genre: poetry/romance

age range/target audience: new adult (18-25 y/o)

word count: 7900+

author name: Holiday Chua

link: https://www.inkitt.com/stories/poetry/460343

Why is my project a good fit:

I don't really know if it is a good fit, but I aimed this book to serve as a hug to those who are going through the same pain of losing someone important to them. I feel like people of different origins could relate to Winter's story and learn from her experience that pain is temporary and that it will all be okay someday.

My book is written in poetry and prose to focus more on the emotions of the main character. I believe that for a story to be good, emotions should be written in a way that the readers could feel with the character. That way, the delivery of the story would be a lot suaver and more effective.

I hope you could give my book a chance!

hook:

1

◄Better Left Unsaid►

It was written in the stars that night, when you finally looked at me, that we were meant to be a lifetime. You caressed my cheek and combed the ends of my long chestnut hair, while I crumpled that little extra hair you had on your nape. The sky was in the middle of orange and dark blue, and the biggest stars of the day and night hovered in between. They were stuck in the midst of staying or leaving, just as how we were wondering what to do by the time we wake up. The future may seem bleaker each minute that passed, but for some reason, every second seemed like years of relief that we were both in each other’s arms again.

We stared into each other’s oceans, wiping our tears and telling ourselves that it was going to be okay…but we both know that after today, it would not be.

Unspoken words were better left unsaid, we thought. It was better to start practicing this early on. The only gift we gave each other was the warmth that we both knew would fade away. Sad as it may seem, we took a deep breath, lingered longer in our warm embrace before separating ever so painfully slow, and when the last touch were gone, so were our souls forever lost in the grave where we buried our love.

Destiny may have crossed our paths, but it was not fate to let us be.

synopsis:

“I love every version of you my Dream Boy.”

Traum Junge is a story about a girl named Winter Rose who, in honor of her beloved and their memories together, reminisces their love that had been tethered by a sudden accident. Written in poetry and prose, dive in to witness a love that surpasses every lifetime.

my bio:

I'm a 24-year-old aspiring poet/writer from the Philippines.

education:

College graduate from UST

experience:

[] Literary writer for UST Theatre Catalyst Club - (2017 to 2018)

[] Literary Editor/writer for my high school newspaper - (2010 to 2013)

[] Wattpad (@liveforever715)

[] Inkitt (@hczhen)

[] Instagram (@hc_zhen)

[] Poetizer (@hczhen)

personality / writing style: I'm an introverted ambivert. My writing style is most similar to poetry authors like Lang Leav and Rupi Kaur.

likes/hobbies: Poetry, Photography, Songwriting, Singing, Painting, and Cooking

All I see is red.

Red clouds, red smoke, red dirt--nothing of which resembled the life I had back on Earth.

I was one of the lucky ones to get here before the world would’ve ended. Some say it was a suicide mission--I was crazy--no one could live in another planet, especially a planet like Mars. But that was a futile belief that Earth was the only planet livable by humans.

I’d like to think that the times have changed.

There are proofs that Mars could sustain life. Water, for instance, was the most vital evidence that life could exist on here. And although it wasn’t really the smartest choice, it was enough for me to board that rocket and leave my hellish life back home.

At least, I didn’t need to pay rent. I didn’t have to deal with that alcoholic bitch of a cousin. I didn’t need to worry about the food and how I’d live here because NASA and the government would provide those things for us. It was my version of a golden ticket.

All I needed to do was breathe.

“Samantha, check this out!” Bree waved a yellow rock, she must have found in some cave somewhere on this planet, high up in the air, attempting to capture my attention.

It hasn’t been an hour since we’ve landed and already she had found her next subject of amusement.

“What’s that?” I asked, skipping steps and struggling to balance my new weight on the planet.

Before I could even reach her, she threw the yellow rock as far as she could, and a huge explosion engulfed that area. I was thrown off a bit off course by the impact of the blast, stumbling back a bit before I regained control of my footing.

“Now that is some pure Sulfur, my friend! It makes great bombs and good fire. We could use this to stay warm tonight.” Bree smiled wide with her teeth shown proudly as her eyes beamed in delight from her fascinating discovery.

If there’s another perk for joining this trip, it was Bree Lockson, the brightest and youngest geologist that has ever been known to man. She brought me some ease when I learned that she would join in on the first trip. I just felt safer with her around. Not just because she’s an intelligent scientist, but also because she’s my good friend. The only friend I could consider a true one.

“Phew. What’s the god-awful smell, Bree?”

It was the smell of rotten eggs. It seemed the suit wasn’t immuned to gag smells from the outside. Joy.

“Oh, that’s just the Sulfur, Sam. You’ll get used to it.”

Bree started heading towards the inner portion of the cave. as the wind started to get a bit colder from the inside. The light towards the entrance was getting a bit dimmer, but I shook off the worry that tingled inside of me. I trusted that Bree knew what she was doing.

“Hey, Bree. It’s getting a bit cold. Don’t you think we should head back to camp?”

“Let me just gather a few more yellow rocks, Sam, and then we’re outta here.”

I nodded in response to her statement as she bent down to get the final rock that she aimed to use as a source of fuel. Bree beamed with pride and fascination as she raised one stone and reflected some light on it.

“Extraordinary! The rocks seemed to not only contain Sulfur, but has remnants of what is known as Silver nitrate!” Bree mused to herself, excited as she made another one of her discoveries.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Let’s head back to camp, Samantha! I can’t wait to tell the chief what I found here!” She said as she zipped her bag full of stones before turning to me.

“Great. Now let’s go.”

The path back to camp was like a breeze. Carrying heavy rocks on this planet seemed easier than I thought it would. Thank you change of gravity!

All I could think about on our way back was to get out of these uncomfortable suits and plumping my ass on my bunker to sleep the days away. Honestly, it was one of the things I looked forward to when I decided to board the rocket to Mars. If anything, I was satisfied with just that.

“Hey, what’s happening over there, Bree? Why are they all screaming?”

Bree stood beside me as she followed my line of vision, confused as I also was. The camp’s visual was slowing getting buried with red fog until only the top antennas were seen clearly. A thunderstorm was brewing on top as we got closer to the camp.

“AHH SAVE US!” someone screamed from the inside, halting us immediately from our tracks.

Bree and I shared the same frightened looks as we slowly backed away from the scene.

“What’s happening, Bree?” I whimpered softly as I held her hand.

“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here. Fast.” Bree tugged my hand and led us away from the camp.

We ran as far as we could and tried not to look back, but I found it hard not to when I could hear the screams of those people who were left behind.

“Ouch.” I exclaimed as we both fell from the impact. “What was that?”

“Bree?” I whispered when she didn’t answer.

Instead, I followed her from behind. All the blood from my face drained white when I saw a badly hurt person hurting on the ground. His suit was completely destroyed, more like melted, and his skin was suffering from what seemed to be a third-degree burn. Half of his eyes were coated with white, and when we tried to wave our hands in front of him, all he did was wreath in pain and scream bloody murder.

He was blinded.

But how? By whom?

“Can you tell us what happened to you? Can you hear us?” Bree shouted to the man, attempting to capture his attention.

“Is someone there? Please...help. me.” the man pleaded with tears dripping from his eyes. “Help me, please. It’s so...painful.”

“What happened? Who did this to you?” Bree shouted to the man once again, hoping to get some vital information from him.

“A-a-acid f-fog.” the man whispered into Bree’s ear before he suddenly convulsed.

The man’s eyeballs reverting back into his head as his body shook uncontrollably with vivid spasms. It took a minute before he stopped shaking, but that was only because Bree slit his throat before he could even move another finger.

A gasp escaped my lips at the brutality, but it was mercy no less. Bree relieved the man of his suffering. He was free now.

“Rest in peace.” Bree whispered into his ear before she closed his eyes with her hand.

The reality of my future right now seemed a lot more bleaker than before. I had never realized that escaping Earth would be the least of my problems. All I wanted was to be free of the nightmares that haunted me back at home, but here I was, karma biting me back like a bitch.

They were right. This was a suicide mission. There were still so many unknowns left to be discovered and I idiotically ran straight for it.

I was doomed.

“We have to go, Samantha!” Bree exclaimed at me, trying to pull me from the ground to make another run for it.

There was a red storm quickly catching up on us from behind, and it looked hungry in search for its next victims--us.

The ground began crumbling from under our feet as it approached us faster than before. My heart rushed with adrenaline as I held onto Bree for my life. Bree and I tried to jump from the rocks before it settled deeper into the planet like quicksand.

There was nothing in front of us to hide into.

Will we even make it?

I wondered to myself as I kept running with Bree through this vast red desert. It would be a lie to say that I was ready to die. I had only wanted to live so much that I chose to cut myself off from home.

And I could never go back. The reality of it has finally sunken in.

Earth was still alive.

It didn’t end when we launched the rocket.

Maybe this was all a goddamn trick by the government to cut off its booming population. Cutting us off like cowards.

Hypocrite.

This was the end.

This was my punishment.

It didn’t take long for the pain to engulf me. The red fog searing hot on my skin as the it blew through us. I never knew death could smell so much like burnt fat before I felt it eating my flesh away--burning it molecule by molecule until I could no longer feel.

I screamed in pain as the heat scorched through my veins. My grip on Bree, lost as my consciousness began fading away.

And the last thing I saw was red before everything turned black.

#challengeaccepted #morbidendings #mars #lastdayonearth #karma

I try to lose a little bit of my soul,

Shake the anxiety inside of me away;

How could a tiny little lightweight

Weigh my gravity today?

I push it out of my system,

And fight the traitors in my mind,

If only it were so easy

To stop being so blind.

Whenever I look in the mirror,

I spot scars from yesterday;

It looks so ugly like the stain

On my coffee tray.

It was darker when I last saw it,

Piling from the past history;

Now it is pure black

Engraved by the mysteries

I never noticed before.

I was too busy drowning to even look,

Spare some time to scrutinize,

At how it became more.

#mentalhealth #depression #sadness #drowning #notmyself

I tell myself that I need love

And search for it throughout my life,

But when love finds me in the corner,

I run the opposite direction

As if I’m being chased down.

Was it really love that I needed

Or were it just the feelings that make me alive?

If so, then it all makes sense that all I needed was to survive.

Why do I need to hide

That I am afraid to love?

Or was it because I am terrified to know of hurt after love leaves me?

Is that why I guard my heart so fervently?

#poem #love #hurt #poetry

It was dark when I regained back my consciousness.

“Clyde?” I whispered as my eyes tried to adjust to the darkness.

No answer.

Where was I? When my eyes started to become accustomed to the place, I tried to get up and stretch out my limbs in an attempt to lose my sleep spells, and that was when I felt it. Something behind me.

I turned around a little too quickly for my good before I stumbled back to the ground.

Ouch... that was a bad idea.

Wait...huh? Feathers? Where did these come from?

I reached for my back slowly and felt it. Wings.

“No...”

NO!

“Clyde...he wouldn’t.” I muttered to myself. He didn’t. God, I hope he didn’t.

But he did.

In the mirror, I saw him staring back at me. Every movement I did was Clyde moving in the mirror. I was in his body.

The exchange was complete.

Clyde is dead.

It feels like I’m in the middle of a desert with the way I am parched, tired, and slick with sweat. Everything within me is giving up. The steps I take are like weights that I try to avoid in gym.

How did I ever end up here?

Right. I am an idiot.

I followed him for the first time yesterday and I ended up getting wasted in the streets. I feel awful, terrible if you count those two kids who accidentally hit me with a soccer ball on the face. Oh, my nose! That’s right. I was bleeding before I fainted.

I touch my upper lip and there I find rough and hardened brown liquid crusted up.

Minutes later I find myself in the middle of a headache and the need to vomit. Ew. I need a hot bath pronto!

Oof!

“Perdón, Miss!” A guy with a funny hat exclaims as he managed to bump into me. Talk about bulky shoulders.

“Me no hablo Spanish?” I blurt out. “I-uh...sorry. What?”

“Are you lost?” the man repeats, this time in english.

“Ah...yeah! I was wondering where I am?”

“Mexico. You’re in Mexico.”

My eyes grow wide and my headache just grow worse at his answer. What the hell? How on earth did I end up here?

You are dead when I find you, Angelo. Dead-er, if that is possible.

“Excuse me, Mister, but can I borrow your phone?” I ask him politely, batting my eyes for a puppy dog effect. “I just need to call a certain someone.”

“Okay... here you go. Just don’t go over my minutes.”

“Thanks!”

Immediately, I punch in Angelo’s number. It rings for a while before someone picked up.

“DUDE! WHY THE HELL AM I IN MEXICO?” I yell toward the receiver of the phone before the line went dead.

I try calling the number once again, but it ends up in voicemail. Weird.

“Hey, Mister. Here’s your...phone...? Uh...where did he go?” I wonder to myself as I scan the festivities going about.

The man who is just with me disappeared.

This place is getting weird.

At least, I have his phone. I could try calling the police.

Just when I am going to dial 9-1-1, the phone vanished in front of my eyes.

“What the--”

The ground beneath me begins to shake violently. An earthquake? No way.

Desperate to get to safety, I ran to an open area. Looking around I see people doing the same. People from the buildings that started to crack and crumble, push each other out the scrawny office doors. Screams were heard as the ground slowly opens, while the earth trembles in fear. Wait. That’s me. I am trembling...what is happening?

I feel my knees weaken as I am now dropping on the ground, breathing heavily. The headache that was gone for a minute suddenly came back in full force, attacking my vision. Everything is getting blurry..until...until... the darkness consumes me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Experiment 2547 showed no signs of breathing for at least 7 minutes. She came back to life with three doses of Dobutamine after a cardiogenic shock. We gave her BZDs to stop the seizures, but to this day: Day 47, she still continues to be in a coma. End of report.”

What is happening?

“CODE 0! Code 0! Experiment 2457 has opened her eyes! This is big news! A break through for medical science!”

The room is white, but later on my vision started clearing out. There are faces. Who are they? Angelo...is that you? Am I in heaven?

“A-a-nge--lo...?” I try to speak, but my throat is awfully parched. The tube that I haven’t noticed inside my mouth began to be visible to me, and I realize where I am.

“Experiment 2547 has survived.”

All of it came back to me in a rush. Those needles, blood...so much blood...that drug--rape. I can’t believe this. Angelo, the person I love is a lunatic. No...no...NO! Angelo is the person I love. This can’t be. He isn’t this person!

However, I fear that it might be true.

It has to be, because all this while I was sleeping...the numbness from under there, and the needles stuck onto me became quite clear. The eyes that stare maniacally at me right now is him.

Angelo.

...and I am his victim in Mexico 1983.

#fiction #shortstory #prose #victimsofwar #rape #challenge #May