“Your grandfather, my father, now rests here for all time. He was a simple man with simple beliefs, but he had a saying that was as long as days and nights in repeating their cycles. He would say, ‘Live for the right now, remember those things of yesterday and do not expect tomorrow to be better. That is up to you, And above all, between living and dying, what happens in the middle is pure luck.’” “Son there is one thing I want to add to that and that is ....”

85 years later ...

“Son, here lies my father and grandfather, both were simple men, with simple ways, who lead a life filled with many things both good and bad. When my father brought me here he said to me, Live for the right now, remember those things of yesterday and do not expect tomorrow to be better. That is up to you, And above all, between living and dying, what happens in the middle is pure luck. Son there is one thing I want to add to that and that is believe in what you do. No one else can right the wrongs of a life but yourself to pave the way ahead for what may come. Mistakes you will make, and mistakes you will correct. Just never let it overtake what you believe in your heart to be true.’”

85 years later ...

I am an old man without a son to bring here, father. The war has ravaged everything and I am near to dying but I never let the fear overtake what I believed to be true. I will be coming to see you soon. When I do, I bring all those yesterdays with me where we can look upon them together ... and remember.

At the sound of the bass,

His face said thud.

He could feel every interval,

Trying to escape.

His eyes get wide,

Seeing earth from new heights,

He leaps,

Through the air,

He’ll find his stride.

His life was made for one moment,

He'd never been that high.

He altered reality,

With an open mind.

Ending where he begins,

He starts,

With this last line,

(Now read from bottom up)

Nobody noticed when they arrived, the balloons the cake and the other special things she brought along to make it a special day. The most important thing was the cleanup; if there was a mess then her boss would be angry. And when he was angry, then in the future someone else would take her place. The hiring process was quick and painless but when someone left a mess, it would be less pleasant.

Ghislaine chambered a round in her Ruger Mark IV and adjusted her costume. The children would be happy to see her princess costume while the target would be less excited about it. It was pretty brave of the leader of the syndicate to hold a birthday party at his estate; a gaggle of ten year olds would surely trash the pool deck with their ice cream and cake. Hector Romero was known to be ruthless, and yet he had a soft spot in his heart for his young daughters.

The security team didn’t bother to put the cake through the metal detector and this was to be expected. They had made a scouting run at two prior parties, both to assess the defenses as well as to earn his trust. The hit was worth a cool million dollars, and she knew the stakes were high. She brought along two helpers to carry the cake and the gifts. One was a particularly good cleaner who knew how to remove evidence. His job was to go after the surveillance footage; there were two video recorders in the bunker that he would destroy with a thermite grenade.

“Ah, what do we have here? Cinderella?” the guard joked as Ghislaine passed through the metal detector holding balloons for the special birthday girl.

“Something like that,” she said.

If security found the gun, plan B would go into effect. She would take out the two security guards with a knife and sneak into the kitchen; and from there take out Hector. She knew about the trap door in the kitchen; when things got busy, he could retreat to a bunker, but not if Cinderella and her Ruger showed up first.

So far things were going to plan. Her only fear was not shooting any children; even assassins have some code of honor, and killing kids was not allowed.

The hit went more smoothly than expected. Hector was in the bedroom getting ready for the party. She kicked the bedroom door open and there was Hector Romero, adjusting his tie. His eyes brightened as a stunning tall blonde in a Cinderella costume kicked open the door, but then his mood darkened as he saw the gun with the silencer. As he frantically tried to draw his gun from his waist she unloaded four .22 rounds into his chest, and when he hit the floor, she fired twice more.

She took a photo as proof of the kill and then it was time to go. She looked outside to see the children playing pin the tail on the donkey; it was just like any other day.

As she entered the kitchen, the cleanup crew had done their tasks; the CCTV system had been destroyed and they had discretely killed the security team inside the house. The good thing was that it had gone as planned, it was even pleasant. Well maybe not for everyone involved.

Nobody noticed when they arrived, the balloons the cake and the other special things she brought along to make it a special day. The most important thing was the cleanup; if there was a mess then her boss would be angry. And when he was angry, then in the future someone else would take her place. The hiring process was quick and painless but when someone left a mess, it would be less pleasant.

It was the beginning of the end... or perhaps it was just a new beginning. When our eyes met, aqua blue to earth brown, a budding relationship had planted itself in my mind; as the saying goes: a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. After he opened his mouth, however, I knew this boy was going to be the end of me. In fact, I knew it was he who had started it all along. As the phrase goes “one door closed another opens”, I rest my case only to open another: “What was to come?”

As a beginning paragraph:

It was the beginning of the end... or perhaps it was just a new beginning. When our eyes met, aqua blue to earth brown, a budding relationship had planted itself in my mind; as the saying goes: a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. After he opened his mouth, however, I knew this boy was going to be the end of me. In fact, I knew it was he who had started it all along. As the phrase goes “one door closed another opens”, I rest my case only to open another: What was to come?

The assignment undertaken was urgent, but it’s the duty of a hero to save a child in danger. As our eyes met, I knew I needed to save him. Not just from enemy attack, but on a deeper level. He appeared only half my age but his eyes were dim and his body was emaciated. As he turned toward me his shark eyes glint. He had me figured out without us exchanging any words. As my steadfast gaze took in his intimidating countenance, I remembered my father’s saying: Every enemy deserves respectful resentment.

As a concluding paragraph:

In his eyes I saw him begin to fade away. As his life began to drain out from his wound he began to shiver, his fiery passion had long been extinguished. He tried hard to hide it behind one of his witticisms but he could only grimace. He was too young for what he was going through, but at that moment he appeared so old. I tried to comfort him but he stared back at me in disbelief. I have been through worse pain before, he reassured me, I know I’ll be okay-- I actually feel the pain fading away. And with his pain, he faded away.

It was the beginning of the end... or perhaps it was just a new beginning. When our eyes met, aqua blue to earth brown, a budding relationship had planted itself in my mind; as the saying goes: a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. After he opened his mouth, however, I knew this boy was going to be the end of me. In fact, I knew it was he who had started it all along. As the phrase goes “one door closed another opens”, I rest my case only to open another: What was to come?

The "normal" was long gone. I felt a sense of madness coming up inside of me. But not in a bad way. It was more a touch of I-realise-a-lot-that-I-should-have-realised-earlier.

Maybe there was a time when everything was different. And there was a time when I saw things differently. But not today, not now. Not anymore. It was one of these things, where life simply happens to you and changes, not only the way you look at things, but it also changes what you believe in.

Maybe it destroys your completely normal, daily life. And this was one of the cases where I knew it would never be like it was before.

A sudden change, that changes everything.

[Allison, a 19 year old girl, has recently been through a breakup. Her best friend and her boyfriend cheated on her.]

[She had an accident. A vampire attacked her. When she bites him in the attack she has his blood in his system. Which helps her later on surviving a car accident, that would normally cost her life. Surviving comes with a prize, which is, in this case, her life.

She survives through becoming one of the undead vampires.

Life as she used to know it does no longer exist and she needs to adjust to the new life as a vampire.]

The "normal" was long gone. I felt a sense of madness coming up inside of me. But not in a bad way. It was more a touch of I-realise-a-lot-that-I-should-have-realised-earlier.

Maybe there was a time when everything was different. And there was a time when I saw things differently. But not today, not now. Not anymore. It was one of these things, where life simply happens to you and changes, not only the way you look at things, but it also changes what you believe in.

Maybe it destroys your completely normal, daily life. And this was one of the cases where I knew it would never be like it was before.

A sudden change, that changes everything.

I know, I'm invisible to you.

Here, but not, like an unwanted ninja.

The shoulder to cry on, but to never embrace.

The friend to love, but not like that.

I have loved you for so long, from a distance, three feet away.

Telling you would set my heart and mind free, to be wrapped in the joy that is you.

Or, telling you would push you away, freak you out, force the words out of your mouth I already know and am so afraid of, "my best friend".

I can't lose you to my selfish heart, can't, won't.

I will stay invisible, right by your side.

writerforlife1973@gmail.com

I may have overreacted, but can you blame me, honestly?

No one could have seen that coming.

I'm feeling my way here, as I suspect you are.

I am fragile, Baby.

Right now our relationship, this living thing, is fragile.

Handle with care.

Or do we jointly kill it off, move on, and just leave it at at that?

We have so much invested that I'd hate to see us throw it all away.

I can't promise I will ever feel the same about you again.

That said, I'm willing to try again.

Have you ever heard the story of Atlas?

The titan tasked with holding up the sky

My mother always called me her Athena

“If I were to imagine my perfect child,” she’d say

“It’d be you. Straight from my head into existence. My perfect daughter, with enough wisdom and spirit

to challenge a god.”

I hope I was less of a headache

Now there’s two more;

An Apollo and an Artemis,

Who I love and care for more deeply than anything

Who came straight from my prayers into existence

I’ve gone to war for them

Battled armies for them

Used my wits to challenge any god who dared come near them

But grief has weakened me

Time has taken its toll

And the battles I fought so valiantly

Now weaken me beyond control

I’ve shielded my sun and my moon

Their light glinting from my cracked armor

In this state

I’ve condemned myself

To hold up the sky, until it breaks me

So they may shine

through every day

through every night

I feel like I'm holding more than I can carry,

I feel like everyday a new expectation of what my life should be is laid down on me.

Through all this, I try to be everything you want me to be.

Through all this, I carry my head high and fake a smile,

Though I'm hurting from all the weight.

Hoping expectations can stop being made before it's too late.

These expectations just fill me with self-hate.

it’s been a year since we last spoke, probably for the better (i know this but it doesn't make it any easier). the way he hurt me has not completely healed, even after all this time, even after having other lovers.

when we first met, i was unsure about moving further but he was certain, at least, this is what he swore. after a few attempts of leaving him before any real feelings awoke in me, he finally convinced me that everything would be okay. that we would work out and he wouldn't hurt me or make a fool of me. and i believed him. the first of many mistakes.

a couple of months pass, and i was in deep. i knew it was a short amount of time but i didn't care. because that's what love was, right? spontaneous and limitless? i thought he was good, i swore it. to my mother, my closest friends, even my older brother. the most cliche thing to come out of my mouth, “he isn't like the other boys, he is so good” mistake number two. it was my first time thinking i was in love, i didn't know any better. and when i tasted the honey that dripped off of his tongue when he spoke sweet things, i thought the honey was made just for me. he said he loved me, he said i was the only one, he said i was better than the ones that stood before me. whatever he said, it was. because it was him, and how could he ever lie? no, he’s too good to lie. lying is what other boys did and didn't i swear he was nothing like them? i think it’s funny, i would tell him how sweet he was and he would say “trust me, i’m really not” but i didn’t listen. mistake after mistake. i know better now.

nothing changed for a while. it thought we were in deep but i was completely unaware that i would come to realize that it was only me. i was the only one who meant what i said, i was the only one who wasn’t lying, i was the only one who was giving love. and oh, how hurt was i going to be when i found out that there was a big difference between lust and love. that’s what he was really here for. that’s why he wanted me. so i could send him pictures, so he could hear me moan his name, so i could let him park the car at the park and climb in the backseat to do what lovers do. i went home that night, his lips still lingering on my chest. i closed my eyes, thinking of him and the way he tasted.

that next morning was the first time that heartache hit me so hard that i couldn’t breathe. it was the first time i didn’t feel my heart beating in my chest. it couldn’t be. but my own eyes wouldn’t lie to me the way he did. i lay there, accepting what he had done to me. i’d been ghosted. blocked from calling him, texting him, being in his life. and it hurt. because that's when the realization slapped me in the face. he didn't mean any of the sweet things he said. he didn't really love me. he used me. and then threw me away. and there i was, sobbing because the feelings that i had were real and they weren't reciprocated.

that was the first time a boy ever hurt me that badly. i wasn't able to eat. i would be going about my day and suddenly be unable to breathe when he entered my daydreams. reminiscing on the things he told me made me nauseous. i felt betrayed because i told him everything about me. my dreams, fears, secrets. i told him i couldn't handle being left. i told him i was afraid of being made a fool. and still, he hurt me in every way he promised he wouldn't.

the first thing i did was blame myself. what did i do wrong? did i say the wrong thing? was my intimacy not good enough? is it because i wasn’t skinny enough? did he think i wasn’t pretty enough? what do i need to do differently to make him want me again? i thought i was so in love that i needed his attention and his validation. i wanted to hear him tell me how good i was. i wanted him to only want me and no one else. because i only wanted him and no one else. i was so willing to change anything about myself that he wanted me to.

and this went on for the next three years (maybe even every now and then to this day). because i let him hurt me the same way he did the first time, over and over again. at that point, i knew he didn't love me as i did him. i also knew that because i wanted him so bad, i was willing to settle for the only piece of himself that he was willing to give me. lust. when i look back, a quote pops into my head, "how empty of me to be so full of you".

its been a year. ive grown since then. ive tried to heal from the ache he left in my heart. i don't really think of him anymore and when i do, it doesn't hurt as much. but still, i know that if he came back to my city, my heart would begin to beat a little faster. i know if he called me and i heard his voice asking to pick me up, i wouldn't be able to breathe for a minute. i know we would spend a night in the back seat of his car, like we used to at the park. and i know all of the feelings would rush back like a tsunami. because the truth is, my heart hurts, but it still beats for you. even if yours doesn't beat for me.