Acroama

Crissy the caterpillar wanted nothing more than to become a butterfly.  She had been told by her parents many times that one day she would begin eating a lot, would build her cocoon, and before she knew it — she would emerge a big beautiful butterfly.  There was only one problem. Crissy was afraid of the dark, and the thought of being trapped in a dark cocoon for so long scared her.  JUST AS THE BUTTERFLIES said, she began eating more. Crissy became plumper and plumper. Everyone kept telling her it was almost time to cocoon — but Crissy kept putting it off because of how afraid she was.  Her roost began calling her silly for being scared of the dark. Crissy’s parents began to worry for her. As she got bigger and bigger she drew the attention of more than just her fellow caterpillars and butterflies. Crissy’s parents had warned her about things like spiders and birds all her life — and unfortunately the plump and now very popular caterpillar drew the attention of a ve...

Adam and his parents Shane and Kara arrived at the airport first. They waited in the ticket reception area before checking their bags. Brad and his wife Chelsea and their kids would arrive any minute.  “So, are you excited!?” Adam said to his dad, Shane. Adam was in his early 20’s and had only left the country once before. Among many other things, Adam was looking forward to spending this kind of time with his dad.  “Beyond excited,” Shane replied with a reassuring grin. Shane’s feet, hip and back had plagued him for years — but nothing was going to get in the way of him enjoying this time with his family.  Brad’s family pulled up to the curb — dropped off by Chelsea’s parents. Brad was Adam’s oldest brother and he and his wife Chelsea had lived in various parts of Asia for years now. They had invited Adam and his parents to tag along on this trip with their little family. Brad had been dying to return to Taiwan with his family since the Covid-19 pandemic sent them back t...

Tim woke in the hospital. His hand had pins in it. He would need to spend quite some time there allowing the bones to heal, and for functioning to return to his muscles. He could tell his hand wouldn’t be able to fully recover from so much damage. His concerned mother asked him what happened. She explained that he was found in the bathroom passed out on the floor, and that there was no indication of how this had happened. She eventually asked him if he was being bullied.  Tim thought for a moment and replied, “yes. I think I am.” “What do you mean, you think you are? Who did this to you?” His mother frantically asserted. Tim contemplated telling the truth, but couldn’t stand to have his mom start to look at him differently. Out of all the people in his life, he felt his mom was the one who could understand what he was going through the most. Tim decided to lie. “Mitchell … Mitchell did this to me.” The doctor came into the room. Dr Genly had a surprising amount of hair for a practi...

Going back to school was difficult. Tim got a strange sort of attention. People looked at him, and it seemed as if they had something they wanted to say – but that their mouths were sewn shut. This attention made Tim feel more alone. Even Kara seemed to have her mouth sewn shut at times.  But worse than the stares without eyes, were his visions of the accident. Everything seemed to remind him of his brother sitting in the driver's seat crumpled against the steering wheel. He began recalling details about the gore that he didn’t realize he had observed in such great detail. The class laughed at one of Mr. Durman’s jokes; Tim thought, ‘Mark's head probably hit against the windshield before he settled back against the steering wheel – because there were large gashes and shards of glass in his brother’s forehead.’ Kara’s lunch looked good, Tim was hungry and started going without lunch so that mom wouldn’t get charged by the school; ‘Mark’s nose and top row of teeth must’ve hit the...

The number of people that sat outside during lunch seemed to dwindle a little more every day. Winter was on its way. Tim and his cousin Kara were among the few who were willing to brave the fall chill. Tim was now an 8th grader and his final year of middle school was not proving to be as dreadful as everyone had said it would be. Kara was a grade younger than Tim and appreciated how kind Tim was to her; they ate lunch together outside every day.  The sun brought Tim joy. Sitting outside on the grass, he could snag only a few moments of sunlight – as the large clouds passed in and out of view of the sun. When the sun passed behind a cloud, its light and heat faded imperceptibly. But as it burst through the clouds again, he was filled immediately with warmth, and the world burst with color. The large soccer field popped with green, Kara’s blond hair shone like gold, and goosebumps prickled across Tim’s back and arms. Sometimes the sun stayed so long that when Tim bent over – his blac...

For Hamlet, The Prince and Bane of Denmark: The mirror shows a man who really loves; Who cares for kingdom, mother, father, maid. His mind, concerned to do what’s right and true; His greatest strength — his greatest weakness too. No angel sent to loosen thoughtful ties Could brighten the man’s fog’d and busy eyes. No ponderer, without Heaven’s true key, Will ever from defect logic be free. Wisest Old Serpent — Harmless Dove Above, Will teach the souls who overthink their love.

I plunged deep into the water. I opened my eyes wary of an attack from Xavier, and thrashed my arms furiously to get to the surface. Panic surged through all of my limbs. As I swam upward a tentacle wrapped around my leg. In shock I exhaled all my air. My lungs began to burn. The tentacle pulled me fast and hard to the surface. The tentacle released my leg and I laid there in a deep dark fog gasping for breath. I rose to my feet as quickly as I could and was ready to attack.  I could see almost nothing. I was surrounded by darkness. I walked forward with trepidation until my foot kicked something forward. I picked it up and immediately could tell it was a fishing rod. Suddenly behind me in the distance I heard the cooing of a dove. I followed the cooing, and as I got closer I could see that the dove was radiating light. When I got to the dove — the light it gave was enough to show me that I was in a completely different place. Around me floating in the air were doors everywhere. Th...