blkgirlswriting-blog

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Punctual: Part 2

I could feel a hotness growing on the side of my face. It could only mean one thing. He was staring again.

“Uon,” he said suddenly, his voice so low I nearly missed the sound

“That’s what I’ve been called,” he spoke notches louder. He kept his eyes locked, darting between his hands that had taken comfort at his sides as he stood. I stuck my gaze on his right hand, which had started to become discolored, from dark mahogany to a deep navy that crept from the tips of his fingers to his knuckles. Though his face was calm, he seemed to pull away from the moment temporarily.

“Hey! Are you okay?” I asked, leaping to my feet, no former shyness leaving a trace.

He avoided my gaze for a few moments before, shaking his head and looking at me.

“It’s fine,” he replied, rubbing his hands together causing the color to go slightly down to the tips again.

“Sure…” I said, worry tinging my tone. I stared him intently from which he avoided my gaze, choosing again to focus beyond the back of sight, behind me. The water of course. My mouth was slightly open, I wanted to ask more, but I wouldn’t push too hard.

I couldn’t help but feel curious about the isle that lay just beneath the slope I had fallen onto. I strode downwards intent on making it to the edge. Though I had not taken much notice, the water moved strangely, slowly just as Uon’s blinking. Almost as if too slow. Perhaps even slowing down.

If I had been paying more attention I may have noticed the changes and how I was slowly changing too. The number one rule when traveling was being aware. There was never time for stopping.

Someone was hovering above me my body that sensed them, causing all the hairs to stand up. Staying in one place tends to do that, making you hypersensitive to all around you. And while that was all I seemed to do lately, this wasn’t that new to me. I lived in a house alone, this way it was easier on everyone. It helped them accept that this side of life did not exist, rejection that is easy to choose when you’re awake. And for their sanity, I preferred to keep it that way. At times like this though, when someone could easily walk past the bells I had set and walk through the house undetected I wished I had more connection with someone outside of myself. But I had chosen this on my own.

~

Blue was his cover. The jacket the figure wore swayed on their shoulders as they carefully inched around the archways and corners of the house. The figure scanned the living room, quaint with two sofa chairs and a short glass table, then to the kitchen to the front and the stairs to their right. They sniffed the air slightly, noting the vanilla tone with a hint of gardenia. It was coming from the right up there. They made their ways to the staircase.

With each wooden step a small creak was emitted. They reached the top of the stairs seeing the door was open with a soft light on. They stepped into the scented fog and looked over the tub, a body lay peacefully in the water. Her chest was still rising and falling. The hair pricked up on the arm, sensing.

The intruder slipped on some black gloves.

“Aser”, they commanded, causing a blue glow to pulse from below the elbow to their hands. They had been at this for years, following who they may and getting what they needed… Of course this would be the first time they had tried this with one of her kind. They took a moment hesitating to move close and instead, bathing in the warmth of the room as well.

The mirrors and windows, unnaturally thick with fog, only alluded to the true temperature of the water. It had to be boiling in there.

The figure walked over to the body taking one good look at the face. They grimaced. they may have turned around if they weren’t reminded of his words roaring out. “You can never be who are if you don't follow my footsteps.” the voice said blankly. “Never forget who you are until you BECOME me. This is the only way you have”. Though typical, stating the truth so bluntly actually managed to have an effect.

Their hands reached around the girl on both sides, tapping the non-submerged parts of the shoulders and toes lightly. Scooping the dried parts of the shoulders more upright, making sure not to touch the water in the bathtub, was much more difficult than expected. Water that escaped during the shifting fell and touched the side of the black boots they wore and steam hissed. Perhaps these gloves were necessary.

They took two small steps back, flexing their hands towards the tub before turning both palms up and flicking up with both index and middle fingers. The body rose with each twitch, coming to stay 2 feet above the pool below. Now with her body held in a stilled motion, they took another look. She was so calm and peaceful in the arms of the thief, giving them an easy opportunity to take one last look down.

“Oh…yes…,” they commented, it dawning on them.                                                                  

Begrudgingly they held two fingers up and pressed down on the center of her chest. This was what they should want. At the point a pressure a dark mole with several vine like spindles sprawled out. The indent of the flesh reverberated against his fingers, a warmth almost seeping through his fingers. They snapped their hand up in a fist all at once, making a complete fist that now shook in emotion.

~

My chest lurched forward forcing me to my knees. I was gripping the muddy bank at the start of the isle, the mud smudging between my fingernails. What was happening? I looked back up at the island just across from my stooped position.

Uon bent down next to me.

“…I can’t…I can’t breathe,” I said with my watering eyes wildly searching around me. The colors began to annoy me. There was too much of the same thing, greens and blues which now swirled  together. Dizzy I threw myself to my side. I could see it. Just above me was rip in the fabric of this time. I forced myself to inhale, turning to Uon for the first time who seemed to have true emotion on his face. Concern? I don’t think I had made that face before. An urge prompted me and I looked down at his hand that had once again deepened in color.

I brushed off the feeling that seemed to be a thorn poking me from the inside of my chest and tried to stand, managing to stumble only once.

“Uon we have to get out of here”, between short heaves. He was back in the reverie, turning his arms back and forth.

“Uon! Come one, we have to get out.” He paid me no attention.

I reached to put my hands on his shoulders, fully intending to shake him. But no such thing would happen as I, instead, had gone through him.

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Vice Versa pt. 2

“We are here to celebrate Reta and her transition into a new stage of life,” Jabi, the counsel leader boomed to the clave. All members were in attendance for this ceremony, seated at different tables listening to their leader. The clave had spent several days preparing the ceremony at the center of their land, creating long tables to seat every member of the community.

His voice was strong and steady, as it had always been. He came from a long line of leaders, both men and women, His family had lead the Alema clave since its beginning. His destiny had always been to lead Alema: similarly, Reta’s destiny had been to follow in her own family’s footsteps and continue Alema’s long line of god speakers. However, destiny wasn’t always interested in being predictable.

“Although Alema is a small clave, we care for our own. We protect and defend our people without the resources towns, protected by Otemi, have. Alema has withstood many changes to this world. We have witnessed and survived natural and unnatural shifts that have threatened our livelihood. We still stand here on this land, strong as one. And as one, we will yet again have to defend ourselves against changes that are forced upon us.”

The clave was captivated by Jabi, their silence amplifing his voice. No eyes strayed from his dark brown face, and all attention was his. His presence had always been powerful, even in the stories of his childhood Jabi could influence anyone. Growing up, he could persuade adults to believe he was innocent in his most guilty moments. However, his brilliance was lost on Reta. As she sat at the giant oak ceremony table with him and the rest of the counsel, she could see the truth as bright as the lanterns strung around them. She’d been like everyone else, thinking Jabi could persuade anyone and could even move mountains for Alema. But he could do none of that, he was a regular man, powerful at a young age, but powerless against Otemi. Like every other person in the nation.

“We have been strong armed into giving up a member of Alema to Tiborn, to their god. But we know who he is. We have not forgotten that Otemi was not always the king of the skies. And as Tiborn and other towns sing of Otemi, we will sing of the gods before him. The rightful gods.” Jabi’s voice rose, his feelings towards Tiborn clear with each word.

“We will continue to worship who we know to be the true rulers. And They will watch over Reta and protect her from whatever he plans.” At this Jabi looked to Reta and smiled, triumph written over his face.

All of Alema cheered. They cheered for themselves, for Jabi, and for Reta. She wasn’t sure why they were cheering when she was the one being sacrificed, but she smiled and clapped along anyway. Jabi had transformed their weakness into a strength, he’d convinced Alema to forget their powerlessness and continue even if Tiborn did have a boot raise ready to crush the small existence of Alema. She looked over the people she’d known all her life and felt true pity, Alema wouldn’t last much longer. No clave this delusional could survive His conquest much longer. The history, the culture, the people, all would be gone. It was only a matter of time.

Hours into the beginning of the ceremony, the clave was celebrating with drink and dance to honor the life of the last “daughter of the god speakers”. Despite herself, Reta managed to celebrate with her clave. Dancing until her feet hurt, and drinking until her thoughts blurred. It was easier to drink than sort out her conflicting emotions. While getting another cup, Reta wondered if the towns as big as Tiborn mourned the dead like her people did. Did Otemi ask for his followers to mourn those he took? Did he ensure there were people in those big towns that remembered the names of those he snatched away? The thought barreled down to the anger she’d been hiding all day. It had been churning all day, waiting to be unleashed at any moment. Reta had to concentrate for a long while to push the anger back down. She couldn’t let it out at that moment, she didn’t know what she would do once it blinded her. She thought of where she would be the weeks after she was given away. For all she knew she would be living in Tiborn as some sort of sacred being. Death didn’t have to be the outcome. But she would no longer be in Alema. She would no longer be connected to the gods. She would no longer be Reta of Alema, the god speaker. She would be no one.

She took a sip from her cup at the thought. If she drank more, she wouldn’t be able to think. Her anger could be forgotten if she couldn’t think. So she hastily drank the liquid in her cup.  The spiked juice burned a path from her throat to her stomach, she thought about the warmth coming over her body instead of what would become of her body soon. Reta smiled, she’d been hesitant to drink that night. Knowing how her people behaved when they drank in sadness, someone had to stay sober to prevent any harm from happening. And worse, she had been so close to her anger for so long, she wasn’t sure if it would show up on her last night home. But this was her night, everything was to honor her. Why wouldn’t she drink? With that in mind she threw the cup behind her and headed to continue dancing.

Sometime into the late night, after several hours of dancing and drinking, Reta could barely stay on her feet. With her thoughts scattered and far away from her mind, she had the freedom to enjoy herself, a luxury she rarely had. She sat at one of the large tables and watched her people dance and celebrate, the rich burgundy of their mourning attire illuminated by the fire they danced around.

“You know, I saw mama today during the celebration. It was while they were all walking me over here in the parade. I was surprised.” Reta said to the woman and man she felt walk up behind her.

“Lehana would never miss this. It was too important,” Ame, her Aunt said placing a hand on Reta’s shoulder. She had been one of the main organizers of the ceremony. As one of the council members, she’d done a lot to make sure her niece was honored properly.

“She didn’t stay for long though. I looked away for a second and she was gone.”

“She’s been busy with the gods today, it took a lot out of her to come when she did, her brother replied sitting next to her. “Let’s go home and see her. She wants to spend as much time with you as she can before they come tomorrow.”

“I want to stay and watch,” Reta said not taking her eyes off the dancers. “This is the last night I have. Let me enjoy it for as long as I can.”

“I don’t think any of this is worth remembering. All they’ll do is drink, eat, and dance until they drop. Once you’re gone they’ll go on about their lives like nothing has changed.” Kendi never cared for Alema’s mourning ceremonies. Although he had only been alive for 30 years, his soul was much older and he was drawn to the ancient ways of worship and celebration. “They disrespect your memory the way they give themselves so easily to alcohol and sadness,” he said, contempt thick in his voice.

“But they still care. I can feel it around me. The bonds I have with these people won’t fade as easily as you think, Kendi. They’ll remember me. They’ll think of me when I am gone. Perhaps they’ll even name a child or two after me,” Reta said with a drunken giggle. “Maybe that way I won’t be forgotten.”

A strong breeze blew through, nearly extinguishing the lanterns. The music quieted for a second as people protected themselves from the wind. Once it ceased and everyone had collected themselves, the music and dancing resumed.

“We need to get you home. A lot is happening in the morning and you need to have enough sleep to get through the journey. Come on,” her aunt said tightly gripping Reta’s shoulder.

“Can I get just one more drink? I need this feeling to last into tomorrow,” Reta replied as she stood. She couldn’t sense the unease shared between her aunt and brother.

“I don’t think another drink will do anything but make you feel worse in the morning,” Kendi said as he steadied his intoxicated sister. “But I can give you something that tastes even better.” He left her for a moment to retrieve a cup, and when he returned he reached into a satchel she hadn’t know he had around him. From the satchel, he pulled out a small canister. From that he poured her another drink. “I went through a lot to get this, so don’t waste a single drop.” He said handing her the cup.

“What is it,” Reta asked as she smelled the liquid. A subtle sweet aroma rose to her nose, but burned the more she inhaled. “Why are you giving me the gods’ elixir? No matter how much I take they refuse to talk to me.”

“It’s something better than what you usually take. Mama made it especially for you tonight?”

“Did she now? How kind of her, she wants me to speak to the gods before one of their own spirits me away. What a great conversation we’ll have,” she said before drinking the contents of the cup quickly. She didn’t see the horror and sadness wash over her aunt and brother’s faces.

“Let’s start heading home then,” Ame said turning to lead the way. “We have a little ways to go.” Reta and Kendi lived with their mother on the outskirts of the clave, it was easier to exist and practice when they were far from other people. It took a lot to communicate to the gods, and the noises and needs of the people of Alema were constant distractions. After Lehana conceived Reta, the pressure of the people of Alema was too much for her. She’d become more connected to the gods with each child and could barely stay around other people form more than a few hours. Once she was sure Reta had established friendships with other children in Alema, she moved the family to the edge of the clave where the forest grew freely and she could hear nothing but the gods and nature.

The three walked slowly through the clave, matching Reta’s drunken pace. The moon was high enough to light their path, but clouds leisurely moved over it, shrouding them in darkness. However, the trio knew their way without much thought and kept to their slow walk home. They passed small groups walking from the celebration sluggishly to their homes, unable to continue into the morning.

“You know what I’ll miss most about being in Alema?” Reta said suddenly, turning to Ame and Kendi.

“What?” Kendi asked humoring her.

“I’ll miss the stories of the gods. There were a lot of stories I learned because our family has known them for ages, but there were so many more I learned from Alema. There are so many more I don’t know,” she said with regret.

“How about we tell you a few on our way home?” Her brother asked throwing his arm around her shoulder. “We can start with the story of the goddess Tefa.” She didn’t see the anger in his eyes, nor could she feel how that anger send a tremor through him. Kendi hid a lot from her that night. They all had.

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

-Robert Kiyosaki

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Punctual: #1

Sitting in your bathtub is usually something most equate to peace. To be clean, to relax. And usually bubbles foaming around you are an invitation to the ritual of becoming anew again but sitting in my bathtub was never relaxing. Never that.

Release 1021…Release.

The faucet of the tub dripped into the water. It never stopped. Neither did the beeping of the fire alarm on my bathtub wall. But despite all around me, I was read now. I held my knees against my chest tightly.

It could happen any minute now.

1021…Release.

Steam traveled upwards, covering my shower doors and the tall blue walls surrounding the bathroom. Would you assume I was scared? I’m sure. But you just don’t understand. The steam barely felt hotter than the Pacific Ocean to me.

~

The bubbles gave way forming a large 8 sided star. Beneath the shape the water was no longer the lavender of the bath balm I chose but a deep black. The kind of black you at and even your pupil shrink, no match for what it had to offer. Not wanting to see inside but doing so anyway

I lifted my chin from my knees and lifted my right hand over to the blackness. I scooped it with my hand feeling the plasma texture change to dust the moment it touched the air. Just another world of the same girl who created it. I stood up, never removing my eyes from the spot. Placing my hands together above my head in a diving gesture the corners of my mouth lifted into a high smiles. I dove over, under.

As soon as my fingertips entered, my body seemed to lunge forward all the same. I could remember everything: the bathtub and me jumping in. I swam my arms in a forward motion through the sticky matter around me.

I had been so afraid of this my whole life…

Though my eyes were open I saw nothing but the black around me. But soon the darkness turned to a bright pattern in color. I kicked my feet mermaid style gliding my arms with the same motion. I felt the urge to move swiftly and moved my limbs so fast I thought I had to be a fish in a past life. The blend of colors blurred, becoming a kaleidoscope with a black focal point. Many full strokes later I had reached the opening. On this end it seemed I had more control. I turned around and saw the mix of light I had come from and the darkness that emanated just before it. My feet were suspended with me. Though this was far from water it carried my body just like it. It was so familiar. Not wanting to waste any more time I dove headfirst into the hole which stretched forward with my body’s weight and broke just as I exerted all my force. And then I was falling…

Around me I could see that it was daytime from the bright light in the sky. My stomach was dropping 10 stories per second. There was grass below me but I could not pay much attention, more preoccupied with my own panic. I screamed until my throat cracked, blacking out moments later.

~

Slowly, I awoke. My nose felt warm, just as the whole front of my body. My head was pounding at a rate I couldn’t pace.  I scrunched my face slightly and groaned as I attuned back into my sense, earning me the awareness of pain and a thick coat of the ground on my face. I could barely open my eyes.

I hissed as I pushed myself up onto my elbows and sat back onto my knees before rolling into a sitting position. Suddenly, I heard an exasperated sigh from my left, causing me to scoot in the opposite direction.

“Why didn’t you hold your arms out? I told you I’d be right here last time,” a concerned voice spoke.

I wiped the mud from my face and blinked into clear vision. As the blur steadied into clarity I glimpsed the owner of the voice. A man about my age with brown skin and sharp but steady eyes.

“Who are you?” I asked.

He stared at me, then smiled warmly.

“Come on…we do this every time…,” he replied.

I blinked at him twice expecting more to be said. But he turned and stared straight ahead into the distance in front of him. I turned in the direction and saw in the distance a gated island separated by an isle of water. He slowly turned his head to the right locking eyes with me.

“Weird isn’t it? How you remember what you can’t,” he spoke unblinking. When he finally did it was slower than normal as if it belonged in another time flow.

“Who are you?” I repeated more strongly, becoming more and more irritated.

“You can’t forget about your creations again because they’ll also forget,” he said narrowing his eyes slightly.

What could he mean by that?

I felt the need to remember something. But I just couldn’t. Coming here was not something I took lightly. I had only agreed because over and over again I was told I meant to. How could I have possibly know n him if this was my first time? Even so, if I had been here before…

“Then who am I?” I asked him with a curious expression.

“Mine. Why don’t you trust me?”

By now the rumpled face I gave him had to be working. He was mimicking me in perfect unison.

“Yours? I meant a name. It’s a normal form of introduction where I’m from”, using hand motions and quotation gestures as I pointed between us. He stood completely still.“I think I should get going,” I said as I stood up looking down at my outside, my bare body. I pursed my mouth, looking him in the eyes holding in a nervous laugh.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed here. I’m the same as you”, he said

My eyes widened slightly and I realized this was the first time I had broken contract with him as my eyes began to see it was true. I snapped my sight in front of me, my face warming, not wanting to finish the sketch of him I had already began. A nervous smile crept upon my face. If they told me I would have needed clothes before the mantra I would have worn them in the water. But even stranger, the law of this world was only I was to be here.

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Human : pt. 1

One day, Xander introduced himself to me while I was sitting on a park bench. 

“His last words were: I was not the evil that you sought”. Xander whispered, his hands in his pockets as he approached me, with a sly grin on his face. 

I paused to look at him, my eyebrows raised, half-smiling. “Um, excuse me?” He sat next to me, folded his legs and leaned towards me.

“It’s a quote from the book you’re reading, but you haven’t reached that part yet. I’m just letting you know that it doesn’t end well.” His smile was pressed into a thin line, but his muddy eyes were inviting. 

“Oh...yeah. Well, thanks for the spoiler.” I said, smiling down at my book. My eyebrows furrowed, thinking: this book wasn’t available to the general public. “I’m sorry, but have we met before?” 

“No. I’m Xander”. He said, awkwardly extending his hand. I shook it, - dry, but soft. I noticed that he wore a strange outfit: a black leather tailcoat was fitted to his body, with a loose white blouse underneath and plain black jeans. I noticed that he was uncomfortably close to me. Only the villains in tales invaded one’s personal space when first meeting them - I moved myself to the edge of the bench and turned towards him. Pursing my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

“And you are?” He said, I must have been staring for too long. “Leasha.” I said. I’ll admit that he was pretty attractive, regardless of his weird outfit. His long, stringy black locs were pulled into a low ponytail that framed the soft features of his face.

“What a pretty name, Leasha.” He said, looking at me. He seemed to be looking at every inch of my face as I said, “Thank you”. 

“And what pretty green eyes.” I chuckled and looked down, alright...I’m not too fond of flattery. This time I flashed him a thin-lined smile, except there was a hint of irritation in my eyes. 

I stood up, “Well, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have a couple of things to do for the night. It was nice meeting you.” I had enough on my mind already, and to add someone else to my situation would have been too much.

“Oh”, he said, moving to the edge of the bench. “I’m sorry if I was too forward, I just couldn’t help but noticing.” 

I looked back at him, and started walking away. I wasn’t interested in making new friends or lovers; this point in my life was the worst time for that. 

“Wait”, he grabbed my shoulder, but I took it back as he moved in front of me. “I know what you do for a living. I’ve been watching you for the past couple of weeks, there’s help out there for girls like you.

“Girls like me?” I said, chuckling.  “What you think you know is far from the truth.” Standing directly in front of him, I flashed my teeth. “Mind your own business if you know what’s good for you.” 

“Okay.” He said, unflinchingly. Unsure of what to do afterwards, I decided to walk away. It was dark at night, and I didn’t want to chance anything - who knows who or what he could be. 

“Just so you know, there are others investigating the hotel, and they’re not the police. You don’t want to end up like the little devil in your book!” 

When I turned around he was gone, and I was left puzzling over who he really was. A warning? It didn’t matter because regardless, things were bound to catch up with me.

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Vice Versa pt.1

Screaming woke Reta from a deep, uncomfortable sleep. She looked around frantically, searching for solace in something familiar. But her surroundings were far from soothing. The room was not her own, it was bare and small. The walls were grey and tall, closing in on her, ready to crush her like the children in Alema squished the ripe guana fruit.

It took her several moments to realize the screaming was coming from her and that she could stop. So she covered her mouth with her hands to silence herself. She’d dreamt of something, something she couldn’t quite remember. But when she thought of it, her chest contracted and she almost started to scream again. It was easy to do that. Screaming was better than thinking, thinking only caused her pain.

“Have you finished?”

There was a woman in the far corner of the room, watching her. How long had she been there? A chill went up Reta’s spine and she couldn’t distinguish whether it had come from the breeze that wafted through the room or the realization that she and the woman were locked in the room together.

Briefly she wondered why she thought she was locked in, but the thought left her mind as quickly as it appeared. On the floor, she turned to the source of the breeze coming from behind her. Its origins were from a window big enough for her to see the vastness of the city outside, but the bars on it reminded her of captivity and smallness. She walked to the window, intrigued and perplexed by the view. Ivory buildings stood tall and straight, while smaller reddish brick buildings speckled the city in larger numbers. There were far more people than Reta could dream of counting, all tiny specks from how high she was. In the far distance, where the most people were headed, there was a statue made of the same ivory with additional gold linings. She knew this statue, even though she had never seen one so large before, there’d been one in the town near her clave. A statue so big could only mean she was in one place. Tiborn, the Gods’ City.

“Otemi in all his glory. I doubt statues that grand existed before he took over,” the woman said next to Reta.

Reta flinched and got to her feet to quickly step away from her. She eyed the woman fully this time. The woman’s deep brown, almost blue, skin glistened as the rays of sun coming through the window illuminated her. She glowed in elegance from the kinky halo of hair on her head, down to the gold rings wrapped around the toes of her bare feet. On her body were clothes unfamiliar to Reta, with a style that looked nothing like anything current. A large vibrant yellow sash covered her chest, with more fabric billowing down her body to form a skirt that stopped under her knees. The woman had an old air to her, even though she looked to be in her mid-twenties like Reta.

“Who are you?” Reta rasped finally. Her throat was raw from the screaming.

“Oh, you do speak? I was worried that you would be mute up until the very end. Or worse, you’d scream the whole time. I was growing tired of all that noise you were making,” the woman said as she leaned against the wall. Reta was thankful she’d kept her distance.

“You didn’t answer my question. Who are you and why am I here?” Reta asked with more confidence.

“I can’t say, you have to figure that out on your own. I am here because of your mother. She called to me and asked for me to help you. Most humans have heard of what he does to the sweet little flowers he plucks from the ground. She wanted you to have protection. As of now I’m the only one that does not fear him,” the woman said looking out of the window. Reta couldn’t read the expression on her face. Did she even wanted to know what the woman was thinking?

“You aren’t making any sense. Why would my mother call on a goddess to protect me? Who is this person you’re talking about?”

The woman walked to her, and as a reflex Reta stepped away until her back touched wall. The woman stopped several feet from her. Reta had come from tall people and had inherited the height from them, but the woman towered over her. “Don’t ask me such foolish questions. You know the answers to all of them. You simply don’t want to think of them. Human minds are too damn fragile. Think harder.”

Reta did as she was told, she thought of why she was in Tiborn. Why would she be so far from home? Why would they keep her so far from other people? Why was there a celebration? She could feel the answers deep within her, behind the pain she felt earlier. The only time anyone came to Tiborn, was for a reason. No one was simply allowed into the city without documents saying why they were there. If not that, they were coming to Tiborn to give their lives to Him, their one true god. Otemi.

Then something came to her. A document, sent to her home personally by a special Tibornian military leader. Her mother, a pillar of Alema, with strength unmatched, was on her knees sobbing. It had been the first time she’d seen her mother openly cry.

And suddenly Reta wanted to scream again. She could remember now. The clave on fire, the death of her people, the life lost that night. Her mother kneeling, tears streaming down her cheeks, yet a smile stretched across her face. Reta had to hold back the onslaught of emotions that washed over her as the memories came back.

“No! Let it out. The quicker you do that the easier it will be to accept it all,” the woman said stepping closer to Reta. “Remember it all. Hold onto the memory of them cutting down your people. It’ll be the only thing to give you the strength to do the same to them.”

Reta tried to swallow the pain, send it through her to be digested and released. That was the more peaceful approach. But all of her complicated emotions were overflowing, and the only way for her to not fall apart, was to let it out. So she screamed and screamed and screamed. She let out her pain, anger, and sadness in the only way she knew how.

When she came back to herself, her throat was on fire, her voice was all but nonexistent, but there was a clarity to her thoughts now. Tiborn wanted to give her to Otemi. And she wouldn’t let that happen, not after what they’d done to her home. And under His order no less. Her emotions were morphing into a weapon, something she could use to save herself from succumbing to the same fate of her people and the people before them.

She looked at the woman, the only being that could help her use her weapon against Tiborn.

“Do you know who I am now?” The woman asked. She’d waited through Reta’s screaming and processing, and now she was ready to plan.

“How will you help me?” Reta asked the woman with suspicion. There was always a price when you asked for help from a god.

“I am powerless until you identify who I am.”

“I know that, but before I give you power, I want to know what you plan to do.”

“You are your mother’s child,” the woman said with a smirk. Reta flinched at the mention of her mother, the wound was still fresh.

“I plan to kill the god you silly humans worship.”

[blkgirlswriting-blog]

Artist Joey Spiotto Transforms Iconic Characters into Adorable Children’s Book Covers.

L.A. based artist Joey Spiott transforms our favorite pop culture icons into adorable characters. Spiotto makes the famous figures into cuter and more bubblier versions of their reality. The result is a hilarious and charming manifestation of cinema. Find his work in his Etsy shop.

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[blkgirlswriting-blog]

People’s souls are like gardens. You can’t turn your back on someone because his garden’s full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine.

Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion (via wnq-writers)