over and kissed him, a preview of what he could expect of the night.

“I’ve missed you Tony.”

To Be Continued...

The Twins Who Changed CanWest

By: Millie Gonzalez 

A long time ago there existed a planet far away from Earth. It was very similar to Earth, except for 2 things. First, they only had one ocean and it was a bright red color. Second, instead of countries they had kingdoms; each kingdom had its own king. Unlike on earth however, only the king ruled. The king’s wife was not a queen or royal in any way; she was merely the king’s wife.

The largest kingdom was the kingdom of CanWest. The tradition in this kingdom was that the oldest son of the king would ascend the throne. When the heir to the throne turned 20 they would hold a ceremony where the heir would become the head of the king’s guard until he became king. This would occur when the king turned 50, the age where he had to pass the crown to his heir. This way of doing things was the only way this kingdom (and the other kingdoms as well) knew. Since the start of their kingdom many centuries before our story starts, there had never been any kind of problem with this system. Every king had at least one son and each oldest son had been made head of the king’s guard and then on to become king.

One year however, tragedy struck CanWest. On a stormy night the prince was seen by the King’s head groomsman riding off towards the royal horse trials. He wondered why the prince would go riding on such a stormy night, but he did not follow. It was not his right to question the prince’s actions. When the prince did not report for his Head of the King’s Guard duties the following morning, a search party was put together to find the prince. The Head Groomsman told them what he had seen the previous night. The search party immediately began searching the royal trials. Halfway through the trials they found horse tracks going off the path. They followed the path through the more wooded area near the horse trials. The came to the cliffs near the northern border of the kingdom. To their horror they saw that the horse tracks went off the edge of the cliff. As they made their way to the edge they were all silently hoping that they would find no one, that this was some kind of mistake, that only the horse had gone off the edge…anything but that they would find what they did find: at the bottom of the cliffs, on top of what the people in CanWest called “Alien Rocks” due to their extreme and almost unnatural sharpness, was the Horse and his master the Head of the King’s Guard, the oldest son, the Heir to the Throne.

The kingdom was devastated. The king ordered the entire kingdom to wear black for 6 months, he ordered the horse trials closed for a year, and issued a royal decree that no horses were allowed in the castle grounds. He wanted to pass another decree that forbid the heir to the throne to ride horses but his wife convinced him to change it so that the Heir to the Throne was not allowed to ride horses anywhere but on the castle grounds. All of these actions were made aware to the kingdom via special announcements on radio and TV stations. The king was so grief stricken that he did not go out in public for a year.

Inside the castle grounds however, the king still maintained his duties as king. The death of the Prince was a personal and emotional blow not only to the kingdom and especially to the royal family, but it was also a huge blow to a system that was unprepared for this tragedy. The problem of who would now be king was a huge one, especially with the king’s 50^th birthday coming up in less than a year. The ordeal was made worse by the fact that the king’s other son had a twin sister.  The king ordered the Kingdom’s Law Keepers to look through the kingdom’s laws to see if there was anything at all to help device who should next be king (or queen). They came back after a month saying that there was nothing to help the king. The law never even said that a princess could not become “King.” the king thought and thought he talked to his wife; he talked to his advisors and even to other kings in other kingdoms. No one could help him because none of them had ever had this problem or even believed this could happen.  Finally, the king decided that he could not choose between his children. He felt that if the chose one the other would hate him for not choosing them and he had already lost one child. The king decided to make a revolutionary order to the kingdom: the people of the kingdom would vote to decide which of the twins would be king.

Both twins wanted to be king; they each saw an opportunity to make their mark in the history of the kingdom: if he won he would be the first youngest son to become king. If she won she would become the first daughter to become king. For months they each went out to talk to the people, to tell them why they make the best king, what they would offer to the people if they were made king. He promised to help the kingdom reach its full potential and he would improve the country’s health system. She promised to help improve the kingdom’s schools and improve their relationship with other kingdoms.  They both held huge “rallies” where they would make speeches; they even organized a debate between themselves.

          On the day of the official voting, no one knew who would win. Some people wanted to see a daughter become king; they thought it would be a tremendous change to have a woman as king; that it would make them not only the biggest kingdom but also the most advanced since no other kingdom had ever had a daughter become king. Others believed  that a youngest son as king would be beneficial for the kingdom since it would be someone who would rule out of duty, who would appreciate  being king since he had grown up not knowing he would be king one day. This and his impressive speeches and the delivery of those speeches helped him to win over his sister.

          She was upset for many months, though not angry. She knew that the people of the kingdom had made their choice and she needed to accept it. She truly wanted to leave her mark on the kingdom though, so she decided to attend CanWest University. She was such a good student that upon graduating the University offered her a job as professor of the University, becoming the first woman in the kingdom to become a professor at a university. She went on to become the first woman president of the university several years later.

 Her brother was an amazing and beloved king. Following the wake of his election to becoming king, he added to the Kingdom’s law that instead of the oldest becoming king, the kingdom would choose which of the royal children they wanted to become king. This election would be held when the youngest turned 16. In case of no royal children, the kingdom would choose someone from among the kingdom itself (with the King’s approval).  

The kingdom never forgot the prince whose sudden and unexpected tragic death brought great changes to the kingdom. It was a lesson for CanWest that they were not shielded from bad things and that they needed to (as the first youngest son to become king said in his coronation speech) “hope and live for the best and be prepare for the worst.”  He made it clear to his people that his reign would be one that would make his brother’s death not be meaningless.

CanWest would go on to become the greatest and most advanced kingdom on the planet, beginning with the twins who would both make their mark on the kingdom. History remembered them both.

Millie in Acts

When I was in Oxford spring 2009 semester, I took Christianity in Culture. one of our assigments was that we had to pick a character from the bible who we felt we could relate to in terms of their spirtual story/journey and write their story as our own. we could  stay in their time period or modernize the story. I chose to do the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-39. I had just been baptized a few months earlier and I could relate to a baptizim on the spot almost with little preparation time. dont get me wrong: i thought about it but i didnt spend hours and hours studying, thinking about it. I just decided I wanted to follow Jesus and I loved Him, why not?it worked our great from a creative writing point of view because there is not a lot of detail in this story; it is very short and open, so that allowed me to be really creative in terms of filling in the details to correspond with my spitritual autobiography. this was a really good assighment and I had fun writing this. it felt more like a creative writing assighment than an academic paper,which was perfect for me.

“Good morning miss. Is your carriage in service?”

I look up from my notes from last week’s student council meeting; I am student council treasurer. I see a girl who looks to be my age, roughly 16, standing right beside my horse drawn carriage. She was wearing a backpack that looked to be heavy and was wearing a blue vest over a white polo shirt with a blue mini skirt. I have never in my life seen anyone dressed like that and oddly enough, I like it. Judging from the looks I see on people’s faces as they notice her I am in the minority.

“Yes, it is. The cost is $20 per hour and we have a no smoking policy while on board.”

“Sounds good to me.” She said with a smile.

She hopped on and we were on our way. She turned out  to be a very friendly person and she loved to talk. She insisted on setting next to me and she talked the entire time. Her name was Mary but her friends called her “presentation Mary” because she loved to give presentations and was good at it as well.

“My family is from France. Well, my grandmother came over from France and she came to the states before she had my mom. I go to France every couple of years since one of my uncles still lives there.”

I had never been to France, so I jumped on this topic. I asked her what her favorite thing to do in France was and her answer surprised me. She said her favorite thing to do was go to Sunday service at Notre Dame Cathedral. I would expect someone to say their favorite thing was to go to Notre Dame to look around not attend service.

“Why is this your favorite thing to do?”

“Because it is my favorite church to worship God in. it has different chapels all along the inside so during service I go into one and just…have a talk with Jesus.”

“Talk to Jesus? We can’t talk to Jesus…he’s in heaven.”

“Yes, he is in heaven. But we can talk to him. All you have to do is go to him and say exactly what is in your heart, your mind, and he listens and he talks back. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to listen.”

“That is very poetic and a nice picture, but why would Jesus want to talk to someone like me?”

“Because he loves you. He always has and always will.”

“Why does He love me? I am far from perfect…there is so much wrong with me!”

By this point I had forgotten that I was on the clock and she was my customer; Mary has become my friend. We talked for her entire carriage ride that afternoon, which was about 2 hours. She started coming every week at around the same time, sometimes 2 times a week. Each time we would talk about Jesus. She called Him her “friend Jesus.” She would tell me all about how much Jesus loved me (enough to die for me), how He’s the best friend I will ever have, that He’ll never ever let me down…this went on for 4 years, and during those four years, Jesus became my friend too. You could say she introduced me to Jesus.

May 25, 2007

Dear: Diary,

Today I found out that my route at work has been changed. I will be working the queens into Manhattan route instead of the central park route. It is definitely a more challenging route since I will be in traffic now. Another positive is that I will be getting paid more so I can save more money .I also get to keep Ethiopian. He is such a good horse and by now we’re a team. I am determined to be able to buy a cherry red wrangler jeep with zippered sides. There is a down side: I won’t be seeing Mary anymore. I am sad about that. She taught me so much in the four years I have known her, even though we never socialized outside of her weekly carriage ride. If it weren’t for her, I never would have known Jesus. I wonder what this new route holds in store for me.

“Hey there, ma’am. How are you doing this fine morning?” a cheerful voice, too cheerful for 8am on a Saturday morning, said. Why anyone was so happy this early in the morning was beyond me. Of course, he probably chose to get up this early. If I wasn’t on the clock I would tell him to not call me ma’am; I am not that old.

“I am doing fine, how are you?”

“Happy to be alive. How much is a ride?”

“$30 per hour.”

“Awesome. Could I have a ride?”

“Of course. Hop on.”

“Sweet. What’s your name?” he asked with a bright smile full of excitement.

“My name is Candace.”

“Candace. That’s a pretty name. Where do you go to church?”

“I don’t go to church.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t feel I need to be in a building to worship God.”

“Well, that is true but there’s more to church than a building…”

This guy that I hardly knew, that was so happy from this joy that seemed to come from the inside, started talking to me about what a church is and surprising enough, it was interesting. He explained things in such a way that it made me realize that I believed them too. Maybe it was that I was ready to hear it; maybe it was simply seeing how much joy his faith brought him.

November 23, 2008

Dear: Diary,

Today I was baptized. It was the most random decision I have ever made. It just came into my head and I realized it was the right thing to do. I was talking to this guy named James Phillip (he had come to my carriage and we got to talking about God and the bible and Jesus…). I don’t know where the idea came from. It’s not like I was thinking about it before or anything. It was literly a 2 minute decision but I know that it was the right thing to do.

I feel like a new person, diary. Something has been changed inside me, and I cannot wait to live a life of God and that shows the change.

Cinderella:The REAL Story

Note:I wrote this story as a class assighment for my AP Literature class Senior year at PMA. the assighment was to "re-write"a fairy tale in a new perspective, a new way.

Once upon a time there was a man who lived with his daughter in a magnificent kingdom. When his wife passed away he wanted his daughter to have a mother's care, so he married again. his new wife, a king and caring woman, had two beautiful daughters of her own from a previous marriage. their names were Anastasia and Rosella.unfortunatly,the father became gravely ill one winter and passed away.

His daughter, whose name was Isabella,was distraught and sought comfort in doing choses around the house. every day she would wake up early,feed the horses, chickens, and cows; she would prepare  each of the meals for her stepmother and stepsisters...she even cleaned the house from top to bottom!she loved doing this and as the years passed she would work harder and harder to make sure that her father's house did not fall into disrepair. plus, she loved cleaning. there was something about it that she couldn't get enough of.she chose to spend her nights reading by the fireplace and came to be called cinderella, because she would often fall asleep and would wake up covered with cinders.

one day, the prince of the land,Prince Charming, decided to hold a ball. he invited every young maiden in the kingdom and it was rumored that he would choose one of them to be his royal bride. Anastasia,Rosella, and Cinderella were all so excited to go to the ball. they went shopping for dresses, shoes, and even had their hair done together. both stepsisters thought that cinderalla would win the heart of the prince.

the night of the ball arrived and things started off bad for cinderella. walking down the stairs she tripped and fell not only ripping her gorgeous dress but also breaking her leg. she was unable to go to the ball and she was truly upset.her stepmother offered to stay home with her but cinderella said she would be ok on her own and urged her stepmother to go and have fun.

after they left, cinderella went out to the garden and started reading one of her favorite books.all of a sudden,she noticed the garden filling with light abd then in front of her was  a man. he said that he was her Fairy GodFather and her was there to fix her leg and send her to the ball. he touched her leg with his wand and it was no longer broken. he conjured up a beautiful gown of blue, glass slippers, and a golden carriage. she said thanks and was on her way. she decided to stay until midnight since her family said they would be home by then.

once there she went to find her family and was met by the prince  himself. he asked her to dance and she accepted. she danced with him for a couple more dances and before she knew it,it was pass midnight. she ran out of the ball so fast that one of her slippers fell off. when she got home her family was there, worried about what had happened to her. she told them everything and they were happy for her.

the prince, however, wanted to find her. so he had every girl try on the slipper the next day and of course it fit cinderella. he asked her to marry him, she said yes, and they lived happily ever after.

unfortunatly,"happily ever after" isn't as long as it used to be. after about six months, cinderella discovered that royal life wasnt for her, so she left prince charming and went back home to her family. she married the loval baker 3 years later.

her stepsisters married a couple years later. anastasia married a blacksmith and rosella a physicial. the prince remounced his title after his divorce from cinderella, left the kingdom, and was never heard from again.

THE END

The Genie Along The Beach

Maelta Haphga Blondey was walking alongside the surf. She had just finished her junior year at James Green University in Black, Texas. She had managed to keep up her GPA enough to maintain her scholarship, she hadn’t made any enemies and she had not broken a bone. However, she could not help but feel that something in her life was…off. Nothing was wrong, everything was good-sure she had a few complains but all in all her life was good. Yet, deep inside, she felt restlessness, a longing for something she could not identify. So now that she was home for a few weeks, she planned to take some time to think about this, try to figure it out.

It was freezing cold out, but she was nicely bundled up and her thinking kept her warm. She was so deep in thought that she did not notice the green glass bottle right in her path. Well, she did see it, after she tripped over it.

Thankful that no one had seemed her fall, she was about to go on her way when she decided that she ought to pick up the bottle and throw it away so some other person would not trip the way she had. As she picked it up, she noticed some writing on it; as she tried to brush away the dirt to make it out, a cloud of purple smoke came out.

And then, right in front of her eyes…was a genie! A beautiful man…blonde, blue eyed, muscled but not too muscled…gorgeous flawless skin with a smile that could melt steel. Being the person she was, Maelta was not too shocked by the genie but she was feeling nervous at how gorgeous he is. She could hardly think straight, breather or remember her own name!

The genie looked her straight in the eyes with those heart melting blue eyes. He looked at her so directly and intently that it felt as if he was not only reading her mind and her heart but staring straight into her soul.

After what seemed like ages, the genie/gorgeous man spoke:

“Hello beautiful woman. I am a genie and my name is Tyler McMatthew. I have been around in your world long enough to know what the stereotype of genies are, so let me tell you that I will not grant you three wishes. However, I will grant you a wish but it is not a wish that you get to choose but I choose. I look at your soul, at your mind, your heart, and your life, and find that one wish that will make your life be help you make your life what it is destined to be. At some point in your life, you will find this bottle again and when at that point you get to choose if you would like to go back in time to erase finding this bottle, or if you would like to keep your life as it is. It might sound easy: if your life is what it is destined to be, then why take it back? This is why: because most people prefer what they want instead of what is destined, and I love humans enough to let them choose. Now close your eyes, beautiful one.”

Maelta closed her eyes and felt the genie named Tyler McMatthew put his hands on her shoulders. She never heard him utter a word, none of the “abra cabra”, “Hocus Pocus “words that she always heard genies and magicians utter in movies; nor did he have a magic wand.  

Maelta was never told by the genie when to open her eyes; she just got a magical-like feeling that told her that it was time to open her eyes; that the genie was done fulfilling his wish for her, the wish he saw she needed in her soul, mind, and heart. That he was gone, yet just as he promised, he would find her.

 Maelta opened her eyes and looked around… 

By:  Mildred M. Gonzalez 

12/6/09