A Ring for Lilly by Kimberly Bingheim

Kimberly Bingheim

A Ring for Lilly

His stomach turned, his knees were weak, as he moved closer to the front door. He began to think about her smile and the scent of her hair. His fingers wrapped around the metal handle and he pulled open the heavy door. This is it, he thought as he walked inside.
“Hi, how can I help you, young man?”
The woman standing behind the glass display gave a small grin with her crimson lips. Her hair was grey with streaks of white and pulled back into a smooth French twist. She wore a light blue pant suit with a silk blouse. Three separate bracelets adorned each wrist, matched to the multitude of gold diamond rings decorating her beautifully manicured fingers.
“I’m here to buy a ring. An engagement ring,” he said, his voice shaking. He could hardly believe the words were coming out of his own mouth.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. My name is Linda and I’ll be helping you out today,” she said as she held out her hand for him to shake. Her fingers were cold and clammy.
“How long have you known the lucky lady?”
“Two years.”
“How nice.”
She smiled, this time large enough to expose smudged lipstick that had somehow made its way onto her two front teeth.
“The engagement rings are right down here.”
The mass quantities of jewelry clinked together as she pointed towards a display to her far left.
As he walked towards the display he felt his heart beating again.
“What’s your girlfriend like?”
He thought for a moment, his mind began racing through every detail. Her hair smooth, black and wavy, bounced over her soft round shoulders. It reminded him of ocean waves moving over the smooth beige sand of a beach. He thought about his favorite day of the week, Sunday, when they would lie in bed the whole morning. She was usually dressed in nothing more than small pink bikini cut underwear and a tiny tank top. Her smile made her even more stunning as she rolled around in the sheets, laughing intensely at all his stupid jokes. He thought of her kiss, slow, soft, sensual, capped off with the faint taste of mango lingering on her tongue.
Not being able to explain his thoughts to Linda, he simply told her, “She loves to laugh and she loves the beach.”
“Okay, what about this one here?” Linda pulled out a modest diamond atop a smooth white gold band.
Taking the ring, he examined it. It was lovely, but he knew he could do better.
“Hmm…” He looked down at the collection of rings meticulously scanning every detail. Then he saw it.
“What about that one there?”
Linda slowly pulled out the ring and sat it on the glass. It was white gold with a large princess cut diamond. A row of diamonds moving from large to small lined each side.
“How much is it?” He was scared of the answer, but knew no matter what the price Lilly deserved more.
“The engagement ring alone is thirty-five hundred dollars.”
Twenty minutes later he left the store with a small white box, along with three thousand five hundred dollars of debt. Getting into his car, he let out a deep breath and smiled.
When his car turned onto his street, he saw Lilly’s green Nissan parked outside of the small two story townhouse they shared. He slowly made his way to the front door. His nerves began to set in, and he paused for a moment. His pulse was racing, his breathing labored.
Taking the ring out, he looked at it once more, scrutinizing every feature. It appeared perfect, but upon closer examination he noticed a smear on the underside of the ring. Using his t-shirt, he promptly wiped away the imperfection.
“Perfect,” he said replacing the ring in its box, and slowly slid it into his pocket.
You can do this, just act normal, he told himself. He peered inside the small window on the top of the door, but saw nothing. After opening the door, the sound of music trickling down from the second floor struck him instantly. Wanting to catch his Lilly dancing in front of the mirror, one of her favorite mid-morning rituals, he darted up the stairs.
The door was open a crack. Trying not to disturb her mid-dance, he silently moved towards the room while peering inside. That’s when he saw her. She was not dancing; on the contrary, she was lying on the bed stomach down, every part of her perfect beige skin exposed to the air. A cigarette lay between her lips. He moved his hand to open the door, but in that moment he heard a voice. His hand stopped short. The voice had come from inside the room.
“Thanks, babe,” he heard a man say from the other side of the door.
Feeling the anger rising through his core, he used every ounce of will he had to hold back from storming the room. His hand moved over top of his pant pocket, clutching the box inside.
The man on the other side of the door was wearing a pair of untied blue and white shorts. Moving into sight, the man walked to the bed and slapped Lilly’s soft, round behind. Her shoulders shrugged, her mouth formed a smile and she began to laugh.
Wiping his tears, he turned abruptly, and made his way down the stairs. As his stomach was sinking, his soul became flat, and his world empty. He set the white box on the table next to a little glass bowl containing left-over shriveled mango peels, and walked out the door.

Following My Dream by Brian Auth

Brian Auth

Following My Dream

As a child I would act and play,
in hopes of what I would become someday.
A fireman, a cop, a doctor or dentist,
sometimes I see myself as a great pianist.
Whatever I am or whatever I am not,
I will keep on trying and I will never stop.
Hard work and determination is all I need,
to follow my dreams and to succeed.
Never give up and never take no,
I tell myself where ever I go.
I have reached graduation; I have found my way,
to be the person I am today.

My Father by Kim Hildebrand

Kim Hildebrand

My Father

My father’s love is something, I hold dear
Never will it drift, like a boat at sea
Kept in my own heart, it drowns out my fear
And though he is gone, he lives on in me

Every day I miss him, this does not fade
While time eased my sorrow, my scars remain
Two sisters’ and my mom too went away
Buried by my father, together again

All this death over eight heart-wrenching years
A family of seven, is now three
Myself, a sister and brother, our tears
God, for unknown reasons, chose my family

Therefore, dad was right when he said to me,
“God’s plan will unfold mysteriously”

Untitled: She is of my flesh… by Michael Swope

Michael Swope

Untitled: She is of my flesh…

She is of my flesh,
She carries in her, my blood.
The apple of my eye,
I hate to see her cry.

Her life may be a struggle,
Her glucose is always changing.
Four times a day she must prick,
Three times a day she must stick.

She is as tough as nails,
She is as smart as a whip.
What she does not know,
Are the lengths her daddy will go.

Her age is almost twelve,
Yet her burden is quite large.
I would relieve it if I could,
Any good father would.

My wish is to see her happy,
My dream is to see her thrive.
I want to watch her grow,
I hope that I am first to go.

Freshman Year by Hannah Copenhaver

Hannah Copenhaver

Freshman Year

That first trip my heart was racing.
When I signed the papers my dad was pacing
It was my first chance to be out on my own,
and I couldn’t wait to leave home.

When I left there were tears,
but I had no fears
Although, it was hard leaving my mom in despair,
for I was separating a pair.

My dreams were finally coming true.
I was playing softball for a Division Two.
My smile was like a radiant beam,
I was about to start living the dream.

Those West Virginia autumn-fields were nice.
For this Pennsylvania native, they would suffice.
I was so happy to be in a new place,
it was a great change of pace.

New friends were easy to make,
I knew going there was not a mistake.
I did not regret my decision at all,
I was getting an education and playing ball.

After the fall and winter,
the spring went a lot quicker.
My classes were exhausting my brain,
but my teammates and love of the game kept me from going insane.

Few finals stood between me and summer.
If I failed them it would be a bummer.
My grades finally arrived,
and I realized I had survived.

I was dying to go,
so dad and I hit the open road.
I was no longer on my own,
I was on my way home.

There Comes a Time In Your Life by Katelyn Goodnough

Katelyn Goodnough

There Comes a Time In Your Life

There comes a time in your life
when you are care-free
and you crave for adventure

When you start to notice
how beautiful the little things in life are

When you are ready to move on
and run towards your dreams

When someone is going to tell you
that you are not strong enough

When you fall down to your knees
and wonder why life is so hard

When you look around and see
all the little things that are still beautiful

When you finally realize that
you could die at any minute

There comes a time in your life,
when you decide that there
is only one thing that will stop you

Storm Brewing by Sara Martens

Sara Martens

Storm Brewing

He could not look away from her eyes. They were kaleidoscope eyes, too complicated a hue to be named, encompassing every shade of blue with just a touch of gray; a storm now darkened those tumultuous depths and rain fell. Guilt ripped through him and rain wet his face, the tempest in those eyes, striking him deeper than any words. No longer could he deny the unspoken word reflected in her eyes: Goodbye.

Alone in the Night by Bonita Levy

Bonita Levy

Alone in the Night

Walking through the night,
couldn’t see a thing in sight,
my mind started to play games,
And I realized things would never be the same.
Lost in complete despair,
for I thought you would never appear,
I realized then I was not alone,
for I saw you sitting on your throne,
and now I know I will never be alone.

Fire by Maria Edmonds

Maria Edmonds

Fire

Destructive burning me down

I hold my own hand through the fire

in search of the firebreak that delivers from evil

 

Instead

 

I fell in the firebox in cower

Trapped under the fingernails stretched out

from the devil’s hands

 

Screaming with no sound

Clawing with no nails

Clinching with no teeth

Clinging with no tightly strong emotions

 

The firewall presents the dead end

Dressed with the illusion of deliverance

 

Evil sits and taunts

mocks and insults

with the fingerbowl contents > deliverance

 

I keep falling in cower

Tangles in flames

Sterilized

No tight strong emotionless

Dressed and on display

Suffocated in tangled flames

 

Clawing through the cower

To believe

Evil dilutes tangled flames to deliverance

 

Inadequate supply dictating

Pointless hands of mine I hold

Occupied by myself

 

And I missed the talon

 

I fell again through tangled flames

I missed the ride to deliverance

Deliver me, Deliver me from evil