Love
The Glass Room in Rosslyn Pond
A brilliant yellow spark soared over the frozen pond, then bursted into a thousand bright lights. The glassy surface reflected each light, despite the distance of the fireworks in the sky. It was the best spot to watch the display. The view afforded quite a bargain, for each firework was doubled in the darkness. If one ignored the bare trees and snow along the embankments, then the pond disappeared completely. Anyone gliding on the surface would appear to be suspended in midair, with the starry sky above their head and below their feet.
By Patricia Corn4 years ago in Fiction
Don't Look Down
A violent crack shattered the quiet, crisp afternoon. The young girl’s legs trembled as she struggled to keep herself upright. “Big brother!” She desperately reached out for the boy in front of her. He turned immediately, eyes widened as the crystalline surface of the frozen pond splintered just below his sister’s feet. “Yuliana!” He took a step, but the fissure in the ice spread, fingers streaking like lightning. “Don’t move. Stay perfectly still. I’m coming to get you.”
By Kimberly Anne4 years ago in Fiction
Thin Ice
Julia stared at the roaring fire ahead. She slowly sipped her hot cocoa, the dark liquid burning at her lips. She hardly noticed, lost deep in thought. If you asked her what she was thinking about, she would have given a soft smile and said she couldn’t remember. She sat back in the chair, snuggling in deeply. Her thoughts were private, and besides, she did not want to think about anything right now. She simply wanted to drink cocoa next to a fire. All was right with the world.
By Andrew Kleinschmidt4 years ago in Fiction
Thawed Propitiation
When I was alive I hated waiting and now I hate it even more. Every morning we line up, dozens of us, and the gatekeeper with a short blonde bob and a penchant for snapping her gum at the exact same time as clicking her pen looks us up and down. She never said anything directly to us, but we all felt the shame when the giant orb of swirling white and silver light eventually morphed into glowing either yellow or red. She stood next to the glowing vortex, at a podium in between two giant trees. Rolling green hills and a large expanse of bright blue water stretched as far as the eye could see. I wasn’t sure if I kept walking if I would get to the end eventually, or if I would end up back here. I suspected the latter.
By J.D. Leaver4 years ago in Fiction
The Kingdom Between
I don’t expect you to believe my story. I was there and I hardly believe it. I grew up in the foothills of central California, high enough for the occasional light snow but too low for it to ever last more than a few days. There was a pond down the hill where my parents took me and my siblings to go fishing and splash around in during the summer, but it never froze enough during the winter for ice skating. The top might get a light layer of ice, but anything more than gentle tapping and it would shatter. Until he came.
By Antonia Mele4 years ago in Fiction
Romance in the Rockies
There is nothing more beautiful than driving through the Colorado Rocky Mountains during the winter. As the drive starts to get closer to the mountains, you look up from seeing dry green land to seeing the tips of wet white mountains. It is like looking into another world. Literally you see the perfect painting with a variation of colors that start at the bottom with the green grounds, up to the brown and red trees, to the white at the top of the mountains, and then you reach this gorgeous blue sky encased by fluffy white clouds with beams of orange and yellow rays from the sun breaking through from the heavens. It is absolutely breathtaking.
By Ireland Lorelei 4 years ago in Fiction
Alone
Isaac’s feet pound the sidewalk as he sprints down the street, eyes to his running feet that seemingly glide across the neglected cement below. From cracks bloom flowering weeds, from loose stone turns dust. Isaac feels himself breathing heavily and tries consciously to control and maintain an equilibrium as he pushes himself harder. ‘Run, RUN’ reverberates through his head. The streets before him are desolate, cars littered about without pattern. As if the drivers had tired of doing just that, so pulling the handbrake, they step out and away from this lonesome street. Shop fronts are painted black with the memories of a fire, the once bustling CBD now a relic of all lives lived here. Running still, glass crunches between the soles of his shoes and the brown stained pavement. Feeling himself tiring Isaac puts everything he has into this final sprint; his clear mind brings him a delightful moment of solitude as his feet beg him to stop. Violently panting his legs begin to shake beneath him until he slows himself allowing a deep inhalation and a satisfactory release. Pulling his wireless headphones out of his ears as he looks upon a converted parking lot, military vehicles abandoned and countless bodies lay alone in black bags, stacked atop one another, and scattered without a care. From the headphones Isaac still hears Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: Spring, the stunning strings and chaotic sunshine energy ring out through the empty city streets. He wonders what he did to deserve such a beautiful sunny day.
By Wade Villani4 years ago in Fiction
