By the end of my first day of teaching the following week, the ball seemed years ago, a distant memory buried under an avalanche of paperwork, schedules, lesson plans, grading, and assignments. Had it not been for Devorah Erren’s insufferable boasting to the other girls about the ball (she being the only one of the class whose parents had allowed her to attend) I might not have thought of it at all.
By the middle of the week, however, my thoughts had turned to the upcoming festival that I was to attend with Mira and her family.

As Raya walked along the beach she looked out to the sea; breathing in the salty air and watching the waves kiss the sand.  She stopped to watch the dolphins swimming in the cove then turned to walk up the path to her house, she did not notice the ship on the horizon.  Finn, Raya’s older brother was playing volleyball with Jay their cousin, the twins Triton and Tyde, and Adrian, Finn's best friend, as she walked up the path Raya looked up when her brother called her.
“Raya, come play with us, we need one more player!” yelled Finn.

In my hands I hold the world
A pot of gold I seek to find
My pathway: beams of sunlight, pearled
The rainbow’s end in light enshrined.

The night around me closes fast
Blue skies now deepen into black
I look up to the heavens, vast
For fear of unforeseen attack.

Look! Yonder, there a shadow road
To where it leads, I cannot say.
Dark silhouettes of creatures goad
A swifter flight by moonlit ray.

Kindle the flame,
Spark the fight.
Spread the wings
Of darkest night.
Tooth and claw,
Scaly might.
Swirled together,
Dark and light.

Sinuous strength,
Ice and fire.
Silent as death,
Beware his ire.
Come the flame,
Come times dire.
This black giant
Is the crier

Eyes of gold,
Spine-tipped tail.
As black as night
Is every scale.
Great broad wings
and blackest mail.
A shift of pinions
Creates a gale.

Pete and J-Boy pulled the boat further onto the island.
Once they had tied the boat safely to the tree, the boys walked around the island to get a bearing on where exactly they had landed.
It was an island, much the same as any of the other islands, with the express difference of being the only one they were currently standing on.
Measuring roughly thirty meters across in one direction and fifty in the other, it seemed to be on the smaller side. At least insofar as the boys could tell, not having much experience with these floating islands.

When we’re together smiles win the day
The sun’s shining bright, clouds all blown away.

When we’re together things really get Fryed,
White Converse and brown ones sit right side by side.

When we’re together we laugh at our jokes
That really aren’t good, still we laugh til we croak.

When we’re together, it’s hard to describe.
You always create such a friendly vibe.

When we’re together, I love you so much.
I don’t think there’s anyone with your special touch.

A crowd noisily gathers in the auditorium, sometimes in large groups, occasionally trickling in one by one. Little do they know what goes on back stage. But if you open the door…

Removed for magazine entry...keeping my fingers crossed!!
-Damaris Ann

Captain Aurelius Cassian held his breath. He prayed to Juno for a son for months after he was told of the pregnancy, and he sent incense to Jupiter for a princely fellow, Venus and Cupid for a boy of comely appearance, and Mars for a suitable warrior of Rome. He begged the gods for an heir.
Now, he waited for the result of his prayers.

Deep in the woods,
There’s a little wooden house,
And nobody lives there, but dreams.
And the laughter of childhood,
Floats on the breeze,
And splashes through crystal streams.

Find me beneath the old maple,
Let’s fight a few monsters today,
And return to the hall,
When the quest finally ends,
And we’ll sit with a fire ablaze.
Knowing well that we have
Something fleeting and sad,
That we’ll hold for as long as we can.
As long as we can.