Memories

I was spending my nights on the beach alone every night. This was where Johnny and I used to come when he was still alive. No matter how hard I tried to forget about him, I just couldn’t let the memories go. This was the only place that brought me good memories. Remembering the good time we always had was the best feeling in the world because I wouldn’t be able to have them back.

Not long ago Johnny was captured in Iran while trying to save some civilians from the Taliban. He and four other soldiers were held hostage for a couple weeks until they were brutally murdered. It is the worst feeling in the world knowing your fiancé was murdered a couple weeks before he was supposed to come home for the wedding. It killed me inside whenever the soldiers were in my front porch holding an American flag. You always see it in movies but you never imagine it happening to you. It was the most devastating day of my life. I lost my best friend, soul mate and lover. The sad thing is I never got the chance to tell him how much he really meant to me.

Now I am standing here crying wishing he could come back. I needed to see him one last time.  Why did this have to happen to me? I was so happy when he was in my life, now I am left with nothing.

Standing here at this moment made me realize nothing would ever be the same. The beach was where Johnny proposed and promised he would be with me forever. Coming down here used to fill me with joy now it is just brings me pain and misery. Maybe I shouldn’t be coming down here anymore. It wasn’t doing me any good, I needed to forget everything.

I take my last glance at the sunset and ocean. I wouldn’t be coming back to this place anymore. I will always remember this was where my happiness started and where my happiness ended.

Secrets

James was at his grandma’s house waiting on his mom to pick him up. His mother always took her time whenever she had t0 do something for him. Every time he was around any family members he felt out of place. He had nothing in common with any of them. He wish he had some siblings to hang out with whenever he was over there so he could have someone to talk to, but James was an only child.

“Why are you still here loser,” asked one of his cousins.

“I am waiting for my mom why does it matter I’m not disturbing anybody,” said James.  He was getting tired of them acting like jerks. His cousin walked away when he saw that his grandma was coming to sit beside James.

“Jamie sweetheart why are you always fighting with your cousin,” asked James grandmother.

“I never fight with them grandma, they are always the ones picking on me,” said James. He was too old for them to be playing games. He wasn’t going to take any more of their crap either. Everyone is sitting in awkward silence. James gets up to use the restroom until he hears the doorbell ring. He goes up to the door in excitement because if it was his mother he would be able to leave as soon as possible. James opens the door without hesitation and smiles because it is his mother.

“Finally, I thought you would never get here,” said James.

“Where do you think you are going,” asked James mother.

“Home, what do you mean,” asked James. His mother pushes him out the way and heads towards the kitchen.

“You have got to be kidding me,” said James with disappointment. He follows his mother and he notices that she started a full on conversation with his grandma. James was never going to leave, once they start a conversation it doesn’t end till five hours later.

He didn’t have anything better to do but listen to what they were saying but as soon as they noticed he was listening they got quiet. That was odd, were they keeping something from him? He walks away and they continue talking. That made him feel worse than what he already did because now his own mother was avoiding him. What was wrong that everyone in his family hated him? He wished he knew but no one would ever tell him the truth. He lies down on the couch and then he hears his grandmother call out his name. James gets up immediately.

“Jamie can you do me a favor and go to the basement and get a red folder, it is very important and your mother needs it,” said James grandmother.

“Ok where exactly is it at grandma,” asked James.

“It is in a box where all my important papers are. Please make sure you don’t go through anything just bring me my red folder.” James goes down to the basement and looks for the box that she was talking about. As soon as he finds it he ignores what his grandma tells him and he goes through the folder and read what the papers have to say. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. The papers had his name on it. They were from an adoption center he was supposedly from. His whole family lied to him all this time. No wonder no one got along with him, he was never a blood relative.

He had no idea what to do, should he go back up there and pretend nothing changed? They didn’t deserve his kindness because he never got any from them so why should he return the favor.

James ripped the papers into pieces and walked upstairs. His grandmother asked for the folder but he completely ignored her and headed towards the door. He couldn’t speak to any of them not just yet.

Wedding day

Father:

As I walked down my daughter down the aisle together, I felt like I was reliving every minute we had ever shared all at once. I had dreaded that moment for years, but now that it had arrived, it was perfect. I kissed her and gave her hand to the man who would soon become her husband. They were perfect together it just killed me knowing I lost my little girl. Someone else would take care of her now. I hope this boy can make my daughter happy and never let her down I am counting on him.

Bride:

 I just got done walking down the aisle with my father and I am now standing in front of my fiancé. He looks so handsome and his smile makes me weak, just by looking at him gives me the jitters. I can’t help but giggle. We finally made it this far and I am full of excitement. He makes me very happy and I adore him. I have no idea what I would do if he wasn’t in my life.  The priest tells us to say our vows and I grab the piece of paper where I wrote mine.

“I vow to love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a lifetime thing. I promise to always know that no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you, cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad. I give you my hand, my heart and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”

Groom:

 I can’t help but tear up a bit, the vow she wrote for me made me realize she was in this for good. There was no turning back. I had no idea if I was ready for this commitment, I loved her but I was getting cold feet. Everyone is waiting for me to tell her my vows but I don’t remember what I had planned. She looks at me with disappointment in her face… I just can’t commit I walk out the church. Never saying a word to anyone I just leave. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I feel terrible for making it all this way for nothing. 

Tattoo

Kyra has been looking at the clock for an hour now. It was currently eleven o'clock and she had an hour left. The tattoo on her arm indicated that she only had one hour left to live. Everyone in the world had a similar tattoo telling them the date of when they will die. It just so happened Kyra’s time has come to an end, or at least she thought it was. She had been locked up in her room the whole time because she was scared of what would happen to her.

The clock finally hit twelve but her eyes were closed. She slightly opened one eye to take a peek and noticed it was one minute past twelve. Kyra wondered why she was still alive. The tattoo said today was her last day. She just kept staring at the clock wondering what would happen next. Everything stayed the same and she started getting more nervous.

“MOMMMMMMMM,” yelled Kyra. She ran out of her room and went downstairs to look for her mom. She was nowhere to be found. Kyra started freaking out.

“Oh my god am I dead,” asked Kyra. She ran outside to her best friend’s house and wanted to see if she was awake. Kyra rings the doorbell twice and doesn’t get an answer. She tries one more time and still nothing. Everything was starting to creep her out where was everyone, all the houses had their lights off and there weren’t any cars around. What if Kyra really did die, she just didn’t know it.

It is twelve thirty now and she walks back to her house when a car drives pass her and it is Kyra’s mother.

“Kyra is that really you,” asked her mother.

“Yes mom, I am super scared why am I still alive, this is starting to freak me out,” said Kyra.

“It is ok sweetie this is all part of the plan,” said Kyra’s mother.

“What do you mean, can someone just tell me what is going on, am I going to die or not,” said Kyra.

“Get in the car before they find us, hurry,” yelled her mother. Kyra quickly gets in the car and her mother drives off. Behind them is a black suburban going really fast.

“Mom why in the world are these people chasing us,” asked Kyra.

“I will explain later Kyra just stop asking so many questions and stay seated this is about to get dangerous,” said Kyra’s mother. Kyra looks through the back window and sees a man getting out the passenger window with a gun. He instantly starts shooting and Kyra starts screaming. Why was her mother involved in such a dangerous situation? Was she the reason she was still alive at the time?

“Mom can you please stop being so mysterious,” said Kyra. Her mother completely ignores her and keeps driving. Kyra wondered if her mother even had an idea on where she was supposed to be going. The evil people in the suburban kept shooting at them but they had horrible aim and her mother became an expert driver out of nowhere. Something was very odd here and it made her wonder what the hell was going on.

Kyra’s mother finally loses the guys in the suburban and parks into a random lot. She tells Kyra to get out of the car. Kyra gets out slowly but her mother yanks her arm making her get out faster.

“Hurry up Kyra, we are almost there,” said Kyra’s mother.

 They start running for a while and they finally arrive at their destination. It looked like a normal warehouse from the outside but when you went inside there was a lot of high tech security all over. Kyra’s mother shows the security guard her badge and he lets her go through. They get in an elevator that takes them downstairs when the elevator door opens Kyra sees a lot of people dressed as doctors. On the other side of the room there is a group of people with tape around the area where they have the tattoo from birth. What is this place thought Kyra. She looks around and realizes her mother isn’t there anymore. A doctor grabs Kyra and takes her to another room. He explains to her how her mother saves people from dying because she found a way to stop it and now the government wants to kill her. Kyra was the first one her mother saved and now she was in danger. 

Charlie

It has been three years since Charlie messed things up with Justine. There wasn’t a second in the day he didn’t regret the decisions he made when he broke her heart. Justine was the girl of his dreams. It took him a while to figure it out, but when he did it killed him inside knowing she would never forgive him but he was willing to try.

Charlie had one more day left in town before he would get sent back to Egypt for his Army duties. He just had to find Justine and see how she was doing. He goes around town asking everyone if they knew where she was staying. No one was telling him anything, he was running out of hope until he sees someone he recognized. Jada was Justine’s best friend; she had to know where she was at.

“Jada! Jada! Do you remember me? I need your help,” cried Charlie. Jada walks towards Charlie and asks what he needs help with. Charlie explains everything to Jada and tells her how he really needs to talk to Justine.

“If you really wanted to make things right… why did it take you three years to attempt to make things better,” asked Jada.

“I didn’t want to wait this long, I just had too much going on at the time, I didn’t know how to handle it,” said Charlie.

“Why did you do it Charlie? Justine gave you everything you could ask for… she was nothing but good to you and you just messed things all up to have a good time. I hope you are ashamed of yourself. She thought about you every single day hoping you would come back, but you didn’t. Why should I tell you where she is at? So you can break her heart again… maybe she doesn’t want to see you anymore,” said Jada.

“Please Jada, I know I messed up but I need to see her. This means a lot to me and I only have today to make things right,” cried Charlie.

“Fine I will tell you… she is staying at her father’s house.”

“Okay thank you so much Jada I appreciate it a lot, I promise I won’t let her down again,” said Charlie. Jada offers to drop Charlie off but he refuses, he wants to do this on his own. Several minutes pass by and he finally makes it to her father’s house. It is exactly the same as he remembers. He walks to the front door and when he gets there he is looking through the window and notices that Justine is cooking dinner. She is as beautiful as ever and it brings a smile to his face. Trying to ring the doorbell he hesitates. Not sure if it will be a good idea but he is willing to try. His sweaty hand reaches for the doorbell one more time and this time he actually pushes it. He waits patiently for someone to open the door and then the door slowly opens and it is Justine. Her face gets pale as a ghost and she drops the plate she had in her hand.

“Hello Justine… it’s been a long time,” said Charlie. Justine is just staring at him and can’t help but get tears in her eyes.

“Please don’t cry Justine I’m not here to make you upset,” said Charlie as he tries to give her a hug. Justine pulls away from Charlie and accidentally trips over a little boy that was standing behind her. Charlie stares at the little boy trying to figure out if what he is looking at is really there.

“Justine… is that...”

“Yes Charlie he is yours… I tried to tell you before you left but did you ever give me the chance, you completely cut me off.” Justine picks up the little boy and gives him a kiss on the cheek. She puts him back down and tells him to go back to the dining room to get ready for dinner. The little boy goes running off and leaves Justine and Charlie alone. Charlie stares at Justine in her eyes and can’t help but smile.

“Why are you smiling,” asked Justine.

“Because you are so gorgeous I can’t help but smile.”

Justine forgot how charming Charlie could be but she didn’t want to fall for it, she had enough of him thinking he can just show up and expects things to get better.

“Charlie I don’t know why you came but I will not fall for anything you say again. I have been through this too many times, I learned my lesson and it turns out I don’t need you anymore. I am perfectly fine without you. I did everything on my own, don’t think you can just come back and have things your way. We do not need you. Little Aidan and I are happy,” said Justine. What Justine just said broke Charlie’s heart, he had nothing to say. Did she really mean that he thought?

“I’m sorry you had plenty of chances to make things better sooner but you didn’t. I gave you everything and you threw it all away for what, you are left with nothing… was it all worth it? I promised you I wouldn’t give up on you but I did… I was tired of losing hope. I waited for you to come back but you never did. And now when I am finally over it you think it is ok,” said Justine.

“I tried Justine… it just killed me knowing what I did to you,”

“Well you shouldn’t have, I really wanted to be with you but now I realize I am doing so much better without you,” said Justine. She gives her goodbyes and wishes Charlie the best. Charlie walks away and it feels like his heart has been torn out but he couldn’t do anything about it, he messed things up and now he had to live with the consequences.

Storm

"Daddy Daddy, can I go play," asked Jimmy. Jimmy's father is sitting on the couch sipping on his sixth corona.
"Sure go ahead, just leave me alone," said Trevor. Jimmy walks away wondering why his father kept taking out his anger on him. He goes outside to the playhouse which was in a shed. Trevor built it for him before his wife died. The shed meant a lot to Jimmy. It was where they had wonderful memories. Things were better before Amanda passed away. Amanda made everybody feel stay positive. Her smile brought joy to the world and her personality was wonderful. Her presence made everyone happy as if she was a bright sunny day.

Still inside the house, Trevor finishes his sixth corona and grabs another. He drank his sorrows away every second of the day. When he was sober he thought of how Amanda died. He blamed her death on him. He wished he could have saved her but he didn’t; now he hates himself because of it. Jimmy is all he has left but he feels like he is a disappointment to him. He took someone very important from Jimmy's life. The thing that kills Trevor the most is that Jimmy reminds him of Amanda every day, they are exactly the same in every way. He doesn't mean to, but he will avoid Jimmy every chance he gets.

Jimmy is all alone in the shed hoping his father will come and play with him. He missed his mother because she would make things better for him. She always knew the right things to say. He wondered why his father stop paying attention to him... it made him feel bad. Jimmy looks outside the window and noticed the sky wasn't the cheery color it used to be. Instead it had taken on a darkening gray that suggested a storm was coming.  Lightning became visible, cracking the clouds for a moment before the swirl of gray appeared again. Jimmy didn't pay much attention because it was always this depressing outside ever since he lost his mother.

The television is on while Trevor is passed out on the couch. The emergency alert is going off on the TV warning everyone that they should get in a safe area because there was a terrible storm coming. Trevor was too drunk to even get up and go get his son. He had no idea what was going on.

Water poured endlessly from the gray sky. Lightning illuminated the day followed by the deep roar of thunder. Jimmy was starting to get scared but he didn’t know if it was a smart idea to walk outside. Icy wind blew through the cracks in the windows and snaked delicately around his skin, raising goose bumps. He goes to a corner and hides under a table. The wind blows harder. The thunder gets louder and the lightning strikes faster. All of a sudden a tree crashes onto the shed causing everything to collapse on Jimmy. He died instantly…

The sky starts to clear up and everything goes back to normal. The sun beamed upon the house. All they clouds cleared up, the sky was a shining blue that could allow everyone to feed off of its beauty and live forever. This lets us know Jimmy found his happiness and was with his mother.

Durham 100 years from now

I can feel everyone staring at me. I try to avoid looking anyone directly in their eyes. My name has been called for the annual North Carolina games. After the year 2015 every city in North Carolina lost control of their citizens. The games were a way for them to get revenge on everyone that disobeyed. Every North Carolina resident hated the ridiculous rules they were beginning to make, so they found a way to misbehave. The mayors weren’t having it they made sure we got what was coming for us. If your name got called you had to go against one other person from every other city in North Carolina. There were basically no rules except win for your city. There was also no age limit so if you got called to go fight that was it you couldn’t do anything about it.

When I heard my name being called I knew it was over. I walked up to Bill Bell the mayor and just stared at him because he has been the mayor for a long time. We all wondered why he hasn’t died yet. Bill shook my hand and congratulated me as if I had won something. He must have lost his mind because I had nothing to be happy about. I was going to compete for my life against so many other people. I should kill him right now I thought. What would have happened? Everything would have been worse if I did kill the mayor. After this is over we meet the other chosen ones and have a feast in Charlotte because that would be the last meal for most of us. This also gives us a chance to meet our competition.

As I am riding in the limo headed to the headquarters in Charlotte I notice how bad everything in Durham really was. Mostly everyone was living in tents because all of the houses were burned down by angry citizens. There was no such thing as stores because the government felt that we lost that privilege by going against their rules. Everyone was poor and only people from the government had money. If you were seen with money someone working for the government was going to kill you. No one was playing games; every citizen was just trying to live.

When we finally arrive I notice that everything is segregated. Everyone was divided by race and all I did was shook my head because racism was still alive and worse than ever. When we sat down to eat we had to sit by people we were assigned with. I didn’t speak to anyone because no one here could be trusted. As soon as dinner is over we head over to our bunks to get a goodnights rest in order to be ready for the games.

It is five o’clock in the morning and we are all being rushed around trying to get set up for us to begin. Each person only gets a machete as a weapon and they have to figure out a way to survive in the area. No one is actually ready but we have no choice. The mayors are all waiting for us outside. We all walk over to our stand. Everyone is freaking out, shaking with fear. The announcer takes the microphone and shoots the gun to let us know the games have begun.                                                                                   

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