Darkness by Steve Johnson

The Story:

This was a creative writing piece, seemingly close to a short story. Based on the idea of light and dark, a young man is chosen to be the "chosen one" a common theme in most stories and used often in the tales of young men and their pursuits to greatness. This young man is then given 3 stones by which he could use and is told to find an orb of light that would return light to the land that was in the hands of an evil wizard.

"'The chosen one shall travel forth tonight!' His words were said with a power that belittled his stature."

The sage is a strong sort of beginning dominant character. The young man who was chosen would end up meeting foes and an unexpected ally on his quest. This story is a sort of a common one you might hear as a campfire story or just a story to listen to to hear of light out competing the darkness in the world around us. Check below to find the link to read the full story.

Links:

The Story: http://www.writingclasses.co.uk/story86.html

Let Your Greatness Bloom by Hassen Gara

LET YOUR GREATNESS BLOOM 

How Dare you retain yourself so small? 
Aren’t you truly destined for anything at all? 
God made you with a specific purpose in mind 
Reveal the potential splendor that rests inside 
Live up to your highest self 
Never dwarf or underrate yourself 
You are incomparable,   unique of your kind 
Dare to credit in the power of your mind 
Like seeds you have landed to blossom and thrive 
Pull the best within in order to survive 
Let your inner passions flow into all existence 
Let love, compassion and ecstasy be your radiance 
Be a light in this world filled with darkness 
Let your inner passions inspire others to greatness 
Give yourself the freedom to bloom 
Climb to your greatness, aspire to your doom 
Time to shine out your inner light for the world to see 
Allow yourself to be that blooming flower, or a flowering tree 
Light up the world with your magnificent soul 
Live out your dream and accomplish your goal   
  
Inspired from Nelson Mandela‘s quote “LET YOUR GREATNESS BLOOM”. 

*Note from the Editor: This poem truly seems to catch Nelson Mandela's sense of being inside it. Nelson Mandela, one of the most well known freedom fighters in the world's history, struggled for democracy in South Africa. He went through a lot of troubles, including being put in jail for his beliefs, as well as facing death in the face several times. He probably believed in everything described above, that in truth many times we will put ourselves down assuming that we could be better, when in truth every one of us has the ability to "let our greatness bloom".

*Link to Poem: http://www.poetry.com/poets/520750-Hassen%20Gara/1390119-LET-YOUR-GREATNESS-BLOOM

Demons Inside by: Billy Colston

Maybe alone is where I deserve to be,

Confined in a space because I might have demons inside,

Ones that seek to hurt everyone around me,

To burn everyone I hold dear,

I have that fear,

The fear that those demons will slice into me one day and leave nothing but evil behind.

Maybe it is better I'm alone,

A hermit hidden in a forest so that would be the greatest of all protections for those I trust,

The way that I won't hurt those people I hold dear.

That way there is no fear. No fear to spread into others after me. 

Bloody Knuckles by: Billy Colston

I slam my fist into the wall for the fifth time,

Hoping that you hear me,

But you assume I have no guilt no shame,

And yet I stand here,

Knuckles bloody dripping down my arm as I hit the wall yet again.

My mind in shambles searching for the reason as to why I hate who I am so much,

Hate the person I've become and hate you for making me feel this way.

I wrap my hand in the cloth  that I had prepared and walk to my bathroom with head aimed down as if wanting to plunge into the depths of the fire that await.

I wince slightly as the hot water fills the wound and the blood rushes down in streams of red into my sink.

 I am starting to realize that I hate myself because I am afraid I will never be able to be a good enough child. 

The thought creeps in the back of my mind ripping to tear apart what's left of my soul, and then tear apart the souls closest to mine. 

What can I do to please you of all people?

 Someone who can not understand me and refuses to listen to anything I say!

 I'm cold now, all my hate and anger swallowed by an emptiness bigger than anything I could put inside it to plug the darkness.

 I wrap my bandage on my wound and lay in bed for hours at a time, hoping to fall asleep. 

In return I fall asleep and the nightmares haunt me and my dreams fight each other to wake me up crying in the night. Then the cycle repeats from there, and always will until I can find a better way to quelch the anger and frustration inside me.

Passing by: Billy Colston

As I watch you laying there,

I feel upset,

Tearing up at the eye seeing you in such pain and struggling to hold onto your life,

My mind is blank except for sadness,

Except for the unbearable pounding of my heart beating fast,

So fast you would think I was running a marathon,

But I imagine you know that now as you stare down at me from above,

I watch you as your breathing stops,

Your heart slows to a grinding halt,

And I know that you are gone,

Passing me in my marathon of life, and now you sit on the sideline giving me water as I pass and smiling at me as I continue,

Because you know that I miss you and wish for you to be well,

And now you are happy,

At peace on the sidelines in my life and will be forever alive in my heart,

And then I am happy because I know you won't have to suffer anymore and that you will be forever in paradise. 

Infected by: Billy Colston

Your lips are poison,

Burning my mouth as they touch my own,

Spreading a toxin greater than disease,

Causing me to fumble on my words and trip on my own feet,

Bringing me to smile and stare at you without words,

And yet you continue spreading the toxin more and more,

Infecting me to my core,

And you stand in seeming galore watching me fumble and tumble as you seem to play me along like a guitar,

And yet I can't stop, 

The toxin too addicting and too attracting for me to get enough,

Stuck between what the toxin has infected in my heart and what my will says to do,

But I can't run or hide,

Because I am too close and too far in and would just lose more,

So I let the toxin spread throughout my limbs,

Throughout the rest of my body,

In hopes that one day I might find a cure,

But the only cure for the toxin would be true love,

And true love is the rarest of all things to find.