They called him Oddball. His real name was Roger Bootham. It was a nickname given to him in school, and it seemed to have just stuck. Sometimes it was even spoken by the teachers. A name unwanted by Roger, of course, but if you asked not to be called that, then, well, it stuck for life. Children can be cruel. Children who grow up to be cruel adults. Now Oddball was twenty-one years of age, studying for a music degree at t...

Chapter 1: Victor Kane’s WorldKane Tower – 60th Floor Victor Kane did not read newspapers. This was not so much a principle, but a condition of his life. Anything of consequence was brought to him and reduced and rearranged into a condition that required no effort on his part. To him, reading meant uncertainty, and he had long ago removed uncertainty from his affairs. For this reason, when his assistant, Harris, laid a ne...

The old woman squinted to make out the approaching figure, then groaned when she recognized the young girl. As the girl neared, the woman’s black coat began to feel too heavy. “Quit your flitting about, Millie,” the old woman scolded. “I’m not flitting. I’m dancing,” said the girl. “It’s what I do when I’m excited.” “Hmph.” The old woman turned up her nose. Millie smiled as each prancing step melted the snow underfoot. “D...

Paff puff I smoke you like a cigarette Paff puff And then again paff puff I am addicted to you.

Chapter 1: The Forest That Whispered Secrets The first light of dawn had barely touched the mountains when Raj Singh stepped out of his small wooden house, breathing in the crisp air that carried the scent of pine and damp soil. For most villagers, the forest that stretched beyond the fields was a place of caution. But for Raj, it was something more—it was alive, like an old friend who spoke in silence. He adjusted the st...

coined by night with closing of eyes shadows fall with a hush of silence and weightless gravity incognito of the dark fading to indigo bleeding into the sheets of the quiet abyss dissolving into nocturnal dreams the dreams of yesterday, today and tomorrow. chewing eternity in the mouth. felt always bitter and sweet oh so sweet. Collaboration with Atticus Abey

Arjun had learned very early in life what it meant to be alone. He lost his mother when he was just a child—the only person who had ever loved him without conditions. After her death, the house he lived in no longer felt like home. His father grew distant, and the rest of the family treated him like he didn’t belong. He was there… but invisible. No one asked how he felt. No one cared enough to listen. So Arjun stopped tal...

Ethan was sixteen when he decided school wasn’t for him anymore. It didn’t happen all at once. At first, it was just small things—skipping homework, showing up late, rolling his eyes when teachers spoke. Classes felt pointless. “When am I ever going to use this?” he’d mutter under his breath. His friends laughed, and slowly, he stopped trying. One morning, after failing another test, Ethan made a decision that felt bold a...

As time slips away falling a pocketful of sand in gravity between my fingers of thumb and memory lost in temporary like a clockwork ticking measured in hours among the stones leaving only dust and schizophrenia with ghosts in my Lenovo as time slips away falling listening to the Rorschach echo, “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick” It is the echo of city, be like that, be like this. As I drift slowly on the narrow streets. The...

Harutyun Jr. was crying his lungs out as his mother Adrijana pushed him in the cart as they were walking through the grocery store. To any onlooker, she looked negligent and apathetic, letting her baby cry like that. But she had spent four hours getting him dressed, trying to find the right sensory fabric for him to not just tear off his body and run away. She had fed him three bottles of dhampir sang-formula, and so he w...

The albatross ‘victor’ Gets up in the morning And does wing-exercising; Rain is not stopping him this morning; He has done it repeatedly, On rainy and sunny days; He flaps his big wings against the strong winds, Hops in the air And falls back on the ground; Flaps his big white wings another time And hops back to the ground; The albatross has a clear set goal in his head; He aims at learning to fly; One day he knows, he wi...

The woman; I wanted to see her on a costume; Wearing clothes That were made for the chief of astronauts; Clothes that reminded you There is no time, Time is running out; You ought to put all that strength And concentration on your will And fulfill it; Make it done;

On the list of memories; All kept as files on my head; Today the drawer opened And I got reminded of you; And …Of course … I got reminded of that taste … In my mouth, …When I tried to taste you. .. I got reminded of How it turned out, You were oranges and apricots, But of course made of plastic;

The day I got her letter I was in such a state I couldn't go to the rest of my classes. How was I to focus on my studies after reading 'Dear Aoife, My mother has been murdered?' My hands shook so bad I had to get someone to read the rest to me. I should never have gone away to school. If only I'd stayed in Wiscasset. I might not have been able to save her ma, but I'd not let anyone take her away like that, would I? I'd ha...

Oh to see your cute dimples pretty face and sweet voice Another time.