Together
James
I loved her. I was betrayed. I blame myself and Timothy. I trusted him.
Aaron
She was my sister. I know he did it. James convinced her to go. He forced her. She couldn't have known, now I have to figure out a way to bail her.
Cynthia
I did what I had to do. I do not regret it.
Cynthia
Timothy is in jail. He did it. He did it. He did it.
James
I will capture one of his relatives and ask for enough money to bail her.
Then I will die.
Aaron
I went to his house. He was not there. Who is Timothy?
James
Her brother knows where I am. He knows who I am. He will kill me first.
Aaron
I found him, he has a name, James. We made an alliance. We get Cynthia, then he and this Timothy die.
James
I heard Timothy is in jail, that is not enough. I do not like Aaron, but he is helpful.
Cynthia
They will not find me. I do not want to be found.
James & Aaron
We will find her. Together.
Aaron
I do not care if he lives.
James
Then I die.
The Woman Who Loves Tea & The Man Who Does Not
There once was an older woman who liked to drink tea.
If you went to her house you had tea.
No and's, but's, or whatnot's, you had tea.
Your cat passed, we can't talk about it without tea.
Now, she would not serve nor drink old tea.
On the 2nd Thursday of every month she would take a trip to the grocery store and buy 16 small boxes of tea.
On those trips she would never buy any regular grocery items, no dairy, no fruit, no veggies, no meat, only tea. She would buy everything else on a any day of the week that was not Sunday or Wednesday, when she was going to church.
One day she met a young man. That man did not like tea. He would avoid the aisle, not wanting to waste his time walking by the tea. On the day that she met the man, the store had moved around their aisles and she needed help finding the tea. He had already located the aisle so that he could avoid it.
The woman tapped on his shoulder and asked if he knew, assuming he worked there. He gave her a polite nod and led the way. She smiled and thanked him, but as he was leaving she became conflicted. How would she repay him? As much as she wanted to, she could not invite him to her house. I could give him one of the 16 boxes, but I always bring home 16 boxes, no more, no less. But if he is still here... At once, she knew what to do.
She paid for 16 boxes, then went back to the aisle for another box. After she had her box she looked for the cash register that the young man was at and found that he was not in fact working, but was placing groceries on the table to be scanned. Perfect, she thought, as she knew the worker at the register. She waved and walked over, whispered something in the workers ear, grabbed a sharpie, set the box down, and waved good-bye.
That night the man slept much better than he had in days after drinking the tea he only drank out of the feeling of responsibility and the gratefulness for the kind gift he had received, even if it was tea.
Not only did he sleep well, but so did the woman, knowing that there are helpful people who are not just getting paid, and the feeling bringing of home 16 boxes of tea, no more, no less.
_______________ A knock on my brain._____________________
_______________There once was___________________________
_________________a closed door.__________________________
__________________Now its open._________________________
____________________There is a box._______________________
_______________________A ribbon comes off,________________
_________________________once tied neatly in a bow,__________
__________________________________ and the lid is off._______
_______________________________There's bubble wrap,_______
_____________________________there's secrets.______________
__________________________The questions come.____________
_______________________I think and think._________________
_____________________I think of excuses. They ask,___________
________________________"was it really a joke?"______________
__________________________Of course not, I think, and,_______
____________________________"do they know?" More excuses,__
____________________________________"my mental health?"__
_______________________________and now the bubble wrap___
_____________________________it's unraveled,______________
________________________________and everything's...________
__________________________________falling apart.__________
Then,__________________________________________________
I realize,________________________________________________
I just need to be led to His path,_____________________________
I look back and see, and wow, it's already there, behind the secrets and worlds influence on me...___________________________________
Burnt is a dream
Back then, a long, long time ago,
Under the safety of my home, I had a dream, the perfect career, how beautiful were the
Red flames that i believed could not frighten me, a blessing on a cold autumn day.
Now I look back, what a dream.
Truck sires wail, flames get higher, they want to consume you, and you can't get away.
Image by Canva, Dream-Lab
Listen
Listlessly lying on the white topped bed,
Intensely focused on the slightly crooked tile on my glorified cage's ceiling.
Safely balancing on the line between boredom and survival.
Trying not to think about days back then,
Entertainment taken for granted, and
Normal was a characteristic of a person.