Elizabee Writes

  Faith I climb the rope up the mountain. It is hard, my hands tend to slip sending me downwards aways, but I keep climbing. Below the ground is a soft pillow, if I fall it will catch me. It is comfy down there, I could lay in the pillow forever, and yet I climb. At the top of this mountain, just up this rocky wall, something even greater has been foretold. Yes the pillow below is nice, but I strive for what lies atop the mountain. Do I know exactly what is up there? No. Do I know for sure, a hundred percent that there is something up there? Also no. So why then do I climb? Faith. Faith in the better place on top of the mountain. The climb is hard, but I know what I have been told is up there, will make the whole thing worth it. The End 10/30/22

  Gibspeak She walks down the street of her hometown, a path she has taken many times before. Neighbors pass her by along with other residents of the town. Some she knew, others she’d seen, and some have never crossed her path. A man comes towards her, someone she has never met before. The man seems to be distracted, looking down at his phone and accidentally bumps into her. “Hbf apfhi mg kbsfo,” the passing man says. “I’m sorry, what was that?” the woman asks with a confused look on her face. “R hsyr dfgb uw plgrn,” he says. “Oh…ok…” she says, pretending to understand the man. She continues walking as does the man. “That was weird,” she says to herself. Across the street she sees one of her friends coming out of the local laundromat, “Hi Linda!” she yells across the street, waving at her friend. Linda turns her head, “Lq hbekbfjv!” she says, waving back. “What did you say?” she yells to Linda again. Linda holds up one finger, motioning to wait a minute. She looks...

  Thief of the Night Princess Ardwina had everything. She lived in a giant castle, had all the ball gowns, dresses, and jewelry she could ever desire, and her family was always close by. She never needed to work as everything was done for her. Her life was basically perfect. Just not for her. Spoiled as she may be, she knew that everything had been handed to her all her life. She did nothing to earn her place, her riches. She wanted to make something of her life, like the commoners of the villages, she wanted to do something, get her own gold and riches, something she had earned. As a princess she was not allowed to work like the people of the village. Her place was in the castle, tending to the formalities of a princesses life. No matter how deep her desire to be normal like her people she never could. So she found another way, a way to make her own money, a way to obtain riches that weren’t simply handed to her on a silver platter. Thievery. During the day her royal dutie...

  The Power of Letters To form a story, a concept, a piece of writing, literature, whether a paragraph long, a sentence, or maybe just a few noncoherent words, it takes letters. In some places they don’t look like this, but the idea is the same. These small sets of letters lead to infinite creativity. With the written word, anything can be created. Any idea, no matter how strange, can be portrayed with letters. Letters made into words, words formed into sentences, and sentences to stories. There is no limit to them. With these symbols we have created, we can store our ideas, let others process them in an understandable way. What a wonder these letters are, what brilliance they bring. They go far beyond the limit of storytelling, but branch widely into communication as well. Simply talking with another human being can be done by these amazing letters. We can converse with them, tell them our thoughts, dreams, and emotions. Emotions! Oh how the alphabet allows us to share emoti...

  Last Night The world around me feels wrong. I am warm, very warm, hot even, but leaving the cover of my blanket brings a fierce coldness. I will take the heat. My head, oh how it hurts. Every movement I make brings an agonizing pain. Moving hurts as well, my bones feel weak. Just standing up has become a workout in itself. Oh my stomach, that is the worst part of all. Nausea lurks at the pit of my stomach but refuses to release itself. It is stuck in a constant state of unsettledness that leaves me miserable. I need food, I need water, but I don’t want to anger my stomach. They are also so far away. Just to leave my bed is a struggle in itself, to get up and walk, function as normal and perform a task seems impractical when I can just lay here. The suffering has been here all day, why get up and make it worse? May this next morning take away these horrid feelings. May my misery be constrained to this night and leave me when I awaken. It did, and now I am fine. The End 10/26/22 (A...

  The Floor is Lava “Mommy, why is that cloud so dark?” She quickly grabs her young daughter, eyes peeled to the darkness above, “That isn’t a cloud Lyla.” Her pace quickens with her daughter secured in her arms, bouncing up and down as she runs.  Overhead a large cloudlike figure begins to cover the entire sky. Everyone under the dark cloud panics, running for cover, all knowing the pain that is about to come. The dark cloud stops as all the light is squeezed out of sight. “What’s happening mommy?” the little girl says with tears in her eyes. “I love you Lyla,” her mother says, squeezing her tight as they hide inside a nearby building.  A loud thundering noise comes from outside followed by loud thuds on the ground, tearing the roads to pieces. Heavy metal rods descend swiftly from the dark cloud above, plunging deep into the earth. Giant cracks begin to form all over the earth, lava slowly seeping through them. The mother covers her daughters ears to try and...

  Worthless Fighting The fight was brutal. Two sword masters going head to head in a battle of revenge; each having taken something very precious from the other. Both sword masters had previously been allies, the closest of friends, but unknowingly managed to turn against each other.  Now they battled to the death. Neither wanted this fate to come to the other, but their stubbornness and vengeful hearts persisted, desperately needing their revenge, and so they battled. Heavy swings were thrown and barely blocked. Swipes missed and some landed, leaving minor cuts and bruises. The battle raged on and on before coming to a halt. Both sword masters held their swords in the air, pushing against the others, neither one strong enough to overpower the other. Reluctantly they dropped their swords, their arms already weak from the fight and no longer able to hold such pressure. Both swords fell into the ground forming an X. Panting heavily trying to regain their breath, the sword master...

  On the Branch On the Hill Deep breath in, deep breath out. That was the rhythm he held as he balanced. Early in the morning, on a firm tree branch on top of a hill, overlooking the busy city below he stood. His eyes were not drawn to the business of the city, but to the horizon, looking out over the ocean. Focusing deeply on one point, right where the ocean met the sky, he carefully balanced on the branch as light breezes blew by, threatening to push him over but none quite strong enough.  His goal was to stand there all day, until the sun set, and that he did. Quietly, not saying a word all day, he stood on that branch just watching the ocean, thinking about life, thinking about this moment in his life.  He was doing nothing in the eyes of a working man; no project was being finished, nothing was being bettered around him, just a day wasted standing on a tree. Yes, it was just that, but although the time may have gone, it was not for loss. The time spent on that br...

  Go to Sleep My eyes are burning. Why have I done this? Why do I deny myself of sleep so often? I know the morning comes early and the nights are short, and yet I still, time and time again, refuse to sleep, trying to hang on to every waking moment.  The moments I cling to I don’t even use wisely. I will sit and stare telling myself, “You need to go to sleep, you need to go to sleep,” and yet there I am, still awake, ignoring even my own common sense.  Regret always comes the next morning when I think to myself, “Why didn’t I just go to sleep?” The time I saved was not worth the tiredness that comes the next morning. My day could have been so much better if I had just gone to bed earlier the night before. Night after night it is the same. The cycle of staying up late and regretting it in the morning continues. My life is still good, but could be improved if I gave myself the luxury of a good night's rest. The End 10/22/22

  Busy Busy “Oh busy, busy, very busy, I’m very busy,” the old woman says, pulling out a small worn notebook. “I promise I will be quick, I just need to ask you something.” “Hold on, hold on, let me see where I can fit you in.” She frantically starts flipping through the pages, not looking at any one page for very long before moving on to the next. “No, nope not that day, oh..no nevermind,” she mumbles. “I can come back another time if that would be better.” “No, no, no, just give me a moment,” she says without looking up from her notebook, “I’m sure there is a spot somewhere on this schedule.” She flips to almost the last page, “Aha! A spot! Yes, that will do nicely.” She scribbles on the page. “So when can I talk with you and ask you that question?” “In seven months and thirteen days, just before eleven o’clock, in the morning that is.” “...You know, it’s not that important of a question, I’ll just go now and leave you alone.” “Alright dear, have a nice day,” she ...

  The Underwater Train The train flies by on the tracks, breaking through the water as it goes on its underwater route. Not many travel on the underwater train, most scared by the thought of it, but not once has the interior of the train leaked, or any disaster occurred. Years and years the train has run this route, and still people are wary. The small few consistent riders of the underwater train benefit greatly from its speed. Being underwater, the train is able to take a more direct route, getting passengers where they want to go faster than the normal land trains. The look of the train is what scares people the most, it does not look like it is meant to go underwater. On the outside, it is a normal, standard train that would be seen passing by a normal road. But the outside is deceiving as the inside is sealed airtight, not allowing any water inside the cabin. It is quite a surreal experience riding the underwater train. The route starts on land like normal then veers off onto ...

  Lost Inspiration Where is it? I can’t find it. It has been here every day but today. Some Days it has been hard to find, but I have always found it. Oh where did it go?  It’s place should be obvious, given all the things I’ve done today. Well I haven’t actually done that much, but I don’t do that much other days, and have still found it then! Man I have looked everywhere, and it just isn’t here. Do I just give up, let it be gone and let its absence ruin everything I have been working for? No I won’t do that. I must find it somewhere, it has to be around. Maybe it is just disguised today. That’s it, I found it! It has just taken a different form. I don’t necessarily prefer this form but it will have to do. The End 10/19/22

  Attitude You sit in your comfily in your chair behind your large wooden desk. The silence of the room is broken by one of your guards letting a man into your office. The two guards standing on either side of you stare down the man, their eyes never leaving him. “Do you have the chip?” you ask the man “Of course I have the chip, who do you think I am? Do you think I would be here if I didn’t have it?” he replies, offended by your question. “Let’s see it then,” you say calmly, ignoring his rude tone of voice. He pulls it out of his pocket, holding it tightly in his hand and reveals it to you for just a moment before concealing it back in his hand. “Perfect.” “Money first, then the chip,” the man says, trying to seem tough. You toss him a bag with his payment inside. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he says, grabbing the money and dropping the chip on the table. You don’t say anything, just smile and nod. As the man turns away from you, you wave your hand in the air. Th...

  The Art of Fire She stared at the bright orange sun surrounded by pink clouds as it set. Evergreens lined the horizon, they were on fire, it was beautiful, her best work yet. A fiery artist she called herself, making the environment around her more beautiful with the power of flames. She had no care for the place itself, only how it looked in the moments when everything burned. Nothing she had done before quite met this scale. A home here or there, beautifully burning, some small wads of paper lit up in her own home, all small things compared to this. This forest on fire, illuminating the sky itself, was her greatest work yet. The sound of sirens in the distance, panic from the smoke and flames, were all drowned out in her head. She was too amazed by her art to care about the noises, she needed to appreciate this while it lasted for she knew it would soon be gone. Her art never lasted long and needed to be appreciated in the moment. Every fire she set, she would sit there...

  Look “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What’s happening? I can’t see! Why can’t I see? I could see a second ago. What happened between now and then? Why can’t I see anymore?!” “Just open your eyes,” a misty voice whispers. “Open my eyes? They are open! But you know what I see when I open them? Nothing! I don’t see anything at all.” “Your eyes are shut,” the voice whispers again. “What? No they are not! I just told you my eyes are open! For some reason now, however, I can’t see anything. It appears I have suddenly gone blind.” “You are not blind, you just can’t see right now.” “That doesn’t make any sense! Not being able to see like the definition of blindness! So if I can’t see, that means I am blind!” “The ability to see is within you, you just have to look.” “I am very obviously trying to look, but again, I can’t see anything! I have gone blind! All I see is darkness and nothing else, what part of that do you not understand?” “Look at me.” “Look at you? I don’t even ...

  Sanding Sanding, sanding, always sanding away. Why is it so hard to make it perfect? You sand to little and an awkward lump remains. Sand too much and there are unwanted rips, tears, and holes that then need to be patched. It seems so easy right? Just sand away the excess and be left with a flat surface; but no, it can’t work that way, that would be too easy. The sander must take off too much, or for some reason take none at all with no explanation as to why. Maybe the materials don’t want to be flat and smooth, maybe they like their rough texture and fight the sander any way they can. Even patching the imperfections leads to more sanding, which can lead to more imperfections, which leads to more sanding. At some point you just stop and call it good enough, accept that the surface isn’t perfect and learn to live with it. No one will really notice as long as it is close enough to flat. And if they do notice, they won’t care, things get ruined, it happens.  So don’t wa...

  Time Zones Time here and time there are different but the same. Singular moments divided by the structure of time. It is late for you and early for me all at once. Nothing is different other than the amount of light in the sky and the number on our clocks. We exist together, function together simultaneously. You work while I sleep and I sleep while you work. Together the world keeps moving on, always someone up, always someone asleep.  Were everyone to sleep at the exact same time, some would only know day and others night. Some would grow accustomed to being active in darkness, and find ways to sleep in the light, the others functioning as we do now.  There is a reason it is like this, it makes sense and should not be changed. Time is structure, and without it we would fall apart. Without time, how do you easily answer the question of when? Now is now and will always be now, for everyone everywhere; that cannot change. Now is just labeled differently depending on whe...

  Alone Together We were lonely together, but now you aren’t lonely anymore. I see you don’t need me the same way I need you. You have another person now and that’s ok, it just means it’s time for me to go.  I don’t want to leave you but I need to. The person I am becoming is not who I want to be. It isn’t your fault, it’s mine, and my feelings alone that have prompted this, so don’t feel guilty. I’m glad you’re happy, I really am, I just can’t function like this anymore. I knew this time would come, but I didn’t know how hard it would be. I got so comfortable with us being alone together and the change has broken me. I’ve tried to cope but all the ways lead me down even darker paths. I miss how it used to be. I love that you’re happy but I wish we could go back to how it was. I know you will miss me and I will miss you too. I’m sorry, but it’s time for me to leave. The End 10/13/22

                                                                   Breaking the Cage (Part 7)     The ride up the elevator is long, a boring constant upward motion. Hilton breathes deeply, calming his raging nerves. He looks through his bag over and over, going through every tool, planning his every move.     The elevator dings. “Here we go.” Hilton runs straight to the controllers room where he quickly finds the document bolted to the wall. He first tries to break the glass with his hammer, but the glass is too strong. Even using a smaller object, trying to make a dent, nothing was working, it was time for plan B. Tampering with the case starts a loud blaring alarm.     Hilton pulls out his power saw from the bag, cutting the bolts off one by on...