i. Storytime from a Surburban Bedroom
I'm hiding under my unmade sheets
Smiling with my stash of sweets
Story, story on the page
Whatfore art thou tale today?
What adventures are in store?
And will tomorrow bring some more?

ii. Broken Rhythm
Tapping along to the sound of drums
Singing along go my favorite song
Jumping up to switch on the fan
Everything has its rhythm
Though mine's a little broken

1. Inward Chaos
You make me a quiet kind of crazy
Send me into internal turmoil
I don’t think you know
But if you do, you’re good at hiding it

2. Head Over Heels
I’m enraptured by every part of you
They say eyes are a reflection of a person’s soul
If that’s the case, yours is beautiful
I’ve never met someone like you
I don’t think I will again.

Although she could not have known it, or at least would not have noticed it, exactly three weeks passed between Raven’s first and second “slips” as she liked to call them. The second time it happened, she was almost expecting it to happen. Of course, it was completely crazy for her to expect anything, so she told herself that she was being silly and kept walking.

Raven avoided Aaron for three weeks before she could manage no longer. During that time, nothing seemed to happen. She didn’t have any more weird experiences, so she must have just been imagining it. School went as slowly as normal, and Raven found herself almost wishing it were true so that there would be some adventure in her life. I mean- who doesn’t want adventure?

i. My Dead Past
Funny, sometimes you're so far gone
You start to imagine you're alive

And then a psycho pops up here
She taps my shoulder and winks

'Just let me write this one poem'
Oblige and then where will I be?

ii. Reborn By the Help of Two Lunatics
We'd met twice before
And we never got along,
But third time's the charm, I guess
Because they stole my heart

Sleepless nights led to inspiration
And under the waxing moon
Buried under sheets, lit by a phone
I knew who I wanted to be

You're a thumb, you're a smidge
I've kept your crafts in the fridge
Made me laugh, made me smile
Why not sit here for a while?

Autumn fades to winter, winter starts to freeze
Freezing leads to flus, flus lead to pleas
Pleas lead to arguments, which then lead to tears
And soon I forgot your voice resounded in my ears

But, sure as spring and summer came,
You grabbed my arm and began to sing

Chapter One

He was just a flash in my peripheral vision, a blur, really—but I’d come to know him so well that the simple movement gave him away. I turned around right as he reached for me.

“Hey!” I exclaimed as we bumped into each other. Hard.

Jason laughed, ignoring my protests as he pulled me to him. “Sorry. I was trying to surprise you.”

“Yeah, well. It didn’t work.”

We leaned away long enough to glance into each others’ eyes. It had been weeks since I’d last seen him. We’d talked through emails, of course, but it was never the same.

Words and ideas and characters are flowing - not flowing, but racing - through my head and I can't stop them. I don't want to. I want to be sad for all the ideas that I'll forget by tomorrow but I don't have time - I just have to get them down, don't stop, don't breathe, they'll be gone if you even blink.
Tracy, the girl who packed her bags and left Louisiana to live in Spain, never mind that she didn't speak a word of Spanish and barely had money to buy the plane ticket.

Ransom

What is this place
That we have fallen hostage to
Or perhaps you're the place
And I'm hostage to you
But the world is expansive
I made it that way
How anyone can call it small
I suppose it still evades
My understanding
It's quick and elusive
That knowledge that I pray
Will finally allow me to
Move on to another
Perhaps take my own hostage

Level Up

Quiet Peace

I've come to a place of quiet peace
I've managed not to be quite as obsessive
Although I will admit that I watched you
For two hours
So maybe I'm still obsessive
But at least I've got my peace

Second Place