Hale, now an adult with a glow up that enhances the essence of her beauty, is uniquely fitted and stunning from any perspective, both in beauty and complexity. She embraces her light skin ethnicity, beneath her radiant exterior, she carries an unresolved weight.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Jacob asked his brother. “This is a really big step.”

Sitting across from him, Jordan had his hands clasped together with a dimpled smile on his face and sparkles in his blue eyes.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything!”

They have forcefully silenced us and stolen our voices. I no longer have an identity of my own. I have been defined by who he says I am.  I have been shaped by a narrative that has been imposed upon by society. Who or what made them gods?

“Your Grace!” General Polios shouts for his king, cutting through the bodies surrounding them, breath haggard from hours of battle. “To me men! Protect your King!” The monarch's honor guard who had been overwhelmed for a detrimental amount of time, are fighting the assailants, barely keeping the demons at bay. 

I awoke with a piercing headache, in what seemed to be an abandoned home, with my arms hurting, and my feet numb. I instantly panicked and started to scream for help not knowing that my screaming would soon become a foreshadowing of disaster.

The Spanish teacher's monotonous voice was the only thing that could be heard in the frigid classroom. It was the third week of school and the classroom activities had changed from orientation-friendly that welcomed students back from the winter break to content-heavy. Arthur gave up listening half an hour ago, choosing to focus on his drawing of a butterfly instead of listening to the various conjugations.

Humid air, music and laughter filled the night as Clara Jene stood frozen, heart pounding. She was supposed to be enjoying her graduation trip with her best friends, Anna and Shae, in the irie city of Kingston, Jamaica. In the crowded beach party, she spotted someone she never expected—her father, Clarke.

Janae stood at the classroom door, nerves fluttering. It was her first day teaching at a new school. “Good morning, everyone,” she began, her voice steady but hands slightly trembling. “I have a special announcement. Today, we’re starting a project that I hope will be both fun and meaningful.”

Ryan looks at me and my chest augments, my ribs splitting up and open, heart bared in gory invitation even after all of these years. I left her caterpillar body on the concrete steps of a school I wasn’t fully ready to leave.