Jazmee27 
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Ontario’s heart hammered through his chest as if seeking release from the cage that trapped it. HOW LONG DO I HAVE? He wondered numbly. He could already see the glistening drops of the Velahquesahni, the main river that flowed through Qirynse. RAGING LIKE A TIGER, a part of him screamed, DO SOMETHING! Just what that was, the nine-year-old couldn’t guess. Any outward resistance in him had been quelled the moment his cousin[‘s magic had activated, immobilizing him through the use of his true name.
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Reply #1041. Jun 26 12, 7:59 AM
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Jazmee27
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The younger boy’s hazel eyes broke into a broad grin as his feet touched the riverbank. TIME, his mind crowed as, in one fluid motion, he freed his left arm from under his cousin’s body and brought both hands crashing down on the older boy’s chest. With a sharp intake of breath, Ontario lapsed into unconsciousness. NOW FOR THE EASY PART, Qydra thought as he grabbed hold of both his cousin’s arms and dragged the boy’s inert body to the water’s edge. For a few moments, he stood gazing down at the younger boy. Then, with a swiftness that was shocking, he prodded Ontario until the nine-year-old fell sideways into the rushing current.
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Reply #1042. Jun 26 12, 7:59 AM
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Jazmee27
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The water swirling around his limbs broke through the haze over his mind and he surfaced with the awareness that he was clutched in the grip of the Mighty Velahquesahni. His head broke the surface, but only for a moment before the furious waterway dragged him under once more. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and though his mind screamed at him, there was no more fight in him. He vaguely felt a sensation like flying, as if the river had spit him out, then heard a terrible noise as his body slammed back into the wall of water. The breath temporarily left him as the current tore at his limp form, and when he regained his breath, submerged in the middle of the Velahquesahni, he knew it was over. The Dark had won another victory. Surprisingly, he was no longer afraid, not even sad. If his death would ensure that someone he cared about was protected, it didn’t matter.
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Reply #1043. Jun 26 12, 8:00 AM
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Jazmee27
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Qydra watched as his cousin’s skull was repeatedly dashed against a rock jutting half in and half out of the deepest stretch of river he could see. “Bye-bye, Ontario,” he called mockingly to the battered form. With any luck, the Velahquesahni’s current would whip him to and fro so ferociously and so viciously that all the flesh and bones fell or broke off, reducing what had once been a living, breathing person to a bunch of scattered skin and bone fragments. Perhaps some would eventually drift ashore, but hopefully not for several years. Meantime, the nine-year-old’s friends and loved ones would search desperately for him, turning up nothing. “That makes the score Darkness, fifteen, Light, zero.”
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Reply #1044. Jun 26 12, 8:00 AM
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Jazmee27
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The spirit of the boy gazed about him curiously, wondering where in the Universe he was. All was silent, save for the steady lapping of water. Such a peaceful sound, he reflected, and yet—Something nagged at the back of his mind, a great darkness tugging at his consciousness. “I don’t get it,” he muttered softly.
Hearing a low chuckle, he turned, coming face to face with an older man, his hands slapping his knees in merriment. “That’s what everyone says when they first arrive,” he declared in a strong voice. The boy’s blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully, trying to place the voice, or maybe the face. The brown eyes scrutinized him, searching for something. Apparently he didn’t find it because he asked, “You don’t know me?”
The boy shook his head, confused. “Should I?”
“I should think so,” replied the other dryly, adding “it’s Nick.” Ontario’s jaw dropped, but he said nothing. Nick paused, gazed sadly into the boy’s eyes, then continued. “This is where lost souls whose time hasn’t come yet, but who have no bodies to inhabit, go.”
“What am I doing here?”
“You don’t remember yet, but you soon will. Your human vessel was shattered by the beastly current of the Velahquesahni River—that and a few large boulders.” The boy winced, his mind dredging up a half-formed image: a small child being forceably held down by a dark shape, and the furious sounds of the water raging just behind. Why, though, was he here, instead of locked in that broken figure? As if reading his every thought, Nick said, “everyone’s here because they’ve got a last mission to perform. Once that’s done, they can go wherever it is our spirits go when they’re no longer needed.”
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Reply #1045. Jun 26 12, 8:01 AM
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Jazmee27
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THE THREE BUTCHERS
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Not much is known about them, save for where they work. The place is called the Meat Factory, and it’s close to the center of Beiytahno Qormahdix, the largest village in the kingdom of Xynor, about twenty miles from the capital of Xaitora. Sometimes, captives are taken to Xaitora first to, as the saying goes, cool their heels, and then brought to Beiytahno Qormahdix anywhere from three days to a week. Oftentimes, prisoners come in trembling from head to foot, whether from Xaitora’s Criminal Cooler or the knowledge of what will happen to them in the Factory, none can tell.
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Reply #1046. Jun 26 12, 8:03 AM
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Jazmee27
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At present there are only three workers in the Factory: Beniyto Ramirez, otherwise known as Butcher II; Dytoahri Vonterok, the Head or B utcher I; and Manuel Veyda, also known as Butcher III. As of yet, no one’s seen them in action, though it’s hoped that will change soon.
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Reply #1047. Jun 26 12, 8:03 AM
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Jazmee27
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“I can’t believe this,” Zahramund Oreyta muttered as he stalked from the room. He’d just been chosen, out of a panel of nine others, to infiltrate the evil Meat Factory. “They don’t seem concerned about what could go wrong, just as long as they learn the inner workings of the establishment.”
“We do care,” a small feminine voice whispered softly.
Zahramund whirled, but the only other person in the room was Mehria. He found it doubtful she’d been the one to speak, for she never addressed anyone without being spoken to first, and then she was selective in the words she used. “I’m hearing things,” he told himself, and turned to go. He was obviously distracted because of the assignment.
Suddenly he felt a tap on his arm, and turned to see Mehria smiling sadly at him. “Tough times,” she muttered as if to herself. She dropped her hand, and he turned back around, wondering at the strange encounter. What had she meant?
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Reply #1048. Jun 26 12, 8:04 AM
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Jazmee27
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THE INVISIBLE MAN
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Amber Magnuson groaned faintly as she attempted to wrench her body away from the invisible ironlike fingers digging into her fleshy throat. If only she could see her attacker, she thought dully as another violent coughing fit seized her. She knew instinctively she was going to die, right here, at the hands of this unseen assailant, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
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Reply #1049. Jun 26 12, 8:06 AM
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Jazmee27
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“Amber,” a familiar voice called from somewhere close by, and the girl blinked. “Was only a dream,” she mumbled, feeling a sense of overwhelming relief surge through her at the revelation. Glancing up, she saw her father’s confused expression. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she told him, noticing how dark it was in the room.
“I’m just glad you’re all right,” Thomas Magnuson, King of Eschodria, replied. “From the noises I was hearing, I feared you would choke in your sleep.”
“I’m fine.” She watched her father go, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. I WAS AFRAID YOU’D CHOKE IN YOUR SLEEP, he’d said. Could her dream possibly be something more? No, of course not, she assured herself as she rolled over and went back to bed. She was tired, and wasn’t about to let a silly dream disturb her rest.
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Reply #1050. Jun 26 12, 8:07 AM
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Jazmee27
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COLLEGE DROPOUT
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People just don’t understand all the many facets of this thing we call life. We pretend to, but often it’s too complex for more than a general understanding.
What leaves a bad taste in my mouth was how close I was. Then, due to forces outside of my control, there I was flat on the pavement. Figuratively speaking, not literally. It’s just so aggravating I don’t know if I can even discuss it. Folks want to, asking questions at every turn, but all I want is to close the door on that pain. Change the subject, I’m tempted to scream, but I don’t because I know it wouldn’t make an iota of difference. Might even make things worse, and that’s the last thing I want or need.
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Reply #1051. Jun 26 12, 9:00 AM
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Jazmee27
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ANGER MANAGEMENT
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Show me a person who doesn’t have issues in this world, and I’ll walk up to him or smack them up beside the head! Nobody, and I do mean nobody, escapes this life unscathed, and I’m just doing the best I can. So what if I’m not dealing well? It’s not as if I have help. Oh, they claim to be, but what do they know? They’re not me; they don’t know what I’ve been through. Everyone’s trying to get inside me, but what’s the point of that? It don’t make nothing better, don’t chase the nasty feelings away. It’s all the same; they don’t really want to help, but they have to make it seem like they do. Cause if they really wanted to help I wouldn’t feel like this!
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Reply #1052. Jun 26 12, 9:07 AM
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Jazmee27
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It all started a year or so ago, wnen I got so mad at myself for not doing an assignment, and at my teacher for assigning me yet more work, that I yelled something stupid. You know, just words vented out of frustration. It didn’t mean nothing, but since it sounded like I might be serious, well then they had to intervene. It didn’t help none that I was bawling like a baby, making it look like I was unstable. Which brings me to the first of many points: what is “stability”? I bet no one reall y knows, not even those folks who hole up in their glass houses and don’t let nothing touch them. But it’s they who get to decide what’s “stable” and what’s unstable,” and since I have issues with anger that surely must put me in that last group.
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Reply #1053. Jun 26 12, 9:08 AM
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Jazmee27
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Let me make something abundantly clear: I don’t need no so-called therapist thinking he or she knows what’s best for me. They don’t know me, so they can’t possibly decide what’s best for me. Still, I’ve learned it’s best if I let them think so, and “go along quietly,” and accept whatever they suggest. So what if it doesn’t work? It’s still what the “experts” recommend!
The worst part of this whole thing is I’ve got to do MORE HOMEWORK, as if I’ve not got enough on my plate. Sometimes, I just feel like tearing someone’s head off. Who, though, is a bit tricky. See, I’m not sure if I’m most mad at the school, the crackpot “professional,” or my dear old mother.
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Reply #1054. Jun 26 12, 9:08 AM
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Jazmee27
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NOT INTENTIONAL
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I’ve found I can hold my balance when I’m completely calm. Which isn’t often. Become excited, or stressed in any way, and I find myself pitching forward. I land on one or both knees, tempted to cry, and I’m met with a bbarrage of accusations. Why do I “fling myself down”? Now, I resent the very idea; my past is NOT an indicator of how I am now. I don’t get why people assume that it is?
So I used to “throw myself on the ground” when I didn’t want to do something. But that was elementary school, and now I’m close to graduation. People DO change, even if in subtle ways, and I wish they wouldn’t think the worst about me just because.. because they can, I suppose. Or because we’ve been taught to judge people based on a few facts first, let alone that we claim to leave judgment out of it.
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Reply #1055. Jun 26 12, 11:35 AM
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Jazmee27
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WRITING'S THE KEY
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I’ve only really cared about one thing. I mean, deep down. Putting words on a page, letting them pour from me in a torrent. There’s nothing more relaxing, more invigorating, then letting them tumble out and seeing their arrangements.
Trouble is, I’m constantly discouraged from expressing myself the way I want. For the most part, of course, but it’s the years of put-downs and criticisms I remember most.
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Reply #1056. Jun 26 12, 11:36 AM
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Jazmee27
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CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
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As surely as I live and breathe, I don’t think she did it. But, as they say, public opinion’s against her, and so she’s got to pay for her crimes.
It’s always disturbed me how folks jump to conclusions based on nothing at all. They’ll see a person and think that he or she looks shifty or untrustworthy because they don’t look them in the eye. Or maybe they’ll decide someone doesn’t look trustworthy because they dress on the wild side. Very rarely do people think to look beyond physical characteristics to what’s on the inside.
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Reply #1057. Jun 26 12, 11:38 AM
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Jazmee27
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I love the meaning of my name because it denotes three of my favorite traits: peace, calm and cheer. Very rarely do I enter into conflict with others, and when problems arise I come up with solutions so much quicker than most people because I don’t panic. My entire existence is peaceful, like a calm sea. There are storms, yes, but I always deal with them in the same cool and collected manner. I don’t judge anyone, for who am I to judge. What’s right for one individual may not be right for another. It all boils down to what actions and behaviors we can live with. Which is why I vow to uncover the truth surrounding Marina.
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Reply #1058. Jun 26 12, 11:38 AM
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Jazmee27
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CUSTODY
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In my estimation, though you’ll not find many who agree with me, the people who treated Marissa the way they did ought to be ashamed. Most people feel sorry for the children, Dustin and Elaina, who were caught in the middle of the whole sorry mess. Others say Jasper got the shortest end of the stick. Coincidentally, those that hold the latter view hold that my mother, Justine, helped to perpetuate the whole thing. Those people encourage me to stay out of it. “That’s business that don’t concern you, Naomi.” There’s a point in there, I’ll give them that, but as part of my name means beautiful I mean to find it. I don’t hold with people being pleasant and delightful on the outside when inwardly they’re just a mess. That’s deceitful, and deceit is the opposite of beauty. I could not be who I am without looking into the matter. I suppose it’s a trait passed on from my mother, Justine. Her name means fair and just righteous, and so I have a hard time believing she instigated anything. I think, therefore, that she’s as much a victim of circumstance as Marissa or those poor kids.
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Reply #1059. Jun 26 12, 11:40 AM
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Jazmee27
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HOPE OUT OF DESPAIR'
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“Out of your greatest sorrow shall come your greatest hope.” – Book of Prophecy, P. 6
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Reply #1060. Jun 26 12, 11:41 AM
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