Who knew few pursued blue kazoos?

Sue wooed shrews to interview

Two gurus previewed new flues

Accrued boo-hoos issued tissues

Overdue Ingénue debuted to hitherto reviews

Mexico Moe, Buffalo Bo sow pistachios incognito

Calico crows bestow embryo glows

Tremolos flow. Lo, indigo oboes blow

Oh no! Pinocchio’s nose grows

Eskimos forgo snow below Tokyo rainbows

Banzai barflies imply July justifies Sci-Fi skies

Sly Spry terrifies passerby spies

Specified shy, Gratify Guy denies alibis

Why certify tries? Why glorify highs? Why deny lies?

Bye-Bye dry eye pries

Bump!

I awoke with a start, and sat up in my bed, startled. Something had gone bump.

Bump!

There it was again! Perhaps it was a burglar downstairs?

Bump!

Or maybe it was the neighbor's cat knocking over a trash can?

Bump!

Maybe a racoon on the roof?

Bump!

Could it be a truck hitting a speed bump on the road in front of my house?

Bump!

Maybe it was hailing golf balls?

Bump!

Perhaps the other neighbor's goat had escaped and was butting at my door?

Bump!

I hadn't felt felt any shaking, so I was pretty sure it wasn't an earthquake....

Bump!

What if I'd been magically transported back in time, and a medieval army was firing catapults at my house? Dare I look out the window?

Bump!

Maybe my house had been caught up in a twister, just like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz? Could it be the wind battering at my house as it was spun in wild circles?

Bump!

Perhaps this was some weird phenomenon, never before encountered. Maybe my universe was playing dodge'ems with the multiverse?!

Bump!

Wait, maybe it wasn't a bump, maybe it was a...

Thump!

Yes, it was a...

Thump!

It was my own frightened heart, beating frantically.

Thump!

Whatever had woken me up, I was just keeping myself awake now.

Thump!

I began to calm down. I got out of bed and went downstairs to get a drink.

Thump!

I was feeling less frightened now that I knew what had been going bump.

Thump!

I went back upstairs and got into bed. As I rolled over and closed my eyes, something downstairs went...

Bump!

Bump!

BUMP!!

Sun's flames reduce to embers

The sky is no longer blue

Darkness casts a silver eye

And in it I see you

Stars encrust the darkness

Among them you travel far

Still, there is a place you remain

Grasped by aching love

Deep within the ocean

Floating in the sea

Misty air surrounding

Will you come back to me?

Steady beats a bleakened heart

Empty in all but grief

Heavy is the chest surrounding

Yearning for relief

Birdsong beckons the day

Before the umbra is complete

Lithe rises the dawn

Darkness admits defeat

Shrouded by dappled light

In a kingdom free and vast

Welcomed by familiar hands

And finding peace at last

Running in the meadow

Dancing in the grass

Golden light surrounding

At least I know you're free

Happy to tell you brilliant beasts of beauty, brains, and boulevards of written words that we are now on iOS. Oh, yes...

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/prose/id6470323009

And we have a new Challenge to bring in 2024, one hell of a good Challenge, we think.

https://www.theprose.com/challenge/14416

And, here's the link to the announcement on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPAGP07T7MA

And.

As always.

Thank you being here.

-The Prose. team

"Hello. My name is Amanda and I am a survivor."

It was the most difficult sentence I ever spoke.

It was 1977 and I just turned 13. My mother became my best friend, the kind of person you could tell anything to. The kind of person who wanted to see you acquire all life had to offer. The kind of person you wanted as a friend.

The problem was that I wanted a friend, but I needed a mother.

My father started molesting me soon after. He forced me on birth control and threatened to leave the family (my mother, my little sister, and myself) destitute if I said anything. My father was a monster. He was filthy. He smelled of gin and cigarettes. His touch sent shivers through my spine. I became paralyzed when he came home. He would come to me and he expected me to perform on demand.

I felt disgusted, so I told my best friend. I told my mother, only that my mother wouldn't let me speak of it.

"A good girl doesn't speak of that." Or "a good girl shouldn't tell lies." Once, my mother indicated that my father earned the money and was entitled to some leeway, so I should be thankful. What she should have said was, "get your coat, we are going to the police."

My mother knew the man she married.

On my 14th birthday, my father came into my bedroom and began forcing himself on me. He kept on hand over my mouth, when not in use. Either way, I could not scream. My parent’s bedroom was only two bedrooms away from mine, separated by my little sister's room. She was now 12 and my father told me to cooperate or she would be next.

It was late that night. Soon, my mother got out of bed and began to walk the hallway toward my bedroom. The floor in the hallway squeaked with each step. When my father heard my mother coming, he ceased raping me and froze in terror. He still kept his hand over my mouth.

My mother heard the obvious noise from my bedroom cease as she ceased walking. She was only steps away from my unlocked door. She could have found the courage to take those final steps. She could have opened the door. She could have delivered us from this evil. It could have all ended just like that.

But it didn't.

I continued being raped by my father all through high school and for two years later. It let this happen so my little sister didn't have to make that decision.

On the day she left for college, I left for good.

I told my mother before I did. I begged her to come with me. We could make this right.

She wouldn't go. She never had the strength to go. Two weeks later, after my father beat her to death, it didn't matter.

"So why am I telling you all of this? What difference does it make?"

Now he was scared. The puddle below his foot slowly grew as he began to weep.

Once I have them in lockup to get a confession, I always succeed or I will burn down the world in which scum like him lives and let God sort it out.

This ends now.