From A Dreamer's Notebook

Don't kill your soul

2012-01-14T01:34:00.001-08:00

A soul is what makes us human.

Human is weak, flawed and fragile.

That is not desirable.

Having a soul is a burden, they say.

But they’re forgetting…

It’s because of that soul people accomplish the most amazing things.

Earthbound

2011-11-22T07:20:00.001-08:00

Tied to the Earth, not allowed to fly

as much as I gaze at that blue sky

Eating disorder ~Why?~

2011-11-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

This pain that I'm eating away

Hiding deep in my heart

and it can't be cured

No matter what I do it is a void

that can never be filled

Recipe to unhappiness

The very definition of self-destruction

I wanna make it stop

------

This pain eating me away

From inside to out

Feeding off my flesh

Leaving behind my pure beautiful bones

and a shadow of myself

Draining me from the juice of life

Sacrifice in the altar of so-called beauty

I wanna make it stop

Love Letter

2011-11-16T09:58:00.001-08:00

From my heart onto paper

my feelings sure make quite a big journey

The only way for me to be honest with you

is not in the form of a love letter

Cold surface

2011-11-05T15:34:00.001-07:00

The more I find out about reality, the more I shy away from it

Ten words

2011-10-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

I think I can hear the echo of my thoughts...

Yin Yang

2011-10-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

In a small and cramped room he stood, paintbrush in hand, drawing on a canvas. The only light in the room came in from the street through the single window on the wall. It was otherwise dark, due to an unpaid electric bill. Still, Jason had managed just fine so far, as the eccentric design on the canvas was coming together.

It was the painting of an odd creature, a crossover between a tiger and a dragon. Jason couldn't help but feel his heart swell with pride as he was adding some colourful details. "The idea is simply genius", he thought to himself, "combining tiger and dragon to create the image of perfect balance. Splendid!"
He had coloured almost all of the scales on the tiger-dragon's tail before setting the thin brush on the edge of the water-filled lid he used to swill off the paint and went to the kitchen for a drink. He hadn't had a break for hours, being too absorbed by what he was doing.

He stretched his aching back muscles as he walked through the door; standing in an uncomfortable position for a prolonged period of time often caused his back pain. He set the kettle to boil some water while he fetched his mug and threw a few spoonfuls of coffee in it. As soon as it was done, he poured the scorching water into the mug and stirred it with a teaspoon.

He leaned against the counter, back turned to it and mug in hand, waiting for its content to cool down a bit. He glanced outside the little window above the table; just like the living room, that was the only light source. He was lost in his thoughts, trying to come up with his next masterpiece when his cell phone rang. It was on the old table beneath the window. He lowered his gaze towards it and watched it vibrate for a while, before finally casting his coffee aside and answering it.

'Hello? Oh hi Robert. Yes, I'll start working on it right away. No… At the moment I'm doing something else but I'm basically finish- hey, maybe you'd like to see that one too! Yes yes, that's cool. Okay then, see you tomorrow.'

He flipped the phone closed and put it back on the table, picking up his coffee in its place. He was about to take a sip when he was distracted by a weird sound coming from the other room.
A thump and something akin to footsteps was heard, and Jason immediately concluded that someone had broken in. He froze in fear; his special painting was in that room. What if the intruder thought it was of some value and stole it?

Silently, he left the still full mug on the counter behind him, and very slowly pulled out one of the knives from the holder. With steps so soft they were inaudible, he proceeded towards the living room. Its door was no more than two footsteps away from the kitchen.

He was holding his breath, madly wishing his heartbeat would slow down; it was beating so fast and loud, he thought it would give away his presence. The door to the room the sounds were coming from was half open, just as he had left it. The light seeping through from it brightened up the rest of the pitch-black hallway. It was somewhat of a relief for Jason, the fact he was in the dark. That way, the intruder wouldn't see him right away.

He extended a shaking hand and gently pushed the door. He stopped, waiting to see if that earned a reaction from the burglar. Sensing no change, he pushed it open enough to get through. Knife outstretched, he stepped in, masking his fear and appearing threatening. Hopefully that would startle the intruder so that he wouldn't react and Jason would be able to deal with him. However, it wasn't a burglar he was faced with.

In the middle of the room, stood a monster. It looked like a tiger, having four legs and the typical coloring, but it also resembled a dragon with its long red tail and face that covered the top of the tiger's like a mask. The canvas Jason was drawing on earlier was knocked on the floor and blank, as if a paintbrush had never touched it.

Jason's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe he was standing in front of his own creation! His brain had stopped functioning for a while, trying to comprehend what was going on. He stared at the creature, mouth gaping slightly. The creature stared back at him, menacingly. Its face was angry and it soon started growling. He gathered his wits and started screaming and backing off. His back was soon met with the door frame. He quickly turned to look and stepped so it wasn't obstructing him, but when he looked back, the creature was a mere centimeter away from him. A low growl erupted from it, smoke coming out of its nose and suffocating him. There was no escape.

***

A knock on the door was heard. No answer. Another knock.

'Jason? Are you there?' said a male voice, sounding muffled from behind the door. No reply. 'Jason?'

After the rattle of keys and some fumbling, the door was opened. 'Jason?'

A tall man walked in. He looked around the seemingly empty apartment before taking another step. The floor was slippery. He looked down. He was stepping in a trail of blood.

'Oh my God, Jason, are you okay?'

The living room door was flung open. A startled gasp was heard.

'N…no!'

The man ran out of the apartment, cell phone in hand, dialing the police, so they would come pick up whatever was left of Jason.

Overnight stay

2011-10-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

‘Room 204, here you go’, the smiley receptionist dropped the key into Tom’s open palm. He closed his fingers around it and put it in his pocket, then crouched slightly to reach his suitcases on the floor. Once he got hold of the leather straps, he straightened his body and smiled back at the girl behind the desk.

‘Thank you very much!’ he said and headed for the stairs, already knowing that the lift was out of order.

’Have a nice stay!’ the receptionist said as he was walking away. She watched him until he was out of her sight, then went back to doing what she was doing before he came. The door behind the desk opened and a woman dressed similar to her appeared. With one step she was next to her.

‘You’re so lucky your shift is over’, she said in a sulky tone, leaning her forearms on the wooden desk, ‘I’ve got six hours of standing to look forward to at a time when most people are tucked in bed!’

The receptionist smiled awkwardly as she tidied the desk and gathered her belonging in her bag.

‘I hadn’t realized it got this late’, she said.

The other woman was waiting idly next to her for her to tidy, hunched over the desk. Her eyes were lazily scanning her surroundings when they fell on the room keys hanging on the wall beside her.

‘That room…’ she muttered, ‘the key is missing.’ She turned to the receptionist, who had now finished packing and was preparing to leave.

‘Did someone take that room?’

The receptionist adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and glanced at the keys.

‘Yes. It was booked a week ago on Nick’s shift.’

The woman bit her bottom lip and looked towards them again.

‘Is it really okay?’ she asked worriedly. The receptionist smiled reassuringly.

‘It doesn’t happen all the time and no one’s ever been harmed. It shouldn’t be a problem.’

The woman turned back to the girl, looking unconvinced.

‘Did you at least warn?’

‘No point in worrying people for no reason’, she replied. ‘I’ll be going now, goodnight!’ she waved as she strode towards the exit. The new receptionist assumed her proper position behind the desk, leaning some of her weight on her hands. She threw one last wary glance at the keys before facing the lobby, ready to greet potential customers.

_____________________________________________________________________

Tom fell flat on the bed. The mattress sunk slightly under his weight, having seen better days. Everything in the hotel was old, and it was too tacky to be seen as simply “a little history”. Squeaky floor tiles, rusty taps, damp walls, but Tom didn’t mind any of it. As long as he could rest.

He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. His mind was going over the events of the day. It had been busy at work and frankly, he wanted to forget all about it. It brought him too much stress to be thinking of such matters.

His eyelids dropped, as he felt them heavy. It was as if all the fatigue of the day weighed them down. Within minutes he had fallen asleep. A peaceful, restful sleep. It wasn’t long before it was interrupted.

Tom merely opened his eyes when he thought he had heard an odd sound, he didn’t move otherwise. When he was assured it was just his mind being weird, he let his eyes close again and was asleep a second later.

That was until something touched his foot. He jerked awake, hyperventilating and looking around the room for the offender. He could spot him or her.

Once he had started to calm down, he wondered whether it was part of a dream like the sound he had thought he heard before, but that explanation was quickly overruled.

Something moved. Tom’s blood froze. Fear washed him over and he was temporarily paralyzed. It was as if someone had put a cage around his chest making it impossible to breathe, his heart thumping against it wildly trying to break it.

Tom’s eyes were fixed on the spot were he saw movement. He couldn’t see anything now, but he was too scared to get up and investigate further. When his body finally started to obey him, he sat up and looked around him cautiously.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and yet…

A cold wave made him shiver. The window was locked; he knew that cause he had tried to open it before but it was fractured from the damp. The light coming in from it flickered as if something had rushed past it. Cold sweat glistened Tom’s forehead. There was definitely a presence in the room. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. It was lurking, somewhere above him like a dark cloud.

“Just my imagination…” he tried to convince himself. And it could have been if he hadn’t looked up.

A shadow was dancing on the ceiling. Plus, he wasn’t moving. One inch. He was too frozen. He watched the dreadful shadow appalled for a few moments, but then it started to expand and take over the ceiling. It was spreading like water, spilling down the walls. When it started to close in on him, slowly but steadily taking over the floor, he screamed. It was seeping onto the wooden head of the bed when he shot up and dashed to the door, crossing the shrinking path from the bed to the door that hadn’t yet been taken over by the shadow.

He slammed it shut behind him and collapsed against it. He stayed like that for a few moments in order to gather himself. He was panting heavily and trembling. Even when his breathing somewhat evened out, he still could stop the shaking. He was thinking of what had gone on inside, his thoughts having returned after his mind had gone blank for a few seconds. His first reaction was to hurl himself forward so his back wouldn’t be leaning against the door of that damned room. He distanced himself as much as he could from it, so that he was pressed hardly against the concrete wall opposite. He was pushing as if he was trying to pass through it, his head turned to the side and left ear flat against it. His still shaking hand was wide open and pushing against the cold wall. He himself didn’t quite get what he was doing

As Tom was one with the wall, ear pressed firmly against it, he picked up the sound of water dripping. It was like someone had used the tap and not closed it properly so that drops were still falling. He wouldn’t be paying attention to the sound if it weren’t the only thing to be ripping through the deafening silence. After listening to it for a bit, he thought that it was unusually loud for a dripping tap. Even if the bathroom of the room behind the wall was located there, he shouldn’t have been able to hear it that intensely. Just as he was thinking that, water slowly came spilling out from under the door of the room directly opposite his. It was forming a growing puddle that would soon spread to the whole corridor if left as such. Watching the water with morbid fascination, Tom slowly stood up. After the puddle had grown a bit, he decided it would be useless to expect anyone in the room it was coming from to turn the tap off. If anyone was even in there of course. Surely they would have noticed by now.

He tiptoed closer to the door, careful to avoid stepping in the water. Such a pool had been created, it was almost impossible to reach it. It occurred to Tom as he was doing this that water drops alone couldn’t possibly make such a big flood in such a short amount of time, yet all he could hear before was water falling in drops. He didn’t have time to ponder on that though; a change in the light caught his attention as he was about to reach for the doorknob. The whole corridor lit up, a bright white light coming in from the window at the end of it. He shifted his gaze towards it, puzzled by what was going on, but also slightly scared.

The window was closed but not locked, so it slowly swung open, pushed by a slight breeze. Tom instantly felt it against his skin as it blew through the corridor. His eyes were fixed on the window; he didn’t blink once, just stared in awe as if enchanted. The breeze was making the thin curtains flow, and the light was getting brighter; it appeared as if it was getting closer to the window, yet Tom couldn’t see the source of it. Soon, it took form and a woman dressed in white appeared out of thin air.

She looked as light as the wind the way she floated above the ground, and because she was transparent, it appeared as though the slightest of moves could cause her to vanish. She had long silver hair that flowed behind her, dancing at the slight drafts coming in from the window as if completely weightless. Her skin was made of light; everything on her was. She moved with the breeze, slowly making her way further into the corridor. At no more than two meters away from the window, she stopped, only her hair and clothing moving like on a windy day, yet it was a calm and slow move, too graceful to be caused by wind.

Tom didn’t move; he had frozen on the spot, eyes staring at the luminous form. He could not think of anything, couldn’t find any words to utter, all he did was look. Without doubt, he had never seen a sight so beautiful in his whole life. When he first saw her, he thought she had materialized from the curtains by the way her dress flowed. Now he could see she was made of light so bright it was hard to stare at her for prolonged periods of time.

He was so enchanted that he focused on nothing but the mysterious figure. He watched in awe as she descended from mid air onto the floor. She was taller than normal human beings and appeared godlike. She started to take slow strides towards Tom.

Tom was slightly taken aback, but he quickly recomposed himself. He got control of his body and began to move in the direction of the bright figure. Once he did so, she stopped and waited. He was close enough to be able to see her smile, which was without doubt the most bright and beautiful smile he had ever seen. He could feel the warmth from it warming up his heart.

The distance between Tom and the figure was no more than three meters when she slowly turned, always smiling and looking back at him, and started to float towards the window, surrounded by light.

Tom didn’t budge; he kept up his steady pace towards her, following her like he was under a magic spell. He had not peeled his eyes off the beautiful form made of light the whole time, so he wasn’t aware of where he was treading as he took steps.

The figure was floating in front of the window, now facing Tom. A couple more steps and…

His foot touched something wet. He instantly looked down, away from the form he was so intrigued by, but all he had time to see was a sizeable puddle on the floor as he was falling into it. He screamed; it was all he could do before he was under the water.

_____________________________________________________________________

Next day, the janitor finally came to clean the corridor.

‘What the…’ he trailed off as he saw the mess. ‘Such a bad flood. I keep telling them to get those pipes changed, they’re the same ones since 1944’, he rambled as he moped up the remaining puddles.

That's why we don't talk to strangers

2011-10-07T14:29:00.001-07:00

The bell finally rang. All the children rushed out of their classrooms and into the yard in torrents, heavy backpacks on their backs and eager to go home. Nicholas was amongst them, following the crowd to the gates. He’d had a full day and was relieved that school was over; now he could go home and throw himself on the couch in front of the TV.

On the other side of the gates, parents were standing waiting for their children to arrive. Nicholas’ mother wasn’t among them, since he was now a big boy he got to walk home all by himself.

The gates had already been opened by the time he got to them. He pushed past the crowd gathered in front of the school entrance, trying to escape from the hectic maze of parents looking for their kids and children trying to locate their parents. Everyone was always particularly noisy, especially the younger kids. He finally managed to distance himself from the crowd and began walking home. The noise was already considerably less even just a few steps away from the mayhem.

He was walking down the street happily, now that school had ended for another day, when he noticed an old lady standing not too far from the parents waiting to collect their kids. He almost immediately assumed her to be one of the grandparents, however, for no reason he could think of, she crossed the street and walked up to where he was.

‘Young boy’, she said, which made him stop and turn to face her, ‘would you be kind enough to do me a favour?’

She was holding a white envelope in her hand. When she reached Nicholas, she held it out for him to take. The boy took the offered object, eyeing it curiously.

‘There’s a man that lives in the house at the end of the street’, the lady began, ‘would you please give him this letter?’

Nicholas looked at said letter.

‘Sure ma’am!’ he answered after he was done inspecting it.

‘Good boy’, the lady smiled, ‘your help is greatly appreciated.’

The lady walked off in the opposite direction of where Nicholas was walking towards. He watched her for a few seconds before resuming to what he was doing. He was headed for the house he’d been instructed to go to, but before he got there, he turned to go to his own house. His backpack was stuffed with books and was too heavy for his frail build. There was no point in carrying it around with him when he could just drop it off at his place; it was on the way anyway. Another perk of living near the school; it was convenient for when he had to drop off or collect things before moving on.

He unlocked the door and rushed through the hall. As he made his way to his bedroom, he went past the dining room, where he absentmindedly flung the letter on the large mahogany table. His mother, who’d been sitting in the living room that was near the dining room, noticed his presence.

‘Why so hasty, Nick?’ she inquired as she got up and walked towards the hallway. Her kid was very energetic, but his state that day was unusual even for him.

‘No reason mum’, he replied from the bedroom where he had gone to leave his backpack, ‘just some lady told me to deliver a letter for her.’

‘What letter?’ his mother questioned, puzzled by her son’s story.

‘Don’t know, it’s on the dining table.’

The mother walked into the dining room and spotted the letter carelessly thrown on the table. She picked it up and opened it.

“How weird”, she thought, “a complete stranger asking a kid for something like this.”

She unfolded the paper from inside the envelope and read it. Her eyes went wide. She gasped. Nicholas, having left his backpack in his room, came out and passed by the dining room to get the letter.

‘What’s wrong mum?’ he asked when he saw her standing rigid. She didn’t answer, she just kept standing still, eyes fixed on the paper. Puzzled by her reaction, he went by her side and leaned in to see the letter. As soon as he read it, he couldn’t help but also gasp, his heart suddenly jumping in fear.

“Take his organs.”

True colours

2011-07-21T03:02:00.001-07:00

You can only see a person’s true colours in the dark

I see...

2011-06-06T07:08:00.001-07:00

Nothing turned out as I expected

as I wanted to

So many times I felt neglected

said that it’s all fine

And so much more that I’ve regretted

silly mistakes

A phase I don’t think I wanna go through again

I know there’s no way to recapture the time

I’d let it go to waste all over again

End up pleading for someone to live my life

Maybe they’d do it better

A better job than me…

Summer heart aches

2011-05-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

He lay on the beach, hat over his face, enjoying the sun. A typical summer day in

Greece

it was so it was something above hot. Jack didn’t mind it, being British he appreciated the contrast between the rainy English weather. However, that didn’t change the fact he was mind numbingly bored. Spending summer in a small Greek village not even Greeks had ever heard of wasn’t his cup of tea. He was with his friends however, which did help the situation.

He preferred to lie back on the rough stones of the beach and even sleep sometimes rather than chill off in the crystal clear waters. He had his eyes closed under the hat and was in complete relaxation. All of a sudden though, he felt cold drops on his skin. Before he could react, the hat was thrown of his face and wet hands grabbed him from his arms pulling him up.

‘Hey mate, wake up, we thought we’d lost you there for a sec!’

Andrew and Evan, two of his friends, had hoisted him up into a sitting position and were trying to pull him onto his feet. Tom was still in the sea waving at them.

‘C’mon, do something other than laze about all day! Let’s swim’, said Andrew and pulled his arm for emphasis.

‘We found this really cool cave, come and see it!’ said Evan enthusiastically.

Jack, a bit dazed from the heat, mumbled something incoherent and fell backwards, escaping his friend’s grip. He grimaced slightly from the impact the hard rocks had on his back. The boys chuckled at this.

‘We’re not leaving until you get up you know’, Andrew said almost strictly and flicked water from his fingertips onto Jack’s face.

He squirmed and rolled onto his front. He could still sense the presence of the two.

‘There’s no getting out of this, is there?’

‘Definitely not, not until you’ve seen the cave’, said Evan.

He heard Andrew sigh deeply.

‘What’s with the obsession with the cave?’

‘There were pigeons in it!’

‘So?’

‘Ok, I’ll come!’ said Jack as he hastily stood up.

‘Really?’ asked Evan.

‘Really.’

‘That’s great! You wanna see the pigeons too, don’t cha?’

‘Nope, I just want to put an end to this stupid conversation.’

Andrew had bolted towards the sea and was already in it up to his knees.

‘Well whatever gets you going mate!’ he shouted before diving under the water.

Evan ran to join him and Jack followed reluctantly. Once his foot touched the water he was overwhelmed by its coolness. He froze on the spot. The other three, already swimming in rather deep, were calling out to him.

‘It’s bloody cold!’ he shouted.

‘Get over it!’ said Tom. ‘You’re missing out on the fun!’

Taking a deep breath, he ran into the water causing massive splashes before landing into it. He remained there for a few seconds to adjust to its coldness and unadmitedly, relish it.

He soon surfaced and flicked his hair off his eyes. The others had moved on a bit.

‘Hey wait!’

He started swimming towards them when something caught his attention. On one of the highest rocks that surrounded the beach stood a tall figure, a female one from what he could tell. She had skin so tan it resembled chocolate and her hair was long, so long it reached down to her slim waist. She looked like a mermaid with dark strands of it flowing in the wind. He couldn’t see her face very well, but it was obvious she was pretty. Jack just stood there, in the middle of the sea with water up to his waist, looking at her as if he was enchanted. He watched her every move, the graceful manner in which she moved her arms, the arch of her back as she leaned forward. He was so engrossed in watching her that he didn’t realize what she was about to do.

‘NO!!” he shouted almost instinctively but it was too late. The girl had dived head first. He held his breath until she landed safely and gracefully into the water.

Jack sighed in relief. He kept his eyes fixated on the spot she had dived in waiting for her to surface when he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. He turned around to see Tom.

‘What’s taking you so long? We were worried.’

Jack looked back to where he had seen the girl. She hadn’t appeared from under the water yet and he was concerned.

‘Um, I saw a… She... dived from that rock..’ he said and pointed towards it with a rather confused look on his face.

‘Huh? What are you talking about?’

Jack kept staring at it blankly, unfazed by anything else around him.

‘You say someone jumped from that rock?’ laughed Tom. ‘Impossible, it’s at least 4 meters tall, not to mention there are spiky rocks underwater which make it dangerous…no one’s that crazy! You’re dreaming…’

‘Hey! What’s happened there?’ Andrew was heard from afar.

‘Shall we go now?’ Tom said as he tugged on Jack’s arm.

He remained still, ignoring his friend, trying to comprehend what he had seen just moments ago. Could it have been an illusion?

Evan and Andrew appeared next to him suddenly.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Evan.

‘He thinks someone jumped off that rock’, said Tom with a huff. Standing around like that was getting tiring and boring, not to mention cold.

‘Not anyone’, Jack finally spoke, ‘this girl…’

The other three quieted before breaking out in laughter.

‘You mean you saw a chick jump of that cliffy thing?!’ threw out Evan.

‘Seems like the sun’s got to you mate!’ said Andrew between laughs.

They started swimming in the direction of the supposed cave, Jack soon after following them. He was still very confused. A sunstroke? All he saw was caused by a sunstroke? It didn’t really matter anyway. It made no difference to him, so he shrugged off the event and joined the others in their chirpy conversation about the reasons why birds would opt to live in a partly underwater cave.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was rather late at night in the small village yet surprisingly warm. It was a pleasure to be outside, more pleasant than daytime. There was not one nip in the air yet it was still a good contrast to the insufferable heat of the day.

The four boys were on the way home from their night out at a local bar. It was pretty lame that they had to be back before eleven, strict parent orders. It was even more lame that they didn’t actually get to drink, being 16 in Greece they thought they could get away with it, but even if drinking laws were looser they still had to be 18.

They were walking through the dark side streets of the village which were dimly lit at best. Otherwise they were pitch black and pretty spooky to walk through even with company.

Their temporary residence was located in a semi-central area so thankfully, it was well lit. Several houses were on either side of a wide country road that led up to the mountain. One of the best qualities the village had was the unique combination of sea and mountain landscape. The most populated area, the main village if you will, was alongside the beach where just a main road separated the shops and restaurants from the coast. The place where the boys lived was on a road in the inner village which united the beach with the mountains. They had taken that road several times and hiked on the mountains during the evening when the sun was setting and the view was breathtaking. It was a time everything looked magic showered in the golden light of the sun. By the time they returned it was normally dark and they would start getting ready for a night out.

Finally, they reached the road. They were chatting cheerfully, albeit complaining about the fact they couldn’t get served alcohol and kept reassuring each other that they looked over 18. Jack looked around taking in the scenery. Lights from houses on the mountains and other villages located on them shone against the dark background like stars against the night sky. The stars themselves seemed brighter being looked at from a rural area like this, away from the commotion of a big city they were more intense.

They were just strolling casually when a loud group of Belgians passed them by. They were sharing the same building with them so they were always bumping into each other. It was rather bothersome to the Brit boys as they hadn’t taken up to them. They believed them to be a loud bunch of louts coming back every night at 3 a.m. and then continuing to party (and that means PARTY!), walking along the beach (never actually daring to go in the sea) hitting on any and every girls that passed them by. Once, the eldest of the group had got so drunk he hit on Evan who was in the vicinity. Even thought it was funny to play along before Andrew cam and “knocked some sense into him”.

The Belgians seemed to be shouting at the top of their voices to be heard over each other and had obviously hit the vodka earlier on. The walked past the boys, not seeming to notice them, off to start their night out. Jack thought that Andrew as much as he’d hate to admit it, was envious of them for being able to set off at such a time, one they couldn’t dream of in their wildest dreams, and actually get to drink.

Evan started fiddling in his pocket to find the keys for the house, a charming building indeed, but it would be better if they had it all to themselves. The Belgians occupied the top floor while they were stuck on the ground floor staring at the road. Jack thought he preferred the top one for it had a better view and provided more privacy. In reality though, the view can’t have been all hat different. Exactly in front of their residence there was a big house, it’s presence dominating the whole neighbourhood. It was rather impressive, simple yet effective with it’s cottage-style wooden windows and traditional roof.

Jack caught himself gazing at it while Evan fumbled with the keys trying to unlock the door. There was still light coming from some of its windows. He noticed in one of them that was near a small balcony a figure. It seemed to be sitting at something like a desk and studying, shoulders hunched and head down. Jack stared curiously until his eyes adjusted and he was able to see the figure clearly. He gasped.

“No way!” he thought.

He was pretty sure that was the girl he had seen jump off the rock earlier that day. He kept staring at the window wide-eyed and gaping just slightly, too startled to do anything but that.

So it really was true! He hadn’t been dreaming. His heart was now thumping against his chest. Can surprise speed up one’s heart so much?

‘Jack, you coming in?’

Tom interrupted his thoughts for the second time that day. He was standing in the doorway holding the door open, Andrew telling off Evan for taking so long to unlock could be heard from inside.

‘Yes.’

He turned to head inside, not daring to look back, he didn’t want to raise any suspicion. He walked through the doorway past Tom, a faint smile appearing on his face. Maybe this summer could be sweet after all.

10 o’ clock in the morning and the sun was already scorching. Jack had found shelter in the shadow of a tree that extended from behind a wall. That wall surrounded the land around the big house, the one he had seen the girl in. He was pacing up and down anxiously, but still, he had to remain alert if any cars passed. Opposite their house and near the girl’s one there was no pavement so he had to be careful.

Jack had woken up early that morning and had got ready to go for swimming. Now, he was supposable waiting for the rest.

Half an hour he had been waiting around in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious girl again. Ever since he saw her at the beach he had been curious about her. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was that made her appear so special to him. There was definitely something to her if after seeing her only twice from afar he was so struck.

The sun was getting hotter by the minute. He looked at his cell phone; what could be taking them so long? It was actually starting to get tiring waiting around for no one. He wished his friends would come so the could go; even if the girl did appear, what would he do? Talk to her? How would he justify his being there? His heart was pounding a mile a minute and he felt weak in his legs. Nervousness taking over, he turned to leave. The same moment he heard a noise from behind. Without thinking he turned, only to see the girl that haunted his mind the last 24 hours coming out of the door. His heart leapt in his throat and he lost the ability to breathe for a sec. He felt his legs wobble and he would be thinking he was going to collapse if his mind wasn’t’ blank.

The girl didn’t notice him, she just started walking down the stairs that connected the balcony to the ground gracefully, like a summery Greek goddess. She was indeed really beautiful as he had imagined. He could now see her face clearly for the first time, her delicate features, almond-shaped hazel eyes, slightly plump lips that shone in the sun from her juicy lip-gloss. Silky hair that brushed on her sun-kissed skin with her every move. One word came to mind; Greek beauty.

By the time she had climbed down all the stairs he was no longer nervous. He was too busy taking in the sight of her. She had exited the main gate and got to where he was before he realized it; she was now standing in front of him. He gulped silently, for some reason it was intimidating having this girl so close to him. After all, he had been thinking of seeing her the past few hours, to be able to actually do so was… surreal.

She had started to walk when she noticed Jack. He was just looking at her feeling unable to do anything else but that. She smiled at him. A sweet smile, one of those that warm one’s heart from the inside to out. Jack felt the edges of his mouth curl to form one of his own. Smiling really is contagious!

After remaining silent for a while, the girl spoke, it was getting awkward anyway.

‘Gia!’

Jack was taken by surprise, but thankfully his brain kicked in as to what to say.

‘Eh.. gia!’

She laughed, a beautiful and unique sound to hear, but more so, her face brightened up even more.

‘Den se eho xanadi edo.’

He froze, smile wiped of his face; he didn’t speak Greek! What could he do, would she think he was lame? So many thoughts rushed through his head and the unpleasant feeling in his stomach he had before she appeared returned.

‘Do you speak English?’ she asked with a slight accent. He couldn’t help but admit it made her even cuter.

Jack nodded his head slowly, almost in shame. So this is where all those Greek courses at school could have come in handy!

“Too bad I didn’t realize it then”, he thought.

‘Here for holidays?’ she asked.

‘Yes..’

Almost exactly after he’d said that she laughed. He watched her rather puzzled as to what had caused that odd response.

‘Sorry sorry, just, are you British?’

‘Yes...’ he answered unsure as to whether that’s what he was supposed to say.

‘Oh, well your accent is so… aristocratic!’

It was now his turn to laugh.

‘Is that so? I’ve never been told that before!’

They were once again standing looking at each other, still smiling. This time the silence was comfortable and both seemed to be content with it. Jack however remembered he didn’t know anything about the girl.

‘Oh uh… what’s your name?’

‘Nikoleta’, she said with an authentic Greek accent.

‘Nik…o…-

‘-leta!’

She laughed again making Jack’s heart jump. “She’s perfect!!” was all he could think of.

‘Yours?’

‘Jack.’

‘Jack, nice name. I like it!’

His smile widened but he felt his cheeks heat up, sign of a forming blush. Gosh, did he hoped that didn’t show!

‘Hey Jack! You coming for swimming, right?’ Tom was heard yelling.

Jack looked towards where he had heard his voice. Tom. Evan and Andrew were on the pavement opposite him, all in their swimsuits and towels in hand. Evan’s eyes were wide and his mouth gaping as he looked at the pair.

Jack hesitated to answer, he looked towards Nikoleta. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

‘You go with your friends, there’s somewhere I need to be anyway. See you around!’ she said and took off. The three boys jumped over the small wall of the pavement and came near Jack, watching Nikoleta leave.

‘Who… who was that heavenly creature you were talking to?’ Evan said with an expression of utter astonishment on his face.

Andrew tapped him on the back of his head and scorned.

‘Hey, now don’t you think of hitting on Jack’s girlfriend!’

‘She’s not my girlfriend!’ Jack said as that previously forming blush spread across his face.

‘Oh look, he’s blushing!’ Tom teased, ‘You sly dog!’

‘It’s not like that!’ he said a tad bit too loud than he wanted to. ‘Remember that girl I was telling you about that jumped off a rock into the sea?’

‘Vaguely’, said Andrew slightly cynically.

‘Well, that’s her.’

Now Tom’s mouth dropped.

‘You’re jesting! So it was real? H- how did she managed that!?’

‘With that body of hers I’m not surprised. She’s so fiiit…. ouch!!’

Andrew had struck again, this time harder. Evan rubbed his head and glared at him.

‘Well, what can I say’, started Tom, ‘she’s obviously way out of your league.’

Jack was startled by Tom’s comment. He looked at him in disbelief, highly offended.

‘What do you mean “out of my league”?’

‘Look at her and look at you.’

‘I’m reasonably handsome you know!’

‘Yes, reasonably, but does she look reasonably hot to you?’

He lowered his head in defeat. Indeed, what was he thinking? As if she would notice him had he not been standing indiscreetly outside her house. Having acted like a complete dork too, he’d really blown his chances with her. Now he couldn’t say she would be attracted to his character. He knew he didn’t have any striking features, but it wasn’t only a few people that seemed to find him appealing. Jack, a delicate-framed boy, yet rather muscular in comparison with his age group, was considered quite the looker back at home and even here. With blue eyes and dark blond hair, he didn’t quite fit the english stereotype, mostly cause of his olive skin tone. His friends were jealous of the fact he could get a proper tan as opposed to looking like a lobster after a day in the sea.

‘I’m only saying this so you won’t get your heart broken’, Tom said apologetically. ‘I know how easily you fall in love-

‘I’m not in love! I barely know her!’

Andrew chuckled.

‘He means how you lose your mind over girls. Bet you don’t think it’s just a fling when you should know that at very best it’s a summer love. Those don’t last, mate.’

So he realized. Even if anything did happen, it would end when summer did. He hadn’t thought of that and knowing it now created a weight in his chest.

‘Cheer up’, said Tom with a smile, ‘all we’re saying is don’t fall for her.’

Jack nodded and smiled back.

‘Since he takes these things so seriously and gets hurt, may I have a chance? I fully understand that- OUCH!!’

Evan crumbled on the floor folded in half, gasping for breath. Andrew was looking at him pretty satisfied with his work.

‘W-what the hell?!’ he managed to utter. ‘You trynna kill me?!!’

‘That’s what you get for talking rubbish, mate’, said Andrew as he walked away. ‘Now let’s go for that blasted swim at last!’

Tom jumped over Evan and ran up to Andrew practically hopping. Jack sighed and started waling towards them, Evan still on the ground was shouting and cursing them for not helping him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The four boys were walking together on the beach. It was evening and one of those rare times there was a cool breeze. Droplets of refreshing seawater splashed on their shoes every time the waves hit the shore. The sun having set just moments ago painted the sky a dull pink colour that came into perfect contrast with the dark blue part of it that spread from across the mountains.

Slowly but steadily, more and more shops were turning their lights on as the darkness approached. The village beamed of life that particular evening, the street full of people walking and talking cheerfully to each other.

The boys were rather quiet compared to their usual selves, all of them just enjoying the summer breeze, especially Jack. Such moments he lived for, when he could relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.

From the beauty of nature, his eye fell onto another kind of beauty. Nikoleta with two friends of hers was stepping from the road onto the beach to go for a stroll. Jack’s group got close to hers eventually and he greeted her. Her eyes seemed to light up when she saw him and that smile of hers he so loved appeared on her face.

‘Long time no see’, said Jack and they both laughed. It was only earlier that day they had first met, officially at least.

The others looked puzzled and were exchanging glances. That’s when Jack remembered he hadn’t really introduced Nikoleta to his friends.

‘Oh guys, this is Nikoleta, Nikoleta, here’s Andrew, Tom and Evan’, he said indicating each one as he called their names.

‘Nice to meet you!’ she said as cheerfully as ever.

‘Nice to meet you too’, said Evan extending his arm to shake hands when it was slapped down by Andrew.

Jack and Nikoleta were looking at each other, a bit awkwardly in the presence of others. Tom got the hint and suggested they leave.

‘So what do you say we go for ice-cream, you girls up for it?’

The two groups departed, heading in the direction of the nearest café. Jack and Nikoleta were finally alone.

‘So how’ve you been?’ asked Jack.

‘Good! I’m glad to have run into you now.’

‘Really?’ he said lowering his head to hide a forming blush.

Nikoleta however didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she looked towards the sea, at the vanishing colours of the sky. Jack looked towards there too.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ she said.

‘Indeed’, he said as he looked at her. Her face was now serious but there was a sparkle in her eyes, one that told Jack that she was also moved by the magic of Mother Nature. He thought it would be great to have someone he could just sit around with and enjoy the sights of the village with. Suddenly, he felt the urge to hold her hand, but he didn’t, it would be weird to do that all of a sudden. He just sat next to her in silence, admiring the now mostly dark sky.

Nikoleta glanced at him and smiled.

‘You also like the sky after sunset?’

His heart felt like it was going to explode from the happiness.

‘You.… you too? Um, I mean it’s my favourite time! You know, watching the colours change, the shapes the clouds take… It’s just marvelous!’

She laughed. Although he had heard her laugh many times that day, he felt he hadn’t heard enough of it. He was hardly even concerned what she could be laughing about, as long as she laughed.

‘Marvelous? Such a big word! Makes my Proficiency seem obsolete. Obsolete, did I say that right?’

‘Um… huh?’

She smiled sweetly and explained.

‘Proficiency is an English language degree, I think the highest one you can get, not sure. It’s only the Michigan one I got, which is the American one, but you can understand what I’m saying right?’

‘Yes, you speak quite good English to be honest, really good. I guess as long as you can speak a few words and understand that’s beyond perfect, not like that shopkeeper yesterday…’ he said as his mind drifted to a visit to the mini-market with his friends where they spent literally half an hour trying to explain to the shop owner they wanted to buy plasters.

‘Eh?’

Nikoleta was looking confused by his daydream.

‘Oh nothing nothing! Just one of those language miscommunications!’

He laughed it off hoping he didn’t seem like a complete fool. Nikoleta just nodded in agreement and began to walk along the shore. She looked back at Jack and signaled for him to follow her. A little startled at first he was, her actually wanting to walk with him, but as soon as he could put strength into his legs he complied.

They walked together side by side on the beach, the light having completely disappeared and only the shops and restaurants lighting the road. No cars were passing due to restrictions that allowed no vehicles to use the road after 9:00 for the convenience of people walking. After all, everyone wanted to enjoy an evening walk uninterrupted.

Jack looked at Nikoleta, still not used to such beauty but he really had to get over being so struck every time he even just glanced at her. She looked back at him and smiled. Hope was instantly born in his heart, did this mean she liked him? No, he really shouldn’t jump to such rash conclusions..

‘How long are you here for?’ she said bringing him out of his thoughts.

‘Huh?’

‘I thought I could show you around some time. I know this village looks humble, but it has some really amazing places.’

He was too surprised to even answer. Had he really heard that? The happiness was such it was almost too much to take.

‘Of course! I’d love that!’ he said cheerfully. ‘By the way, there is no way this place looks humble. It’s too beautiful. I’ve seen some great places myself and I must say, you’re very lucky to live here!’

She laughed at the comment, looking glad he liked the village.

‘I don’t actually live here. I’m here for the summer. I live in Athens.’

‘Oh how is it there?’

‘Um… loud! Ha ha, it’s ok I guess but you can’t compare to here. There are many things I don’t like about it, but at least my school friends are there.’

‘The Parthenon is there, right?’

She looked at him for a second, smile never leaving her face.

‘Of course it is! Where else would it be?’

Jack laughed slightly awkwardly, she didn’t think he was a complete history thicket, did she?

‘It’s just, isn’t that cool?’

‘Hmm, to Greeks not really, it’s like you know, it’s always there!’

‘You mean they don’t consider it a big deal?’ asked Jack almost surprised.

‘Do you consider Big Ben a big deal in London?’

‘I’m from Manchester’, said Jack and smiled.

‘Oh really? How’s that?’

‘Eh, so so.’

‘So so?’

‘Yeah, not much going on.’

‘I’m sure it’s nice!’ she said and laughed again. She was always in such a cheerful mood!

‘So where else have you been other than here…’

The pair walked along the beach talking for hours. They shared everything about themselves, school, hobbies, family and other summers. The night was going by pleasantly, both of them having a good time with each other.

After many hours had passed, Nikoleta’s cell phone made sounds. She looked at it to check who’d messaged her, but before she’d even opened it she gasped.

‘Oh my, look at the time!’

Jack looked at his own phone. It was nearing midnight.

‘My dad’s gonna kill me!’ she said worriedly.

He looked at her concerned, seeing her getting panicky made him feel bad.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll just start walking back. It’s not…that far’, he said as he looked back at the distance. They were almost at the end of the beach, a point at which the village ended, the road leading out of it if followed. Nikoleta looked at him in major distress before breaking out in laughter.

‘I didn’t even realize we were this far out!’

Jack joined her in the laughter. Time and space had waltzed by them unnoticed. After they calmed down, they started walking back resuming to their conversation.

They were one side street away from the road where they lived on. It was that dark corner Jack and his friends always feared, the fact cats liked to roam around there made them wonder when one would jump out of the dark.

Nikoleta seemed calm, after all it was a path she must have been taking all the time. It was between a normally crowded café and a bakery, some oddly quiet houses were surrounding it too.

When they got there they had lowered their voices as to not disturb anyone, the area was deserted as opposed to the main road where still a few youngsters were popping out of bars and restaurants. The conversation soon faded away without them realizing. That only made Jack feel more creeped out that some ghost was hiding behind a plant pot on the ground and they were trying to pass unnoticed by it. He looked at Nikoleta who was always bubbly and cheerful to make sure she was not afraid. Despite not being able to see her face well, only the lamps from the main road casting light in that alley, he could tell that she was serious.

They were walking slowly side by side, almost as if to stretch out the time it would take them to get home. Unexpectedly, Nikoleta stopped in her tracks, Jack following suit. He looked at her wondering if anything was wrong, but before he could complete that thought, she turned to face him. A content smile was on her face and her eyes had that sparkle in them he had seen earlier.

‘It was nice talking to you.’

‘Likewise..’

They stood there for a while looking at each other, not saying anything. Jack was trying to come up with something to say but at the same time he didn’t want to ruin that wonderful moment. He was looking Nikoleta in the eyes when he decided nothing needed to be said. They had said enough for that evening.

He leaned in closer, his face nearing hers. She remained still at first until their lips were only half an inch away from each other’s. She leaned back slightly and stared at Jack until he got the message. Seeing this, he pulled back and composed himself, trying to hide his embarrassment.

‘Uh, sorry…you know me and my mates did some shots earlier on, tequila and stuff, you know the strong-

‘It’s ok.’

He looked at her baffled and his brain rushed to figure out what “ok” meant.

‘It’s not you, I personally like you’, she continued, ‘but my parents want no relationships with boys until I’m eighteen.’

Jack’s mind froze; wait, did Nikoleta just say she liked him?! She did! But oh no, they couldn’t do anything about it with her parents in the way.

He put his hands in his pockets and lowered his head. He noticed some pebbles on the ground and shuffled them with his foot.

‘So, nothing can happen between us?’ he asked.

She remained silent for a while which caused Jack to look up. She was also staring down. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Jack.

‘Not as far as my parents are concerned’, she said. ‘I hope to see you around though.’

She smiled at him, finally that smile he had so longed to see ever since that conversation started. Seemingly, she had returned to her old cheerful self.

Jack returned the smile, although inside he was hurt that he couldn’t be with her. His love had ended before it even started. In his mind, this was by far the most tragic of all love stories.

Nikoleta then did something unexpected; she kissed him on the cheek! Jack froze, eyes widened and looked at her in surprise before smiling even widely.

‘See you at the beach!’ said Nikoleta as she left.

Jack stood there watching her enchanted. All he could think was “hooray, she likes me!! I wasn’t dumped because I’m a loser, because her parents don’t approve!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack opened the front door of the building he was living in with his friends to find them all in the main room playing Uno around the coffee table. He had been talking for hours with Nikoleta and now he was coming back from that night out. He was actually naïve enough to think his friends would have gone to bed by now, but silly him. Better though that he didn’t wake anyone up.

‘I’m back’, he announced.

‘Alert the newspapers’, said Andrew, his eyes never leaving his cards, ‘we thought you’d been kidnapped by aliens or something.’

‘I suggested calling the police, but they wouldn’t listen to me’, Evan said seriously.

To Jack’s surprise Andrew didn’t react to the stupid remark, he just kept playing. He could get so absorbed in some things!

‘Were you with Nikoleta this whole time?’ asked Tom.

‘Yup, we went for a walk, chatted along the way… It was really great!’ said Jack with a smile on his face as he crashed onto one of the cushions on the floor next to Andrew.

‘Wanna play?’ asked Andrew.

‘No.’

‘Good, you’d have to wait for the next round.’

Tom sighed and played his turn. Next was Evan, who was taking an unbearably long time fiddling through his two fistfuls of cards. Oh Evan, always forgetting to say “Uno”!

‘So, was that considered a date?’ asked Tom.

Jack took some time to figure out himself whether that time with Nikoleta actually qualified as a date.

‘I don’t think so.’

‘You were out for a really long time with her, eh? We looked for you guys when we finished the ice-creams, but we didn’t find you so we came back.’

‘What about the girls?’

‘The girls?’

Tom looked at Jack puzzled.

‘Nikoleta’s friends that were with you…’

‘Oh oh, the girls! Right, they went home.’

‘I see’, Jack trailed off as he sunk into his own thoughts. He still couldn’t believe what had gone on. Nikoleta said she liked him, Nikoleta kissed him, Nikoleta…

‘Hey Jack?’ he heard Tom.

‘Hm?’

‘You’re really falling for her, aren’t you?’

Jack considered whether to answer the question or not, but either way, he knew Tom could read him like an open book.

‘Exactly what you told me not to do, right?’

‘Never mind’, Tom laughed. ‘As long as you know it’s only for summer.’

Jack smiled to himself bitterly. It had now started to be painful thinking of it, despite his initial happiness for having his feelings reciprocated.

‘Actually, it won’t be for that either.’

‘Hm?’

Tom looked up from his cards, this time a bit concerned.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Her parents don’t allow her relationships.’

‘Oh bummer!!!’ said Evan gleefully. Tom and Jack looked towards him. He had a fake-evil grin on his face and he was looking at his cards as if they contained the secrets of the universe.

‘Shut up and play’, muttered Andrew, too absorbed into the game than would be healthy.

Tom and Jack resumed to their talk.

‘Don’t allow her relationships? That’s unfortunate. And old-fashioned’, said Tom as his turn to play came up.

‘At least she likes me’, smiled Jack.

‘Huh!! She likes you?!’

Andrew had seemingly woken up from his trance and was staring at Jack wide-eyed.

‘Yeah, what’s so weird?’

‘Nothing, just considering your behaviour when you fancy a girl, it’s odd she’d be into you’, he said as he resumed to the game.

Jack ignored the last remark and smiled at the memory of the walk.

‘It was really great. I mean I know it wasn’t a date or anything, but still, it was nice. We got to talk about all sorts of things, our hobbies, our likes, our dislikes… Did you know she’s allergic to kiwi…Uh, guys, are you listening?’

‘I’m listening’, said Tom without flinching. ‘I doubt these two dippies are though, look, I’m winning, down to two cards!’

‘Yeah, but don’t forget to say “Uno” like I do every time’, mocked Evan, although it wasn’t clear exactly who.

‘Don’t underestimate your mate that much, Evan, we don’t all have ape-brains like you do’, said Andrew in his usual cool tone.

‘Ok, I’m going to bed! Since no one wants to hear about my date…’

‘It wasn’t a date and we’re not chicks to wanna hear all about it’, said Andrew coldly.

‘That was cruel, man!’ said Jack clutching his heart as if to say it hurts.

‘I’m only interested in anything that has to do with Nikoleta if it involves me going on a date with her’, chirped Evan.

‘And I’m only interested in anything that has to do with Nikoleta if it’s keeping this guy out of your business’, said Andrew as he pointed at Evan.

Jack got up from his cushion and headed for the bedrooms. He only walked slowly however, awaiting Tom’s response.

‘As for me’, his voice was heard as expected, ‘I’m interested if anything actually happens with Nikoleta.’

Jack nodded to himself and continued to walk.

‘Me too my pal, me too.’

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A usual quiet afternoon it was when Evan came in hopping about and shouting.

‘Hey guys, wanna go to the festival?’

Andrew was throwing a ball in the air and catching it, Tom was playing games on his phone and Jack had fallen asleep with a book on his face. Evan’s loud entrance had woken him up.

‘Hhn, what?’

They all looked at Evan who was beyond excited.

‘People have started to go already!’

Andrew huffed and hurled the ball in his direction.

‘So? Why would WE be interested?’

‘Well…’

Evan scratched his head and did his best to think. It was painful to watch.

‘Er well… they sell stuff… really cheap…’

‘What kinds of stuff?’ asked Jack, his voice still a bit croaky from the sleep.

Evan hesitated before answering.

‘All sorts of stuff…’

Andrew cried out.

‘Ahhh get out of here!!’

This time he didn’t have anything to throw at him, so he dipped on the floor to retrieve one of the cushions and threw that. It missed. Evan, seemingly not noticing the attack, continued.

‘And hot girls! Yeah, hot girls. I saw a few go by…’

Jack jumped off the couch he was lying on and looked at Evan all hopefully.

‘Did you see Nikoleta?’

‘No.’

Tom was heard laughing.

‘You’re so obsessed!’

Jack fell back on the couch disappointed. Evan was looking at the three of them, now getting a bit panicky.

‘You mean you’re not coming?!’

‘Of course not’, answered Andrew coldly as usual.

‘If Nikoleta’s not there, what’s the point?’ said Jack placing the book over his face again.

A short silence fell, but it was broken by Tom.

‘I think I need to buy stuff.’

Jack lifted the book and eyed him, Andrew looked at him almost furiously and Evan cheered.

‘Yay yay, so we’re going!!’

He rushed into the bedroom to get dressed leaving the rest of them still confused.

‘Hey hey, now no one said they’re coming!’ shouted Andrew, but to no avail. Evan could be heard singing Nickleback and emptying the cabinet draws.

‘Ah, what are we gonna do with him? He’d such a handful’, said Jack sighing in exasperation.

‘Why not go?’ inquired Tom.

‘Isn’t it gonna be there for another two days?’ pointed out Andrew.

‘So you’d rather go tomorrow?’ Evan was heard from the other room.

‘Shut up and get dressed you!’ shouted Tom.

They got to the festival or “panigyri” as the locals called it, soon after. It had already gone dark and the bright lamps from the different stands lit up the place, even to the point of creating the illusion that they were indoors.

All sorts of merchandise were being sold, from jewelry to carpenter tools. Vans had the back of them open creating “outdoor shops”, these were normally the ones selling heavier stuff, while simple tables did it for lighter stuff. Clothes, toys, accessories, artwork, books and so much more. This happened every year around the middle of summer in celebration of a religious holiday.

Jack followed his friends, who despite their initial reluctance were now eager to see what’s going on. He couldn’t imagine anything being sold there would be of any interest, but the climate was really festive and happy.

The first few stands had jewelry so they walked past them at once. The further ahead they got the more things they stumbled upon. Evan was busy messing with some wind chimes and Andrew was trying to control him while apologizing to the stand owner in terrible Greek. Jack was just strolling and Tom occasionally stopped to fumble around even though he had no intension of buying anything.

Jack really wasn’t bored but he did appeared to be so. Tom had asked him several times if he wanted to leave. He didn’t; he liked being out, seeing all these people and the atmosphere was very pleasant. It seemed like a special night for the village and it was great to be able to be there.

Tom had stopped at a van looking at hunting guns and Jack stood next to him waiting. He was basically casually looking around until his friend finished. That’s when his eye caught something pretty odd.

First he heard laughing, a very familiar laugh too. When he looked towards that direction he saw no one else but Nikoleta. Except she was with a guy. A guy he had seen many times too. He was one of the Belgians they shared the building with, his bright blond hair giving him away even if he didn’t know. They both seemed very hyped walking together, hands around each other’s waists, Nikoleta leaning slightly on his body. The scene was enough to make Jack’s blood boil in anger.

He was staring at the pair intensely, and his breathing had speeded up, like an angry bull ready to attack. Tom noticed and turned to look at him, still holding the gun he was interested in.

‘You ok?’

Jack didn’t answer, he just kept staring. Tom looked towards there too.

‘Oh.’

Nikoleta and the Belgian were getting closer to Jack, but he didn’t say anything. He just glared. It was only the other day they had gone out or rather walked along the beach, but still. She had told him her parents didn’t approve of relationships and yet now she was seen with this guy. Why? And why that guy of all people?

They got closer until Nikoleta noticed him. She froze momentaly but quickly composed herself. Looking up at the much taller than her date, she excused herself and walked towards Jack.

‘Hey, nice to see you here…’

Jack just looked at her, feeling betrayed. Even if there was nothing going on, he felt betrayed.

‘Um, so…’

‘Why?’

Nikoleta looked at him puzzled.

‘Why him? You said your parents don’t allow you to go out with guys, why him and not me?’

The girl breathed in deeply, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

‘I’m really sorry…’

‘For what?’ shouted Jack loud enough to make a few heads turn, but he didn’t care. ‘And what about your parents? Don’t they mind him? Or was that a lie?’

‘I’d really appreciate it if we could keep this from them.’

Jack felt furious. He stared at her in disbelief not knowing how to react.

‘I’m sorry… You’re a really nice guy and I do like you, but….. it’s just.. the way you look at me, I can tell this means more to you than to me! You’re just… too serious.. I’m not ready for anything like that. Noah understands that-

‘Noah? Oh, he has a name now?’

Nikoleta sighed and shook a head as if to say “why am I bothering talking to you”.

‘You clearly feel a lot that I just can’t reciprocate. You’re very sweet. I .. don’t deserve you.’

‘Obviously’, said Jack and headed in the opposite direction, Tom rushing behind him. He took a few large steps before stopping and turning. He went towards Noah.

‘So Noah, you dating Nikoleta?’

‘Huh? Oh yeah!’ replied the blond boy with a wide grin on his face that annoyed the hell out of Jack.

‘Good good!’ said Jack. He immediately proceeded to do something he’d never done before; he clenched his fist and drove it into Noah’s face.

The lad fell to the ground with a thump. Jack shook his hand, it really did hurt to punch someone. Noah covered his hurt cheek with his hand and Nikoleta immediately rushed to his side worried.

‘Are out of your freakin’ mind!!’ she shouted madly. She was glaring at Jack fiercely, almost with loath, at least that’s how it seemed to him.

‘Let’s go’, he told a very startled Tom. Andrew and Evan had witnessed the scene and rushed to catch up.

Jack was lying on his side on the couch, in a state of absolute depression. All his friend’s efforts to cheer him up had failed, he did nothing but stare into the void. They had come back from the fair a few hours ago and his state hadn’t changed since.

Tom approached him, he sat in a gap on the couch, near Jack.

‘So you’re planning on being like this for the rest of the summer, are you?’

‘Don’t know and don’t care’, mumbled Jack.

‘This is what happens with love. I told you not to fall for her.’

‘This is what this is about, you’re here to rub it in my face?’

Tom laughed a little.

‘No, of course not, I’m just saying. Now you know why I say what I say.’

‘Yeah, to annoy me’, said Jack as he covered his head with a cushion. Tom pulled it off him and threw it.

‘I’m an idiot, right? A complete idiot!’

‘No you’re not, love does that. It’s not your fault. That’s why you gotta be careful.’

Jack shuffled to face Tom.

‘Think I’ll get over this?’

Tom smiled.

‘Right now if you want to!’

He got up from the couch.

‘It’s up to you, mate! Like Andrew would say.’

Jack chuckled a bit.

‘Oh, and next time, do fall for a Brit gal. If this crushed you imagine what the distance would do!’

Jack nodded to himself and smiled a bit. After all, it wasn’t a big deal. Nothing more than a summer fling at most.

Honey

2011-05-19T00:51:00.001-07:00

Rays of sun..

Like starnds of honey in my hair

Life

2011-05-02T06:02:00.002-07:00

Life is a spiral

Existence

2011-05-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever closed a door

and wanted to be on the other side?

Have you ever left a room

and wanted to stay behind?

Is your existence so painful you want a break from it

or to forever break away from it?

Time is sand

2011-04-12T03:52:00.001-07:00

Time is like sand

Not just how it slips through your hands

But also how it buries

memories and eras beneath it

Spring

2011-03-28T05:54:00.001-07:00

Spring is almost over when it’s not even here

The fear

2011-03-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

Music could be heard throughout the small attic. It was coming from an old guitar, a girl grazing her fingers across the cords producing beautiful melodies. Each note carried an emotion, making music that told a story.

She stopped; the room felt empty from the momental absence of music. She jotted down a few notes in the open notebook in front of her. Happy with her work, she resumed to playing. Experimenting with melodies, trying to compose soul-touching songs was her main pass time. It was her way to escape reality but also express the feelings she had bottled up inside her.

Long time ago she had decided she wanted to share her story. With writing lyrics and composing she planned on conveying her message to the world. What she did was art and she understood that, but it was also more. It was things she absolutely had to express but didn’t have the courage to any other way.

Songs until now unheard she wrote, that was going to change. Reality shows weren’t the best way, but she could reach out to many people. She decided she would give it a shot, who knows, maybe it would be a great opportunity. She couldn’t know if she didn’t sign up though. Not expecting much, it would at least be the start to her pursuit of a career in music.

A few days ago she had applied for a talent show. Completely reliant on the prospect of freaks being there to make her appear better of course. That’s how she thought.

Playing her guitar, occasionally pausing to write down her inspiration, she continued. The song she had been working on for a while was almost finished. The phone rang disturbing her. She got up, carefully placing her guitar in the seat she previously sat in. The phone was on a wooden cabinet ringing impatiently. She picked up the speaker and brought it to her ear.

‘Hello, are you Tina Casey?’ a female voice was heard from the other end of the line.

She hesitated before answering. Who was asking for her?

‘Yes’, she said in a weak voice, nearly whispering.

‘And you’ve applied for Britain’s Got Talent, correct?’

She froze. Her heart started pumping irregularly and she felt a lump in her throat appear. Her mind went blank and she didn’t know what to say.

‘No’, she answered, the first thing that came to mind.

‘No? Are you sure?’

She nodded frantically when she realized the person on the phone couldn’t see her.

‘Yes…’

She gulped. Cold sweat had formed on her forehead and she was still too stunned to move.

‘Oh ok, sorry to bother you. Have a nice day!’

The lady hung up. She slowly placed the speaker back on its base, her hand never leaving it. She stayed like that for a while, standing in front of the cabinet, hand on the phone. Thoughts had started to return and so many were racing through her head. What exactly had just happened? Why did she act that way? Why was she so afraid?

Nothing that she could answer. She walked away from the cabinet and back to her guitar. She got hold of it and started playing again. She ignored the phone call had happened and decided to forget it. Some other time, she thought, some other time.

The colour of hope

2011-03-15T06:24:00.001-07:00

I personally believe

hope has the colour of the sky

that's hidden behind dark clouds

during the winter time

Words

2011-03-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Our biggest wounds are the ones we open ourselves

---------------------

The reason I’m desperately trying to be someone else is because I hate myself
---------------------

All words are immortal as long as we remember them

---------------------

There’s no such thing as a rule

We all are mere exceptions

---------------------

It’s not just the dreams you have at night

that tell you something about you

It’s also the lack of them

Life is a climb

2011-03-08T05:32:00.001-08:00

Life is a climb

But the view is not so great

It’s just not worth

all the struggle and trouble

When you know for sure what’s gonna happen

And it’s all bad

Nothing changes for the best

Remember that

The mare's nest

2011-03-04T04:03:00.001-08:00

'They say at night, sometime after midnight, in this hut an old mare appears, she goes hunting in the corn fields looking for young unprotected children to feast on… She then brings them back to the hut, sets fire in the fireplace and boils them in the huge cauldron!!'

The two boys screamed. The third one, Cody, who was holding the torch to his face, laughed.

'You guys are such scaredy cats!'

'Shut up!' shouted Bruce. 'You would be scared too if you were hearing the full story for the first time and in such a creepy place.'

Cody laughed smugly.

'It's just you two are kids!'

Bruce looked at the other boy, Anton, as if to say "what's he talking about".

'Um, Cody, we're eleven, you're only a year older than us, so if we are kids, so are you.'

'Nonsense. Anyway, has anyone seen Sheryl?'

The other two shook their heads.

'She said she was going home to bring some food when we were in the fields, we haven't seen her since.'

A cry of terror was heard from Anton. Both boys turned to look at him, panic written on his face.

'Wha..what if t-the m-mare got her?!'

Cody rolled his eyes and sighed.

'It's only a legend, it's not real.'

Bruce looked at Cody questionably.

'Then what are we doing here? I thought we were going to capture the mare.'

'No, we are here to prove it's a child's tale and nothing more', answered Cody, slowly but steadily getting frustrated. 'But yeah, it is weird, she should be back by now.'

'Maybe she lost her way', said Bruce, trying to reassure himself more than anyone. 'I mean this place is pretty far in the fields, with all the corn plants in the way, it's pretty easy to get lost.'

Cody was skeptical; of all people Sheryl would never get disorientated easily, she was always the one to lead them. Another thought however caused him to chuckle.

'She chickened out!'

'Huh?'

'Getting food was just an excuse to leave cause she was too afraid to come here!'

Anton shivered and gulped.

'B-but she's b-been here before…'

'Yeah but not at night!' said Cody very smugly that he was braver than his friend. Sheryl was the fearless one of the group, something Cody hated as he wanted to be the best at everything.

'I hope that's true', said Bruce slightly concerned. 'This hut's creepy but I doubt it's creepy enough for Sheryl.'

'Well obviously it is!'

An old structure that was, made of wood and nothing else, the smell of dampness lingered inside as the wood rotted from the rain. It was no bigger than an average bathroom and all its tiny windows were shut with wooden boards nailed to them. From the outside it looked like an abandoned, haunted hut hence its name, "The Haunted Hut". It was extremely creepy from the outside but that couldn't even compare with the inside. Cody was especially calm considering his surroundings.

'Can we go?' whimpered Anton.

'Don't be such a baby!' said Cody.

'He's right', said Bruce taking Anton's side, 'it's getting late and Sheryl's nowhere to be seen. We should go.'

The older boy frowned.

'Look, we're here for a purpose, we're here to give an end to all those horror stories parents use to restrain their kids. We're here to show that we can be free without being afraid of…'

Cody's speech continued, but the boys in front of him shivered. Their eyes widened and they started backing away. Behind Cody, an old hag appeared, so tall her head almost touched the ceiling, her white hair draped down to her rag covered knees and her face was hidden behind wrinkles.

Bruce and Anton were trembling like leaves and stuttering, no sound came out of their mouths. They had crawled up against the wall and their terrified eyes were glued on the mare behind Cody who was still oblivious.

'…out at night… What's wrong with you guys?'

They pointed behind him with shaking fingers. Cody puzzled by this, slowly turned. He saw it; the mare! He started screaming loudly, the other two joining him. They all ran for the door but it was stuck. They kept screaming and pulling on the door when chuckling was heard from behind them. The voice sounded familiar. Cody and Bruce turned.

Sheryl, dressed in old rags holding a stick with the mare's face on it was smirking. Cody sighed and stopped Anton from frantically pulling on the door and screaming. Anton paused and looked at Cody questionably before turning to where the mare had appeared from. He saw Sheryl and was surprised.

'S-Sheryl a-are you the mare?!'

Sheryl laughed and Cody taped him on the back of his head.

'Idiot, it's a prank, there is no mare.'

Bruce gasped and his jaw dropped. He accusingly pointed a finger at Cody , his face changing between surprised and mad.

'You're in on this?!' he shouted.

Cody rolled his eyes and smirked.

'No. Like I would take part in such a childish prank.'

'It sure as hell scared you!' said Sheryl all very smugly.

The boy swiftly turned his head towards her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he actually spoke.

'W-well there was… the element of surprise!'

'In the "Haunted Hut"?' questioned Bruce.

Cody just glared at him. Sheryl laughed.

'That goes to show, Cody, you really aren't half as brave as you think you are!'

All the boys froze. They remained completely still before starting to shake and hyperventilate. Sheryl, still smiling, noticed this.

'What's gotten into you?'

No one answered, their eyes remained glued into space, staring somewhere above her shoulder. Creeped out by their odd behavior, she turned. A gasp escaped her lips and she simultaneously stepped back. In front of them, a tall figure, face covered with hair all the way to the floor, only yellow eyes peering from behind.

They screamed.

The next day, farmers discovered their dead bodies, all half-eaten.

Untitled

2011-03-01T03:21:00.001-08:00

She set him into a trap

Didn’t even realize it

He said he’d understand

But he didn’t really think so

What happened next I can’t describe

Forever in their skin inscribed

He feels that he can’t get away

and she is dying every day

I want to know

2011-02-28T05:29:00.001-08:00

I want to know I can reach my dreams

Whatever I wrote on the stars and isn’t here

That’s why I look high at the sky

It's unfair

2011-02-28T05:28:00.005-08:00

I look at the sky and wonder how

so many stars coexist

They aren’t envious of each others shine

Everything’s peaceful

And us people who are less

you would think wiser too

We don’t have a place in our own world

No matter how much we want it

I know it’s unfair that in life

it’s always in vain to try for the best

since someone better will show up

For those who have it all it’s not enough

There’s always something more to ask for

They want it, they don’t appreciate it

whatever that is

it’s never enough

Photography

2011-02-28T05:27:00.003-08:00

Photography

The art of freezing time

A moment passing

never to return

A photograph its only reminiscent

Weak

2011-02-28T05:27:00.001-08:00

Wallowing in self-pity

Indulging in my weakness

Every pinprick of pain

is excruciating to me

I know I shouldn’t let this happen

Stand up and take control

It’s a nature that can’t be beaten

Even if I attempted to try

Blank paper

2011-02-28T05:26:00.003-08:00

There’s nothing more intimidating than a blank piece of paper

That seems to suck all inspiration in its whiteness

The pen is afraid to soil its purity

Graze its surface with thoughts and stories

The end of youth

2011-02-28T05:26:00.001-08:00

I feel the turmoil subsiding

The wildness of youth abandoning me

All I want fading

All I want but never had

Half woman, half girl

I dread the future more than before

For I’ve known nothing else

Other than the naivety of youth

Musings

2011-02-28T05:22:00.001-08:00

As the years pass
In the mist of memory
People estranged

-----------------------------

Living in the calm
Is a hurricane coming?
everyone’s question

-----------------------------

Common courtesy
is a luxury, I think
few people posses

Seasons

2011-02-28T05:21:00.000-08:00

Bare tree in the sun

Awaiting to recover

Under the spring sky

Inside a warm room

Looking outside at the cold

From the glass windows

Sun behind the clouds

Although not seen it carries

a message of hope

Branches bare from leaves

Out in the cold of winter

Waiting for blossoms

Sound of the city

2011-02-28T05:18:00.005-08:00

The sound of work was
never quite so comforting
I sit and listen

-----------------------------------

Voices and noises
mixed in one is what is called
a busy city

----------------------------------

Music passing by
Just a momental party
A break from the day

In my veranda

2011-02-28T05:18:00.001-08:00

Evening light outside
unexpectedly peaceful,
comfort in its warmth

------------------------------

Once was a flower
I promised to take care of
lays dead in the pot

--------------------------------

A beautiful dove
sitting outside, I perceive
as a white pigeon

--------------------------------

In the flower pots
the weeds have grown to become
the flower itself

--------------------------------

In my veranda
an abandoned swing waiting
for the sun to smile

----------------------------------

A piece of heaven
Surrounded by hell, shelters
Hopes and dreams of life

-----------------------------------

Rain painting the floor
Turning it black in the wake
of its cold touches

-----------------------------------

The light fades away
Everything seems to be blue
As the night settles

-----------------------------------

From my room I hear
bells ringing in the distance
and I am happy

7 haiku

2011-02-28T05:17:00.000-08:00

That’s not the colour
of the sky, that’s the colour
of the dark, grey clouds

---------------------------------

Winter morning sun
seems ever so magical
evening can’t compete

---------------------------------

Vacant white buildings
Waiting for a soul one day
To live inside them

--------------------------------

A staircase leading
to the sky, above the world
I can see heaven

--------------------------------

Island in the sea
Like a stone on the water
Remaining afloat

------------------------------

The sun’s reflecting
on the green leaves of a tree
A moment of dream

--------------------------------

A cloud in the sky
Is it real or is it fake?
my biggest question