ztwrites

[ztwrites]

Creative Writing Piece Excerpt #4

Unnamed Novel

“Speaking of herpetology, here comes oceanside’s resident snake.” Grumbles Harlee as she slouches her shoulders and rolls her sleepless eyes. “I’ll bet that he comes out like he’s the star of a collin klein commercial.”

“calvin klein.” A timid Luka corrects her as he hugs his binder tightly to his chest and shields himself behind hunter, although it didn’t appear to be doing him much good. He is noticeably taller than his protector. Elaine looks from one friend to the other in perplexity before finally shifting her focus to the subject of their displeasure as it appears, opening the gymnasium door. The moment that the “snake” crosses into her line of vision, everything that Hunter had said about him makes sense to the girl.

The boy commands the attention of every student, teacher, and visitor as he struts down the hallway, pounding one white combat boot in front of the other. Everything, right down to his choice of wardrobe seems to throw everyone around him into a deep, inexplicable trance. He doesn’t remind her of any mean girl from films she’d seen. He does not seem to need two right hand minions to do his dirty work. No. This boy, there is not a doubt in her mind, is plenty menacing enough on his own. The silvery-blue color in his eyes makes his piercing glares even more threatening, and his fiery red quiff attached to his pale skin rises almost as high as his nose. To top it off, his pouty lips are curled into what is almost a snarl and a single one of his perfectly formed eyebrows seem to raise high enough to touch his hair. Between his appearance and his demeanor, there is no way around it. The school is going to cower before him.

Elaine’s jaw hangs close to the floor at this point. She turns to Hunter, who seems to have read her mind. “Yup.” Is all she says. “That is Zen. His name is almost as outrageous as his attitude.”

“Harlee!!” Luka exclaims in an angry whisper. “He is going to hear you. You know what he’s capable of.”

Harlee rolls her eyes for the thirtieth time. “I’m petrified with fear over your ex. He’s going to ruin my social life.” Her tone makes it evident that she does not take Luka’s warning seriously.

[ztwrites]

Creative Writing #3

—An excerpt from an unnamed novel—

Backtracking, just moments before the scream, Kathryn Summers stands at the edge of the overlook. She's gazing in awe at the masterpiece nature has displayed for her. Her boyfriend, Nathan Brooks stands slightly behind her, one arm around her waist and the other rested on the rather unstable fence on the edge of the cliff. The wind howls through the night mercilessly and the snow is beginning to fall heavily. Yet somehow, it manages to look both peaceful and offsetting.

“It's beautiful up here.” Kitti mentions with a relaxed sigh. Nate smiles, looking at her long and shimmering locks of golden hair, then at her emerald green eyes. He could stare at them for ages, and would gladly do so. She piles endless brands and types of make up on her face, trying to prove to herself what the world already knows, and that is that she is the most magnificent and breathtaking creature to ever walk the Earth.

“What?” Kitti smirks over at her four-eyed boyfriend. He’s unfortunately been busted. “You're making that face you have when you're thinking of something.”

The bookworm shrugs. “Nothing, it's just,” a short laugh slips from his slightly chapped lips, “I could think of more beautiful things.” He blushes a little. He's been dying to use that compliment on her for weeks.

Kitti blushes. “Shut up,” she mumbles, looking away, trying to hide her smile. The cheerleader lives for her boyfriend's romantic endeavors and cheesy pick up lines, no matter how much she tries to deny it. She turns and faces him. “You are such a dork.”

He laughs, and she does too. Nate proceeds to turn back to the overlook. After a long silence, Nate says. “It's weird. To think about how people look out at this and they just see the exterior. They just see the outlines, and not the details that make it so complex and unique.” He says, putting so much meaning into such small words like he does so well.

Kathryn looks at him for a moment. “Is that what you saw when you asked me out?” She teases with a grin, “the outline?”

“Is that what you thought when you said yes?” He responds, sharing a grin as well.

Kitti rolls her eyes. “Of course not.” She pulls him in close, sighing after a moment of silence. “Nate?” She says quietly. He mouths a 'hm ?' in response. “Should I not have invited everyone? Like Trevor, Josh, Maggie, Kevin. I don't want to upset everyone.”

Nate sighs. Kitti had previously taken it upon herself to invite Claire's ex boyfriend, her two ex-best friends (along with their boyfriends), and Katie's ex. He wasn't sure if he liked that or not. Although, it's a little late to change anything now. The four-eyed male shakes his head. “Honey,” he looks into her eyes, “out of all the people I've come across in this world, you have the biggest heart of them all. And I think that everyone will see that, and see you are trying to help. That's what I think.” (1/4)

Kitti smiles softly, biting her lip. “Good answer.” She pulls him in for a soft kiss, but, the moment their lips touch, Nate hears a snapping sound in the surrounding woods. He pulls away, turning his head slightly. “What is it?” Kitti asks in a whisper, feeling his muscles tense up. He shakes his head. “I'm not-” he freezes as he briefly sees something fly past him, shoving him backwards, and like a chain reaction, Kitti staggers back.

That's when it happens, Nate’s beloved girlfriend steps on a broken branch. She losses her footing for a split second and finds herself hanging on to her boyfriends arm for dear life. When she tripped, she must have broke the weak fencing lining the edge of the outlook. She surprises herself when she doesn't hear her screams echoing in the mountain range.

Nate is laying in the snow, trying to pull his girlfriend off the cliff. His glasses lay cracked in the snow behind him, taking his vision with them. He keeps his cool, trying not to panic. “Okay, okay, Kit! I need you to look at me, okay? Just keep your eyes on me.” He tries to sound calm. She nods and focuses on Nate. He can just make out her free arm hanging loosely in the air. “Okay. Can you swing your other arm up to me, so I can pull you up?”

Kitti bites her lip again, but nods. Trying not to think to much, she attempts to reach up to Nate's outstretched arm. She knows she needs to act fast. Whatever knocked her down did it on purpose, she was sure of it. That means it could be back any second to knock Nate, down who's vulnerable as he holds her up. She swings herself from left to right, trying to push her body further up. She reaches for him, and misses. Reaches again, misses. Again, and again, and again… she misses. “Nate!” She finally says, “this isn't going to work.”

He nods. “I- I know,” he feels his stutter resurfacing, which means that Kitti is going to know he's scared, and if she knows he's scared, she'll think she should be scared too. He can't have that, “I'm just… I'm trying to think of something.” He sighs.

Suddenly, Nate feels something scratch his leg, then yank at it. He winces as he's jerked, and his heart stops as Kitti's sweaty hand slips slightly. “Nate!” She shouts in a panicked voice. “Babe what's going on, are you okay?” She asks him.

He nods, “yes. I'm fine.” Another jerk, he's about to lose her. “Nathan! What's happening?” She pleads, trying not to cry as her hand is starting to slip through Nate's fingers. The practically blind teen starts to panic. Something is tugging at him, seemingly trying to get him to release Kathryn. He reaches his free hand, and pulls with the other, trying desperately to reach her empty hand and pull her onto the top of the cliff. She reaches her arm as far as she can. Their fingertips have just touched when Nate feels a silky and slimy hand grasp his leg. The hand itself fully wraps around his leg, and as soon as it can, it yanks Nate back, and he loses Kitti. He hears her scream echo through the entire mountain. He doesn't feel anything touching him now, so he runs to go check to edge. But instead, finds himself chucked off the edge as well. And just as fast as it started, it ends. The overlook is empty.

Now, traveling further down the mountain we reach two males stomping through the snow towards the overlook, unaware that there even was a scream as they quarreled. One with tan skin and brown hair, the other with chalky skin and blazing red head. The carrot top, also known as Ryland, wrinkles his freckled nose as he sniffs the air. “Kasper, why the fuck are we out here? It fucking stinks, man.” He retorts hatefully as he stomps through the winter wonderland of snowflakes and pine needles.

Kasper, the tan one, sighs and rolls his eyes from his position in front of his best friend. “Because, Kitti wants us to all get together one last time before college starts and we all take off.” He replies in annoyance, “you know. Because we care about each other.”

Ryland makes a face. “Eh. Some of them.” He scoffs. Kasper turns halfway around and side-glares at him for a moment, prompting him to huff loudly. “Whatever, fine. I'll be fucking nice. Even though none of them like me.” He mumbles the last part under his breath.

“Of course they don't like you, they're probably afraid of you Ryland.” He shoots back.

The ginger looks offended as he smacks a tree branch out of the way. “Why the fuck would they be afraid of me?” He fires, “I'm nice, right?”

Kasper scoffs as the two bickering friends approach the clearing into the overlook. “That's a laugh.” He rebuttals with a chuckle, “and stop saying 'fuck' so much. It's annoying.” He adds.

Kasper hates to see his best friend like this. They’ve been inseparable since freshman year when they joined the soccer team together, and the redhead has never exactly been a ray of sunshine. But since a year ago, when his older brother unintentionally forced Ryland to come out as gay, he’s been a bit more of a hurricane to be around.

Ry starts to continue, but pauses as they come to the overlook. “Shit, dude.” He hears Kasper gasp. (3/4)

Ryland nods. “Shit is right. Look at this place.” The picnic table is flipped. The binoculars ripped from the pole holding it up. There is a jacket in the snow, and something shimmering next to it. He goes to check it out. Picking it up, he notices it's a pair a cracked glasses. “Kas,” he signals Kasper to come, “these had to belong to someone.” He continues, looking around. His eyes dart about the area as he tries to get an idea for where the owner of the glasses might be. He gets an eerie feeling that they might be finding out sooner than later.

“Who would do this?” Kasper asks rhetorically, walking towards the edge. It sent chills up his spine as he found himself suddenly not wanting to be here. He continues walking, and he notices something a little off. The railing that extended the full length of the cliff is incomplete. It breaks off right in the middle. He turns to his friend. Ry is just out of earshot. Kasper turns back to the cliff, then back at Ryland. “Shit!” He murmurs under his breath as he turns back towards the cliff. He slowly begins to approach the gap in the lining, in case the wind picks up or whatever did this is still here. He reaches the edge, and very slowly peeks his head over the edge to see if he finds anything.

At first, he sees nothing but a little landing a few feet below them. But then, like a needle in a haystack, he sees them. On the landing he just noticed, he spots Kathryn Summers, the one who invited them all out here, and Nathan Brooks, her nerdy but sweet boyfriend. Those must have been his glasses! He can make out through the snow that Nate is propped up on a rock, unconscious and wrapped in Kitti's jacket. Then Kitti, on the other hand, is looking for a way off and back up to the overlook, he assumes, while she gives a glance every few seconds in Nate's direction to make sure he's okay. Typical Kitti to put her own needs last. He needs to get their attention. He needs to help them.

Completely forgetting about Ryland, he shouts down to them. “Kitti!! Nate!!” He tries to sound as loud as he can, hoping to draw their attention. Neither move. He curses to himself and grabs a nearby rock. He chucks it down at them, it hits Kitti. She grabs at her forehead and glances up. The blonde doesn't see him at first, but after the darker haired boy pulls out his phone to use as a flashlight, she spots him. “Are you guys okay?!” He shouts down.

The female nods. He can barely make out what she says as she speaks. “I think so.” Kasper assumes she said this, and starts to respond, but hears a loud crashing sound behind him. He turns his head to see his best friend missing. Quickly, he faces Kitti again. “Just hold on! Stay right there.”

He hears her retort, “obviously,” back at him. The boy ignores it and turns back around, getting a better look at the wrecked overlook that's… not wrecked? The table is upright, the jacket is folded neatly on the swing of the small gazebo, and the glasses are on the table. “Okay, now this is starting to get creepy.” He mumbles to himself. He starts looking around frantically. He checks the picnic table, the inside of the gazebo, the not broken binoculars. You name it he's checked it. He runs a hand through his hair to think. He has a choice to make. Should he help Kitti and Nate? He knows where they're at and has a better shot and getting them to safety. Or, should he search for Ryland. He has no clue what happened to him, but he is his best friend, and that has to count for something, right? He bites his lip, his mind already made up as he looks at the edge of the overlook. Ryland was tough, he can handle himself, Kitti and Nate are vulnerable. He has no jacket, so Kitti has given up her's for him, leaving him unconscious and her freezing. He needs to help them. He curses at himself, then runs to the edge.

[ztwrites]

23.07 august 23rd icarus it was a tale of great triumph and full of great loss with pride and punishment icarus is flying far too close to the sun he knew no boundaries he flew with no fear he saw the sun how raw the beauty truly was he was no god yet he was and he was punished he flew too close he flew too much it is similar i find it to a great love for a great love knows no boundaries it flies without fear love sees the light how raw the beauty truly is neither party in this love is god yet both are and they are punished they loved too close they loved too much icarus is flying far too close to the sun and i am loving far too close to the heart .

z. t.

[ztwrites]

creative writing piece #2

excerpt from original slasher book titled "strings".

"This is so going viral." Ramie Stafford admires her handy work as she snuggles up next to her boyfriend, who's hysterically laughing into her satin covered pillow. "Okay, okay. I just want to play it one more time." He manages to compose himself enough to click a button on Ramie's laptop. She rolls her eyes with a smirk as the video starts to play again. Her dark eyes drift from the ceiling back to screen. The video she's watching with her boyfriend is quite scandalous, she must say. Even though it is surrounding a low life, no name weirdo named Freddie, the content and footage is simply too juicy to resist. I mean come on, who doesn't love some steamy boy on boy tongue action. The video barely finishes playing when her man candy is reaching to play it again. "Ethan!" Ramie barks, "if you keep playing that damn video I'm going to start assuming that you're the gay one." She huffs in annoyance, pushing the laptop to her left, away from her boyfriend. "I didn't invite you over here while my parents are out of town to cuddle up with me on my bed to watch Freddie swap spit with some dude from a club." He laughs a little. "I'm sorry." He says softly, rubbing her back a little. "I'm just excited to take down the little fag." She punches his chest. He coughs a little and gasps out an incoherent complaint. "Ethan, one of my best friends is gay so watch the fag talk. We're not doing this because he's gay. This is because he crossed us. He crossed me." She pauses, glancing over at the laptop, "and nobody crosses Ramie Stafford without consequences." The brunette smirks a little at the thought of revenge. She couldn't deny it, she loves her beautiful wickedness. "Okay," Ethan leans in close to her lips, "what are you waiting for? Show him the wrath of Ramie and Ethan, power couple of Martinsville High." He places a passionate kiss on her glossy lips. She only dares to let it last longer than five seconds. She pulls out of the kiss and smirks. "Done." She grabs the laptop and clicks the mousepad button, and watches in satisfaction as the video uploads to YouTube. Ethan laughs again. "Already shared it with at least ten contacts and tweeted about it. Fredrick Sapphire, I've got three words for your social life: rest in peace." "Wow." Ramie scoffs. "How long did it take to come up with that one?" Before Ethan can answer, the doorbell rings. She rolls her eyes, moving the laptop off of her lap and on to his lap. "That must be the pizza." She decides. "BRB cutie, when I get back, I expect something kinky and wild." She teases with a wink, then she's off down the stairs. She reaches the front door fairly quickly and unlocks it. Her hand feels a burst of coldness as she grasps the golden doorknob. She swings open the door.

---- to be continued.

[ztwrites]

“ temptation. it’s daunting. you know it’s bad for you. yet still it draws you in. like a fish on a hook, it reels you right into your demise. yet still, it draws you in. you can see it coming you feel yourself begin to lose it. yet still, it draws you in. it is relentless in its pursuit, torturing you until you give up. yet still, it draws you in. by the end you’re barely breathing wishing you were just dead. yet still, it draws you in. you scream out for help, but it muffles your pleas. yet still, it draws you in. people tell you it’s not healthy for you and you believe them because you know this to be true. yet still, it draws you in. they don’t get your struggle, do they? it throws you into a rollercoaster of pain from hell. yet still, it draws you in. and it’s never going to end because the truth of it is… it will always draw you in. temptation is evil add a “d” and you’ve got devil. am i starting to draw you in, yet? what’s the one thing they say about the devil? he never shows himself with red horns and a tail. that would never draw you in. he has dark eyes, and hair that shimmers in the sunlight. an infectious laugh rooted from a smile that slows time just to draw you in. he’ll offer you the world, like he offered eve the forbidden fruit. and you’ll take it, just like eve did. because temptation always draws you in. ” zb 02:26

me :)

[ztwrites]

creative writing piece #1

an excerpt from my original inspired work titled “heroes”.

Braelyn Stewart October 5th Austin, Texas

The wind. That was all Braelyn Emilia Stewart could hear. Whistling, twisting and turning violently as it blew through the dark, ominous-looking sky. The almighty, indestructible, unstoppable wind howling into her pierced ears, it’s deafening cry striking into her every bone. It seemed to be calling out into the midnight-blue, early morning sky. ‘Jump, Braelyn, just jump!’ The air seemed to command her. She took long, deep breaths as it roared into her back mercilessly, smacking her backside with just enough force to nearly shove the blonde off of the towering scrap-metal, rusty looking structure, that rose at least a good eighty, maybe even ninety feet off of the ground. She swore she felt the constructed contraption that she couldn’t quite name wobble from the amount of force the wind gave off. Following this, she began to feel her eyeballs start to tilt downward. 'No, Braelyn. Stop. Don’t look down! You’re fine! You’re okay!’ She mentally ordered her nervous self to keep her eyes level with the horizon ahead of her. She continued attempting to push herself to not give even a slight glance downward at the tiny toys below her. Of course they weren’t toys but they sure as hell appeared to be.

The reason she was trying so very desperately to keep her head from drifting downward and looking below at the ground almost half of a football field beneath her, was out of fear, particularly because she was petrified by the mere thought of heights; however, given the circumstances, and the fact that she almost lost balance and fell down a good towering ninety feet, she couldn’t help but let her head drag down at the dusty Texas land beneath her. The sight sent chills up her spine and goosebumps rose on her suntanned skin. Her palms grew sweaty and she was beginning to feel like her heart was on the verge of pumping out of her chest, like it was about to explode. As an atomic bomb about to cause a nuclear fallout might. Her breaths came in short, shaky exhales. She felt a deep sense of nausea slither itself into the pit of her stomach as her hands shook anxiously. The tone of the girl’s skin altered and shifted to a light, light pale color she got when she was anxious or scared or feeling any emotion having to do with fear and fright.

Suddenly, a deep voice stirred the girl from her thoughts and shaky breath. Shit. She forgot that Zane Benson was with her. He was going to video tape her jump, just as he’d videoed the last three times she’d done this. This job came to fall upon him because of two things. She needed someone who would keep quiet, he needed someone to look out for him. Simple bargain.

Any who, he was shouting something to her, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was he was saying, but she could take a guess it has to do with her being okay. She went with it, responding to what she was guessing he was asking her. “Uhm,” she cleared her throat, nervously, “yeah, yeah, erm… I’m uh- fine. Just uhm, start the camcorder and give me the countdown.” She assured him as she called down at the young man. She heard him yell an 'okay’ up to her. “Ready?” His faint voice added. She could picture the boy raising his right somewhat bushy eyebrow and dipping his head down with a grin as he always did when asking another a question, or questions.

“Well, uhm…” She attempted to accumulate some kind of response. That was a positively excellent inquiry. Was she ready? Was she ready to jump? Truth is, she wasn’t so sure. Something about this time felt off. Though she wasn’t quite sure why? It wasn’t like she’d never done this before… so why was it such a huge deal? It wasn’t… was it? It wasn’t. She told herself. But if it wasn’t a major deal, then why was she nervous to the point of shaking? I mean it wasn’t like she was going to die or anything? Well, she hoped she wasn’t. Or did she hope she was going to die? That would explain why she was feeling so frightened, other than the fact that she had an extreme, extreme fear of heights. 'Woah, Brae! Snap out of it! Are you crazy? You don’t want to die! You’re cheer captain, homecoming is in a few weeks, and you’re finally meeting your real parents. You have everything. It’s the height problem. Nothing else. Nothing at all. You’re fine. Deep breaths and let’s do it.’ She coached herself, shaking her head and running her hands through her golden-yellow locks, before giving the thumbs up to Trev. Enough with all of the dumb unanswered questions. Let’s just get this over with. “Oh shit, let’s just do it.”

“Alright, on my count…” Tee shouted up to me as I looked straight ahead, poker faced without blinking. “3…” The number echoed in her head as she gulped down any fear she had in her. “2…” She took a large, calm and collected, deep breath, inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth. “1…” Braelyn looked straight down at the ground, not a trace of fright in her twinkling chocolate tinted eyes visible as she squeezed them shut. “Now!” He called out. Without thinking another thought, she took a deep inhale, and Braelyn Emilia Stewart jumped.

[ztwrites]

thirty-one

the clock reads thirty-one

thirty-one past midnight

thirty-one minutes i’ve spent wasting, thinking, brooding, wondering

wondering! yes, that’s what i’ve been doing how could i not?

of what, am i wondering? the future, of course.

have you turned on the news lately? we’ve become defined by violent tendencies

power corrupts us and turns us into soulless monstrosities

even i, too am turning on my own as i spill the truth out verse after verse

i am slandering humankind like a smear campaign for politics

speaking of politics… man isn’t that wild?

a job where you get paid to lie and boss people around

sure it’s more than that, but what do you think of when you hear politics?

if it isn’t lying and corruption, then congrats you’re one of the few

the few who still have hope for life

i applaud you for that.

oh look… it’s thirty-nine

thirty-nine past midnight

thirty-nine minutes i’ve spent.