A Lonely Place

It sat in an empty grave yard. The willow tree billowing in the chilly midnight wind. The moon shone bright above and cast dark shadows over what could have been. There was a dusty wooden bench hidden under the shadows of the tree that had been overtaken by moss throughout the centuries it had sat there. Crickets chirped an odd tune of sorrow and mosquitos near the eerily still lake searched for blood. The sky was a sullen gray color without a cloud in the sky yet the sound of thunder grew closer and closer. A thick blanket of fog concealed the land, keeping secrets hidden. 

Yet still it sat there. On the mossy wooden bench while the mosquitos flew around its head and the bugs crawled over its feet. Its foot went Thump. Thump. Thump. on the ground for a long while before it slowly creaked up and trudged over to the desolate road. It looked both ways, saw nothing, and then headed back to the bench where it sat and waited some more. 

Photo by Armando Maynez on OpenVerse

Happy Valley Neighborhood

After going through a grueling four years of college, getting a job, and getting a promotion at said job, Lindsey decided it was finally time to get a house of her own. While searching for her dream home, she came across an ad that seemed almost too good to be true. It was a two story house in a great neighborhood called the Happy Valley Neighborhood and it was free. She figured she needed to seize the opportunity as soon as possible, ignoring the fine print which stated: “Purchasing a House in the Happy Valley Neighborhood Will Provide You With Jobs and Food. You Will Not Be Able to Leave.” 

But once the application process began, Lindsey couldn’t stop. It had become an obsession. The various odd tasks she was forced to complete completely took away all her time to the point that she was neglecting her job and had gotten fired. Her friends and family members were getting increasingly concerned over the fact that she hadn’t left her apartments besides for basic necessities and wouldn’t see them. She had entered a trance to get the house. After months of interviews and tasks, the Happy Valley Neighborhood accepted Lindsey. Once she moved in, she was delighted to see the gorgeous houses and clean streets. She began working as a cash register clerk which ended up taking up most of her time, which was odd, she thought, since she only worked five hours a day.  

After this realization, there came many others. First, was that all the other women in the community looked eerily similar. They all wore the same clothes and had the same smile. Their hair was perfect and they all woke up at exactly the same time. Moreover, she noticed that the weather had been exactly the same for the past six months and there were no birds or insects to be found; When she was alone in her home, it was always completely silent. That night as she finally started thinking about everything around her and Lindsey began getting the feeling of being watched. Watched by something sinister and something evil. She had come to her senses about the whole situation and so she ran out of her house in the pitch black to find the exit to the place. But it seemed she just kept running, and running, and running. 

Photo by eioua on OpenVerse

The Story of the Stars

There was once a little girl named Rue who would go to bed everyday and dream of the stars and moon and the sky. One day, the stars asked her if she wanted to come with them. 

“To where?” she asked, for she didn’t know and the stars had never talked to her.

To a place you’ve never been and all your dreams will come true, they said

Rue agreed and she was whisked off her bed to the new world over the people sleeping in their beds. What she saw was everything she had envisioned. She saw the villages and the forests and nothing seemed to matter. But then the wind started blowing. The wind who was unhappy that the stars were trying to bring Rue out of her bed and into the sky. 

She fell. Out of the sky and into the forest with the dark and the scary animals. Luckily, she had not gone very far and was able to walk back on a winding path to her house with only scratches on her arm and bruises on her legs

The next day, as Rue was dreaming of the stars and moon and the sky, the stars asked her the same question.

Do you want to come with us? To a place you’ve never been before?

Rue agreed again despite the previous encounter with the wind. This time, she got farther. She got past her village and much much higher in the sky. Now, she felt she was as close to the stars as she was her home. Then the wind came again. But this time, the wind did not soften her fall or lead her back home. Now, Rue would never have a chance to accept the request from the stars again. 

Photo by Michael Pollak on OpenVerse

Dreams of Pink

Daniella had been wanting the limited edition bedazzled Barbie dream house since she could remember. The moment she laid eyes on it in the magazine at the doctors office, she knew it was her destiny to own it. From this moment forward, her family hadn’t heard the end of it. Daniella would come home from school everyday praying she would see it sitting there in the car or perched on her kitchen table. But everyday, she was disappointed. 

Soon, it would be Daniella’s birthday and everybody knew the one and only thing on her list was the bedazzled Barbie dream house. Her parents were completely fed up with the persistent nagging. They went to the store while she was sleeping and purchased the Barbie dream house. Except it wasn’t really. The “Darpie fantasy home” was a measly little structure. It was a foot tall and was a dim pink color that looked like it had been sitting in the sun for years. Unfortunately for Daniella, she thought she was receiving the real house of her dreams but it was only a matter of hours before she saw the sad excuse for a Barbie dream house and her dreams were crushed.

Photo by downing.amanda on OpenVerse

Change

After immigrating to the US from Asia, life had been full of challenges for Ling but she braved them with striking fearlessness and perseverance. Like many before her, she had moved to the States in her 20s along with her husband in hopes of starting a better life. Ling originally started out as a waitress at a restaurant near her apartment in San Francisco and before being promoted to manager for her hard work and skill. However, after spending decades in the city, Ling and her husband decided it would be best to move to the suburbs. The suburbs were much calmer and less hectic. She found a job in retail and she settled down in the new environment which she grew to love.

On a cloudy spring morning, Ling was tending to the various herbs and vegetables she had grown in her front yard. She saw a tall lady with white hair and a puffer jacket exit the house right next to her. They exchanged hellos but that was all. Over the next few months, Ling and the lady with the white hair grew closer. It turned out that her name was Charlotte and they were born within the same month of each other and their favorite color was green. As they got to know each other, the two started the tradition of going on walks everyday at exactly seven am. Charlotte would meet Ling outside her house so they could walk together through the neighborhood, no matter how cold. If it really got cold enough, they would hook their arms together, walking side by side and talk about their plans for the day. 

Despite the chilling weather, Ling and Charlotte continued to walk but one day, a new women moved

into the neighborhood. Glenda had gray hair and blue eyes, she had just moved from Florida. She saw Ling and Charlotte went on daily morning walks and decided she wanted to join. At first, she would walk behind the two with her dog on the two person side walk, but eventually things began to change. Charlotte started inviting her to their hangouts and the two got closer. Ling told herself not to worry about it, it was wrong to try and keep a friend to herself. But to her dismay, she saw Charlotte was leaving her behind, forgotten. Now, instead of arm in arm during chilly seven am walks, she walked behind Charlotte and Glenda as they talked, as if she wasn’t there at all.

Photo by JanetR3 on OpenVerse