6.29.2019

Different Paths

Different Paths


The Beginning
This is a story with no true ending, though it has only one beginning. One night, at 12:58AM, on Friday, October 16th, Warren Brighton hears a knock at the front door.
Warren should be asleep, since he has school in the morning, but like most teenagers, Warren doesn’t always do what he should. Instead of being asleep, Warren is, at that very moment, crossing the foyer on his way to get a snack.
He pauses at the knock. Warren wonders who could be at the front door so late at night. Warren didn’t invite anyone over, and his parents have been asleep for a couple of hours. Both of them have to get up for work in the morning, and as tired, hard-working adults, they usually try to go to bed as early as possible.
Warren opens the front door, because he is not afraid of a strange knock in the middle of the night. Warren is over six feet tall already, muscled and athletic, the star of his school’s lacrosse team, and he has never learned to be afraid of strange or unexpected things happening around him.
When the door opens, it reveals Lee Withers. Lee goes to Warren’s school, but they’re hardly friends. In fact, Warren has been known to bully Lee every once in a while. Nothing serious, if you ever asked Warren. Just making some rude comments, laughing whenever Lee jumps at loud noises, or knocking Lee’s books out of his hands. Warren is just being a typical popular teenager, though, in his opinion.
Normal, everyday high school life. Nothing to be upset over. Still, Lee would say differently, and part of Warren realizes this, because he’s stunned speechless at the sight of Lee standing on his front step in the middle of the night.
Lee is shaking from his head to his toes, and now that Warren looks closer, the other teenager also has some visible bruises on his arms. Lee always keeps his arms covered during school, but he’s wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt right now, and sweatpants. He’s not wearing any shoes.
Before Warren can gather his wits about him and ask what Lee is doing knocking on his door, Lee mutters, “I didn’t know where else to go.” He promptly passes out, right there on Warren’s front door step.
This is how it always starts. 

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A choice must always be made.

When Warren Brighton comes across something very unexpected, he has a choice to make. Each option will have different consequences that Warren cannot anticipate. Follow along and see the different paths that Warren's life could take.

Which choice would you make?

Want to read the rest? Check out this short story here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T6JTCCS.

6.12.2019

One Day at a Time

Feel my pulse under my skin
Right here, beating so hard
Wildly struggling to survive
Can you feel my will to live
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?
Do you understand that I’m
A person who you have pushed
Around for years and years now
Until every drop of me is gone
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?
Why do I keep walking, keep breathing
If all I am doing is breathing for you
Why bother with the pain and suffering
If everything I feel is because of you
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?
I’m not your mannequin, I have a heart
Feel it beating in your tight fist now
Do you even care that it’s blackened
And slowly withering away, one day at a time
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?
Show some mercy for once, is that so hard
To let me go and let me live and let me be
I want to be free, of you and everything you say
I can’t leave unless you let me go, though
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?
Hard rocks beneath my feet, they sting
But not as badly as seeing your smile
When I’m standing beside you and dying
Inch by inch and breath by breath, waiting
For the end of my struggle, for everything
To stop, so that I can lay down and rest for once
Is that what you want to happen?
Are you just waiting for the end, like me?
I need to tell you that I’m dying
But the words dry up on my tongue
How do I explain that your every gain
Is killing me one day at a time now?

Away From You

A ladybug lands on my arm
It takes all my effort not to crush
This small life beneath my fingers
I am so jealous that it gets to fly away
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
Today, I try to be a better person
Every day, I try not to be what you made me
Sometimes, it works, and I’m so glad to be free
Most often, I’m trapped in your song, your melody
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
You make me dance to your tune
When I don’t know the steps anymore
Need to get off this silly metaphor
Life isn’t as sweet as a song for me
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
I want to be free of you and me and everything
Can’t tell you how tired I am of being here
Can’t make you understand how much it hurts
Not to know what the freedom to choose feels like
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
I need to do something for myself, just once
Can’t I be selfish for the first time in my whole life
Why do I always have to be what you want me to be
Why doesn’t what I want ever truly matter to you
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
Guess I’ll just have to take a gasp of air
Jump out of the airplane next time
Hold my breath and make a wish on a star
Let myself fall and not care if I hit the ground
How come all the time
What I want never matters
How come every single time
I have to bow down to your whims
As long as I can open my eyes and see the open skies
Then who cares what’s going to happen after
As long as my actions are finally my own
I’ll do anything I can, to get away from you

Not For Sale

I don’t think anyone notices
When I’m not in a good place
No, I know they don’t ever notice
Because they’re always so surprised
When I can’t take things anymore
When I can’t see straight anymore
And I cry out that I’m falling down
But there’s never anyone to catch me
Is it really so hard to believe
That I keep my feelings locked inside
When you spent my whole life telling me
That I was too dramatic and weak
Don’t mind me, got some grit beneath my nails
Some ash in my eyes, burning me
Burying me, making it hard to breathe
Everything I say is not ridiculous
Stop treating me like I’m nothing
Like every word from my lips is
Useless and pointless, quit silencing me
Quit acting like I’m nothing and you’re everything
I’m not buying that anymore, you see
You can’t have me or my integrity
I don’t exist just for you to tease
I’m not for sale and you can’t own me

Identity

Watching the wind blow
Yearning to grow
Such a small thing
Such a simple thing
I. Want. To. Live.
Can’t talk this any longer
Don’t need you anymore
Just want to stretch my wings
Just want to fly on my own now
I. Want. To. Breathe.
Playing nice until I break
Screaming out my heartache
Heart pounding in fear
Heart pounding in hope
I. Want. To. Be. Me.