Young Adult

Greyscale
The World was grey. Though it was better to call it monochrome as the grey varied from place to place but was empty and flat all the same. Even the sky never shifts from dark grey even as the clouds scroll by though I’m told it once used to be bright and blue. I could not picture it for I did not know what blue is.
By Anastasia J Cleveringa5 years ago in Fiction
The Varnd Experience
The process should have been over in two minutes—but he didn’t stop screaming… Tynan didn’t believe me when I told him to hold it back, to pretend not to feel the pain, pretend your skin didn’t feel as if it were being peeled off of you, pretend not to hear the lies as they seeped deep into your soul, taking hold on the gentlest parts of you…
By Mycheille Norvell5 years ago in Fiction
Hunter Oak
I walk down the street previously known as Hunter Oak. No one remains in the emptied-out houses. One of them has burned down, whether from an electrical fire before the power grid failed or looters or just plain arson for giggles, I don't know.
By Jen Mearns5 years ago in Fiction
Red Dawn
A loud blare made Andrea jolt in her spot as she climbed the rusty fire escape of a five story apartment block in what used to be called Brooklyn. She knew there was no point in looking over to see the Guard patrolling the streets, with their stone-cold expressions and guns, their faces eerily human. Yet she couldn’t help herself from peering over her shoulder as she tightened her grip on the ramp, her heart still racing from the sudden blare of the curfew alarm. It reminded everyone there was only an hour left before they started taking everyone who dared to walk outside past curfew into custody.
By Yordanka Yordanova5 years ago in Fiction
Into the Wastelands
Start writing..... Zander It’s so hard to breathe. I’ve felt pain before but nothing like this. It’s like someone has stuck a white hot iron rod down my throat. I haven’t had food in three days and I just finished the last bit of my water yesterday, it was windy and one of the hottest days yet. I try focusing on sitting up but I’m so disoriented it takes me forever just to get my hands under my shoulders to push myself up off the red dirt. As my head stops spinning I notice I’m inside of a culvert.
By Hailey Bayliss5 years ago in Fiction
The Last Undrowned City
The ocean, people say, is one of life's greatest mysteries. Dark waters beneath the line of waves are where nightmares are born. There are creatures with six arms and twenty rows of teeth; fish with eyes the size of small fishing boats, and the water is so dark, people swear you go blind just swimming too deep. But the ocean was also beautiful. When the sun hits the horizon it turns the water yellow and orange, like a sea of gold. Sailors say it was then when you were most likely to be rewarded with good fortune.
By Makenzie Fox5 years ago in Fiction
Oasis Key
I am Winter. My mother gave me that name after her favorite season. She would tell stories about how before the earth was scorched, snowflakes would rain down from the sky. Her words would bring my comfort, to her, Winter meant hope.
By Kora Greenwood5 years ago in Fiction
Herman's Gully
-1- 1984 sifted away like a Boggle sand timer. The major highlight of my sixth-grade summer was when I almost died. Just ask Reynard. He remembers.
By Dean Floyd5 years ago in Fiction
The Vagary
"It is almost time," I mentally messaged, collating all of the files we had and locking it with a digital password. With my mind, I moved the files on top of Kit's name, and my NeuroNet's interface showed them being sent.
By Samuel Johnson5 years ago in Fiction
Abort
I feel moisture build-up on my brow bone as each heavy step takes me closer to the medical unit. My heart beats heavy and everything inside of me screams to turn around or run. Guard’s eyes lining the walls land on me. My chest clenches and I find it harder to breathe. I begin motions I have taken countless times. I stand in line until it's finally my turn. I reach my arm out until I hear the beep indicating the barcode was scanned. I am handed a key card by a woman behind the counter. I walk through the door and wait until the guard returns from around the corner where the last girl was escorted. He tightly grips my arm and my knees begin to feel shaky and weak. I change quickly into a thin cloth nightgown and sit on the bed waiting. I clench my eyes shut and hold back tears. Click. Click. Click. A pair of heels come closer to my room and all I can do is beg them to pass me and keep going down the hall. They don't. My teeth plant into the inside of my cheek and I don't stop until I taste blood. The woman comes in. Today she is wearing a long black skirt and heels. A blue button-down and her dark brown hair is pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes scan over me and she pulls her attention to the clipboard. Following her into the room are two guards and four nurses. She pulls gloves over her hands and grabs my arm. She scans the barcode with her device and spends a few seconds staring at the screen. She looks up at my face. Her lips are pulled into a straight line. Her skin is pale and pasty and her nose is long and thin with a bump that’s visible when looking at her from the side. Her eyes are dark and lifeless. She glances at the nurses, “Let's begin.” A nurse walks forward and roughly plunges a needle into my arm. They inject a light blue substance and it feels like ice under my skin. My head feels woozy. The woman looks at the guards and nods. I open my mouth to protest but they are already on either side of me. I am dragged to the other room connected to this one. My legs go weak and fall behind me. They open the door to the long glass cylinder tube, reaching the ceiling. I am pushed inside and the door is sealed. The doctor passes gas masks around, standing behind computers. All eyes on me. I hear over the intercom “Place the mask on.” In a cold, sharp voice. I gulp and tears sting my face and with shaky hands unhook a gas mask from the wall and place it over my face. “No, please.” The words spill out of my mouth quietly as I see her hand read up and motion with two fingers. I hear air rush in before I feel it. Instantly my skin turns to a pit of hell. A scream explodes from deep inside of my chest. My legs give out and I hit the floor, dark yellow gas consumes me. I feel my stomach turn and I begin throwing up. I look at my arms as my curdling screams are drowned by vomit that has filled my mask. They are each growing with blisters. Some the size of my palm. The remaining skin is filled with a red, sinful rash. Stabbing agony devours me and the corners of my eyes go fuzzy before everything goes black.
By Brookeivy5 years ago in Fiction
Rust
The salty ocean water rots all things, even humans. It turns us rough and deformed. People say in the beginning the ocean was all there was, that it is where we came from. The ocean was just reclaiming what was hers when she decided to submerge us once more.
By Blanca Nino5 years ago in Fiction
Traffic
“It’s done!” I said, screaming from across the street during rush hour traffic. An MTA bus drove past and I saw Sire standing with his fists at his side. The light turned green, he walked in front of a speeding yellow buggy car that abruptly pressed its brakes, and the driver honked. Sire stuck his middle finger up, held his hand out to the other side of busy traffic as if he was some important figure in the United States. He reached the sidewalk I was releasing my tears on, grabbed me by the shoulder, and stared at me in my eyes. “Ari, what do you mean it’s done?” His hand wasn’t welcoming on my shoulder, I felt my skin tightening and if he were to remove his pressure it would look like a sun-dried grape. I said, “I don’t have to explain anything to you.” He looked away from me, observing the traffic, there was a jam at the intersection where there was this school bus, mail truck, and a few taxis going in opposite directions. He looked back at me again, I was sniffling trying to hold back my tears, thinking about whether I should curse him out or walk away silently. Then, he said after exhaling a breath, “It won’t happen again.”
By Ashley Nicole Bourne5 years ago in Fiction