Fiction
SAMPLE
Huddled in the corner, her black curls hung limply around her shoulders. She breathed through her mouth, trying not to smell the sweaty air or the fear that clung to it.
The girl shivered as steady rain thumped the tin roof. Thunder crashed. The sound alone could shred the papery walls.
A frigid pool of water began to form around her feet from a leak somewhere, but she didn't move away from the puddle. In fact, she eagerly sat on her haunches, cupped her hands, and scooped up as much as she could, drinking heavily.
Although mixed with the grime on the floor, it tasted heavenly sweet in the girl's parched mouth. She let water trickle over the cracks in her lips, bringing back life.
Something sloshed outside the locked door. Frozen, she listened as the last of the water from her hands ran down her neck, goosebumps rising up after it.
Voices. It was them. They were back.
EXCERPT
I don't want to go home, but I don't tell Elijah that.
The front tire hits the curb when he pulls up to my house. "See you tomorrow, Harmony."
He doesn't hear my silent plea.
"Bye," I say softly.
The car door almost doesn't latch behind me. My house looms ahead. Already, I can hear the muffled shouts coming from inside.
There's awful scraping as Elijah peels away from the curb. Before I take another step, I get my wired headphones from the zippered pouch on the side of my backpack and plug them into my phone.
I bring up my music app. My thumb hovers over the play button. My eyes close. Chilled autumn air fills my lungs. Then pop-rock floods my ears.
The music's cranked to max, but so are her screams. They're shrill and aimed at my dad. Somehow, he doesn't need music to drown out my mom.
– To Drown the Noise
SAMPLE
Huddled in the corner, her black curls hung limply around her shoulders. She breathed through her mouth, trying not to smell the sweaty air or the fear that clung to it.
The girl shivered as steady rain thumped the tin roof. Thunder crashed. The sound alone could shred the papery walls.
A frigid pool of water began to form around her feet from a leak somewhere, but she didn't move away from the puddle. In fact, she eagerly sat on her haunches, cupped her hands, and scooped up as much as she could, drinking heavily.
Although mixed with the grime on the floor, it tasted heavenly sweet in the girl's parched mouth. She let water trickle over the cracks in her lips, bringing back life.
Something sloshed outside the locked door. Frozen, she listened as the last of the water from her hands ran down her neck, goosebumps rising up after it.
Voices. It was them. They were back.
EXCERPT
I don't want to go home, but I don't tell Elijah that.
The front tire hits the curb when he pulls up to my house. "See you tomorrow, Harmony."
He doesn't hear my silent plea.
"Bye," I say softly.
The car door almost doesn't latch behind me. My house looms ahead. Already, I can hear the muffled shouts coming from inside.
There's awful scraping as Elijah peels away from the curb. Before I take another step, I get my wired headphones from the zippered pouch on the side of my backpack and plug them into my phone.
I bring up my music app. My thumb hovers over the play button. My eyes close. Chilled autumn air fills my lungs. Then pop-rock floods my ears.
The music's cranked to max, but so are her screams. They're shrill and aimed at my dad. Somehow, he doesn't need music to drown out my mom.
– To Drown the Noise