Flash Fiction Episode 1: No More Running

“Humans were here. Find them.”

The ‘men’, or what may have once been men, kicked in the door of the empty house.  The small rental looked abandoned, and was scattered belongings were the only remaining residents. A broken cord phone. A bed with a toy story blanket. A Car. The forecaster babbled about clear skies despite the light drizzle outside, until one of the men put a heavy boot through the screen. The only sound was heavy feet on hardwood. One of the soldiers held up a stuffed animal to his mask, examining the dampness. The uniformed man turned to his superior, dictated by the numerous shiny badges on his uniform.

“Tears. They couldn’t be far off, Sir”

“Excellent. Soon we’ll finally cleanse the last of the human scum of this region.”

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room

. Glass flew skywards, and a tattered skinny man jumped out of the thin wood paneling.

“No”

He swung a heavy fist at the captain, who parried the slow blow with ease

“More”

The man pushed the general and began throwing punches wildly. The other men dived in to pull him off, but it all seemed to happen in slow motion

“Running”

The only thing they found after was ash.

Senior Sermon

Alright, so a quick recap before I post this. I went to a Jewish high school and one of our graduation requirements was to write something called a Dash. Basically, it's a sermon which you have to write yourself based off a piece of the old testament in which you take something from your own life and tie it all together into something you can present to an audience, and possibly even teach them something. My dad passed away two years ago on the 26th. This is for him, and for me. If you have any questions i'll answer them in the comments.

[Currently being rewritten for publication]

On thinking.

"It's always going to hurt to think"
I let that thought soak and sink
into my brain.
In my reflection I can see this drive
How can I help but strive, as it consumes me
To wrap my hands around understanding, even
if understanding is merely an illusion
and in reality just my neck, and in the
act I am choking myself to death.
Am I actually intelligent, or just a moody
deluded human being.

Childhood

Night. Take away my exhaustion and fright
The light of the day burns with it's chains so tight.
Let me feel the vertigo, the wind in my face.
Ride on these swings and look up to space
where great balls of gas fuse hydrogen steadily.
and there's no thought of something else we're meant to be
Watching chunks of space rock streak light across the sky
Not thinking or fabricating reasons to wry my hands in anger at the universe.
The words will slip away. Your name too.
But I can still close my eyes and remember.
And smile, if only on the inside.

Endings

Note: Poetry may not reflect views of author.

Give me no happy endings
No glad uplifting tales
Where after times of challenge and struggle
The hero triumphantly prevails
Because (to be honest) i'm no hero
And I don't know if I wanna see
what comes after.

Dolphins - I don't know what this is either.

You've been walking for a while. You arrive in a lush meadow besides a cliff jutting out over the ocean. Your feet are sore, so you take in the beauty of nature, the sun sparkling on the crystal clear water. You sit down and swing your legs over the edge. Below, dolphins frolic in the ocean blue, doing whatever it is happy dolphins do in the afternoon sunlight. Talking to one another with happy squeaking noises, you lazily eavesdrop on their conversation. You know it can't be true, but it's almost as if they are calling out to you and you alone.

You close your eyes and feel joy bubble up inside you as the feeling of letting go of weariness invades your tired mind. Your body is no longer achy and sore. You frolic in the waves, your nautically dynamic body almost flying through the water. Your body unconsciously learns further forward and your body begins to take on a frighteningly precarious angle, in complete defiance to silent ever present gravity. If your eyes were open you'd see the crags below seemingly reaching up eagerly, as if trying to close the gap between you and them.

At the very cusp of falling off the craggy cliff, you try to check the time. You attempt to reach into your coat to check your pocket watch, but for some reason you find yourself seriously lacking in arms and pocket watches. You flail wildly. Were you not just human? You try to focus but sink deeper into pandemonium. Your dolphin body panics, and you begin to drown, your dolphin friends useless in their efforts to aid you. You sink rapidly below the waves, darkness quickly overwhelming your senses.

You jerk back into consciousness and barely grab a hold of a nearby boulder, just catching yourself before tumbling into the chasm. As you pull yourself up, you look down briefly and glimpse the stone stalactites grinning up from below. You quickly stand up and turn your back to the faint squeaky noises in the distance. You are standing on a craggy rock cliff, the lushness from before quickly fading into lifeless rock before your eyes.

The beginnings of a faint smile cross your lips. “Classic” you say aloud to no one in particular. You check the time once again, and it reads 3 'o clock. The smile evaporates. You are running out of time. You hurry back onto the path which has now suddenly presented itself. Time is of the essence.

Go,

Chasing the hope just on the horizon

Leaping and skating on the thin ice of life.

Staying ahead of worry and frustration

dodging drama, anger, depression and strife

Though i'm not good at skating

And life always cuts low

I realize that ahead, somewhere on the horizon

I might find find the place that I need to go.

If such a place even exists.