The Dairy of a Crazy Lady

Waste my life why don’t you. Not worth nothing to you, or anybody, and I don’t got no body to see me. Wait for no one. Just get on out of here and take me with you so you might drop me at the first chance. Then I will be alone, wandering the black woods with a lost mind and no intent to look for it. Why would I? So I could regain reasoning and search for reality to banish my world I made in my minds absence? But I like my solitude… I like it! Don’t take me from it! It needs me. I have cared for it since I found it when it hobbled upon me like a wounded animal. I have nursed it back to health with all my being, so now it is mine. It owes its life to me and vowed never to leave. It cares for me now. I need it, and it needs me more. Without me it cannot exist. Leave me! You scare him away… If you go now he may still come back. Leave me be before he goes from me forever! Ah, see it has come back at your leave. There now sweet, don’t be scared. Company will not bother us again.

Angry Words

Oh! Pity the day a writer has no story! There is no worse feeling in the world than to be so close to joy, only to be restricted by the apprehension to make it perfect and the lack of perfect ideas!

Curse the cursor, blinking in rapt impatience for words that will not come! Heaven afflict the blank page that will not fill! Even these words are nothing but torment, for they only give me a glimpse of what I could have! These shall not stay with me, but perish by my own hand for they fail to construct the story I bid them to. They laugh at their disobedience and spurn that who is their creator and will-be destroyer. Ignorant fools! Why must you be shadows to that of your counterparts, those words who have created magic, populations, and even entire worlds? Why must you take delight in my suffering?

But of course… It is my suffering that springs you to life. This is why you continue to ail me. You must, or you will face a quicker demise. The more I work, the less chance you have of dying. Selfish creatures! Yet I admire your ruse. It is working. You make me wish to strike you out like the omnipotent God sending his flood! But I have not the strength, at least not so without cause. I cannot kill you, because although I wrote you in anger I love you… And I hate you for it.

Clean

Ever since 2892, not many people remained clean. By 2993, being clean was almost unheard of. It was impossible. The entire world had become run down. The elite were those on top of the drug chain and nobody else. Even the President had become nothing more than a puppet pulled by too many strings.
The rest of the world population was left in ruins. Life expectancy had long ago dipped below forty. Drugs became the only thing worth living for, so as you might imagine, life was very dismal indeed.
I broke away from my drug gang when I was fifteen. It was awful in those days as I attempted to get the drugs out of my system. Looking back, I'm not too sure how I resisted. The process of becoming clean were the worst days of my life. At every street corner every dealer reminded me I could make all the suffering go away. I came close to believing them.
It was a book that saved my life. Books were rare, and hadn't been printed in over seventy years. Most of those that remained were beyond any state of legibility. I was lucky to find the one I did. Written in the early 2000's by E.M.C., it was about a "perfect" human being exposed to the real world. Imagining what the main character would have thought of our world today turned me around. I decided I wasn't going to be a slave anymore, and I ran as far and as fast as I could. But the farther I ran the more the world caught up with me. There was no safe place. No job that would harbor me. Try as I might to escape it, the drugs only became more and more prominent around me.

Despite the difficulties, I prevailed. For the past three years I have remained clean. The longer I stay clear of drugs, the less compelled I feel to use them. It's too easy to see how they have ruined lives, and how much better I am off without them. It is not the drugs I fear now, but the gangs that distribute them. They can be just as deadly as the drugs themselves. I made a point to never go near highly claimed areas, hideouts, or any sort of disputed territory. However, doing so is not as easy as it seems. There is almost nowhere that does not meet at least one of those descriptions. Often I have no other choice than to pass by as quickly as possible. I was on one such a trip when a group of Addictors surrounded me. I had no home- as usual- and was carrying everything on my back to the abandoned doorway that I had been sleeping in the past few nights. The quickest way to get there was through very active druggie territory. Unwilling to be in the dark for a minute more than necessary, I took the risk. I was halfway to my destination when I saw the silhouettes of the group. They saw me as well.

"Get him," One ordered. The silence of the night magnified his words so that I could hear him, and I bolted. I didn't get very far. They were strong, beefed up by steroids and decent food, while I was malnourished, and carrying everything that I owned. They swarmed me. One tore by bag from my back while others grabbed my arms and held me fast. I tried to twist away, and they laughed.
"There's nothing in his bag, Ex!" cried the one that had grabbed it. I assumed by that he meant that there were no drugs, or anything else of real value.

"What are you on, boy?" the one called Ex asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"Hear that?" Ex laughed, "He ain't on nothin'!" The rest of the men laughed along with him. "Hold out his arm" Ex ordered. I struggled against them to no avail. They stretched out my arm, and rolled up my sleeve. Ex pulled out an already loaded needle.

"Please don't," I begged. More laughter was my only response. This was why these groups were called Addictors. It was their job to get as many people hooked on a certain drug as possible, and only the first dose was free. Ex was just about to jab the needle into my vein when a slurred voice broke out, and stopped him.

"You guys got somethin' good?" asked a pretty, young girl as she stumbled toward us. Every head turned her way. It was clear that she was drunk.

"Yeah," smiled one of the guys, "Yeah, come here, and we'll give you some."

She staggered closer until she was practically in the middle of us all. She was either really drunk, really stupid, or past caring. It came as a surprise to all of us when she knocked the needle out of Ex's hand with reflexes no drunk person could ever have.

"Run!" She yelled. I didn't need to be told. I had already taken advantage of the moment, prying myself from their grasp and dashing down the road. She paused long enough to knee Ex in the groin before following after me. The gang ran after us. Our head start gave us the upper hand and we were able to get to a main road.

"In here!" the girl cried, rushing through the door of a club. We melted into the crowd three seconds before our pursuers came in after us. She turned her back to me, and began dancing, almost to the point where she was on top of me.

"Don't bolt," she warned, "It'll give us away. Just dance." I did as she said. True to her word, the gang looked right past us, and began immediately searching for the back exits. We stayed inside the throng of dancers. Invisible in plain sight. I don't know how long we stayed there. Maybe an hour or so before my rescuer deemed it safe to go out again. Once we were out of the noise, I finally got a chance to speak.

"Thank you," I said, "For helping me back there."

"Not a problem," She said, "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this little escapade has made me late, and I must be going."

"Can I at least know your name?"

"It's Lily. And you are?"

"Zack."

"Right. Well Zack, I really do have to go. Perhaps you should go back to your own posse, before you run into any more Addictors."

"I don't have a posse. Or a gang," I said stuffing my hands into my leather jacket. I realized that it was now the only thing I owned. "I'm clean."

She stopped in mid-stride and looked me over.

"Nobody is clean."

"I am. For the past three years."

She looked dubious for a second more.
"Come with me," She ordered. Lily spun on her heel, and she walked deeper into the night. I struggled to follow. After about fifteen minutes we came to what I assumed was our destination. She knocked on the door. A shadow passed by the peephole and a second later the door opened. An old man looked back at us. 

"Lily! You're late! You had Abigail and I worried sick!"

"Sorry Finn. I got held up." 

Finn's eyes fell on me. 

"Who's this?" He grunted. 

"This is Zack. He needs a place to stay." 

Finn looked me over. He didn't seem to be to impressed. Seeing this, Lily quickly said,

"Don't worry. He's clean." 

Finn didn't look in any way convinced, but he stood aside. Lily  walked in and hung up her jacket. 

"Well, come in," She said, looking at me hovering in the doorway. Hesitantly, I did as she said. 

"Abigail! We have a guest!" Lily called. 

I took a look around. The room had a high ceiling, and told me it had originally been made for some sort of storage. Since, it had been outfitted with a makeshift kitchen and sitting room. There was loft along the far wall that was adorned with beds and similar room decor. Three doors lined the wall under it. A woman, who must have been Finn's wife, stood at the table over four children.

"This is Abigail. And these are Tom, Kristen, Sam, and baby Elisa," Lily introduced, "Everybody, this is Zack." 

"Pleasure," I nodded.  

"The pleasure is ours," Abigail said, returning the nod. 

"We're all clean here," Lily explained, "Completely drug free. As long as you are too, you can stay as long as you'd like."

The words came as a shock. I should have realized that somewhere, there must be someone else who was clean too. But it never crossed my mind there would be someone else like me, let alone a whole family of them. I would have loved nothing more than to become apart of it.

"I would be honored."    

Matchmaker

"You're not Brittney," I said, surprised.
"Obviously," smiled the incredibly hot guy in front of me. What should I say back? What would be the appropriate response? Wait, what did he say again? Breathe! Calm down! Say something! Anything!
"Not that you remind me of Brittney, or anything. She's a girl, and you're not. It was just that I was expecting her, not you. Of course, I'm glad that you're here, whoever you are..."
That's the best you can come up with? My conscience sneered. Shut up, I told it. "Um, who are you?" I asked.
''Adam," he said helping himself to a slice of pizza. Normally I would find this rude, but he was welcome to it. "I'm a friend of Brittney's."
"Rachel," I returned.
"Nice to meet you. Anyway, Brittney told me to tell you she can't come."
Couldn't come? That was awful! We had been planning for this all week! Now what was I supposed to do?
"But..." I stuttered, "But..." Wait a minute. Why hadn't she just called me? Unless (for some reason) she had wanted Adam to meet me personally...
"Well, in that case, I have an extra ticket to tonights show. Care to join me?" I asked.
Adam smiled. It was a very nice smile.
"I'd like that."

Chaos

The chaos began in a small place inside. Wars raged inside me as I attempted to refrain from speaking. I was being torn apart by pain, truth, and love. The spell I was under was one of the most cruel ever devised. It sent warped pain throughout the victim's body while forcing the truth up your throat. It could not make you speak, but most did. Those who kept their tongues died a very slow death. It could go on for months under the right conditions. If you were lucky, you would starve. 

"Where is the child?" The voice asked again.

I bit my lip to keep from screaming. Or to keep from telling. I did not know which. 

"Well?" He asked. He could not wait for months while I suffered. He would have to leave sometime, wouldn't he? He began to be impatient. He pulled back his fist and hit me hard in the stomach. I doubled over, the external pain adding to the internal. 

"I won't ask again. Tell me. Now." 

"East," I whispered softly to the ground, "He went east." The pain vanished immediately.

"TELL ME!" He roared, kicking my fallen form. He hadn't heard me! I looked up, fake tears and pain in my eyes.

"West," I said loudly, "He went west." 

Out of this World

I always knew my best friends and I were completely out of this world. I just didn't know it was so literal. It started with Trayton. We were at Michelle G.'s house for a sleep over one night, whispering (kind of) to keep from waking up her parents. Trayton threw her pillow at us to get our attention.

"Hey guys!" She whispered, "I want to tell you a secret! Well, you have probably all have noticed I'm not exactly normal..."

"That's an understatement," Emma laughed. Trayton gave her a playful punch, (which if you have ever been given one by her you know that they hurt) and continued.

"Anyway, it's for a reason. I'm not from this planet. My real name is Tri-47 and I come from Planet X."

There were a few, awkward, laughs from each of us.

"No, I'm serious," Trayton frowned, "Watch, I can prove it..." After a moment of concentration on her behalf, two bug like feelers began to grow out of her hair. All of us watched in awe.

"You guys are my best friends, I wanted you to know," she said looking down, "I can understand if you no longer want to be around me..."

"No way!" Emma cried. "Seriously? I'm from Mercury! Look!" She held her hand over one of the candles we had out until it caught fire. "It's a hotter temperature there, so heat doesn't bother me. My real name is Emagé."

"Not so loud," I cautioned, "Someone is going to hear you."

"Don't worry about my family," Michelle said, "They won't tell anybody. We're from Venus, the sister planet."

"No way!" was the collective reply.

"Way. My real name is Gilliana."

One by one, everybody began to reveal who they were and what planet they were really from. Jessi was actually Jezzy, from Mars. Michelle E. was Mihir and hailed from Saturn. Eliza was a proud Jupierite named Elix. Diondra's real name was Deedee and she was from Neptune. Only Rachel was from Earth. It should have come as no surprise that we were all aliens. As they say, "aliens bizarre collect from wide and far."

"This is weird," said Eliza, I mean, Elix, "We have someone from almost every planet in the solar system."

About that time, I burst into tears.

"Savannah, what's wrong?" asked Gilliana, "Do you feel left out? Are you not from another planet?"

"My name is not Savannah, it's Salyisa and I AM from another planet!" I sobbed, "Pluto's a planet too!"

Sweet Awakening

The door opened ve-e-ry slowly. I knew what was coming; my wake up call. I had been slowly regaining consciousness for the past five minutes, but still could not bring myself to get up. It was Saturday, and I had been up late the night before. Only my guilt kept me from being annoyed at the fact that it was time to get up. Everyone else had gotten up hours before. I opened my eyes just a slit so it appeared that I was still sleeping. My nearsightedness gave the room a hazed, underwater look. Two, small, brown haired blurs tiptoed across the room.

"Nina?" the smallest blur asked, "Nina sweep?"

I opened one eye wider and peered at her. It was Emma, my one year old sister.

"It's time for breakfast Nina," the second blur, my five year old brother, Seth, said. "Daddy made pancakes."

I sat up and stretched.

"Good morning guys," I said, taking them up in a hug. "I missed you."

Because they lived in South Carolina, I only got to see them about once or twice a month.

"I missed you too," said Seth. "I love you."

"H-io-ow," said Emma, which was her way of saying I love you. She could probably pronounce it correctly now, but it was so cute none of us had bothered to correct her.

"Come on," I told them. "Lets go get breakfast."