I wondered if this was what a hangover feels like. Sore eyes, achy muscles, the feeling that every bone in my body is out of place, and a complete and total lack of mental sharpness. All I wanted to do was sleep. Lie in bed and just do nothing. But, alas, I pulled myself out of bed despite the fact that my cognitive ability was at a negative sixty-three.

I moped around the arena, poured myself a cup of coffee despite the fact that caffeine has no impact or the opposite effect on me, and sat down next to Nick in our office space. I sipped from my cup. Raising my eyebrows and blinking lazily, I looked at him.

“You good, dude?”

“Spectacular. I feel hungover. Minus the headache, ’cause, y’know, I’m immune.”

Nick shook his head and gave me a quizzical expression. I chuckled to myself as he said, “You’re what now?”

“Immune to headaches. It’s like a super power, man.”

“No, duh. Do you have any idea how lucky you are!? Headaches are the worst, and you have never experienced one?” Nick asked in disbelief.

“Nope, never.” I took another sip of my coffee.

“Unbelievable. You ought to be outcast from society. It isn’t fir that you don’t have to experience headaches.”

I rubbed my neck and replied, “If it makes you feel any better, the pinches I get in my neck are so bad, the only thing keeping me from cutting my head off is the fact that it would kill me.”

“Anyways,” Nick replied after a pause, “are you good?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I just woke up like this. I’ll probably take a nap before heading out there tonight.”

*****

When I woke up, there was a blinding light shining in my face. I stretched, pushing the blankets off of me and stretching. Did I mention that I stretched? So, I stretched, stretching my arms and legs, stretching my toes, locking my knees to bring life to my thighs. I moaned mid-stretch, then rubbed my eyes. Looking at my watch after I stretched, I noticed the time. Then, I looked up. I shot out of bed and grabbed the microphone in front of me. “Hey, hey, hey, and welcome to Pen to the Paper 24!!!”

The crowd began to cheer and throw roses at the stage. One member of the crowd threw a baby at me with a note that read, “Sign my baby!”

“I apologize for being shirtless. Especially with my newly acquired Dad bod. I honestly have no idea how in the world the bed was moved here without my noticing… I am quite the light sleeper.” I looked down at my chest and plucked my single chest hair so that I looked a little more professional. “So, I’m trying this new thing. My friend calls it ‘bulking,’ I just call it stuffing my face. But, yeah, don’t worry too much about the weight gain, however insignificant it is at the moment. Just a few pounds… Sorry, I know you guys are here for Pen to the Paper, but being shirtless has me all self-conscious and whatnot…

“Who’s ready for the announcements!?”

The crowd roared with excitement. Shirts were thrown off and down onto the stage, one of which landed on my face. “Ehm, guys, can we please stay fully clothed? Thanks.

“It was tough choosing this month! So many posts really stood out to me. I wanted to reward so many posts with first, second, or third place. But, alas, I must only choose one! Coming in third place, a close tie with second, we have Switched at Death by DeAnn. It was incredible! It pulls you in and is the perfect opening to what could potentially be a larger work of prose. It has so much potential and was a great read.

“In second place, we have a post by __abby__ : only her. It was a sad read, but it was a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to everyone.

“In first, the winner of this very bed that I slept in tonight—okay, that’s not true, this thing is way too comfortable—is Rosebug63!!! False, the first entry to the challenge this month, was another emotional read. Very powerful. Thank you for entering it.

“Moving on to some honorable mentions, GLD, I think that this is the first time that you didn’t make it into the top three. I loved Broken… a lot. In fact, it was a top contender for third or second—as I said, it was tough to choose this month. Thank you for the audio version of this poem, it really added to the poem.

“Roses, I hope you’re doing well. Always a pleasure to see an entry from you. I have a soft-spot for musing-type works as your Post Work Day Musings was. I very much enjoyed it.

“Zeethefoodie! The Woods was super confusing. But that is why I liked it so much. I didn’t really know what exactly was going on, and, for some reason, that really drew me in.

“Another top contender, Identical by Elikimber was spectacular! Super gripping, and a great start to what, again, could later become a larger work. Thank you for sharing!

“And, finally, EllaSmellaa, Her Novel was beautiful! I absolutely loved it. You were another top contender this month.

“There are so many others that I want to cover, but I will bring it to an end here. Thank you for coming out tonight! I am looking forward to seeing you next month for the season two finale! Oh, shoot, that means I’ll be nineteen in two months… Well, that’s a good way to end. On a note of existential dread.”

Everyone around the table

Almost ready to eat

The food is hot and ready when

A "Squawk!" comes from the meat

The green beans choke the carrots

The gravy drowns the swede

Mashed potatoes mashing parsnips

And causing a food stampede

I do do not like this world at all

I do not like it as I fall

I do not like the way I feel 

I do not like the crusty wheel

I do not like that time repeats 

I do not like the taste of sweets 

I do not like it just one bit

I do not like that this won't quit

I do not like red souls and hate

I do not like them on my plate 

Would you, could you in a hole

Climb a tree as just a soul?

Would you, could you float through space

Just to flee the human race?

I would not, could not in a hole

Climb a tree as just a soul 

I would not, could not float through space 

Just to flee the human race 

I do not like eternal life

I do not like blood on a knife

I do not like the sound of hope

I do not like a hanging rope 

I do not like the baby's cry

I do not like to question why

I do not like it just one bit

I do not like that this won't quit

I do not like red souls and hate 

I do not like them on my plate 

Would you, could you go to Hell-

Stay and play and dance and dwell?

Would you, could you stoke the flame-

Call the devil by his name?

Say, I think that I could dwell

With those hapless fools in Hell

Call the devil by his name

Raptured in his fiery flame!

I like my life and where it's at

I like it now, and that is that

I love them now upon my plate 

I love to eat red souls and hate 

#poetry #DrSeuss #supernatural 

There, I said it, well wrote it at least. I can't actually tell anyone or my Dad could end up in prison, or worse. That is, of course, if anyone is left to convict him. Sorry, let me gather my thoughts and start from the beginning. It's been pretty crazy lately, so you'll have to forgive me. My Dad has been raising sheep and selling their wool for quite a few years now. Unfortunately, we have a lot of wolves and coyotes around these parts, and they've been attacking our sheep on a weekly basis. We used to have a great guard dog, but he got old and died. Instead of training a new dog, my Dad, (who is not your typical dad) decided it was time our sheep learn how to defend themselves. He began researching genetic modification, and insisting that we would become rich once he could create a type of sheep that could fend off predators on its own. My mom seemed concerned from the get go, but once my dad gets an idea in his head there is no stopping him! Day and night dad would be out in the barn, which we began to refer to as the lab. He ordered lots of stuff online, beakers, hotplates, test tubes, a microscope, you name it and he probably had it out in the barn. One day, after school, I headed to the "lab" to see what he was up to. I walked in to see a live wolf in a cage! Dad said he shot him with a tranquilizer when he caught him attacking one of our sheep. I watched as he plunged a syringe deep into the wolf's thigh, and sucked up the bright red blood. He asked me to hand him a bottle of formaldehyde as he squirted the wolf blood into the centrifuge. He was pretty excited that night and said he would be conducting live trials in the following days. A few days later I went out to check on the sheep. One of our Ewe's was about ready to lamb and I wanted to be there when it happened. As I came up to the pasture, I saw a horrific sight. A ram was gnawing on the newly born lamb. The mother Ewe was bleating and charging at the ram, who just went on eating the little lamb! I started screaming for Dad, who quickly came running from the barn with his tranquilizer gun. He shot the ram but it only aggravated him! The ram ran right through our electric fence and began chasing after my dad and I! We ran into the house and shut the door. Peering out the window, we watched as the crazed sheep kept ramming his head against the door. Dad said he was going to sneak out the backdoor and head to the barn to get his shot gun. He told my mom to keep us kids inside the house. My mom, my 4 younger siblings, and I, continued to watch the ram as my dad hightailed it for the barn. Suddenly, the Ram lost interest in the door and turned towards the neighbor's yard where the neighbor kids had just come outside to play. He took off in their direction. We opened the door and began yelling at the kids to go back inside! They were so busy throwing a football back and forth, that they didn't notice the ram before it was to late! The ram pushed my neighbor, Nick, to the ground and chomped down hard on his arm! His brother, Adam, whipped the football as hard as he could and hit the ram in the head. The ram promptly turned towards Adam and was about to charge towards him, just as my dad fired his gun and shot the sheep right in the head. He fell to the ground. Dad apologized to the neighbor kid's parents, who were just thankful my Dad had taken out the sheep when he had. Nick had a pretty nasty bite mark on his arm, but his Mom is a nurse, and she didn't think it would need stitches. Just some peroxide and gauze. Dad didn't tell the neighbor's about his experiments, I guess he was embarrassed. He said something about that Ram being odd since birth. Dad dragged the dead sheep back home, and into the barn. He said he planned to run some tests on it the next day. When I got on the bus in the morning, I thought Nick looked kind of pale. I asked him how his arm was and he snapped, "It's fine!" I said, "Ok," and turned towards my brother David. What a crab!" I whispered, "He's probably just acting tough," said David, "I bet he's embarrassed by it." "I guess getting bit by a sheep is kind of embarrassing." I whispered back. Later, during recess, Nick ended up biting a bunch of boys he was playing tackle football with. He bit them so hard he drew blood! He got sent to the principal's office, where I hear, he even bit the principle! His parent's had to come and pick him up, and they brought him to the ER. I know this, because they called my Dad, and he told us that they wanted him to have the dead ram tested for rabies. After that phone call, my dad headed out to the barn to take a sample from the Ram. Soon, he came back yelling to get in the van. Apparently, the ram was alive again and attacking the other sheep! Sure, it had a hole in it's head, but that wasn't stopping it! My mom wanted to know where we were going and my Dad said "Anywhere but here!" After driving for several hours we arrived at a trailer in the woods. My Dad said it's his cousin's hunting shack. He said we have to stay here for a while, until he comes up with a plan. We've been here for about a week. We've been eating a lot of peanut butter and stale saltines. That's what we found in the trailer. Yesterday we caught and ate a large snapping turtle, it was actually pretty tasty! I like not having to go to school, although I do miss my friends, running water, electricity and television. There's a battery operated radio here that we've been listening to. It sounds like it's become a real zombie apocalypse out there! The country is now under marshal law! They are trying to quarantine the infected, but it's a challenge! If we don't make it, and someone out there finds this diary, just know that we're really sorry! My dad is currently working on an antidote. In fact he is injecting my brother David with a mixture of pond scum, and dove blood at this very moment. Oh, did I forget to mention that David got bit? He was one of the boys playing football with Nick during recess. He didn't tell us he got bit, I guess he was embarrassed. We figured it out the next day when he bit my sister Sherry. Don't worry, we have them chained up here in the trailer! I'm sure my Dad will find a cure! I've got to go now, my dad wants me to find willow tree bark and a salamander. Wish me luck!

Looking down at shattered glass

    All the pieces of the past

So much I have left to say

    So much pain gets in the way

Try so hard not to be numb

    I feel pain I won't succumb

What tools mend a heart and mind?

    Can you leave it all behind?

We are broken, every one

    Not so proud of things we've done

You'll keep fighting if you care

    Know we are all in repair.

She was something of a wayfaring stranger.  

 Too bold for her existence and too weak to know herself.  

She jumped the rocks to the sounds of gunfire and the smell of powder. Shots meant to pierce the flesh of buck in the distant twilight.  

She drank in the clearness of the rivers edge. Too lost to care beyond the mania of the voices in her head.  

 She contemplates the blade as she dips her bleeding hand into the cold steady ripples. Wind forged the depths of the damned fan the flames of destruction.  

 This is where her soul will die. From here she will emerge a coward among the brave.  

 Dead, like rotting driftwood,  carried from miles up stream. This is not a literal death.  Merely the acknowledgment of defeat. 

 Cowering back.  She will crawl to their feet and stand.  A square shouldered soldier broken by the war. 

There once was a dog made of rubber

Who had neither father nor mother

He got blown by a clown

Then severely let down

As the clown was a heartless bastard who never bothered to respond to his text messages......

Broken Hearts

Kindle sparks

Flames begin to grow

Charring, brooding

All-Consuming

Fiery embers glow

Dancing, leaping

Melting, seeping

Rising flames ascend

Hearts unfolding

Eyes beholding

Fiery trials expend

Flames extinguish

Pains relinquish

Giving up control

Softened hearts

Create new starts

Formed to another's soul

Re-created

Consummated

Bonds that can't expire

Hope's the spark

Within the dark

So Love must be the fire

Good Morning, Prosers,

It’s Monday Motivation time, and what better way than to tell you that we are all about to try breaking a world record with our words alone?

This is a community effort, and we need your words. We are expecting this to be popular - why wouldn’t it be? We need 15,000 entries with at least 100 words per entry to break this record. So, it’s imperative that you get your entries in as quickly as possible.

Let’s take a look at the prompt:

It’s record-breaking time. Together, we are going to break the world record for longest book. 100-word minimum. When this challenge gets 15,000 entries, it will expire, and we will turn it into a book. Each entry will be its own chapter. The plot? It’s the first day of a zombie apocalypse, write a diary entry. Each contributor should share this challenge prompt with as many people as possible. If we break the world record, this will be read by people for generations to come. In fact, it’ll probably be read by people experiencing an actual zombie apocalypse.

So, those of you who love The Walking Dead have zero excuse not to enter, and those of you who don’t? Well, you’re writers aren’t you? You still have zero excuse not to enter.

The challenge is live right now. Get yourself scribbling those diary entries. Here’s to making history together as a community.

Until the next apocalypse, Prosers,

Prose.

Terrifying was living a life of lies...being a single mother, while looking for happiness...

Terrifying was never knowing what the next day would bring..

Terrifying was raising 3 children under four..where was my food coming from, my shelter, my time to be me..

Terrifying was would I ever come out of this situation..would my next guy I brought home stay or leave..

I lived like this for 7 years, taking any job I could to take care of my family without asking for things.

The dangerous part was always reminding myself "don't give up, never give in, you will be happy, it's all inside of you to live for your precious babies you were blessed with..don't give up"