I am so happy to say that out of all of the wonderful submissions we have narrowed it down to the top three. We really appreciated all of the wonderful pieces and are looking forward to our next round of submissions.. Featured (in order) are: “A Bitter Icarus Heart” by Anonymous; “Untitled” by Emery Curry; and “What Classes Do You Wish Students Could Take In School” by Mayumi Abts.

“A Bitter Icarus Heart”

I would smile if I could. I would look on in disbelief for a moment — just a moment. That
finite and infinite moment would collide and desemate my world. My soul would expand
and stretch towards the last rays of glimmering light while simultaneously imploding. As
it extends the millimeters of its fingertips, it would watch in knowing fear as its very core
shifts and drifts away, like sand on a windy summer’s day. As long as I looked on with a
face as empty as the home we once shared, you would be oblivious. Oblivious as you
always were. So hopelessly and stupidly and wonderfully oblivious. The parted lips just
barely withholding your worried gasps. Those wretched eyelashes batting just as you
used to in the early morning when no one was awake to hear the hushed laughter and
tales we spun from the heavens. The tinted cheeks you only reserved for me on full
display now for everyone else to bear witness. Those cursed hands gripping oh so
tightly to the shirt I gave you. The shirt I spent months saving up for, the shirt I draped
upon your shoulders, the shirt I sniffed into to remember what home smelled like.

“Why must you torture me so?” I mutter, hoping you wouldn’t hear me — praying
hopelessly your hearing would fail now. Just like it did when you turned away from me
many nights ago.

You sigh, “There it is. I can’t even ask you to do one single thing without you avoiding
the question. It’s a wonder I put up with you for so long.” Your brow scrunched up again.
My chest wound itself – no – it coiled itself tightly around my lungs, squeezing and
taunting me to answer you. Instead of listening to you, I only looked upon the face I
gently caressed when your mind ran freely in your dreams.

“If I’m such a bother, then why crawl back to me?” There. Are my eyes joining my mind
and heart to tease and torment me?

“You know what? I came here to try to resolve things, yet it seems like I’m the only one
who has moved on.” Your bitter tone just barely concealed the fury and annoyance you

always bottle up. Your eyes swept over what used to be our escape from the cruel and
oh so cold world. Out there, life was barren. Devoid of love, of laughter, of you and
your… your —

“Sheesh. This place is a dump, you know! It’s one thing to be heartbroken and it’s
another to be a slouch.” There it is again. If only I can understand what it was I was
searching for in you.

“Honey, I –”

“Don’t!” you interrupt, eyes twisting into hardened clay, “Don’t you dare call me that
name.”

“I know this is a sad sight to look upon, but I have moved on. I swear to you. Your face
only comes across my mind when I accidentally see a picture of you. And the only
reason I don’t kick you out now is…. is….” What am I saying? Has my mouth
abandoned me too? Casted my sorrowful soul aside without acknowledgment? Kicked
and trotted over this vile, misshapen shadow? Can my body not stay with this trampled
soul? What have I done to deserve this treatment? Oh. I know why.

“Is what?”

My tongue has run away from me. It has fled its confinements and flew with joyous
energy, abandoning its confines. If only I could join it. To shed this heavy burden of
mortal shackles and levitate past the fog of despair. Once I finally break through the
surface that has withheld all light from me, I shall soar away. Away and away I shall go,
finally breathing and screaming the words I never get to say. Not because I can’t say
them, but because I refuse to allow myself the liberty to utter the words you wish to hear
my dear.

“Untitled”

“Good night, Mom!” I yelled as I went up the stairs to my room. It was about ten o’clock PM and I was ready to go to bed. It had been a long, eventful day filled with schoolwork, schoolwork, and to top it all off, some more schoolwork. I sighed as I thought about all of the homework I had yet to complete. As I reached the top step, I thought to myself, I wish life could be a little easier.
After I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed, I jumped into my comfy bed which felt like heaven after a long day. I pulled my blankets over myself and laid my head on my plush pillow. My sleepiness took my eyelids hostage and I went into a deep slumber.
Suddenly, I smelled a sweet, sugary smell. Confused, I opened my eyes to an extremely abnormal sight. As I looked around, I saw trees made of chocolate, grass made of green twizzlers, houses made of gingerbread, a pond filled with melted chocolate, and many more odd sights. Then suddenly I came to a realization; I was in candy land!
As I walked around, I not only saw more edible sights, but also people from the Bible! I saw Naaman, a commander who was healed from leprosy. I saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego having a friendly conversation. Just next to them I saw Nebuchadnezzar fishing in the chocolate pond. I had the urge to punch him for putting the poor people into the furnace, but I controlled myself.
As I continued to stroll around the peculiar place, I saw more people I immediately recognized; Hezekiah, Barabbas, Matthias, Solomon, Pharaoh, and more! I silently thanked God that I didn’t see Lucifer.
“You look like you’re new around here,” I heard a masculine voice behind me say. When I turned around, I saw Joseph from the Bible. The coat that he was wearing was absolutely beautiful. It was consumed in many colors that made him blend in with the vibrant hues of this candy world.
“Hi, Joseph!” I replied enthusiastically. “What is this place?”
“Egypt,” he said sarcastically, humor dancing in his green eyes. “What do you think?”
“Candy world,” I said, laughing aloud.
Joseph opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it as his eyes widened.
“It’s the disciples!” he said as if he had just seen a cave filled with gold.
I guided my eyes to where he was looking at and I saw what he was talking about. The disciples were walking together in what seemed like a formation. They had worn sandals on their feet, but instead of looking tattered, the shoes looked vintage.
“Today we will talk about the book of the laws in the Bible, Leviticus,” the man in front of the group said. I quickly recognized him as Peter.
“Look, there come all the patriarchs now,” Joseph said to me, pointing to the neighborhood of houses. I looked to where he was pointing and saw that one man was leaving each house.
“Each father of the house comes with the disciples to the tabernacle. They do a quick Bible study and the fathers report back to their houses. They then share the Bible study with their own families. Sometimes if some of the men need to, they will stay behind in the tabernacle. The disciples will help them with atonement.”
“That’s a cool process,” I said, still distracted by the gummy bears that were walking out of each house. I guess every person that isn’t a Bible character is a gummy bear!
“Let’s go dip strawberries in the pond,” I overheard a child gummy bear say.
Worry flooded my mind as I thought about all of the germs and bacteria that could be in the dirty waters.
Joseph, sensing my discomfort, said, “Don’t worry about them. There are no pestilences here. Even if a sickness did arise, the Cherubims would take care of it.”
I nodded my head in understanding. I heard some strange music in the distance, but decided to ignore it.
“Do you want to go swimming in the pond?” Joseph asked me.
Intrigued by the strange chocolate pond, I said yes. We ran in unison to the edge of the melted chocolate. We looked at each other and shouted, “Cannonball!” As we jumped the pond, I felt a smack of fabric on my face.
I looked up to see the familiar sight of my room and realized it was all a dream. I also realized that the “strange music” I heard was actually my alarm clock for school. I was supposed to wake up 30 minutes ago! As I leaped out of bed to get ready, I thought about the dream that I would never forget.

What Classes Do You Wish Students Could Take In School

There are a lot of different classes that students should be able to take for them to find out what they are interested in so that they can go to college to be what they want to be in the future.
I wish that students were able to take other foreign language classes instead of only having Spanish. Therefore, students would be able to have a variety of languages to learn. Also, there might be a different language that might be cool/interesting to them such as Japanese, Chinese, German, etc. When students are thinking about taking a language that stands out to them, they might want to go somewhere that speaks that language that they learned in school.
Another class that I wish schools had for students would be Fine Arts II. Just like schools have Spanish I and Spanish II, they should allow Fine Arts I and Fine Arts II. It would be a great opportunity for students to find a way for them to do things that they like/are interested in. For example, if there are students that want to be movie writers, actors/actresses, etc, they would need to find classes in high school that will help them understand how to do the things that involve the “drama” outlet.
One more class that I think schools should have is graphic design. I think that so many students want to go into graphic design because they want to create cool things. Not very many people know that there is a graphic designing program in college. They also do not realize that people who do graphic design can make a lot of money. There are a lot of big-name brands that have people who majored in graphic design, design/make their logos and prints. For example, Adidas, Nike, Puma, Under Armor, etc, have people design their logo. I just think that some students might want to do something like that in their futures.