Author of the month
Yaretzi C.
April’s Author of the Month is Yaretzi C.! Zee’s advice to writers: “If they’re writing, they need to find the proper format of how the story is going to be. How they want to write and how they’re going to find a character to fit that idea.”
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Loop
I opened the door and could not believe my eyes. Where has everyone gone? Just before this I remember before this I had invited friends Kelly and Lilith to dinner at my house. My place was in a nice neighborhood with a close park nearby. It even had a backyard and garden in my front yard. I had just moved here a few months ago. I had felt a weird feeling about this place but I shake it off. I know that moving to new areas is scary or like weird but this felt a little off like if it is too perfect but I just kind of ignored it or at least tried to. I invited my friend anyways. My friend is always trying to help so I told Kelly to bring some food if she wanted but as I left, she ran up to me and said my name. “Hey Violet, wait can you tell me the theme of the party? I want to be there extra early too. I want to help with decorations.” She had on some jeans paired with a white shirt. Her asking this makes sense and Kelly, she is always there and wants to help. She is the one who helped me move in this place. I said, “Yeah sure, if you want the theme is things that are colorful.” I came up to Lilith and asked if she wanted to come later and she said “yes” and asked if my dog and cat would be there. Lilith is an animal lover. She never was able to have a pet and every time she comes around she pets them both, my cat Daisy and dog Amber. They know her, Lilith, well and love her. Lilith likes wearing a pink layered dress with pink leggings. She is a fashion designer and loves anything with pink in it. She usually does wear this type of style. On the next day everyone I had invited was there, I went to get drinks but as soon I did leave to get drinks and open the door I had been left with a mix of confusion and surprise. My eyes were met with my white grayish wall, the couch and clear glass table. I set aside the drinks. I sit on the couch hoping maybe that they left and come back. I then later looked on my phone to see the time and after waiting around, I had waited around 20 minutes. I knew that my friend would never leave for so long. I went downstairs to go see my pets because they usually miss me and come to see me. As I go downstairs I don’t see them and panic. I go outside to my backyard worried on two things: I was scared because how could people just disappear and vanish? I thought my pets must be here. I didn’t remember if I had locked the backyard. I try to open the door and it was locked. I open it just in case and I see no one. My mind filled with so many thoughts of how people could just vanish and my dogs and cat must of ran off. I rush to the door, the garden with flowers newly bloomed and the evening sun was just setting and feel a gentle breeze. I look back at the room I had just been and see a wall, an old moldy wall, rotten. I began to question on where I had just gone to? As fear controlled me tears fell from my eyes and the breeze turned into a decay of a smell so horrible I look to my right and see door after door it seemed as if it had never ended I look to go back inside my house but I come across another new wall same as the other and I was now trapped. I enter a door. I was greeted with a forest with tall trees. The air was thick with moisture and I walked for what seemed hours. I had no sense of time now as I was walking. I come across a lantern and looks like it is leading me to a path. I follow it and I only know 3 things here the darkness above me that was completely dark , the forest around me going on endlessly it felt as if I was going in circles and never feeling like I made progress and was mindlessly walking and the newly founded lanterns I saw that is all I knew. I was all alone or almost is what I tried to tell myself, but I felt as if someone was watching from afar in the treetops. I couldn’t shake it off though I was scared. I continued and thought of myself being back and seeing my friends and pets. My feet were now hurting from all the walking but at last I had walked to the end. Something was off because of the door was not connected to a wall, it was just floating and I was so tired and needed a place to rest my feet, collapsed to the ground and I fell asleep. When I woke up I felt much better. I now needed to open the door but it just felt so wrong I couldn’t bring myself to. As I grabbed the door handle a wave of anxiety hit me. I thought of home and opened it. I found myself back at home and saw no one, like how I left it, and what was even more strange was how everything was untouched, exactly how I left it. How the drinks were on the glass table and my phone next to it and everything looked normal, but something felt off. There was a stillness in the air and was different in a way, it looked more bright. I looked back at the door, opened it with ease, with a creak. Everything looked just like the other room but my friends were there I look back but the door was gone. My friends were all there. I look back at my phone on the table, it was 9:20, just after I got the drinks after the dinner. I felt sleepy and called it a night. I went to my empty bedroom. My bed looked extra nice after the trip. I was glad to be back home, I rest my tired self. I wake up. I felt groggy and tired. I got up slowly and open the door and could not believe my eyes. Where had everyone gone?
My Life in My Neighborhood / Mi vida en mi barrio
Whenever I close my eyes and think about my neighborhood, I think about the passing engines where I lived before coming to New York, when I’d walk to the corner store to run errands for my mom, when I’d greet all of my acquaintances when leaving my house, the Christian songs in the morning. I don’t only think about this when I close my eyes, but also in my mind, I see myself playing with one of my neighbors, my mother making coffee for the two of us while I told her about my dreams from the night before, the heat and the sun that would get spicy at noon. I think of all the jokes I would make with my neighbors outside when the electricity went out and we had no light, the bachata, salsa, dembow they’d play on weekends at night, the guys on bicycles every afternoon. I really liked the summer in my neighborhood. On the warmest days, I’d go with my whole family to the beaches and pools. I never went to the rivers because the slippery rocks scared me. The piña coladas and the sun tanning me from feet to head was my favorite moment. In the summer in my neighborhood, there was a place we’d all want to share with relatives, friends, and neighbors, a place where we’d all meet up to drink and laugh together. In my neighborhood, I’d always see people dancing merengue, bachata, or salsa. Sometimes I’d see my best friend pass through there to greet me and my mom talking with my neighbors while she cooked. In my neighborhood, I hear the voices of our neighbors, to spend the afternoon with those ladies, old music and some other Dominican songs, birds and chickens in the mornings, the radio too. In my neighborhood, I always felt, and I will always feel happy being with the people I’ve been with my whole life, my friends from childhood and from the first year of school. I feel safe and free, that they don’t judge me…trusted, protected from bad moments by my friends and my family. In my neighborhood, I always enjoyed riding my bike and going to all of the sites, inviting my cousin and friends to my house, and sometimes we’d pass through the neighborhood while we’d talk about various things like school, things that happened to us, or gossip, stories, etc., I always had very good times there, and I’d like to return and to feel that comfortable sensation like the one I grew up with…
Mi vida en mi barrio
Siempre que cierro los ojos y pienso en mi barrio, pienso en los motores pasando, en donde vivía antes de venir a Nueva York, cuando caminaba al colmado para hacerle los mandados a mi madre, cuando saludaba a todos mis conocidos al salir de mi casa, las canciones cristianas en la mañana. No sólo pienso en eso cuando cierro mis ojos, también en mi mente, me veo a mi jugando con una de mis vecinas, mi madre haciendo café para las dos mientras le contaba mis sueños la noche anterior, el calor y el picoso sol que hacía a las del medio día. Pienso en todos los chistes que hacía con mis vecinos afuera cuando no teníamos luz, las bachatas, salsas y dembow que ponían los fines de semana en la noche, muchachos en bicicleta todas las tardes. Me gustaba mucho el verano en mi barrio, los días muy calurosos solía salir con toda mi familia a playas y piscinas, nunca iba a los ríos porque las rocas resbalosas me daban miedo, las piñas coladas y el sol bronceándome de pies a cabeza era mi momento favorito. En el verano en mi barrio era un sitio en donde todos queríamos compartir con familiares, amigos y vecinos, un sitio donde se reunían todos a tomar y a reírse juntos. En mi barrio siempre veía personas bailando merengue, bachatas o salsas, a veces veía a mi mejor amiga pasar por ahí para saludarme y mi madre hablando con mis vecinas mientras cocinaba. En mi barrio escucho las voces de mis vecinas, para pasar la tarde junto a ellas, música vieja y algunas que otras canciones dominicanas, pájaros y gallos por las mañanas, la radio también. En mi barrio siempre me sentí y me sentiré feliz estando con personas con las que he estado toda mi vida, amigos de la infancia y desde el primer año de escuela, me siento segura y libre, que no me juzgan, confiada, protegida de malos momentos por mis amigos y mi familia. En mi barrio yo siempre disfrutaba montar bicicleta y ir a todos los sitios, invitar a mi prima y amigos a mi casa y a veces recorremos el barrio mientras hablábamos de varias cosas como la escuela, cosas que nos pasaban o chismes, cuentos, etc, siempre la pasaba muy bien allí, me gustaría volver y sentir esa sensación cómoda con la que crecí…You’ve Found Your Person
Fire builds on my tongue with every bite, Clarity seeping through my gums To my brain: Red pepper, peanuts, honey and a hint of hope. I think of the years of hunger, My dirty hands Laying out clean, shiny silverware. I think of where I came from: Setting baby bottles upright from the slippery hands of toddlers My grandmother’s pots and pans My mother’s paintings My aunt’s poems. I think of meals to make for you. I stay hungry. I come back, I sit down, I ask for the menu and pretend to not know what I want. I order nothing. Please don’t pity my untouched plate! My calloused hands! My hunger feeds me. For if food is life—What is food without love? What is love without hunger?
Circus of Fears
Chapter 1: Welcome to the circus
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the greatest night of your lives! A night full of fear! A night full of excitement! A night full of possibly love? Well come on over! There are concessions in your lap, Water is… elsewhere, and your excitement is right inside of you! The show is starting in 5 minutes, showtimes are on the hour, not a minute before and not a minute later! Have a lovely time and I welcome you to the Circus Of Fear! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I jolt awake, covered in sweat. That was the 3rd week mark of having these dreams. Someone mentioned in my history class once said ¨Dreams are nothing but the mind’s plague¨ or something like that, well I guess it’s true. ¨LUXA GET UP RIGHT NOW YOU´RE GOING TO MISS THE BUS!¨ It is 6:00 AM, if anything the night school bus should be dropping kids back home by now. Well, I might as well get up anyway. I think. I get up, go over to my beat up, second hand dresser and get somewhat matching clothes to put on. On my way out, I debated bringing my hat, but I decided to bring it for all time’s sake. I enter the dining room and am immediately hit with the disgusting stench of booze. The source of the stench is my man-child of a brother, Quintin. In the kitchen is my dead-beat mother, Elaine, and a mess. This is going to be a fun day.The Rainbow Friends the Movie
In the beginning, Red the creator is making the animatronic evil. He was working in his lab. He created the endoskeleton. It was a little kid’s birthday. He was watching TV. They went to the Rainbow Friend’s playplace. The ticket-taker saw that the Rainbow Friends were evil. The people were at the Rainbow playplace. The show was beginning. The show was starting. They danced and played music. The Rainbow friends started to turn evil. The kids got closer to the stage. They had wide eyes. The kids followed the animatronics. The birthday kid found an animatronic friend. Orange was chasing a person. He was running. She threw an orange and his arm fell down. The little kid’s mom bought a stick so they could kill animatronics. They defeated green.
Subway Surfer
Jake is going to eat a ham and cheese sandwich. A guard dog and a subway surfer then came towards him. He runs out the store. Jake runs out with his skateboard. He falls. The dog chases after him. He jumps towards Jake. He grabs the leash, then the dog tries to get away but Jake won’t let go. The dog runs then Jake eats his sandwich but then the dog takes the sandwich. “Ay!” he yelled. “You little dog!!!” Jake said, “I have three dollars now. You! Are! Dead! Meat!” The dog runs. Jake grabs the collar but he ate the whole thing. “What did you do to my ham? Fine, you can go. I am sorry.” Then the dog let him pet him. “Hey meet me at the pizza shop guys,” said Jake on the phone. He gets pizza, but then his mom comes and takes him home. In his room, he grabs his bat and BOOM BOOM BOOM BAM! He broke open the vent and escaped his room. He got his pizza and his skateboard and he goes into the vent. And his mom throws the hat into the vent. Jake said, “What are they doing? What!” The police thought it’s a rat. “Yikes! I hear something in there. Is that a burglar? Get him NOW!” BAM! Police shot a taser. “What?” Kick, oof, jump. “NO! Ow! Run, it’s him!” “Now let’s eat,” said Jake. He took out a pizza from his pocket. “Man, this is good! Let’s go to the skate park.” THE END
Gerritude Pets
One day Gerritude wanted to go to Petco. Gerritude stepped outside of 608 Academy Ave. Gerritude always wanted a pet. She went into Petco and saw fish, kittens and hamsters. She fed the fish, played ball with the kittens. Then, she saw an African gray parrot. It had gray feathers and big brown eyes. She always wanted one. The bird was in a cage. So Gerritude pet it with one finger. She smelled a bird poop smell! Gerritude was transformed into an African gray parrot. She flew back to 608 and knocked on the door with her beak. Her mom opened the door. Gerritude flew into the apartment. Gerritude’s mom screamed at top of her lungs “Aaaaaooon, somebody call the police!” Mom was cooking tacos. When Gerritude pooped on a fresh juicy tomato “It’s me,” her mom ignored it, she was still screaming. Gerritude found pebbles in the backyard. Gerritude spelled her name. Then she spelled H-E-Y M-O-M I-T-S M-E!! To be continued . . .
Those Stories Aren’t Real
Remington Manor. It has been called many nicknames. But there is one nickname that has eluded this place of mystery: Home. At least not in seventy years. Well, I could be wrong about that. It could have only been forty. But the characters would soon regret their words. They were a couple. Both in their 30s, one kid. A boy, the American dream. Then suddenly the dream became a nightmare. The kid asked his parents to play in the new house. Their last words to him were, “Don’t play for long, honey! Be back for dinner!” Kid was never seen again. Forty-eight hours later, pronounced dead. It’s funny how the house has adopted the original owners’ qualities. It’s old and bitter. The couple did nothing wrong to the house. Didn’t try to gut the place or flip it either. They only did renovations—and nice ones too. Speaking of the original owners of the place, I should describe them. Old, ancient, fossils, crazy, insane, nuts. We could go on all day, but they weren’t cardboard cutouts, they seemed different. Not special, just odd. Like a fruit that grows a different shape. It’s rare but not unique. Or maybe like an off-brand product. They just seemed off. Anyway, besides their off-putting demeanor, they just seemed to be people whose mental health corroded because of suffocating loneliness. Just to show, not a single person saw them leave their porch for their entire lives. People still don’t know how they survived so long. Then one day in 1931, a sunny spring day, nothing about the day seemed eventful, but some people close by said they heard huge racking sobs emanating from the house. The sounds sounded like pure unadulterated misery. The police were called, and when they entered the house (the door wasn’t locked), they all heard nothing. When they entered the bedroom, the officers saw the couple on their beds. The couple looked like human raisins, dried out, shriveled up, pillows soaked. The officers said they looked like mummies when unwrapped. The morticians didn’t understand what happened; it looked like they cried themselves to death. “Jake! Stop scaring your brother,” their mother said. “Don’t worry, George. Those stories aren’t real,” their mother said. But just then, a single sob escaped little George’s mouth.
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