moonsalt; enslaving haste, shimmering heat, gas stations staring at the seconds collapsing from my hushed jaws in horror. scrambled eggs and exhausted mothers, the monotonic pangs of an incomprehensibly indifferent economy screeching through my weary ears. scrawled cherry knots and geometrical lines, lines of cocaine and country borders, 
spiraling agony, spiraling agony,
spiraling agony.



;



asphalt; roads in potholes, politics in remedies, dying and the baffling cost of living. the prophetess cannot predict this disarray, this disenchantment, this apathy. burning...

        I died. No seriously, I died. I was on top of my dead body, lying motionlessly. Actually, I was seeing some twitches on my body. Another casualty from the devil itself, cars, the bringer of death. In front of my eyes, two big red words flashed:
                                                                            SIMULATION FINISHED
For all I knew, I was in some hell of its own, forever resting among my dead body, doomed to my fate. Though, there was a helmet on...

Call it the need for… Revenge, for vengeance, for retribution… Whatever it is, it’s all that keeps me going. As my tears mix with this deep ocean, I am reminded of why I feel this way. Why I’m so bitter. It’s a living nightmare. And I’m forced to relive this memory every second.

I barely remember what happened; it just came together in bits and pieces as I woke up. I knew having females on a ship was bad luck,...

I drew in a deep breath and jumped into the chlorinated water. I held the rim of the pool and started practicing swimming leg moves. My coach approached me wearing a look of disappointment because it had been half a month that I was practicing the same move with no success. He instructed me to come out of the pool built for beginners. Before I could think, he picked me up and threw me like a can into eight feet...

The first thing Vivian thought of when she entered the bathroom was the dust. On the mirror, the black marble counter, the cute little soap dispenser, the walls. Negligent of the staff and maybe herself. The dust was gone soon enough, spotless surfaces gleaming all around, and Vivian washed her hands quietly in the echoing bathroom. She couldn’t tell exactly whether the echoes were in the walls or between her own ears.

Outside the bathroom, the fancy little bistro was...

VIII
I made sure I was back by the pond, or still by the pond? I shut my eyes and focused hard to remember whether this pond-side was the beginning.
Yes. This was it.
The walk back home was relieving and exhausting. Nevertheless, the relics of this day were priceless, for I won’t be able to ruminate over its wonders any further than tonight. Above all, I would see Aunt Sanya back at the dinner table tonight, and again tomorrow...

We don't just draw new constellations;
we create stars,
birth them from the abyss.
and split our fire to light their souls,

We swaddle them in the Milky Way,
gift them golden cores
and diamond rains.
We raise them in nebulae,
teach them to swim
in the primordial seas,
to skip on asteroid belts.

We show them that,
when we look up,
we look into the past
of our ever-expanding expanse:
exponential opportunity
begging to be explored.

We teach them...

The little black cat is my friend.

Her cloudy eyes are gentle in the night; two marbled stones that smile dim (but bright). She has a smile, the little cat, a smile that whispers upon the edge of her cheeks, just like the whiskers that she brushes with a scarred paw. Is it the subtle nod of her head through the fog that sends me spiralling into a flux of dreams? Or is it the pitter patter of almost-silent footsteps...

When we were magic, once, they called us witches. It was back when mystical pools swapped bodies and souls, and stars detached themselves from the satin of the cosmos to visit their favourite mortals. Too often they left disappointed, white shifts and halos losing some of their gleam. The stars loved the witches, but the witches worshipped the stars. They named their children Sirius or Orion, and swaddled their babes in cloth drawn from still moonlit lakes. The stars gave...

Tik tok. Tik tok. Tik tok. Time was ticking. It was moving fast. However, at that moment, it seemed as if it was the last thing we cared about. I was unsure what to feel. Amusement? Confusion? Nervousness? Excitement? Ah. There were so many things running in my head that I didn't realized what had happened. 

You kissed me. 

Our lips locked for a second of our lives. Although ephemeral, it was the most beautiful thing that had happened in...

    Underneath the night sky a pebble crashed into a lake, distorting the moon's reflection with the ripples it created. As the water stilled, a young girl looked up to watch to the twinkling stars. Lit only by the full moon, she seemed almost like a spirit. Her curly hair cascaded down her back like an inky waterfall and her pale eyes appeared to glow as she gazed at the moon. Her lips twisted into a sad smile as she stood...

"My name is Jonathan Hart, and I have an irrational fear of the dark."
As a young child, my fear of the dark was considered normal. Most kids were afraid of the dark, and their vivid imaginations conjured up terrifying monsters that loomed over them from the blackest corners of their room. Sharp shark teeth protrude from strong jaws and drool dripping from their disgusting mouths. Breath that smelled like rotting fish, and the eyes...
Dark, slit eyes that peered...

"You want something more than this, don't you?" The girl in pastel clothes sitting next to me in the booth of my hometown's fast food restaurant asked, head cocked slightly to the side. The blue-streaked blonde pigtails bounced with her movements, and I wondered how her hair was so fluffy. Maybe it was from the conditioner she used, or maybe it was the shampoo. Did she blow dry her hair? The volume of it made my hands twitch in want....