16

Gabriel McQueen was an inveterate wanderer of the Coney Island board walk and amusement park. He is perhaps the most conspicuous phenomenon in the park between the carousels and coasters. Not one of the freaks, weirdos, carnies, or any of the local aberrations would be able to offer even a little insight into his peculiar lifestyle. Most people notice his intriguing device before they actually take him in: a plastic Five-Star folder that has been covered with mirrors, held on by duct tape. He holds this aloft as a deacon would the Cross, and it in fact appears to lead him by some ethereal force. He positions the mirrored folder to reflect the sunlight, which creates little Tinker Bells that dart from one place to another ahead of him. The other prominent oddity about Gabriel is his choice of attire and his overall appearance. His mullet may or may not be a wig leftover from the 80s Hair Metal era. He most often wears a Kool-aid red T shirt with a weight lifting belt strapped around his waist, and blue jeans no matter how hot the day.

15

Far, far below me the jaws of the sea were opened wide, anticipating the moment of my consumption. I have long forsaken the acknowledgment of the ice embellishing my beard like jewels or the absence of any blood in my fingers and feet. My hands - now devoid of any flexibility - have become my only anchor. The wind howls and beats against my stiff body so powerfully that I can't help but wonder how the bruises will ever heal if I survive. I risk adjusting my head slightly so that I can peer downwards under my shoulder and glimpse what lies below, but I quickly avert my eyes and whip my face upwards towards the grey sky again to escape seeing the froth and foam leaping towards me like hounds against a tree trunk, waiting for some doomed animal to give in and surrender itself to its fate. But I will not give in. I can, and I will, survive.

14

It's the calm before the electric surge of New York City. Tomorrow I will be on the eighteen hour bus journey yet again, but this time with a different companion. The giddiness is beginning to set in. I am hoping that the city will breathe new air into my lungs and inspire me to climb out of this hole. Maybe I won't even return. New York is the beating heart that keeps America's blood flowing through its arteries and veins, perhaps it can act as a defibrillator for my own still heart. New York, I love you!

13

You think I'd forget you?
Does the earth forget the sun,
Do the tides fail to rise and fall?
Some things are forever
Some things do not fade.

12

...My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl. My name is Elizabeth Gertrude ZoellnerFisch. I'm grateful that I only have a ten second memory because otherwise I would die from the loneliness and boredom of living alone in a fish bowl...

11

It took me a long time to comprehend what the pit feeling in my soul means. It crept up upon me like a dead fist washes onto the shore, coming in and pulling back and then coming in closer and pulled back just a little less more, over and over until it settles onto the sand. It began with diminutive episodes of anxiety that would quickly be smothered out by fun-filled nights with friends or passionate sex with my lover. But the foreboding never failed to return. And Foreboding is unpredictable: He will sometimes hang around for an extended stay, and sometimes take a long vacation but then arrive again unannounced and unpredictably. With every visit we develop a deeper bond and understand one another more clearly.
I am certain now that this is the feeling of Death. I see it when my eyes find their reflection in the mirror. I inhale it as I awaken daily. I hear it in the static of conversations. I am not hearing voices in my head, but I can feel the terror of Death that most people that I am surrounded by are blessed enough to be muted to. I constantly search for a way to shake it but I am fearing that it has taken too firm of a hold of me at this point for me to ever hope to be able to escape. My Death is coming soon.

10

Each night, between the cycling days while the sun was turning her face towards foreign lands, the stone surfaces would crumble away and they would shake the dust from their smooth fur as they were reborn anew. A moment of triumphant stillness would ensue, and then they would put their noses to the wood below their paws and bound to each other across the tabletop in the dark bedroom. They would greet each other as two eternal lovers would, and then proceed together into the night hunting for nightmares or heavy-burdened thoughts to chase down and devour. The sleeper could sometimes hear their howls in her dreams - always distant and barely audible over the silence of whatever troubled dream she was having, but always she would sleep easy after the Shi (Lions) chased down her nightmare and pulled it struggling down between them.

9

Kallie tossed the capsules of Powdered Motivation into the cart on top of her Lays potato chips and Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix.
"I'm gonna be kick kick kickity koooo and make a smoothie before I study tomorrow! Jealous much?"
Laura took a second can off the shelf to examine the labels. GOES BEST WITH HARD WORK. was blazed along the bottom of the can. CAN BE COMBINED WITH ANY EDIBLE FOOD OR LIQUID. FOR BEST RESULTS, TAKE IN THE MORNINGS WITH BREAKFAST.
"I remember when energy shots were the thing. Does this really work?"
"I had the best sex with Eric after taking it. So yeah." Kallie reached for another container after that thought and added it to the basket.

8

The repetition
Of waking and falling asleep
Is passing too fast

7

Emilie led the room of over fifty people into the flying pigeon pose, and I found myself folded over with my left foot on the ground and with my face centimeters from my right shin. We were practicing Vinyasa Flow Yoga - a modern form of yoga that stresses focus on the breath. But the outrageous position that I was crunched into led me to become aware of an entirely different part of my body: the small, pearl white cluster of scars that formed a string two inches in length on my leg. It shone in the sunlight cast through the full-wall window, looking like precious diamonds embellishing my shin. I brushed it with my fingertips, remembering dismounting the horse years ago to discover that the pain in my leg while riding was due to my idea to ride chapless, which caused my leg to rub against the saddle flap, rewarding me with a bloody sore that took months to heal over. Instead of forming one large scar, it had broken up into several tiny dots - like the islands of the Florida Keys. Now, years later, these scars spoke to me. The wound had become a distinct hyptopigmented patch of skin, and that area of my skin shone forth as the purest white of my entire body. The trauma that my shin had withstood created the opportunity for it to be rejuvenated into what I now consider the most beautiful part of my leg. I think to truly radiate as a person, our souls must also suffer some damage. It's the one who've cracked that the light shines through.

6

Today a thought came to me: There is a world of difference between a Leader and a Boss.