Where Have All The Mythical Creatures Gone? by Emily Ives

"Pigs, Pigeons, Pikas, Pit bulls...." Noah counted, and checked all the animals filing into his ship. Pairs of fluffy, furry, scaly, and feathery animals were all cramming into the massive boat, in order to survive the impending doom, that was to drown the Earth in a flood.
He diligently looked over the list of all animals over and over again. At last, after the final pair of Zebras entered the ship, it was time to bring on List Number Two.
"Everybody have their partner?"
Waiting patiently on the shore there were thousands of mythical creatures, fidgeting, growling, steaming, fluttering all around, waiting anxiously to aboard the ship. "Aye, Unicorns, quite poking the gnomes, and get back in line. Alright, I guess we'll start with the Basilisks, and then move on to the Cyclopses."
It was beginning to rain, and just as the mythical creatures were about to enter, chaos erupted. Cows and Elephants and other large animals began to block the entrance to the ship. Roars, and growls threatened the magical creatures to not enter. Noah always knew that the plain, ordinary animals were jealous of the mythical creatures cool mystical powers, but never thought they would start revolt against them!
Noah simply couldn't have this on his ship. He had all these animals come together, to survive the flood, and when it finally ends, start the world anew!
Noah was growing angrier by the minute. Goblins were chucking rocks at the boars, skunks were spraying the griffins, dragons were breathing fire at the horses, it was an all out war, it seemed!
"Now wait just a moment!" Noah yelled, as he stormed up the now sea-soaked ramp that led to the ship. Shouting profanities, waving his finger at the air, attempting to stop this madness, Noah was finally about to reach the entrance, when he was stealthily snatched by an elephant's trunk. Being held high in the air, squirming futilely demanding to be released, the animals began to work quickly.. An Ox hooked the edge of the ramp and tore it free. A tiger slashed the ropes that connected the boat to land, and the hippos, pandas, and bears pushed the boat from the shore. As the boat drifted away, the mystical creatures were in utter shock.The reality of the tumultuous event had yet to sink in. While it finally dawned on them that they were now abandoned to their fate, shock and disbelief, turned to outrage. The hyena's taunting laugher, and the monkeys chatter, faded as the boat grew smaller and smaller on the raising sea.

RAINBOW
by Emily Ives
it's always days like these where here and there the sun breaks through the rain clouds i see the resplendent mysterious arc stretch vertically into the sky.
i sit here, on my favorite rock, pondering. Why does it only come when it's sunny and rainy? Is it alive? Why is it so many colors?
I can never see the base of it, and it disappears behind the clouds. it seems it never moves.
it is pleasant to look at, though. it's colors attract my eyes away from the rocky mountains, in which my tribe dwells in. it's always: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
just then i began to hear people coming. behind me, three slumped over, club dragging, fellow cavemen shuffle towards me.
they greet me with a kind grunt. I say hello back to my friends, Oogy, Oogoo, and Ooga.
I point in the direction of the mysterious colorful streak, to see what they think if it. if they even think at all. they're great friends, but it seems like all the cavemen around here have horrible brain damage. cant hold a conversation with any of them, without an empty stare and massive drooling.
the loud thug of Oogoo's poorly carved wooden club hitting the floor broke the silence. the reflection of the colorful mass sparkled in his now wide with wonder eyes.
Ooga is clearly confused and began screaming savagely, while trying to chuck rocks at it. Though even with Ooga's incredible barbaric strength, not one pebble could reach the colored arc.
Oogy was shivering with fear as he glanced timidly at it through his hairy fingers. Oogoo grabbed Oogy's hand and began walking towards it not blinking, possessed by amazement and curiosity. Oogy reluctantly dragged along, hiding his heavily bearded face with his hand.
Ooga began to follow them still angry at the unfamiliar object in the sky. I decided to tag along with them on this journey to find out what this colorful mass is.
we walked for awhile and as the sun went down, the colors faded away. We decided to camp out for the night, and agreed to continue our journey to uncover the mystery of the colored arc the next morning.

My Fight by Amber Serpa

Sleeping, dreaming, slipping farther away

From the reality that taunted me.

Wishing every pain could drown with my tears

And cast away the hurt engulfing me.

I plea insanity, I can't take much more

I've lost myself within an empty hollow me.

The deeper I'm in, the longer I stay and the farther reality is

This is my escape from the demons wanting to swallow me.

When the illusion breaks, reality is waiting

Knowing it will soon again have its grip on me.

I've tried releasing the hurt, I've given up letting go

But the pain isn't in my veins-it's deep within me.

Permanent solutions tempt this shell, to sleep forever

But I can't let it win this war over me.

I am my own supporter, and it's getting harder with every step

The only way I'll win is if I learn to love me.

Showing my weakness is said to destroy, but I'm already broken

So I'm done with this mask and I'm done hiding me.

If there is a higher power and I am just its toy

Then I'm done playing games, I'm ready for me.

Realizing my own strength, making the decision to change

Refusing to give in has made a new me.

I no longer escape my fate and long to be dust

I spend my time awake and do what's right for me.

I'm working on finding why pain is all I feel,

I'm determined to find the old, happy me.

And while I wait to be fixed and become whole once again

My fight still goes on, the war inside of me.

Mr. Tree by Money Kaur

No Tree this is not what I want. I want you to sleep with me tree

just sleep. And as the sunset little old Robert laid next to his friend tree and slowly fell asleep.

Wake up!Wake up! IT'S THE POLICE!

It was 4:30 a.m on a dark Friday Morning. The Sun had not risen yet and neither had Robert.

This ones not waking up bob".

We may have to throw him in the tank. Robert had 12 beers and a whole bottle of captain which he drank all night before he ended up with Mr. Tree. The officers picked him up as if he was a little baby and carried him the the car and straight to the police station. As

the officer was driving, he looked through the rear view mirror and noticed that Robert had started to become conscious of his surroundings. As Robert slowly opened his eyes his vision was still very blurry and his pupils were dilated the movement of the car made him 10x more

sicker all he saw was the officer in the front seat and blood stains on his clothes.

"Good morning young lad:"

And right before Robert could even say anything. This nasty look came upon his face and right after that look came the vomit and splattered all over the back of the officers head.

WOAH NELLY!

Officer Roy stopped his car and pulled over to clean everything.

Im DRUNK AHAHA.

After saying his last words Robert fell back into a deep sleep. Finally they arrived at the police station officer Roy took him and laid him in a small cell. Robert could not help bu wonder how he got into this position. His Stomach growled in hunger and pain. He was stuck in a jail cell not knowing was to do or think of. Thoughts raced through his head. The voices outside started to give Robert a headache.

"Roy this boy has blood all over his pants"

I understand that Bill but it could be just from the vomiting of the alcohol he is only 16 years old his body can not handle all that booze. But how does a girl go missing around the same area at the same time, place, and day.

" I don't believe it, I cant believe it there has to be a logic behind this"

"Listen to me the blood stains are from the girl Roy".

Robert was too hung over to realize that the officers were talking about him. He laid down on the hard cold bed which felt like a cement floor. His eyes slowly shut as his vision got darker and darker and Finally blank darkness.

"We might have to take him into the tank, while he threw water on Roberts face to get him to become conscious.

"Just grab the bucket, and hand it to me"

Officer Roy poured freezing cold water all over Roberts body to wake him up.

AHHHHH FUCKKK! WHAT IS THIS.

Roy and Bill stood there laughing histracly while watching Robert get up in a mili second right after the water was poured all over him. " Come on young Lad" They picked up Robert up from the sides and took him into the confessional room while handcuffing his hands. Once they arrived in the room the officer took his cuffs off and he was positioned sitting in a chair with just one light bulb over his head.

This is just like those stupid movies, you stupid pigs don't even know what happened and you know guys take me here just to pay yourselves for food on the table. I hate you cops! Robert spit in the officers face who stood right next to him.

ENOUGH! investigator jack Watson walked saying.

Who do you think you are ? You think you can just own this place because you are a little immature teenager we picked up from a street and saved his life. You should be thanking these gentlemen. Yet you are throwing your nasty drunken Silva at there faces. Robert look around room stunned with no expression on his face. He could not believe that this old ass man just made him shut up. He had some balls saying all that stuff. He didn't know who he was messing with. I am here for no reason this is bullshit, I can do what ever I want it is a free country.

It also is free enough country for to have you charged with tress passing and under age drinking.

You wouldn't do that.

I could I should if you don't answer or corrupt with these questions tat will be asked.

"Suck my ass".

HAH you have jokes boy.

Investigator Watson was not one bit scared nor confused about this station . He was more so amused with all the things this young boy had to say. I will make you cooperate or you will be put into juvenile hall.

So try to gather these thoughts and you can take a sip of this water its all you will be drinking tonight. This is going to take a while.

Question #1- Where were you on the night of August 20?

At your moms house, doing her while I handcuffed her with your hand cuffs.

That strike 1 two more and your gone little boy. Ill ask you one more time this time think before you answer.

Where were you the night of August 20?

Fine. I was at my friends party.

Question #2- How much did you have to drink?

I don't drink..

The room got into a dead silence*.

Okay all I remember having is 8 beers and couple of shots I don't remember anything after that.

How old are you?

16

Where you with a woman at all on Saturday night?

I saw a blonde haired girl and I remember talking to her.

Where you carrying any weapons.

I always have my pocket knife on me.

Do you remember using any of your weapons.

Why would I do that if I was with a girl, it would scare her off. No shut up already I'm done answering these questions.

Why are you guys treating me like I'm some fucking murderer. Fuck get me out of here god dammit. Robert got up and started walking out of the confession room. As he tired to leave the officer at the door held him down and put his hand in handcuffs Robert resisted to pull away but the officer held him down.

" your not going any where little rascal".

HAHHAHAHA, I just wanted to go take a big fat piss shit man.

You can be escorted to the bathroom you don't deserve to go by yourself.

The officer walked Robert down the hall and around the corner.

Robert went into a stall while the officer stood outside. While pulling his pants down he noticed a nasty cut on his left thigh around it was sere blood. The cut was pretty deep. FUCK!

You having some trouble in there?

Robert quickly pulled up his pants and zipped everything back up flushing the toilet while his body was shivering from being in shock after noticing the cut. His hands would not stop trembling. NO I'm fine, back off. The officer put the handcuffs back onto Roberts hands while they would not stop trembling.

You nervous boy?

No leave me alone.

He walked him down to his cell and pushed Robert in after taking his handcuffs off.

Robert laid on the cold bed and shivered the room was filthy nasty and freezing cold. The sheet he had to sleep was thinner than ice. He laid distraught about how he ended up there, and what the hell happened. He tried to recollect his thoughts but all he could remember was being at the party and leaving with a girl and of course yakking his brains out on the officer. His head started to ache as he tired to get deep thoughts. Why was there a deep bloody cut on his thigh and blood stains on his jeans. Thoughts just ran through his head but nothing would come into play.

Officer Roy and Bill were in the DNA Lab examine the girl.

They had found a girl laying dead 3 feet away from were Robert was found. They believed that Robert had everything to do with this murder, but further investigation was definitely needed in order to make any assumptions. The lab came out with finger prints that were placed on the girls neck and matched them with Roberts they did not match. The question behind this was how could a 16 year old boy with a blood alcohol level of .20 this boy could not have understood anything that was going on around him let alone kill some girl.

Later that night, the results were found and Robert was innocent.

Ironically This girl had committed suicide right by the park where Robert ended up after the girl he was with Julia had dropped off because Robert was too drunk to go home. He told her to drop him off at the park and that he would walk home while trying to get out of the car he cut him self and blood was every where. Robert was released the next morning, and would never forget the adventure he had that night. He was charged with nothing, and was left with a price less memory of throwing up in a police officers face.

Invisible by Mathew Jimenez

Im invisible on the floor
your standing at the door
looking for my body
but theres nothing to see
Im invisble bleeding
out of my wrists
lifes drifting away
way to quickly
I try to scream
I try to plea
you can hear but
theres nothing to see
Im invisible dieing
I thought you cared
but now you cant see me
Im no longer there
Im invisible gone
its to little to late
a life without me
Is forever your fate

Unrested Spirit by Teresa Silva

There's a fire

Ready to blaze up

Constantly watching

For any trace of oxygen

There's a river

Ready to become an ocean

Constantly searching

For a wider path

There's a rose

Ready to bloom

But without the sun

What's a rose to do?

But sit and wait

Gently fading

Behind the other roses

Fully bloomed

And captured by the sun

But each of these

Know their fate

Has come to a close

The search is over

The fire's eyes

Flicker at the sight

Of a cool breeze

The river's arms

Boldly embrace

An ocean of wonder

And at last

It's the rose

Enveloped in the glory of the sun

Who reaps the greatest rewards

Of crying out in praise

And becoming one with its soul

I cry out

As my own search is finally over

It's there

Eyes waiting in the fire

Arms wide open

And for the first time, I'm not afraid to bloom.

I'll Miss It by Lesly Hernandez

I'll miss hugging you and squeezing you. I'll miss kissing and bitting you. I'll miss the tickling and punching. I'll miss your kisses and I'll miss your touch. I'll miss your good nights late at night I'll miss your sweetness I'm not going to lie. I'll miss those nights of holding on tight. I'll miss listening to your heart right next to mine. I'll miss holding hands and your arms around me. I'll miss talking about everything and anything. I'll miss my friend, my partner in crime. But most of all I'll miss having you in my life.

Children of the Empire Chapter 5 by Kimberly White

"I still can't believe it." said Connor after a long pause. "I mean . . . Susan, it's been over two years and you haven't aged a day."

Sniffing, Susan tried to calm herself. "I know, but that's not important right now. We have to find Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth's here?!" Connor said in surprise. "What's she doing here?"

Susan glared at her bother and said indignantly "Saving your ass, that's what. We did what she wanted; now it's my turn. We're taking down this ship."

"What?! You two? By yourselves. What's been going on out there?" Connor asked fearful and confused.

"Don't worry, you haven't missed much James and I visited Earth. We have Samuel and we have a battle going on out there. That's why we need to take down this ship. They're killing us." Susan paused uncertainly. "Elizabeth said Nina saw something... She said Carinia's going to fall. But, if that's true I'm taking down this ship with the Empire."

"I'll go with you." Connor said gravely.

"No!" Susan spoke right away. "You're going to leave and find Aaron. If you can't find Aaron, go to one of the nearby planets and look for Samuel. He'll be alone. Come on. Elizabeth should be here soon." Susan then took off for the hallway, Connor following closely behind her.

000000

Elizabeth ran down the hall, silently cursing.

The Zalls figured out about the prison break. The good thing, though, was the bells hadn't figured out they were here yet. But, that didn't mean they had much time.

Elizabeth turned the corner and there they were standing in quiet hushed voices. At the sight of Connor and Susan, Elizabeth couldn't help but stop. It was unbelievable when Connor was captured a year ago. She never believed she would see him ever again and when she decided to come to this ship, she thought she would never see Susan again. But, there they were.

Elizabeth felt a sudden burst of pain split seconds before she heard the shot. Gasping, Elizabeth's right hand went to her left arm, holding the wound tightly. It was just a graze from a laser gun. The only good thing about being shot by a laser is it cauterizes the wound. No bloody mess. She turned her head to the shooter and pushed open his mind violently. The Zall let out an ear piercing scream and his hands flew to his head. Liquid began seeping out of his eyes, nose and ears. Only seconds later he fell to the floor seizing. Elizabeth concentrated a moment longer before a surge of panic bubbled up inside her.

They knew now. There was no doubt about it, and they were coming. She turned her head, frantic eyes searching out Susan's. Elizabeth pushed as softly and briefly as she could in her panicked stat and mouthed, "Run".

Susan stumbled slightly away from Elizabeth's direction. Staring at Elizabeth's terrified expression; she knew what she had to do. With a hardened more determined expression, Susan turned toward Connor, who was staring at Elizabeth with worry and indecision. "Come on, let's go," said Susan as she began to run down the hall.

But Connor wasn't moving. Susan stopped and turned her anger on Connor. Before he knew it, he flew past Susan and landed roughly on the floor and skidded to a stop. Disoriented, Connor stood up and turned a set of annoyed eyes on his sister. "Fine," he said and the two took off. After all, no one could know they were here.

000000

Elizabeth tore her eyes from Susan's and headed towards the now dead Zall. She searched his pockets and found a key card. Briefly looking around, Elizabeth used the key card to open up a hatch in the wall filled with weapons. Searching diligently though the choices, Elizabeth grabbed a case filled with clear spheres filled with a red substance. Ignoring the other weapons, she was about to close the hatch when a small gun caught her eye. Contemplating for a moment, Elizabeth quickly grabbed the gun and hocked it on her pants.

Elizabeth then closed the weapon's hatch and turned down the hallway, running. She stepped into an elevator and opened the case with the small spheres grabbing as many as she could carry with both hands. Elizabeth waited restlessly for the elevator to stop. Once it stopped moving and the door slowly opened Elizabeth threw two small spheres into the waiting crowd of Zall guards. Within a second, the room was filled with thick red smoke that dissipated as quickly as it came. All the guards stood there, afterwards, paralyzed only able to move their eyes. Frightened eyes were turned in Elizabeth's direction. With a deep breath Elizabeth concentrated on ripping out the minds of the Zalls. Unable to move, dozens of eyes began to shift back and forth. It wasn't long before a thin blue liquid seeped out of their noses, ears, and eyes. In pain, eyes called out of their heads and started twitching. Paralyzed, the guards died standing.

Stepping out of the elevator, Elizabeth walked slowly up to the nearest guard, a psychotic smile foaming on her lips. Pushing the Zall over, he fell to the floor hard, still frozen in a standing position. Elizabeth stared at the Zall, watching his blue blood drip down the side of his face. She let out a giggle of delight as she reached out and smeared the blood over the Zall's face.

A loud crash followed by urgent voices startled Elizabeth for a second as her face twisted with surprise. Uncertain, Elizabeth stood there with a vacant expression. Making a decision, she twisted her head to the side and that psychotic smile appeared on her face again.

She stepped away from the dead Zalls and began walking down the hall toward the now angry voices of even more Zall guards. Elizabeth twisted her expression into a more docile one. Clutching the small spheres tightly in one hand and blue blood slowly dripping from the other, Elizabeth's face was innocent, looking as if she were excited to get a treat. Licking her lips Elizabeth turned the corner to face the Zalls ready for a massacre.

000000

Susan fidgeted, agitated as she searched room after room looking for the escape pads. Conner trailed behind her moping almost, his head in the clouds and worry etched into his features. "Come on, Connor! At least help me!" Susan called out annoyed.

Sighing in contempt, Connor didn't reply but started to help. He glanced in one room and saw a large monitor. Muttering to himself about the ridiculousness of the situation, he entered the room and began to hack into the ship's system looking for a map hopefully. Susan entered the room silently a short time later and with a few moments her patients was wearing thin. Arms folded, Susan tapped her foot, showing her impatience to Connor.

"Chill out for a minute, Sue. You can wait a minute." Connor said annoyed. A video feed popped up on the monitor of Elizabeth and Connor's annoyance instantly disappeared. "Uh-Oh".

On the monitor, Connor and Susan watched as Elizabeth smeared a Zall's blood all over his face. "Ah fuck! She has to go and loose her mind now of all times does she?" yelled Susan in anger and frustrations.

"She can't help it, you know that" replied Connor quickly, not liking Susan's bluntness. "We have to go get her."

"I know…but first we have to find the escape pods. It would do no good to go down and get her if we can't get off the ship." Susan said, logic taking over ever with her frustrations.

Sighing in resignation, Connor knew his sister was right and continued his search for the ship's map or blue prints. After a moment, Connor called out, "Found it. They're two floors below us."

"Guess it's time to get moving again. Lead the way." offered Susan sounding a little preoccupied with something.

000000

Connor and Susan were walking down a hall at a fast pace. Turning into a room, they saw a large room with about 50 open doors. The doors connected two small escape pods that fit about eight people if everyone cramped in. The pods were never, of course, intended for long term travel. They were extremely fast, but died out quickly, only intended to get to the nearest inhabitable planet or moon.

Susan walked up to the screen that monitored the escape pods. Connor watched patiently as Susan rearranged a few details. He glanced around casually and stepped into one of the pods for a closer look.

When Connor disappeared from Susan's sight inside the pod, she stopped all movement and froze. She stared at the doorway intently for a moment before taking a long, shaky breath, trying to steady herself for what she was about to do. Walking up to the doorway, she saw Connor sitting in one of the seats without a worry. Lifting her hand, Susan silently manipulated the belts quickly into place before Connor could react.

The belts locked in place and Connor was slow, confused, and in denial of the situation. Tugging lightly on the constraints, Connor remarked, "Sue now's not the time for games. Let me go."

Susan stared at Connor for a moment, but he wasn't looking at her, a little preoccupied with the belts. "No." she answered simply.

Connor raised his head to look at his sister slowly, as to not give her a reason to do something irrational. He stared at her for a long moment, forehead wrinkled, trying to understand her actions. "Why not?"

"You'll get in the way." Susan said unwillingly to reveal her thoughts to Connor.

"What are you talking about? I won't get in the way. How would I get in the way?" he questioned critically, attempting to remain calm.

"You know. Don't pretend you don't know." began Susan accusatory. "You're too emotionally attached. Elizabeth knows that and feels responsible. But she's not. You are, Connor. You're the one that let Elizabeth do anything she wanted. You're the one that immediately backed her up when she wanted to explore enemy territory. You're the one that reacted badly when Zalls appeared. You're the one that panicked and sent Elizabeth away even when you knew she had the power to deal with the situation. You are Elizabeth's GARDIAN, Connor! You're suppose to guide her; protect her from herself. Not make irrational decisions in a situation she was trained and capable of handling. We're still kids Connor. Just because we can fight in a battle, in a war, doesn't change that. Sometimes, kids need someone to just say 'no'."

Connor stared at Susan aghast. Finally looking down ashamed, Connor admitted, "Sue, I'm 17. I can't be the parent. I don't know how."

"Well then, you should have said something 4 years ago after the Elaine blew up." Susan said harshly as she eyed him critically. Shifting back to business, Susan continued in a more reserved manner. "I'm sending you to a planet in the system S89 of this galaxy. I don't know the name. You need to find Sam. Use the pod's communication system to contact Aaron or James. They'll know the situation. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Susan." Connor answered coldly.

"Consider yourself reassigned." stated Susan sadly as she stepped out of the doorway. With an ominous look in her eyes, Susan looked back at Connor one more time and added gravely, "Connor… I love you."

Head hung, looking at the floor, Connor raised his face to look at hers and said with a smile, "Back at you sis."

Children of the Empire Chapter 4 by Kimberly White

A small girl in a black space suit was currently wondering the halls of a giant Zall cruiser looking very out of place. The young girl had a pale complexion and long dark hair with a single silver streak going through it. The girl was 10 years old but seemingly trapped in the body of a 7 year old. She was walking around with a blank stare on her face as she took in her surroundings.

A soft creak made the girl stop. Nervousness flashed across her face before a look of concentration took over. When the footsteps stopped, the blank stare appeared on her face once again before turning the corner to face the Zall guard. The guard, however, was holding his gun loosely at his side, eyes glazed over staring blankly at a spot just above the girl's head.

Letting a quiet giggle escape her lips, the girl lifted her hand and gave a light tap to the Zall who crumpled helplessly to the ground. Stepping around the fallen guard, the girl mumbled sweetly under her breath as she placed her hand on the alien's forehead, "Let's see what you know, Shall I?"

Pushing into his mind, she searched for any information regarding her partner. Coming out, she sighed in frustration before standing. Kicking the Zall in the head, she grumbled out, "Get up you lazy basterd."

Following orders, the Zall guard proceeded to get up and continue on as if nothing happened. The young girl watched him leave before she was thrusted forward by some invisible force. Whipping her head around, she immediately began searching for the mind responsible. Quickly locating it, it wasn't long before she heard a cry and a young girl much like herself stumbled out of a side door, clutching her head. However, before the girl had a chance to say anything she felt her body being thrown against the wall.

"What the hell, Susan!" the girl shouted angrily, still pinned to the wall.

"Get out of my fucking head!" Susan yelled out slowly unable to keep the fury out of her voice. With a great sigh, Susan felt the presence leave and turned back to the girl she had still pinned to the wall.

The girl was eerily calm for someone in her position. "Now let me down." She spoke after a moment.

"Down?" Susan questioned skeptically. "I don't think so, Elizabeth. What are you doing here anyway? You're suppose to be at the Capital!

Elizabeth glares at Susan before pushing roughly against Susan's mind making her loose concentration and drop Elizabeth to the floor. "None of your business." Elizabeth answered coldly.

Hands once again clutching her head, Susan glared at Elizabeth with malice before lifting her hand and thrusting the other girl down the hall hard. "None of my Business? Everything that happens in Carinia is my business! Especially where and what the Miss are doing! You're undermining my authority, Elizabeth."

"Like you have any, anyway." Elizabeth mumbled to quiet for Susan to hear. She turned away from Susan, and called out, scoffing at her. "Doesn't matter any more! The Empire's gone… or at least it will be in a matter of hours."

Susan visibly stiffened at these words. "It's not gone. I won't let it go. As long as the Miss are still here, so will our Empire." Susan whispered harshly not daring to look Elizabeth in the eyes.

Laughter erupted from Elizabeth's lips, slow at first, but grew in strength. Stopping suddenly, Elizabeth glared violently at Susan as she grabbed her mind and forced Susan's eyes to reach hers. "You think," Elizabeth began in an almost casual voice. Her demeanor, however, gave away to her hostility. "The Miss can keep the Empire alive? The Miss are all children Sue. We can't go long without help, and, after four years, are time is up. It's over."

"It's not. We can keep this Empire alive." Susan spoke defiantly. "I've been running Carinia for four years; I can-"

"You can't." Elizabeth cut off not believing a word from Susan's mouth. "The Empire has gone to the dogs. We're in a war and the Empire's about to fall. The Miss are all separated, scattered. Face it you failed."

"Like you could have done any better, Liz. Ethan chose me in his last moments for a reason." Susan bit back bitterly.

Elizabeth stared at Susan for a long moment apathetically, before moving her lips to speak out quietly, "He chose you… because you didn't see what happened. You were at the capital when the Elaine blew up. I barely managed to escape with my life. If it hadn't been for Connor-… For all intensive purposes, my father expected me to be dead! Besides, Ethan Pride was not the Emperor. His brother-in-law was. He had no right to appoint the next in command."

"He was the next in command! The Emperor was wounded and unconscious. There was no way he would wake up in time!" Susan cried out desperately.

"But you think you have what it takes to keep Carinia running?" asked Elizabeth sharply.

"Yes." answered Susan confidently and quickly.

"Then you're a fool." said Elizabeth heartlessly. "The Empire will fall, mark my words. Nina's seen it."

Susan let out a small cry of surprise and clapped a hand to her mouth. All resolve gone at Elizabeth's last words. Susan whispered, doubtfully "No, - It can't be."

"It is." Elizabeth said with a final tone before finally letting compassion seem into her voice. "Don't lose hope. Help me find your brother."

Elizabeth held out her hand and waited. She needed Susan's help to find her partner. It was the only way he'd survive. Susan eventually looked up, meeting the smaller girl's eyes. Reaching out, Susan grasped Elizabeth's hand and let a simple sad smile appear on her lips.

"Okay. If we can't save the Empire, we'll at least save Connor." Susan completed with a more positive note in her voice. On that note, the two girls took off down the hall.

000000

Three hours later, Elizabeth was once again crouched down next to a Zall guard with her hand on his head. Susan fidgeted impatiently at her side, glancing off to the door to her side.

"Well?" asked Susan impatiently when she heard Elizabeth shifting to her feet.

"He's through that room in a holding cell bellow." Elizabeth said not letting any emotion leak into her voice. "There's no other way to him, but a guard is inside."
Elizabeth paused, unwilling to let the uncertainty in her voice. Susan stared at her expectantly, and Elizabeth continued weakly, "He's being monitored. We'll have to split up."

Susan wrinkled her nose at the suggestion. She placed a finger on her lips and thought for a moment before asking, "Any other options?"

"None that will work. If we go prancing in there and grab Connor, the entire ship will be put into high alter. They'd know we're here, and we would never get out. I have to go distract the guards."

"I'll distract the guards. You get Connor." Susan said with distaste. She didn't like the idea of splitting up.

"I will distract the guards." emphasized Elizabeth with a stern voice. "I'm better at it." Without another word, she took off down the hall, leaving an annoyed Susan standing off to the side.

After dozens of hall ways, Elizabeth finally reached the door she'd been searching for. When the door opened, Elizabeth stretched out her hand, ready to grab the mind of whoever was inside. Three guards were inside, only one of which turned to look at the opening door. It didn't matter, however, as Elizabeth grabbed their minds with hers. Once in the young girl's grasp, the guards held a dazed look in their eyes and stared blankly ahead. She heaved a bid sigh and walked towards the chair infront of the control panel. Elizabeth sat in the chair once the guard stood up.

Jabbing her finger at a random guard she said "You! Go stand outside the door. Make sure no one's coming."

Turning back to the control panel, Elizabeth searched the system for the holding cells. Once she located them, she cut off their video feed as well as the room with the guard. Pausing a moment, Elizabeth searched for controls to the door locks.

000000

Susan was pacing in front of the same door Elizabeth left her at, waiting very impatiently. Stopping, Susan turned to glare at the door when the door lock flashed to "unlock" before opening. Susan smiled triumphantly and stepped through the door to see the guard looking at her strangely. She lifted her hand quickly and flicked the Zall clear across the room before he had the time to reach for his gun.

Running over to the now passed out Zall, Susan began searching for the key. Flipping him over, she found a thin white strip with a handle. Grabbing it, Susan began searching the cell doors for Connor's label. Once she located it, Susan pushed the key in and out of the slit in the door. The door slid open, and Susan tentively stepped into the cell.

Glancing around, Susan noticed a disheveled body lying on a metal framed bed with a thin blanket facing the wall. Slowly stepping up to the man, Susan nervously reached out to touch him.

"Connor?" called out Susan quietly, fearing for the worst.

The man turned over and opened his eyes. He saw Susan and immediately pulled up to a sitting position. Breathlessly and wide eyed, the man spoke hoarsely "Susan?"

Tears threatened to fall as Susan slowly nodded. Connor wasted no time and swept Susan off her feet into a great big hug.

"My God, Susan. I can't believe you're here. After a year-… and you're here!" Connor rambled in disbelief as he lowered Susan to her feet.

Tears now ran freely down Susan's cheek, and she said with her voice cracking "Yeah. I'm here. I finally get to see you,.. after 2½ years,… you are here in front of me."

Mirror Mirror by Cait Teague

I guess my goal this quarter was to be more reflective of myself. Actually look at who I am, what I do, and write honestly about it. Well… I think my reflection is the fact that I'm a two-faced bitch.

In order to justify that statement, you need some boring exposition. In my group of friends there is me, my boyfriend John, Leroy, Zachary, Christopher, Red, and Red's ex-girlfriend, Tina. Tina and Red dated for nearly two years. He proposed ten months in. She had this scrapbook full of wedding plans, they were always talking about kids… we all thought that relationship was set in stone, despite the fact that they fought intensely all the time, and she was overbearing, jealous, clingy, and prone to cheating every now and then. And tried to control what he did when he had free time. Translation, she had his nuts in the palm of her hand. If she had said, "Don't breathe," he would have held his breath. Recently, very recently, she broke up with him. But this break up was different from the previous six or seven, in that it was actually permanent.

To the entire group, who pretty much all disliked her, this seemed like a blessing. Tina was finally going to go away. As suspected, she had her eyes on a new guy… but we didn't suspect that it was Leroy. And Leroy had an eye on her, too.

Now, out of everyone in the group, Leroy was the only one with a halo over his head. John lies chronically. I'm emotional and bitchy. Christopher is extremely manipulative and knows it, Zachary likes to start a fight over everything and sees all women as objects to be played with, and Red was a pussy-whipped little schmuck who accidentally pressed everyone's buttons. Oh, and Tina. Tina is very bipolar (I hate to use bipolar as a negative adjective, but she has the diagnosis and carries it out fully, so my apologies) and doesn't take meds anymore. So Leroy, who was always honest, always nice, always offered rides, was comfortable to be around, and was an all-around good guy… Well, nobody thought it would happen.

Just a week after she dumps her boyfriend of nearly two years, they secretly get together.

Now, none of us knew. We saw them hanging out together a lot, but we always said, "Dude. It's Leroy." As in Leroy wouldn't date one of his friend's ex-girlfriends to soon after their actual break up. All of us gave Leroy the benefit of a doubt, because none of us could even imagine that he'd go for that psycho bitch. Until Tina gave me and another friend (Sonya) a ring. Sonya answered Tina's call on speakerphone so I could listen in. She told Sonya that yes, she and Leroy were dating. When Sonya had to hang up and get ready for work, Tina called me. She picked me up and promptly told me a SUPER SECRET that I could tell no one. I played stupid, and acted surprised at the SUPER SECRET. She told me everything, down to his dick size. She begged me not to tell John, and Leroy texted me asking for me not to tell John.

Now, the day before Tina told me everything, John and I were talking about this. He was frustrated, because Leroy just couldn't do something like this. Dude. It was Leroy. It was fucking LEROY. I knew it was driving him crazy, because it would mean Leroy wasn't the guy we all thought he was. So when I got confirmation from the horse's mouth, what do you think I did?

It was her mistake. She knows that I tell John everything. And knowing that the betrayal was true, I wasted no time pumping her for every possible detail solely for the reason of telling John everything. I felt no guilt playing on her trust, because I had always been on Red's side. I knew he loved her, and he was actually torn up about losing her for real this time. And my loyalties always lie with John first. So I confirmed his fear, and he pretended that he knew nothing.

Since then, I've been angry. At Tina, for doing this to Red and being so fucked up. At Leroy, because he wasn't the guy I thought he was. And myself, for betraying two people's trust without thinking twice. And it goes a step further. Christopher, the manipulator, had confronted Tina weeks ago. She denied everything. She expressly told me not to let Christopher know anything, at all. Well. I, on our way to a concert, 'accidentally' let it slip in front of Christopher that the Leroy/Tina thing was true. That day, karma royally kicked my ass. I threw up three times at my first concert in four years, and got so dehydrated I ended up in the E. R., leaving the concert early, therefore wasting over a hundred bucks in cost for the tickets for John, Christopher, and me. Yes, karma kicked my lily ass all around.

Just today, John asked a favor. Would I please find out whom Tina was hanging with this afternoon? I found out. It was to be with Leroy, naturally. Then John told me why. All the guys are part of the same air soft team, and they were supposed to have a meeting today. Leroy backed out saying he had to study for finals, but… in reality, he's with Tina.

So. Call me what you wish. A spy. A mole. A rat. A tool. A two faced bitch, perhaps? And why? For exploiting secrets. For lying. For kissing ass and pumping a friend for information only to betray her trust. I can sit back and easily reflect on this one. I have no halo above my head. I am not pure. Though at this point, I am tired of playing all these games. I am tired of dealing with this explosive issue. I don't want to be within a mile when Red finds out someone who he thought was a friend is dating and having sex with the girl he still loves. And not just that. When Red find out that all of his friends knew, and nobody said a word to him about it. I don't like where all this is going.

Mirror mirror, on the wall… who's the biggest asshole of them all? (Answer: me.)

Letter by Larissa Pomales

Hayley Anne,

We graduate next Friday. I can hardly believe it. After four years of being in this dump, we survived. We survived the academics, we survived the dramatics, we survived each other, and we survived ourselves. We’ve been through hell and back. But at least I know that I can come back from that trip to a friend that has never let me down, ever. I could never ask for a better friend. Oh, look at me all getting sentimental. My heart is in the right place, though. You’re amazing, smart, funny, caring, and so beautiful. Don’t let yourself think otherwise or else I’ll have to throw around the c-word a couple times, you’ll get it.

This is probably the hardest thing for me to do right now. I thought I could beast it out and not worry too much over it. I was wrong. When I really take the time to think about how our friendship has grown and how we’ve been able to keep it from disintegrating…I can’t help to also think about how that may be destroyed due to the milestone we call college. I don’t want that to happen. I know you don’t either. I’m not going into this feeling that our friendship will end eventually. As far as I’m concerned, you and I will be friends until one of us dies. I sound so ridiculous.

I’m just going to miss you. I’m going to miss seeing you almost every day. I’m going to miss our girls’ nights. I’m going to miss our adventures. I’m going to miss talking shit about all the stupid bitches in the world. I’m going to miss our constant laughter. I’m definitely going to miss Baby Stump. I know Sonoma isn’t too far and that you’ll always keep in contact but it’s as if you’re taking part of my heart with you. So I’m pretty much missing a part of my heart right now. Thanks. Haha.

I do have a few regrets also. I regret being a jerk to you. I regret not being a better friend. I regret the times where I’ve made you feel miserable. I regret not spending enough time with you. I regret letting little things disturb our friendship. It’s my fault. I’ll admit to that. I owe it to you. I owe it to you to own up to my mistakes and make things right. I want you to leave knowing that I’ve been trying my hardest to be the best damn friend in the world. Sadly, tears are welling up in my eyes as I write this. I’m sorry that I waited so late in the year to make things better. I’m a fuck up and I’m sorry.

I should be grateful that I have a friend like you by my side. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead being my friend. I’m so pathetic. We’re finally graduating and I couldn’t give a rat’s ass. I don’t even know if I’m graduating in the first place. These last four years have been a blur. I’ve accomplished nothing. I feel no pride in anything I’ve ever done. I’m just lost. Was it really all worthwhile? I’ll never truly know. But you will. I believe in you (so damn corny). I wish you the best. You deserve the world…maybe Jupiter too.

I guess to sum it all up, I love you. I love you so much. Layleybaby, let’s renew our vows sometime soon. You really are my best friend. You’ve brought me more happiness than I could ever possibly imagine. Thank you for being the voice of optimism and reason in my head. Thank you for not giving up on it all when you probably should have. Thank you for being so supportive. Right now words can’t even express what I want to say to you. So I will give up right now. Don’t forget about me.



Sincerely,

Larissa Pomales

Polly the Popcorn Girl, Part 2 by Robert Pipes

I surfed through the other sex scenes for a minute – 1-800-LEGS, Chuck Norris and Christy Brinkley foreplaying each other on exercise equipment, a busty Cyclops on Cartoon Network. I remember when Cartoon Network used to play Popeye well into the early morning. Now, its porn. It’s all porn.

The insomnia that usually becomes my eyelids at this time of night suddenly gave way to a very sleepy stupor. The effect of eating too much dignity is soporific. I rolled off the couch and walked to my room.

“I love you, Paul.”

Ugh. Checkmate. “I love you too, Mom.” I mumbled this as I was crumpling up the little orange Post-it. I’d have tossed it into the wastebasket, but she probably checks that now. I stuffed it in my drawer and went to bed.

I woke up at 11:55 – wretchedly early for a Saturday morning. I don’t think I’d seen the first half of a Saturday since I was eight and Wacky Races was still on. I climbed out of the hay and pulled on a clean-smelling shirt off the ground.

I had to take a leak. This presented quite a predicament. Our house is arranged so that even though my room’s right next door to the bathroom, I still have to walk past the kitchen doorway to get to the bathroom door. This means that my mother, who perpetually wakes me up with the sound of running water, can say, “Good morning, Sunshine” to me as she washes the dishes. Some mornings, it’s safe to make this trek in boxers. Some mornings you need jeans. It all depends on how bad you have to piss.

“Mom!”

“Yes?” The water shut off.

“Where are my pants?”

“Oh, I put them in your drawer.”

“I slid open the drawer. Sure enough, right in front of me were two even stacks of jeans and Dickies, folded neatly and centered on the floral shelf paper. This was weird. I wasn’t used to finding my jeans anywhere other than the carpet. I wasn’t used to seeing them all folded up like this. They smelled… clean.

I pulled out a pair of Levi’s and examined them closely. They had been folded in half down the center, then in thirds lengthwise. It was a simple fold, but something about it just made it seem so perfect. So professional. I almost didn’t want to unravel them and destroy this delicate work of art.

But I had to take a leak. I unfolded the pants and pulled them on. My eyes were still 35 percent or so crusted over with sleepy snot, and I hadn’t yet put on my glasses. I hardly noticed the tiny orange ball that fell to the floor.

11:57 is far too early in the day to combat one’s insecurities. I crumpled Polly up further and chucked her into the darkest corner of my closet. I would not call her. I would not call her, Sam I am. I would not call her on the can. I would not call her in the sand. I would not call her in my room. I would not call her in the womb. I would not call her on the stairs. I would not call her anywheres. And I had to take a leak.

It was noon by the time I made it to the living room. Once again I missed “Nature” and the Discovery Channel had made its way to “Mythbusters.” Fucking “Mythbusters.” What part of two middle-aged men bitching about each other qualifies as discovery? “Ice Road Truckers,” “American Logger,” “How It’s Made” – the single dullest, most uninformative infomercial on television. And don’t even get me started oon “Dirty Jobs.” I wanna see some goddam peregrine falcons making love at ninety miles an hour.

“Mom!”

“Yes, Paul?” she called over the roar of the garbage disposal.

“Where’d you put the Sega?”

The garbage disposal cut out. She walked into the living room with her hands at her hips, holding her towel like a sword. “I don’t know Paul, where did you leave it?”

“On the floor in front of the TV.”

There’s a certain pile-up effect a mother can put on your resistance in conversation. Like a little garçon throwing a baguette in your spokes, “ça va?”ing you as the Tour de France becomes La Mort de France. Your once insuperable insurgency of wit and reason stumbles and crashes at your teeth. Silence. That infrared transmission that slips between the senses and penetrates the psyche. That invisible inertia to your might Millenium Falcon. Suddenly the trachea that bellowed the sirens of angelic angst now shrivels beneath the maternal smite.

A drum roll breaks the Jedi drone. Mary’s fingers play a sinister waltz upon the towel. One! two three One! two three One! two three. And suddenly Obi-wan releases your mind and she’s now Clint Eastwood at high noon. That cotton .44 tucked in at her side calling your bluff. Mouthing your thoughts, or what’s left of them. The only comfort you’ve got is that you know she’s quick. Real quick.

“Fine.”

And that imperial nonchalance.

“I’ll pick it up, I promise.”

Hey, I was dry on my dope, what do you expect? A man needs what a man needs. And a sex-starved creep needs to kill buff ninjas. But as her eyes cast disappointed to the floor and trembled worriedly at some ethereal dismay, my love for her doused the withdrawal. Checkmate.

I stood reluctantly as I could muster, and marched. I didn’t look at her any more than I spoke to her. Feigned a Marine with my posture and pride, and yet still her gravity bowed my back and sloshed my cochlear fluids, my feeble brain flailing my feet in futile compensation. Not unlike the freelance moons falling around me at school. Ebbing my tides to such lonesome poles. Fucking vaginas. What a regressive progressive, huh?

“Paul.”

This dialogue moves slowly.

“Yeah?” I tried to make it sound like they say it at the end of a movie.

“I put it in your closet.”

Captured by Briana Terry

News reporter: "The missing sixteen year old Samantha Holloway was found yesterday night wondering on the dark road in nothing but bits of cloth. Samantha has been missing for a week and is finally home. They say the sixteen year old girl was raped and held captive for a week. Police are still under investigation".   Police: "Now listen Samantha, we're all happy you made it back home. Most situations like this, we find young girls your age in ditches dead. Now, so in order to stop this bastard from striking again, we're going to need you to tell us everything that happened, or anything you remember from being away".   Police (two): "Can you first describe the man"?   Samantha: "No. He always wore a mask, and there were two men".   Police (two): "A mask? What type of mask"?   Samantha: "Yes a mask. It was a plain white mask. They never took their masks off, at least when they came around me".   Police: "Well do you remember your surroundings"?   Samantha: Well I remember it, but I don't think it will help with anything. You see when they snatched me; they pulled a drape like thing over my head, towards where I couldn't see anything. When we finally got the place, they took it off me in this burnt down room. I don't believe anyone lived there, because it was like an old room with just a mattress".   Police: "When they left you in the room, were you "free"?   Samantha: "No, they had tied me up. I couldn't move and they ducked taped me, towards where I couldn't scream. But I can tell you this; their accents were French. At least that's what it sounded like. They didn't speak really good English, so they'd switch back to their language".   Police (two): "So two French men. Did they have any tattoos or any memorable piercing"?   Samantha: "Umm, yeah. In fact they both had skulls on their left arm with some type of weird writing under it. I wasn't quite able to make it out, but I can tell you it was like ancient writing".   Police (two): "Okay, so we're going to need you to describe it, so then they could sketch it. (Talking to another officer) Have some one pull up ancient writing, so we could see if any of them match our guys' tattoos.   Police: "Samantha, why don't you take us back to Sunday, June 8, 2008, when you were taken"?   Samantha: "Well, like you said it was June 8, and my mom had asked me to run to the store, which was only three blocks away from where I lived. I had my iPod playing while I was walking, but as I was walking, I could feel that someone was following me. I turned around to see that there was no one there, so I just kept walking. Not even a minute later I felt a hand go over my mouth. I was picked off the ground, almost being carried. I tried to kick and yell, to get loose of his grip, but he was too strong. Next thing I knew he pulled the drape over my head. I heard a car pull up toward us, and I heard another man yelling, "Hurry up, put her in". I didn't know what to think. It all came too fast. All I could think is,"why was this happening to me"? We were driving for days; at least it felt like it. They must have been driving recklessly, because there were a lot of horns honking around and I was being pushed back and forth in the back. We finally stop, and I hear them get out, and start walking towards the back. I sit there in wonder what could be next. The back door opens and I'm pulled up close, and then picked up. I start to kick and squirm around, and at the same time he kept squeezing me tighter. I hear a key go inside a keyhole, and that told me that we were in a house. I was carried into a back room and tied up with a rope around my legs and hand cuffed, still with the drape over my head. They left out the room, leaving me to wonder what they might do to me.   Police: "Samantha, I know this may be hard for you but can you skip to the part, where you told one of our officers that you were raped"?   Samantha: "Umm, yeah. It was like the third day being there. They weren't feeding me anything. The second day of me being there was like I wasn't even there. Neither one came to check on me, nor offers me to use the restroom. But like I said, it was the third day and I was awakened by a loud burst through the door. One of the guys come in and closes the door behind him. He walks over to the mattress where I was lying. I could tell that he was drunk because he was stumbling over himself and as he got closer I could smell the alcohol on him. He finally reaches me, and bends down. Our eyes meet and I noticed that one of his eyes wasn't right. It almost looked like he had a fake eye or something".   Police (two): "So you're saying he had an artificial eye? Do you remember what color his eyes, or eye was"?   Samantha: "Yeah I remember, his right eye, the real eye, was brown, but then his artificial eye was blue".   Police (two) "So you're saying this guy had two different colored eyes? Boy is he one of a kind. Okay, so continue on with when he came in". Samantha: "Yeah so our eyes met. And he just kept looking at me. Then he started running his fingers through my hair. I tried to push away but he grabbed on to me. I knew what was coming next. He leans in closer for a kiss, but I jerk my head away. He pushes my head towards his, forcing me to kiss him. He was real aggressive. Then he started feeling on me. He caressed my breast and worked his way down. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to lose something so special to someone who just wasn't the one. He grabbed on to my zipper and starts to unzip. I cried to myself and asked again why was this happening to me. My pants were pulled down, and he was now on top of me. He pulled my hands over my head still handcuffed, and began to unzip his pants. I cried out "No" while he unzipped himself. Less than a second, he had penetrated through me. He forced me to have sex with him".   Police: "Is that all that happened? Was it only that one time"?   Samantha: "Yeah it was only on that third day. He hurt me. That's something I'll never forget".   Police (two): "Well Samantha, we're going to let you see your family now and have you come back tomorrow for more questioning".   Samantha: "Okay."   Police: "Samantha like we said, we're happy you made it home".