When I met Hayden, I felt as though every fiber of my being had suddenly connected to her. I became infatuated, helplessly and completely in love, and her returning my feelings was like a walk-in cooler filled with ice water in the center of the mid-July desert. Hayden completed me in ways that I didn’t…
Text
Some amount of time ago, I received a text message on my phone from a number I didn’t recognize that plainly said “where are you.” I replied, asking “who is this?” but received no answer. A week later, the same number texted me again with the same message asking where I was. Confused, I texted…
Tracks
At 14 years old, there wasn’t a lot for my friends and I to do that didn’t involve the woods near our neighborhood. We were too young to drive, and yet we felt too old to be restricted to playing sports in our parents’ yards. The woods were basically the perfect place for us to…
Ungranted
I would never wish upon anyone The feeling of wanting to touch someone so much that it hurts And having that wish go ungranted for weeks on end.
The Hallway
When I moved into my first rental house, I remember the feeling of being terrified at every strange noise that found its way to my ears. The ice maker in the freezer, the A/C kicking on, the house settling – it all made me nervous the first night I slept there. I was expecting it…
Connections
When I was 19, my younger brother was killed in a car wreck. Derek had just gotten his license, and the rules of the road had not yet become second nature to him. I was with him in the car, and somehow, I managed to come out of it alive, but not without some head…
Justice
If I could choose to be alone, If I had the strength to walk down that road, I would still need you like I need you, I would still feel your touch across time zones, I would still have a heart that beats for you, And I would still not have words that did my…
Common Senses
“How do I even begin to describe these feelings?” he said. His mind raced as he tried to think of words that came anywhere close to what he felt. “It’s okay,” she said. “I understand your feelings. They’re the same ones I have.” “But people experience feelings in different ways. There is no telling that…
Function
My arm extends and falls atop the pillow upon which her head had lain, My stomach twists and there is an ache in my chest that pills cannot cure. Only one pillow had decorated the bed, and now there are two, The second serves as a constant reminder that she had been there, That I…
Stained
She told me once that there was always a cloud over her head; that she might as well carry an umbrella around just in case the downpour started when she wasn’t prepared for it. It was a poetic way for her to describe her sadness. It was a terrible thing for her to live through…