Teetering...

A young nameless man stands on a ledge, on looking the city. Below him a steep fall to the pavement. He opens his arms, raising his head to the sky. 

Watery eyes stare into the dark sky, stars winking back at him.

He leans forward to fall off the roof. Something catches the back of his collar. An older man, shrouded in a white aura stands behind the man. The older man dressed in a suit. 

The young man's eyes widen. He tries to move forward lifting his feet but they are stuck to the ground. He tries his hardest, but can't lift them. He looks down. A small boy is gripped around both his feet.

"Who are you?!"

The young nameless man stares on the ledge at the man, still trying to shove the kid off his feet. He quits and stands still.

"Why do you want to jump?"

"Ain't nothing here for me."

"False, there's so much that needs you. So much that you need too. I just need you to keep looking. Keep searching."

"Why do you care?"

The aura disappears from the older man.  He lifts his head and looks into the young man's eyes. 

"Yo-You're me?"

"No. I'm your son."

He looks down.

"And that'd be your grandson, if you chose to stay. I need my father to become the man I am. Mom needs that man who proved her wrong about men. You need to find her, find your happiness. It isn't at the curb side"

The young man looks over the ledge, a dark circle waits at the bottom, shadowed hands reaching out of it waiting to grab him. 

As the young man leans closer to the ledge, the older man and little boy fade. As he leans toward the proper side of the ledge they come back into existence. 

The young man stands signal, motionless not knowing what to do. He looks up again.

He leans toward the ledge and jumps. His feet free now. As he falls the figures of a possible future family fades away, disappearing as he meets the pavement.

 

 

*This is entry #14 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short story. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

Thank you God

Thank you God

I'm happy you made me the way you did. Made me real, filled with emotions and motivation. 

Aware enough to appreciate the happiness when sadness could be right around the corner

Strong enough to pull myself out the darkness

Giving me memories of light to find my way out the dark. 

*This is entry #11 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a quick poem. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

Elephant in the room

*This is entry #9 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short audio log by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

Open skies

You travel from star to star looking for a brighter light, hoping to feel its warmth.

But you bounce around so much you're always cold.

So many stars that could have inspired you for greatness, but by the time you notice their greatness, they've flown past you, leaving you in darkness.

It is easy to learn to fly, but what's hard is knowing when to land.

Even birds set up a nest, your wings grow tired. Stand on a branch and gaze upon your limitless possibilities, cause moving too fast you'll fly right past what you need and where you're supposed to be going. 

Live like a bird, free and whimsical. But set up your nest, for even the wildest bird needs a home. 

 

*This is entry #8 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short open form poem written by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

Wednesday night rambles

*This is entry #7 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short audio log by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

The reunion (part 2)

*This is entry #6 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short story written by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

Tracy and Brianna bang on the door as Sharon lays on the steps. Julius stands in front of the kids, his arms wide open. 

"Come play with your uncle." He smiles.

The kids hesitate, standing like statues looking at him.

He clinches his fists, the room shakes a little.

"Come, play. With, your uncle."

Julius stares at them intensely. The kids walk over, embracing him as a large smile grows on his face. He turns toward his mother still in the chair.

"Oh, they were just about my age, aren't they momma?"

Silence. 

"Aren't they!"

Julius shouts, the wind pushing the chair against the wall. The kids hold each other, holding in their screams. 

"You owe me my life back! Dad already got his last year. Show me you at least have love for me left."

His mom stands up out her chair.

"Let them out the basement first. So we can all talk."

Julius stares at her in silence.

The basement door opens, as the three sisters run out.

A large wooden box is seen being buried deep in the backyard, where the yard meets the woods. Rough older man hands clinch the shovel as is tosses dirt in the whole on top of the box.

"You let him do this, to me. You're only son. You're only brother."

Julius pushes the kids toward their parents.

"Even at that age I knew I wasn't welcome in this house."

"That isn't true," his mother proclaims.

"Than why was I forgotten? How was he able to live like nothing happened, all of you did."

Julius steps toward the group.

"I mean if I took one of your kids, would you be able to manage the same way, as if nothing happened?"

Sharon holds her kids tightly. A gust of win blows into the house through the kitchen forcing everyone to cover their eyes. As the wind dies down Sharon is gone and so is Tracy's daughter. 

"Mommy!"

A scream echo's from out the back door. The family rushes outside, the trees near the woods rustle as another scream echoes from the woods. Tracy runs directly into the woods to find her daughter.

The rest of the family hesitates on their next move. 

The sun sets as 3 people of the family are now gone, potentially lost in the woods.

 

TO be continued....

The reunion (Part 1)

*This is entry #3 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short story written by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

 

 

"Around the swing we go no fear,

In our family the love shall stay,

to keep the witch from here,

locked in the forest near,

We gather 'round and pray,

Keep us all safe this day"

A group of young girls play in the backyard. A Jenkins family reunion is taking place over the weekend. All of the grown siblings and their mother with there own kids.

The grown ups sit in the house together drinking. They each go upstairs into their widowed mothers room. She sits in her wheel chair on the balcony exit of her room. She sit there, still.

All of them daughters. They lay the blanket over her.

Sharon, the older. 

Brianna, the middle child.

Tracy, the youngest.

They sit with their mother, who is suffering in her elder years. 

This is the evening of her and her late husbands reunion. No men in this immediate family, the burden of life shouldered by the women. 

The mother begins to cry as Tracy and Sharon console her. 

"I'll prepare dinner", Brianna says.

Brianna calls for the little girls to come inside and than goes inside toward the kitchen.

Their mother sobs.

"I'm sorry", the Mother says.

"It's ok", Sharon says.

"No, not it's not. He's back. I've seen him. Julius."

Sharon's eyes widen.

She turns on the faucet at the sink.

Blood pours out instead. Brianna steps away in a rush.

The kids walk in, seeing the blood pouring. They scream

Tracy runs down the stairs.

"That happened a long time ago mom, you shouldn't beat yourself up for that",  Sharon says.

"And I saw him again. He told me he wanted us together. To meet with him and your father. He's the one who took him", The mother says.

"What are you saying?!"

"Your brother, he's been with me. And now he is  with us. Together."

The lights go off throughout the house. Downstairs Tracy and Brianna hold the kids in their arms. The water stops flowing. The lights switch on and off.

A boy appears in the hallway and steps forward toward them. As he steps forward he jumps from youth to a grown man, crippled arms and monstrous face. 

Their mothers chair rushes down the stairs, their mother still in it. Sharon runs after her. The figure stops

"All together again", says Julius as he turns toward his mother, smiling. 

"You all have grown so nicely. My beautiful sisters. Are these my nieces how they've grown. They're older than I even was!"

The house trembles under their feet. 

"You haven't told them what you did to me did you? What you all did. What all my older sisters did to me!"

Tracy cries.

"Shut up!"

In fact let me show you how it felt being tormented as you grew into such lovely women. 

 

The basement door flies open. Tracy and Brianna are dragged on the ground into the basement. Julius grabs Sharon, launching her into the basement staircase. The door slams shut, door knob locked. They bang on the door. It doesn't budge. Julius stands in front of their children, his nieces. A monstrous smile over his face as his mother watches on.

To be continued.....

Monsters are real

*This is entry #1 of a self imposed challenge to post something everyday for 30 days straight. It's a short story written by Hussain Al-Khalil. Leave some feedback and come back daily to see what he posts for his month long challenge*

 

 

A young boy lays is his bed, his eyes wide open. Staring at his closet door. The shadows of the trees creep into the room, resting over the closet door. The wind blows past the tree and the shadow shakes in his room.

The young boy screams, leaping under his covers. His mother runs in hearing his yell. She says, "What's wrong Mark? What happened?"

"The Monster is back again. He's in my closet this time," Mark says. 

"Not under the bed this time," His mother asks him with a smile on her face.

Mark shakes his head. His mother goes to the closet door and opens it. Nothing but clothes and empty hangers. 

"Everything is fine honey."

"Can you leave the light on for me?"

Marks mother hesitates. "Tonight I can, but you'll have to know there isn't anything in there that's going to hurt you."

She closes the door behind herself as she leaves. Mark sits back in his bed looking at the closet then at the wall.

Through the floor he hears his mother talking to his stepfather.

"What was the problem with him this time," his step father asks.

He hears his mother explain what it was. "You gotta stop babying him, next time I'll talk to him if he has a problem with it."

"He's not comfortable with you yet to do that, just give him some time", his mother says.

"A couple years ain't long enough? You must be telling him something bad about me again if he doesn't trust me. You don't even trust me!"

Mark tenses up.

"I didn't say that", his mom says.

A loud slap echoes, followed by a thud of Mark's mother drops to the floor. His stepdad puts down his drink and slowly comes up the steps. He opens Mark's door and turns off the lights.

"You gonna grow up soon enough. Ain't no such things as monsters."

His step father closes the door, leaving Mark sad and scared of the closet, and the house he lives in. 

Later in the night as he sleeps, the closet door opens slightly. Harsh red eyes glare from the shadows within the closet. Mark opens his eyes, seeing the pair of red eyes through his blurry vision.

He jumps up and turns on his light and sees nothing. He wants to call for his mother, but doesn't want his step dad to hear it and get upset. He lays in bed with the light on, worried for his safety. More ways than one.

The sun rises and morning comes. Mark's mother comes in his room to wake him before she heads to work. As he wakes up he notices the bruises on her neck and arm. She moves away from the bed, so he couldn't see.

"make use of your day, ok? That monster can't follow you outside can it? It's the summer, enjoy it till your back sitting at a desk all day."

As she walks downstairs, Mark goes back into his bed to sleep more. When he wakes up he goes downstairs and sees his stepdad. Must be his day off.

He walks silently into the kitchen and gets a bowl of cereal. His stepdad stays in the living room.

"Ay! Mark" , his Stepdad calls him into the living room. 

Mark leans against the wall as he enters the room. "How are you big guy? I heard you got a problem with a, uh, monster in your closet. Is that it?"

Mark nods.

"You know they don't exist right?"

His stepdad stares him down. Mark looks back at him, wondering how they don't exist when he's staring at one right now.

Mark looks at the ground saying nothing.

The night comes again, Mark in his room. Keys jingle in the door as his mother comes home. Mark runs out his room to the landing of the stairwell to greet his mom. His stepdad still on the couch. His mother hugs him as she comes in the door.

"What did you do today?"

Mark looks away, "Nothing really."

"You didn't go outside or anything?"

"No."

Mark looks at his mom and than at her neck again.

"What happened there mommy?"

Marks mom looks away from him now, away from her husband. 

His stepdad looks at both of them in disgust.

"You happy now? You got him scared of me too now huh?"

Mark's mom turns toward her husband.

"I didn't do any of that. You did"

Mark's stepdad looks at mark.

"I did do that, for good damn reasons. You keep looking at me like that boy you gonna get hit too."

Mark's stepdad raises his hand and swings, hitting Mark right on the cheek. He falls tot he floor easily, his mother covering him from another hit. 

"You still scared of monsters in your closet boy! Don't you dare look at me like that in my house."

Mark's mother raises up and pushes him out the way, instructing Mark to go to his room. "Go upstairs Mark."

He runs up into his room, before hearing the hollering and yells from downstairs. As midnight comes closer Mark is still awake, crying in his room. Fearing more than just his closet he doesn't even notice the red eyes out the closet staring at him.

His parents stomp up the stairs, bringing there argument with them. 

"I think you should leave", Mark's mother says. The house goes quiet.

" I can't have my son around this, and I refuse to let--"

His mother is cut off my his stepdad, pushing her to the ground.

"You gonna kick me out my own house! And you refuse to what? I don't choose to hit you! You, you require me to do it cause you don't fucking listen! You or your son. If you gonna stay in this house, which you will! You gonna follow and do what I say, as I say, and when I say it."

Mark looks up, tears still running down his face. He sees the eyes staring at him from his closet. He borrows his head in his hands.

"I wish! I'll be your best friend forever, if you just help us. To let me be left alone."

Mark sobs.

The closet door squeaks, till the door is wide open. A large shadow crawls from out his closet, standing in front of him. It steps back toward his door leading to the hallway where his parents are. The door opens. His Stepdad turns around.

"Go back to bed boy! I don't have time for --"

His stepdad turns around fully, only to be met by a large shadow and sharp glowing red eyes. The shadowy monster stands taller than 6 and a half feet. Mark's mother and stepdad are in shock. The monster grabs his stepdad and throws him down the stairs. The monster looks at his mother, before heading down the stairs after his stepdad. Mark comes out his room toward his mother. 

"I told you mommy, I told you there was a monster in my closet!" 

"I thought he scared you."

"He did! But I told him I'd be his best friend if he protected us and got us to be left alone."

His mother looks at him in shock. Screams from the kitchen echo through the house.

A WEEK GOES BY

Mark's mother turns her key and comes into the house. She puts her things down and walks toward the back porch. Outside Mark is playing with his soccer ball as his aunt, his mothers sister watches him. 

"Thanks for watching him for me."
"It's not a problem. You son has a wild fascinating imagination though! I love his stories."

They watch him as the sun goes down, setting over the trees in the neighboring yard.

"What, what did he tell you?"

"About his imaginary friend. That's who he's playing with now. How he's gonna protect you guys, and teach Mark to be strong like him."

Mark's aunt smiles.

"Yeah, that's my son", Mark's mom says. 

"It's good to see that man hand't taken his creativity with him when he ran off on y'all", Mark's aunt says.

"Yeah, I think it's better we just close that chapter though. Me and Mark should be fine.

"Honey, it's time to come in now, its gonna start getting dark soon. Me and your aunt are gonna make dinner."

"Ok mom, I'm almost finished playing now, but I think he still wants to play a little more"

His aunt walks back into the house. Mark's mother looks past the bushes in their backyard. Behind them she sees the same red eyes that she saw that night. 

"Ok Honey. Just, be careful."

"Don't worry mom, he'll make sure I'm ok"

Mark's mom looks on with a worried smile on her face. She turns around back into the kitchen.

Mark kicks the ball into the bushes. The soccer ball rolls back out toward him as he continues to play.

Natural by Renee

*This is a guest post by my spiritual little sister. She sent me this a couple days ago and I felt it deserved a few more eyes to peep her short story. Leave her some feedback, only 16 I feel this is some young talent that will continue to grow*

 

natural ~ by Renee

 

her presence was needed. That's all he could think of. Not the way she hid her smile but the way she wouldn't mind keeping one on her face. Natural is what he called it. She had a purpose in his life. A meaning. The reason he wanted to change. But not by force. She would just give off that type of vibe. That "I can't understand it but I won't stop trying," type. It was natural, & that's what he called it.

Could you love a crazy man?

Could you love a crazy man?

Even if he was crazy about you?

He hears voices that can make his brain kinda hazy man,

But when he thinks of her he knows the feelings are true.

Overthinking, under thinking, thoughts running at a olympic pace, emotions jump off cliffs in his heart, she becomes his sanctuary.

Abnormal to the world, but to him you are his sky, unlimited potential, his sense of wonder might take a generation to understand but with it he tries to change your world, traveling through your universe uncovering things you may not even know for yourself. 

Could you love a crazy man?

His actions hard to read, movement hard to follow but his eyes say everything you'll ever need to know.

Passion falls from his like a waterfall, drowning you in it only for him to help steer you through his ocean.

Could you love a crazy man?

You may have loved a ignorant, a foolish, or even a good man. But crazy in this world only means that he offers what we can't understand. The unusual. 

His crazy he throws at you hoping for you to catch it, sometimes he questions his own sanity when it falls tot he ground countless times.

His forest is unkempt, no clear path to the other side, but like the guardian he wishes to be, he holds your hand guiding you through it all. 

Could you love a crazy man