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Words break down and fall apart

Which hand was left, which one was right?

Was it verse or was it prose

Does this rhyme or does it not

I can’t just write when you’re right here

It hurts to even hold the quill

Could you just please not look at me?

The spill of ink, the sound of keyboard

Some lines you keep, pages you hide

Notes app entry of rhyming grievances

Read in phonetics not quite right

You can’t quite grasp all the theory

Find moderate sense within the rhythm

The lines read awkward, and you’re left feeling

The filler words might be the reason

visibility131

Notes App by family_staralternate_emailbrutus

posted last year, edited last year

Testing out the spacing here.
Originally from November 2022. Never revisited cuz I thought it was kinda lame but now that I read it again I found it charming and worthy of sharing.

poem poetry witheredpoems writing

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The Tiger's HeartOnce in the past was a time when they had not been aware of each other's existence. She came from a big city and he… well, he came from a small village. If neither of them had never began their own adventure, would they have met at all? However, perhaps it was meant to be that their fates got intertwined together. That was what he wanted to believe, at least. His love for her was so deep that it felt almost unreal and even something beyond mortal's comprehension. She meant the world to him, and more. After their hearts had met, they could not be separated ever again. Lately he had felt that this was truer than before due to his journey of trying to get more powerful. He had not seen her for a while and it was tearing his heart. Thinking about her, however, eased the pain a little. Even though they were away from each other, their hearts would still remain united. Oh, he remembered it so clearly. They had got along well immediately. She was the loveliest maiden he had ever met. There was something about her, something he couldn't really explain with words, but it made his heart burst with love. Of course, she was kind-hearted and beautiful, maybe even a bit silly… especially when it came to money. But she was his silly beauty. Together they became a perfect match. Not only with their hearts but as warriors and defenders of their world as well. They had fought against the Wraiths as one. In a battlefield he was a fierce beast who protected his beloved one with his life and she, a mighty spellcaster, would ease his pain with her healing abilities. And together, they were unstoppable force. Simultaneously they had advanced as combatants and practitioners of Spiritual Cultivation. They had experienced and overcome a lot of fear and horrors which regular people would never have to face. But these occurrences had only made their bond stronger. And together, they both became sages, which makes them one of the most enlightened people in the world. But no matter how much they developed spiritually, it was nothing in comparison of his love for her that just kept growing and growing. They had not talked about their feelings that much, but he was positive that they didn't need words – they knew everything in their hearts. Whenever they would stare at each other's eyes and he would hold her fragile body in his strong arms, shielding it from all the evil in this world, they would be in a state where they didn't need to speak. They shared their feelings for each other through their eyes. It was unquestionable that their love was everlasting. He let out a heavy sigh. He missed her so much. He longed for her presence, and wanted to hold her close to him so badly… Perhaps it was time for him to stop pursuing power and go to where his heart was yearning for. Then he looked at the horizon and started his journey back to where he belonged.

A Momenttrophy

Heart of the Storm - Chapter 1 - Ninjago Fanfic“NINJAAAAAGOOOOO!” A little kid dressed as Lloyd went running down the Ninjago Convention Center hallway, swinging his plastic sword over his head. “Watch this, mom!” The kid threw down his sword and attempted to do a flip, but tumbled into the oncoming traffic of people walking around him. Before he could be trampled, a hand grabbed him off of the carpet. The kid got into a fighting stance, preparing to take on the stranger that grabbed him, but stopped when he met the eyes of his savior. Standing before him was the real Lloyd, dressed in casual clothing with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Lloyd offered the kid a friendly smile, then turned and continued down the convention hall, hoping he didn’t call too much attention to himself just then. The ninja had promised Lloyd he could have the day off, with it being his birthday and all, and he decided to spend it at the Ninjago Comic Con. He’d purchased some art pieces inspired by some games he played and ate a little too much junk food, but he didn’t care. To him, this was the life. And now here he was, on his way to meet his favorite actor, Cliff Gordon, star of the Starfarer series. He happened to be signing autographs and Lloyd just got the latest issue of the Starfarer comic, so it couldn’t have been more perfect. Navigating the convention center was a bit harder than Lloyd had anticipated. If it hadn’t been for the “Ninja Cosplay Contest”, there wouldn’t have been an issue. But he was utterly surrounded by people dressed up as himself and his teammates. If even one person recognized him, he’d be swarmed immediately. Any other day, he wouldn’t have minded, but not today. So Lloyd wore a basic hoodie, sweatpants, and a hat to try to blend in as much as possible. Shockingly, he’d be blended in just as much if he truly showed up in his armor. Somehow, he was able to make it all the way to Cliff Gordon’s line without being recognized or stopped. He excitedly took his backpack off his shoulder to retrieve his comic book. Once the zipper was opened, he cringed seeing his suit in the bag as well. Kai insisted Lloyd take it “just in case”, but it annoyed him to no end. Just give me one damn day. He rolled his eyes and slid his comic book out, zipping his bag up before anyone saw his gi. He slid the comic out of its plastic sleeve and excitedly shifted, unable to hold still. As Lloyd got closer and closer to the front of the line, he could hear Cliff’s laugh as he interacted with everyone. Lloyd had no idea how he so effortlessly spoke with his fans. Whenever Lloyd got recognized in public, it’d be followed by an awkward exchange or pure panic. But Cliff seemed so genuinely happy to interact with those around him. Once it was Lloyd’s turn, he stepped forward, comic book in hand and smile on his face. He gentle placed it on the table as Cliff greeted him. “Hey there, son! Having a good con day?” Despite hearing him interact with every single person in front of him, Lloyd was still caught off guard by Cliff speaking to him. “O-oh! Uh, yeah I guess so.” “Are you here for the Ninja cosplay contest? That seems to be a highlight for a bunch of people I’ve met so far.” “No. Uh, no sir.” Cliff looked up at Lloyd. “Are you okay?” Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, just not mentally prepared for the chat, I guess. Sorry.” Cliff gave a knowing look. “Don’t worry, I understand. So just an autograph today?” Lloyd nodded. “Okay! Who am I making this out to?” Lloyd thought for a second. “Just a fan.” Cliff gave a weird look. “Just a fan?” “Yeah. You’re my hero, but I don’t feel comfortable having my name on it.” Cliff looked at Lloyd then, as if noticing him for the first time, slowly nodded. “I see. Okay! But no peeking!” He slid Lloyd’s comic book closer to him and covered it with his hand as he wrote. When he finished, he handed it back to Lloyd with a smile. “You have no idea what an honor this is.” Lloyd gave him a puzzled look, then looked at what Cliff wrote: You’re my hero! Keep fighting and remember that fear isn’t a word where we come from! ~Cliff Gordon Lloyd marveled at the comic. “Wow, thank you Mr. Gordon!” Cliff shook his head. “Please, just Gordon is fine.” “Well, thank you, Gordon.” “This world needs more heroes like you.” And with a wink, he welcomed the next person in line up to his table. Lloyd held it close to his chest and smiled. This was one of the few times he didn’t mind being recognized. But before he could fully process the autograph, he ran straight into someone and tripped. He tried to stabilize himself as he went down, but it ended with him pulling the person he tripped over down with him. He spun them to make sure he fell first and that they landed on him, knocking the wind right out of him. Lloyd groaned as the person he tripped over yelled. “Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?!” He looked at the person on top of him and found it was a young woman in full cosplay. She looked like some kind of fox with a bunch of tails and red accents. She panicked for a second. “Where’s my comic?!” In the ruckus, Lloyd hadn’t even noticed he’d dropped his comic. Just to his left were two identical comics. The woman followed his eyes and scoffed, grabbing one of the comics. “Watch where you’re going next time,” she complained. “I’m truly sorry. I just got an autograph and-” “So did I, but you don't see me bumping into people.” She stood up and brushed off her outfit. “Just…watch where you’re going next time.” And with that, she stormed off. Lloyd grabbed the other comic and scrambled back to his feet. He looked at it and smiled, wanting to read it one last time before putting it away, but his heart sank and he read the autograph: For justice! For freedom! FOR THE STARS! ~Cliff Gordon The girl had grabbed the wrong comic book and wandered off into the sea of people in the convention hall. Lloyd began weaving in and out of the crowd to try to find the girl, but was having no luck at all. If only he had Zane here to help him scan the crowd for her. As Lloyd continued his search, he stepped into one of the exhibit halls to scan the crowd sitting at a panel that just started. Lloyd almost kept walking, but stopped when he noticed the odd amount of discolored fog floating around the stage. Lloyd's initial thought was that it was smoke from a fire, but this was different. It was almost purely black and almost looked…wet? And then, the screaming started. Lloyd flinched when the first blood-curdling scream happened, but as the fog cloud began to touch more people, more began to scream. It wasn’t your usual screams, though. These were screams of pure terror - the kind of screams that haunt your nightmares after you hear them. The screams rippled through the crowd, affecting everyone the cloud touched. Lloyd groaned and ran out of the hall and towards the nearest bathroom. Lloyd pushed past the line that had formed and stopped a man from going into the only available stall. He grabbed the man by his shirt collar and yanked him back. “Sorry, official ninja business!” Lloyd yelled as he locked the stall behind him. The man began hollering obscenities, but Lloyd paid him no attention, his mind focused on changing his clothes faster than he ever had before. Lloyd ripped his armored gi out of his backpack, the metal clinking against the ground and stall walls, making a sharp, piercing, metallic sound. He cringed at the noise, but continued on, sliding his arms into the robe and adjusting his shoulder armor to sit perfectly in its place. He tightened his belt and shoved his pant legs into his boots before lacing them up. Lloyd felt that though he was ready in record time, it wasn’t fast enough. He stuffed his street clothes into his bag, slung it back over his shoulder, then kicked the stall door open, nailing the still yelling man in the face. The man opened his mouth to continue yelling, but stopped and stared in awe when he saw the Green Ninja standing before him. In fact, everyone in the bathroom froze and parted themselves, giving Lloyd a clear path out. With a thankful nod, Lloyd made his way out of the bathroom, green specs of energy flickering around his fingertips. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he noticed that the fog was now spilling into the main hall. Most people were running from it, but the few that were touching the fog were frozen in place with blank expressions. Whenever the fog touched a new person, they’d scream, then freeze. Lloyd pressed his fingers to his ear, activating the earpiece Zane made all the ninja wear 24/7. For the first time in a while, he was thankful to have a direct communication line to his team. “Hey, anyone listening?” Lloyd asked, raising his voice to make sure he was heard over the chaos. “Hey, Greenie!” Kai’s voice boomed. “Enjoying the con?” Cole asked. Lloyd took a few steps back, the fog starting to get too close for comfort. “We’ve got a situation here-” “Too many people line up for your autograph?” Jay teased. “YOU’RE GIVING AUTOGRAPHS?!” Kai shouted. “I KNEW I should’ve come too!” “I don’t see how your assistance would modify anything,” Zane chimed in. “Um, people LOVE ME? If I was there, everyone would be lined up!” Kai argued. “GUYS!” Lloyd shouted. “How fast can you guys get here? I need your assistance. There’s a weird fog thing that’s making people scream and then freeze in place.” Kai groaned. “Dude, if you just wanted a ride, you could’ve asked.” “Kai! I’m being serious!” Lloyd groaned. “So am I!” Kai responded. “You don’t need to-” Kai was cut off, followed by a pained yelp. "Why'd you punch me?" “Ignore him, Lloyd,” Nya assured. “We will get there ASAP! Just hang tight!” Lloyd looked around and tried to identify where he could help. He had no clue how to stop the fog, but he knew he could help save anyone who hadn't been inflicted with fear yet. The first thing he noticed was that people were struggling to funnel out of the few exit doors there were. If Lloyd didn’t act fast, it was only a matter of time that someone would get crushed to death against the lock glass doors. Lloyd took a deep breath, surrounding himself in a green aura, lifting him up into the air. He glided towards the exit and yelled for everyone to stand back and brace themselves. He pointed his hands towards the row of closed glass doors and focused his energy, firing off a blast that shattered the glass, giving more people a way out. Everyone in the main hall began flooding out even quicker than before. Lloyd then changed his focus towards the black fog. He landed behind the crowd of people exiting and held his arms up, forming a thin shield, blocking the fog from spreading. Looking at the fog against his shield, Lloyd noticed it was leaving little black streaks as it moved. And could he hear … a heartbeat … coming from it? “BROTHER!” A woman yelled from behind Lloyd. He turned around and found it was the fox woman from earlier, violently crying, pointing beyond Lloyd’s shield. “MY BROTHER IS OUT THERE! PLEASE SAVE HIM!” “I promise you, I will do my best, but I need to make sure everyone else makes it out first!” The woman shook her head. “HE’S STUCK OUT THERE!” “I know, ma’am, but I need to help the others first!” The woman pulled at Lloyd’s right arm. “PLEASE HELP HIM!” “STOP! I need you to-” “DO SOMETHING!” Lloyd could feel his focus begin to wane, his shield flickering, as the woman continued pulling at him. “MA’AM I NEED YOU TO STOP!” And with one final tug, Lloyd was completely thrown off, knocking his shield down. The fog swarmed around his feet. He tried to run away, but it swarmed up his body, blocking him from being able to see. He tried blinking quickly, but there was nothing but darkness. “Lloyd?” A voice whispered in his ear. Lloyd turned his head to the voice, but still, saw nothing. “HELLO?” he yelled out. “ANYONE THERE?!” “You know you can’t save them,” the voice whispered. “Just like you couldn’t save me.” “What? I- Who are you?” He felt a chill run down his spine. “It’s me Lloyd.” “I-I can’t see you! Where are you?” “I’m right here!” The voice called back, full of desperation. Lloyd turned around, walking in the direction the voice was leading him. “I can’t see anything!” Lloyd yelled out, holding his arms out in front of him so he wouldn’t run into anything or anyone. “Just tell me where you are and I can help you!” “I’m right here, Lloyd!” Lloyd felt something tight wrap around his throat as the voice hissed, “RIGHT. HERE.” The sudden pressure sent him into a panic. Lloyd fell to his knees and clawed at his neck, trying to get whatever was around him off, but there was nothing there. Instead, his nails dug into his own neck. Lloyd tried to breathe, but couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. He fell to the floor, growing weaker and weaker as seconds passed. Lloyd wanted to scream out for help, but only strained, quiet cries came from his mouth. Then, the ground beneath Lloyd began to shake, filling him with a sense of peace. A large pillar of stone grew from under him, raising Lloyd above the fog. Once he was out, he could see the world around him. More importantly, he could finally breathe. He pushed himself up as he coughed hard, trying to refill his lungs with air. Without even having to look up, Lloyd shouted, “Thanks, Cole!” He looked around and saw that every single person who had been caught in the fog had been lifted to safety by their own pillar. And, in the middle of them was the Master of Earth, standing on the tallest pillar of all. Upon healing his name, Cole turned around, spotting Lloyd. He waved and pointed to the end of the expo hall where Nya was using water to flood the hall, Zane following close behind her, freezing it as she went. The water mixed with the fog and the ice held it all in place, stopping the spread. And in the areas where the fog hadn’t been contained yet, Kai and Jay were holding the line, using their respective powers to keep the fog back. By the time Lloyd caught his breath, the team had finished the job, leaving the hall covered in a thick sheet of ice. Cole jumped from pillar to pillar until he made it to Lloyd, offering out a hand to help his friend up. “Hey! Are you okay? Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.” Lloyd offered a friendly smile. “You got here just in time. Thanks for saving me back there.” “Don’t mention it, Short Stack!” Cole started to leave, but he stopped when he noticed Lloyd’s clawed neck. He craned his head down to take a better look. “Shit, the fog do this to you?” “I’m not quite sure what happened, actually,” Lloyd admitted. He reached up and held his neck, feeling small trickles of blood falling from his self-inflicted wounds. Cole wrapped an arm around him as he terraformed the side of Lloyd’s pillar into a staircase. “Don’t worry, we can talk about it more on the Bounty, okay?” Lloyd nodded as he allowed Cole to safely guide him down to the ground.

Heart of the Storm - Chapter 3 - Ninjago Fanfic“So…” Lloyd started, “I can’t say I was expecting that.” Nya, still applying Cole’s facemask, mumbled, “Lloyd, come up with a better response.” “Sorry! I don’t have a problem with it at all. You being gay, I mean.” Lloyd hoped the correction was to Nya’s liking, and going off her silence, he figured it was good enough. “So, who is the lucky guy then?” Cole tightened his jaw. “That’s where things get tricky.” “It can’t be that bad!” “It’s Kai,” Cole whispered. Despite his face being covered in his face mask, Lloyd could still tell he was feeling bashful based on his voice. “Ew.” “Lloyd,” Nya warned. “Better response, please.” “Nono I don’t mean it in a ‘ew gay’ way, more of a ‘ew Kai’ way.” Cole laughed. “What’s wrong with Kai?” Lloyd gave him a “seriously” look. “Have you met the guy? He uses way too much hair gel, winks at himself in mirrors, and thinks ‘NOT SO FAST’ is a valid, serious catchphrase to use in battle.” Cole smiled quietly to himself. “I know.” Nya nudged her cosmetic box over towards Lloyd with her elbow, her hands covered in face mask goop. “Pick a headband. I’m doing your face next.” Lloyd reached for the box and found it filled with various cosmetics, none of which Nya used as far as Lloyd could tell. He reached in a grabbed a white headband with fluffy cat ears, putting it on without protest. “Why do you have all this stuff?” Nya stifled a laugh, positioning herself in front of Lloyd to do his mask next. “It’s all from Jay. He likes to get me gifts.” “But this doesn’t seem like the kind of gift you’d enjoy.” Nya looked over her shoulder at Cole, who was sitting contently, his confidence having returned to his body. “Well, it started with one headband and a few face products. They sat in my closet forever. When Cole first came to me about his sexuality, he seemed stressed, so I told him he was welcome to try out my stuff. Turns out, he loved it.” Nya broke out into little giggles, shaking her head playfully. “Jay noticed that the items he bought were being used, so he kept buying more because he thought I’d like it.” Nya’s voice lowered to a whisper as she said, “Don’t tell him he’s funding our self-care spa nights.” “I would never!” Lloyd jumped as Nya pressed the face mask against his face, not expecting it to be so cold. “I want to hear more about Kai, Cole.” Cole’s grip around his pillow tightened. “I don’t really know what to say! I mean, he’s cute.” “That’s it? You just like him because he’s cute?” Lloyd asked. “He’s incredibly protective and passionate about the things he loves,” Cole started, closing his eyes as he got lost in thought. “Like, when he talks to you two, his voice gets all soft and sweet because he cares so much. He’d give anything to protect you two, and I’d give anything to hear him talk to me like that.” His eyes opened with excitement as he continued. “And have you ever noticed he’s the literal embodiment of fire? When the light hits him just right, it looks like he’s a glowing ember. He gives off this constant heat that just makes you feel so comfortable in his presence. AND! He smells amazing when he doesn’t douse himself in cologne like a damn middle schooler. It’s like-” Cole took a deep breath, “-a campfire in the middle of a cold Summer night.” Nya smiled, still facing Lloyd. “He’s smitten.” Cole threw his pillow at Nya. “Oh, shut up. I don’t give you shit when you gush about Jay!” “Yes you do!” Nya laughed. Cole smirked. “Okay, yeah, I do.” Nya scooted back from Lloyd, finished with his face mask. “Alright, boys, leave them on for a bit and then I’ll have you both rinse your faces.” “You aren’t doing your face?” Lloyd asked. Nya shook her head. “Like you said, not my thing.” Lloyd looked back to Cole, warmly. “I appreciate you feeling safe enough to share this with me.” Cole smiled back. “Thanks for giving me the room to figure myself out.” He grabbed his pillow and pulled it back up against his chest. “So, you wanted to talk about the Rumi stuff?” Lloyd’s smile faltered. “I feel bad, though. I don’t want to take over boy talk.” “Oh, dude, don’t worry,” Cole assured him. “I promise it’s okay. Nya?” Nya nodded in agreement. “Go ahead, we’re listening.” Lloyd took a deep breath. “Okay, so, Rumi-” “BOO HISS!” Cole yelled. Lloyd shot him a look, making Cole laugh. “Okay, okay, sorry, go ahead.” “When I touched the fog, I heard her yelling for me. I followed her voice and then I started suffocating.” Nya nodded. “And I’m assuming you thought it was her?” Lloyd hesitated. “I don’t know.” “Do you want it to be her?” “I…don’t know.” Lloyd felt a pit begin to form in his stomach. “That’s why I wanted to talk about it. I know I don’t exactly do ‘feelings’ or anything, but this was something different. I mean, I was being choked by nothing. That’s not normal.” “Was it maybe a hallucination?” Nya asked. “It’d have to be,” Cole figured. “Maybe we can talk to some of the other people who were caught in it tomorrow?” “Zane already spoke to a few people today, though,” Nya pointed out. “Everyone saw or felt something different. One lady said she felt bugs crawling all over her, but a man he spoke to said he heard the screams of his wife in pain.” “What do those things have in common?” Cole asked. Before anyone could answer, a scream echoed down the hallway, followed by Jay pleading for anyone to come to his aid. Cole jumped to his feet, dragging Lloyd and Nya up behind him. The three followed the yelling into the living space where Kai and Jay were playing video games to find a puff of black mist swirling at Kai’s feet. Jay was a few feet away from Kai, outside of the mist, attempting to swat him with a pillow. “KAI! WAKE UP! GET OUT OF THE SCARY FOG!” Jay yelled, chucking the pillow at him. The pillow bounced off of Kai and landed in the mist, the attack doing nothing to make Kai budge. Jay threw his hands up in the air. “That’s just GREAT! I don't know WHAT TO DO HERE!” He seemed to be put at ease slightly when his eyes fell on Nya, who grabbed his hand to pull him away from the mist. “What happened?” Nya asked, pointing at her brother. Kai was standing, slightly slouched, and was mumbling to himself as his fingers twitched with little embers. “Come…on……why won’t….my….power unlock?” Zane busted into the room, panting, with an ice attack ready, but when he saw the cause of the commotion, he stopped in his tracks. “This is exactly how we found Lloyd.” Cole shook his head. “Not exactly, he seems more talkative.” “LET’S GET HIM OUT OF THERE!” Jay screamed, reaching for another pillow to throw. He threw it directly at Kai’s face, but Kai didn’t react to the hit at all. It was as if everyone was looking at something that didn't exist in the same realm of existence as themselves. “The pillows are too soft. I’ll be right back.” Jay shook off Nya's grip and walked out of the room. “What do we do?” Lloyd asked. “How did you guys help me earlier?” “Cole used his element of Earth to remove everyone from the mist while Nya and I contained it,” Zane responded. “Okay, then let's do that! COLE, GO!” Cole tilted his head. “And how do you expect me to do that on a flying ship?” “Well, we can still do the containing thing, right?” Lloyd asked. “And freeze my brother with it?” Nya shook her head. “No way.” “Come on…..let’s….get….out of….here.” Kai mumbled, small flames now circling his fingertips. Lloyd held up his hand, silently signaling everyone to stop talking. They watched as Lloyd took a step closer to the mist. His eyes narrowed as he quietly said, “But, the fangblade-” “Forget it…..this place…..is coming… apart.” Kai’s breathing staggered and stuttered as if he was doing something physically taxing. “It’s a memory,” Lloyd realized. “The day he saved me. The day I became one of you guys.” “You didn’t see a memory, though,” Nya pointed out. “Why is he?” “You think I know? I’m in the dark just as much as you guys.” “We gotta pull him out of there before something dangerous happens,” Cole said, starting to head back to his room. “I may be able to move him with my scythe. Hang on.” Zane watched Kai closely. “This is truly extraordinary.” He took a knee to watch Kai’s hands. “Is it possible that whatever this is, it’s trying to make us use our powers?” “I don’t think so,” Lloyd responded. “I didn’t use my powers to claw at my neck.” “I’M COMING KAI!” Jay screamed, running into the room, wildly swinging an iron skillet. Nya caught Jay’s arm before he could throw it at her brother. “DROP IT!” “I’M HELPING!” “You are NOT!” Nya looked over her shoulder to yell down the hall. “COLE HURRY!” Cole came running into the room, his weapon in hand. Jay broke free from Nya and threw the pan. Lloyd dove for it to try to keep it from hitting Kai, Cole diving after him to make sure Lloyd didn’t dive headfirst into the coffee table. Not watching out for his own weapon, Cole accidentally swung his scythe, hitting Zane behind his knees and taking him down. And to make matters even worse, Kai’s hands fully ignited in flames that overtook the entirety of his arms. Still entranced, he started screaming, begging for an invisible force to “Come back” to him. He fell to his knees, setting the rug in the middle of the room on fire, choking out violent sobs that were nearly incoherent. “Watch out, guys!” Nya yelled as she sprayed water across the room. She had expected the mist to spread across the room, but it instead floated out the window and dissipated into the night air. “That was….weirdly easy.” The water had put out Kai’s fire, leaving him on all fours in a puddle. He breathed heavily, sniffling while he tried to regain his composure. Lloyd pushed Cole off of himself and crawled over to Kai. “H-hey, man. You okay?” Lloyd’s heart shattered when he saw the look on Kai’s face. He was broken, his lower lip quivering as he tried to regain his composure. Kai had lost every ounce of color from his face, leaving him as pale as a corpse. His hands trembled as he wiped his face of tears and Nya’s water. Kai opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t form anything. All he could do was tightly wrap his arms around Lloyd, his nails digging into Lloyd’s tee shirt. Lloyd reached his arms up to hug him back and, as his fingertips brushed his shirt, Kai broke out into sobs. He buried his face into Lloyd’s shoulder, not to try to hide his emotions, but to feel closer to him in any way he could. Lloyd didn’t fight him. Kai needed this. Nya caught Lloyd’s eye, looking just as concerned as Lloyd felt inside. It wasn’t every day you watch someone like Kai fully breakdown. Lloyd started to move his hands back down, but Kai whispered, “Please don’t let me go. I need to know this is real.” “It’s real, Kai,” Lloyd assured. “I am real.” “I saw you die.” The air in the room felt heavy as everyone processed what Kai had just said. “We were at the volcano and I lost my grip and you-” “I’m right here, Kai.” Lloyd tightened his hug. “I’m okay.”

(Not) LonesomeWho cares about a crawlerhiding in darknessand choking onhis own pitiful words? "No words, no worth."That's what the rules state. Loneliness keeps hitting meexcept when he,the one who holds the knife,assures me it's better this way. After all I will alwayshave some company (like him)insidemyhead.

GriefI rememberChildish doodles of wolves in classTracing dragons and carving stampsA childhood unburdenedBy the world I rememberNotebooks full of daydreamsThings to hide from parentsNotes passed in class and games on the playgroundA mind brightWith inspiration and promise I rememberA child faster than any otherCatching lizardsRunning laps and playing tagA body unbrokenBy time