March 10th

Prompt: Write a short story about someone (made up character) going down a (figurative) road where there is no turning back (aka the path of no return . . .). Also have the name of the character or the place with a significant name (hidden meaning)

I am standing on the edge of a dock. The small waves rock the dock gently. Yet not even the simplicity of the moment can ease my mind. What I am about to do is important for the world. They have to know the truth. I check one last time to see that all my gear is in place. A waterproof bag is strapped to my back and a waterproof camera to my chest. I look over my shoulder. It looks like an ordinary day. People milling about downtown, rushing about their business. No one sees the girl on the dock except for one person. A hooded figure stands further down the mini beach. The figure raises it’s hand and I give a little wave back.

I hit the record button on the camera and take a deep breath. My feet leave the dock and I dive into the slightly chilly, late August water. My head breaks the surface of the water as I start to swim out to the center of the lake. The waves are almost nonexistent now so my swim is quick and easy. I reach the center of the lake and turn to look where I just came from. The hooded figure is gone and now it is up to me. I take one last deep breath and propel myself down into the water’s depths.

I go deeper and deeper knowing that what I seek is at the bottom. The water gets a little colder and darker. I reach the bottom and in front of me looms an underwater city. The Forbidden City. I have found it. I take a few seconds to marvel at beauty of it before I swim in closer. I need to finish what I came here to do. The camera is picking up everything that I see but it is still not enough. I swim down one of the sunken streets and find what I am looking for. I reach out and pull a stone from one of the buildings. It is not just any stone that you could see anywhere in the world. On it a symbol is engraved, a sun with waves surrounding it. This is the symbol of the city and no one has seen the symbol before. I tuck the stone safely in my bag and grab a second stone just in case.

I rest my feet on the sunken road and push off, rocketing up through the water to the surface. Half way up my lungs start to scream for air. My brain tells me to breath but I know I can’t. My brain is about to go into a frenzy as I draw closer to the surface. With one final push my head breaks the surface of the water and I gulp down the fresh air. That is that longest amount of time I have ever held my breath and I am amazed that I actually did it. I look back to where I started from and I now see a cluster of people gathered by the docks. “There is a girl in the water!” one of the bystanders scream. Duh, of course there is a girl in the water or you wouldn’t be watching. I think to myself. I see a police car pull up beside the growing crowd.

A man in uniform steps out followed by others. A speaker sounds loud and clear across the lake. “This water is strictly prohibited! Come out now and there won’t be too much trouble for you.” My mind whurls as I take in everything. I can’t stop now or else everything I have worked for will be for nothing. I turn my back on the crowd and I hear the speaker one more time. “Get over here now or we will hunt you down and will not be as forgiving!” I gulp one more breath of sweet air and dive back into the water, swimming away from the officers and the bystanders knowing that the further I swim the more possible danger I could be in.

My head comes out of the water as I close in on the shore line. I am on the other side of the lake and no one can see me from where the police were. I climb out of the water and see a brown truck hidden by the trees surrounding this part of the lake. I pull the bag off my shoulders and press the stop button on the camera. I slide the camera into the bag as I run for the truck. The door swings open and I see the hooded figure sitting in the driver’s seat. He pulls his hood down as I jump into the truck and slam the door behind me. The figure is my brother, Sam. The engine revs and we pull out onto the empty road.

Sam hands me a towel and I wrap myself up in it thankful to have something dry. “Did you find it, Aerwyna?” He asks.

“I did. It was beautiful. I can’t understand why they would sink such a marvelous city and keep everyone in the dark about it.”

“That’s our government for you. Did you get anything down there?” I reach for my bag and take out the stones. I place them both carefully on the dashboard so that Sam can see the symbols. “Amazing! Just amazing! Aerwyna you did it! Now we have our evidence!” As we drove down the road we both know that the path we are on is a one way road. Now that we have started we can’t turn back. The police will be after us and we need to show the world what is hidden beneath their lake. One mistake can land us in a lifetime of trouble. As we drive further away from the lake we understand that we are on the path of no return. There is no turning back now …

Aerwyna - "Friend of the sea”

Sam - “Sun Child”

Michaela Hutchinson:

“Don’t do it,” the words are urgent, pleading, “please don’t do this, Aberash.”

I hesitate slightly at the sound of my full name. No one has called me that in years. I go by Ash, Abby, or even Abs, but never ever Aberash. I swallow, refusing to turn around. “You know I have to.”

“You don’t…” Rosalie tries once more, trails off in a whisper, “please.”

For however much I don’t want things to go this way, my best friend feels that and ten times more. But it’s not about what her or I want anymore. It never really was. As my hand closes over the lever in front of me I close my eyes, take a deep breath. This is it.

I pull it down with a swift yank and immediately feel the effects. Starting in the soles of my feet the current shoots up my legs, grips my chest, and erupts in my head. The pain of it is crippling and I fall to the ground with a scream on my lips. White hot burning, so much burning. My limbs spasm and it takes all I have to keep gasping in air. I can’t give up, not when I’ve come this close. Just a little longer and it will be done, and I can help them. I try to focus on that, on all the good that this will bring. It’s a nearly impossible task.

Eventually, though, it seems as if the pain is finally starting to dull. The sharp current pulls back from my fingers and toes, receding up my arms and legs. I feel it moving down the back of my neck and spine, all condensing in my chest. It’s an intense crescendo, all the agony of the past few minutes peaking in one spot. A final tormented scream erupts from my mouth.

And just like that, it’s over.

There is a long stretch of silence before Rose finally speaks, her voice shaking, “…Abby?” She takes one step toward me, two. I can hear her sniffling, barely able to hold in her whimpers. She’s trying to be strong, to be brave for me. I can’t imagine what it must have been like watching that, watching me. We both knew it could have well killed me. “Are you okay, Abby?”

All I can manage to get out is a pathetic groan as I try to pull my body tighter into itself.

A relieved breath falls from her lips and she rushes over to kneel beside me. “Oh thank god you’re okay. You were screaming so much and you looked…you looked like you were going to die.”

I turn my head slightly to look up at my friend and see that tears are rolling steadily down her cheeks. When I work up the energy to speak my words are hoarse and low, “I didn’t, though.”

Rose smiles and shakes her head, still beautiful even with puffy eyes and red cheeks. “You didn’t.”

Slowly, I push myself up so I can sit and lean against the wall. “That really sucked.”

“I can imagine,” Rose lets out on a slight laugh. “So did it work?”

I focus on the buzz that only remains in my chest and force it outward and down to my right hand. A glowing line of electricity appears between my fingers. “Looks like it.”

Aberash: giving off light

Sydney Caldwell

Ethan didn’t think that life could get any worse. A drunk, abusive father and a ghost of a mother. Long nights of fighting and yelling, waking the next morning dotted black and blue. Always wearing long sleeves, even on the hottest days to maintain the image. The image of a perfect family, the perfect life.

Days spent at school, he was in every activity he could, long hours after school. Playing basketball, volunteering for the local blood drive, football. He did all he could to avoid home, everything he could to get away from this town. College was his only hope to make his life better, to get away from all the things that were his life. He wanted a fresh start. He wanted to go to a place that no one knew who Ethan Hall was.

It was just before Christmas break when he found out his mother had liver cancer. It was just after he had received his acceptance to BU and he was planning on telling his parents on Christmas morning, but this would give him a reason not to talk about his future with anyone. There were long days of treatments, days of his father yelling about the bills and his long hours at the office and too many tears from his mother to count. He didn’t talk to anyone about it because he didn’t want the pity, he didn’t want the fake pouty lips, he just wanted to be alone.

Ethan: strong, enduring         Origin: Hebrew, Old Testament

Danielle Baxter-

I draw a breath filling my lungs with the familiar air. As I take in my last breath I sink lower and lower into the depths below. The seaweed swaying with the current, the sun bringing light to the life below.

HarleyRae-

My mind hazed as the sun's piercing light faded away into the darkness. I started to lean forward listening to the quiet sounds of the waves hitting the sand. The birds singing in the trees and the crickets chirping in the distances.

At the last beam of light I saw a dark shadow lurking in the dark. It was gone and I was alone in the dark waiting for whatever it was in the dark to come closer. All I could hear for the longest time was nothing in the total darkness. Shivers running down my spine as yellow eyes looked me straight in the eyes from a ways away. Frozen, I couldn't move like the wind and everything around me, nothing moved so in utter darkness I was alone with this thing looking at me looking at it.

Jake Davenport

I approach the same railway I have been visiting since I was a young child. This is my favorite place. A big arch of cracked, pale, graffitied, pavement leads into the tunnel. Its extremely dark to the human eye, but I have observed this place many times with flashlights so its practically like the back of my hand. The small red dim light shows where the maintenance exit lies about 400 feet down the tunnel. I begin to make my way into the darkness, crossing one foot in front of the other on the rail. I feel a small vibration run up my leg, I assume its my cell phone vibrating and I check for a message. To my surprise I check the phone and see that there are no messages.

Than it hits me, I’m feeling the vibration of the train coming. I turn around to see its bright lights not too far away from me. I quickly realize that if I were to try to run to the mouth of the tunnel, I wouldn’t be able to make it by the time the train comes. The fear of the situation makes me queasy and my legs get weak. I have to make it to the exit now. No turning back. If I do I’ll shortly become minced meat. I start sprinting as fast as I can without also losing my balance.

The red light has never seemed so far away from me in my life. The engines roar gives me the serious push I needed to pick up my pace. My chest hurts from this intense sprinting, I’m not exactly a marathon runner. I realize that I don’t have my backpack, which really should be the least of my worries at this point, because I haven't even made it to the exit yet.The train cries its horn, for my soul. Every time it sounds, my heart skips a beat into my throat and I have to swallow it down. It’s getting hard to hear my breath and footsteps now, over the trains motor. “chug! chug! chug!”

I am gaining on the red light though. I’m so close. I approach the last twenty feet or so, I put my head down, and I run. Faster than I had ever ran before, much faster than I thought I was capable of. With one last exertion of energy I spring into the small maintenance exit. As soon as I land I see the trains bright lights and hear it zoom past me at a ferocious speed. Rattling and shaking dust from the ceiling onto my face.

All I can do is crack a smile and laugh. “Woo!” I yell filled with adrenaline. I feel my whole body up and down, just to see if every body part and limb is intact. It is, and I made it. Glad to be alive, I head home with a story to tell and a train schedule I really need to figure out.

Becky Close

It felt heavy in my hand

I had never held one before

A gun

I always thought I would be good at it though

Shooting someone

I could imagine how it

felt

Pulling the trigger

Time turning slow

Like in the movies

Watching the bullet

A change of perspective maybe

For a moment

Seeing the bullet as if it were about to hit you

Rather than them

Like a sudden guilt

Then you would snap back

Into your own body

and you would see theirs

fall

Who are they?

I don’t know

Who were they?

No one, now

But that wasn’t this situation

I could imagine killing someone else a million times

But how would it feel to kill myself

To put an end to this body that I have hated

Brian

Why did they have to call me Brian

Why was I put into this body

I saw myself out of my body

I watched my body fall

Brian