LIT REVIEW

This is the new story I just got published, any thoughts?

Eternal Damnation

I couldn’t tell for sure where I was. I knew two things though: 1> the last memory I had was the flashing lights and the alarming noise of the ambulance sirens and 2> I couldn’t feel my own heartbeat. I looked around, trying to figure out just where the hell I was. I looked up, there were cobwebs hiding in the corners with spiders dancing in their strands, there was bits of ceiling missing from years of termite abuse and the sky light, that was missing its glass, poured in the translucent light of the moon. I looked down at myself, wearing only a paper-thin gown, my arms were covered in bruises alongside the pinpricks of the now absent needles; I had one single key next to me.

Dead ahead of me, a single door jammed shut with a pad lock attached to it. There were three knocks that came from the old, rusted door. I looked through the peephole and standing before my eyes was the man of my dreams. He was tall with small-framed glasses, brown eyes, a curly mop on his head and a crocked smile; he was holding a single red rose. The rose was mesmerizing the way the water droplets balled up and one by one dribbled off towards the floor. I reached for the knob to meet this mystery man but it was nowhere to be found. I searched around the room but all that remained on the floor was the old Victorian key with no purpose in sight. I tried screaming for him to stay but only moths escaped my mouth; it was an eerie silence. I looked through the peephole once again, watched him glance at his watch and turn away. I tried yelling again and this time a small whimper came out followed by a single tear that made a cool path down my cheek. I walked to the middle of the room once again to sit and sulk in my own sorrow and confusion, but alas, another knock from that single door. Could it really be him again!

I sprinted to see my man but only laid eyes on a letter floating in midair with a “Congratulations you have been accepted” written across the top. I looked closer at it and realized it was the college letter I had ignored so many years ago. I watched the left corner begin to smoke and then the entire paper disintegrated before my eyes. From the ashes of the paper on the floor rose my two beautiful children now fully grown. I looked into their eyes but they were nothing more than deep, hollow pits. “You were never there for us mother, never, never, never…” This continued as their bodies began to crumble and wither away to nothing. I couldn’t bear to watch any more. I ran to the center of my windowless room, curled in the fetal position and thought what have I ever done to deserve this?

I rocked back and forth just staring at the bruises on my forearms, at the key to my left and at the empty room just waiting to take my soul. As my mind began to wander to all that I had seen, a tremendously loud knock came from behind me. I whirled around to find myself staring at a second rusting door, but one with a knob and lock this time. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and picked up the key; there was no peephole this time. The key slid in with ease, turned to the right and slowly opened. An iridescent orb floated before me blinding my vision.

When I regained sight, I was left staring at myself in a mirror. The dark circles under my eyes matched the color of the bruises on my forearms. My skin had a yellow hue to it and every blue collapsed vein could be seen rearing its ugly head to the surface. Above the mirror was a heart monitor completely flat-lined. A deep feeling of sorrow arose in my body as I realized this was heaven, hell or somewhere in the middle. I walked through the mirror and on the other side was the windowless room I had just escaped from, with a single key lying in the middle of the wooden floor. Three knocks could be heard from the door dead ahead of me. The fog encroached around me, the heaviness like a blanket wrapping its fingers tighter and tighter. It was at this moment that I realized I was trapped in the confines of my own mind. There was no escape, just a broken record forever playing its same song over and over; everything I had missed.

SCHOOL'S OVER!

so almost finished my sophomore of college, so excited to be done and on to summer! Just needed to write a little bit before going back to the endless hours of studying, got published in the lit review so I'll post that soon. AND finished my first 30 pages of screenplay!!

Any thoughts?

Rewind

A single phone call can change a life,
one single breath of silence can be the difference
of what is and what could have been.
One breath,
one absence of a word…
It’s all gone,
gone, forever.
Forever, never hearing that single breath again,
never, forever.

It wasn’t a fairytale,
not even close.
No white horse,
prince charming,
or once upon a time.
Some would say it was a story of unrequited love,
she would say differently.
No one ever thinks a girl like her
would have feelings towards something like him.
Were they all wrong?

Me¬–a joint,
her–a book.
Two polar opposites
inevitably bound to entangle
in a magical dance.
A single hello,
a flash of a smile,
LOVE.

He was different,
mysterious, artistic, genuine.
No one thought,
no one ever thinks that a girl like her
would fall for him,
they were all wrong.
But maybe no one wanted to believe it was right,
no one thought it was possible¬–
no, not possible,
probable that it would last.
They were all right.



It was hard to read her,
her eyes held no clue,
like an empty treasure map waiting to be discovered.
My heart pounded for her,
did she feel the same?
Questions-
just questions,
forever, never ending questions.

She couldn’t quite do it,
commit to this familiar stranger,
not just yet.
But one kiss,
that first touch,
she knew.
It should have been simple,
yet–
she would not say,
would not speak the worlds she longed to,
just kept them bottled up tight
far beneath the surface.

I needed to leap,
and see if I would fly.
Only one true way to know–
I had to tell her.
That phone sat,
beckoning me to call.
“Call her,” it screamed.
Pick up, hang up.
Pick up, hang up.
Pick up–
I held my breath,
the first ring.

The rain poured down,
plip, plop, plip, plop,
slow at first but ever growing stronger.
A single ring and a quiet hello,
she knew it was him before a word was spoken.
“I’ve realized that–I love you.“
All she could say,
whisper,
“I know.”
Silence…
The sky broke at the click of the phone.
The rain,
plip plop, plip plop,
a soothing sound,
one that should have been coming from him.

Time would soon take over,
she disappeared completely.
Out of fear or shame I could not say,
just gone.
I shouldn’t have told her,
said it so bluntly,
so matter-of-fact.
Time soon took over
and another became present.
But I would never,
could never love her the same.
She had stolen my heart and I longed for it back,
for her back.
Just one last time.

She had run away,
fled from the reality,
but regret soon began to tug at her heart.
Was she wrong?
Questions-
hundreds of unanswered questions filled her mind,
should she jump,
take the leap
and hope to God she’d fly?

New love on a tight leash,
can’t even see her anymore–¬
it’s forbidden.
But I won’t,
I can’t forget her.
She was just too different.
I love my girlfriend,
but–
it’s different.
Does such a thing exist?
Can a heart really split in two,
or will it eventually
be forced to choose?




Her face,
her hair,
her smile–
She could never compare.
Not to that.
His new one loved him,
that much was clear
but so did she.
It hurt,
to watch would should have been
her from afar
knowing deep down
it was over.

I knew I should have told her,
the look in her eyes told me all I needed to know,
yet, I didn’t.
I didn’t, I never would,
don’t know why still.
I did,
I did really love her.
I hope she knew that,
but the look,
the look in her eyes told me all I needed to know,
the look of devastations.
I knew I should have told her,
but yet,
I thought she would have know that love,
I was wrong.

She never thought in a million years
he would move on so fast.
Guess it’s what she gets,
should have told him
and not let her fear get the best of her.
It was love,
true, passionate, burning love–
a flickering flame
that seemed to be able to withstand all.
But it had burned out,
nothing more than a pile of wax
that she was slowly drowning in.



Unconventional, dysfunctional, passionate,
all understated words to describe what we once had,
but is now no more.
No one thought,
no one ever thinks that a guy like me
would fall for her,
they were all wrong.
But maybe no one wanted to believe
it was right in the first place,
no one ever thought it was possible–
no not possible,
probable that it would last,
they were all right.
Questions–
that’s all it ever was with us,
confrontational questions that always ended
in a passionate kiss.
The secrecy fed the fire,
ever growing stronger
until that secret burst.
Just silent voices of staring eyes
burning through my skin,
and the once invigorating feeling I had towards
her touch
evaporated.
Two separate ways,
one unanswered question,
did she ever really love me?

All she wanted now–
to see his face next to hers one last time,
to rewind,
to stop him,
to say “yes, I love you too.”
But no,
time would not allow,
she was stuck,
just longing and staring,
staring at what no longer was hers,
forever in a memory,
always playing,
over and over.
Forever, never hearing that one single breath again.
Never,
never again mine,
forever.

SECRETS

Hi again, working on another piece of writing, one that requires secrets. What's the craziest secret you have, either that you have told or haven't told anyone?