BDANR

9 days earlier... The sun’s rose-red glow peered into our home. My body was heavy with heat and sweat, half covered by a heavy, russet brown cloth. Diego lied beside me with his arm over my chest, his tattoo of black flames traveling up to his shoulder. He slept, a low cooing leaving his moist lips every time he exhaled. He had a rather large flat nose, pointed ears pierced with small silver loops. His chest and black hair that always seemed to stand erect were damp with sweat. He was beaut

I can't attest to knowing what the feeling of hypomania is, but I've seen it enough to understand the difficulty that comes with going through an episode. You write that feeling and experience in a way for any and all of us to understand, which I think is powerful, and I have to commend you for your openness in sharing your experience. Thanks for this share :). - Bryant

This is a touching piece. I like the theme you used: being cared for even when you personally find yourself difficult to be cared for. I'll try to check out more of your writing. Thanks for sharing :).

The "drowning" and "cornered" feeling brought on by depression is very real and could spark hopelessness. This poem describes that well. The rhyme scheme you used seems difficult to pull off, yet you did so masterfully. Another good piece :D! - Bryant

Great imagery! Aaru's perspective of his circumstances is refreshing and realistic. Well done :).

Wow! This took my breath away. Stunning. It's so complex, the stories you tell in each stanza (can I call them stanzas?) It's like reading several stories at once, and you pull out a different emotion for each. And the way it all blended together. This is a poem that I will have to come back to. Thank you for taking me on that journey .

That is an interesting book, thanks for the link ! It even has reasonably priced copies. Hard sciences tend to leave me in the dark and can be hard to follow, but when it intersects with philosophy or social sciences, I can get into them. I think it can add to my stories revolving around magic and psionics to have a mathematical explanation for how energy works. Maybe I should take lessons from these resources .

Parker: Do you have any links/vids to anything related to theological engineering?

Theological engineering?! Cool! If the topic is anything like this video, that'd be really fascinating :P.

Cute and fun ! Nice addition to the Cider Press collection!

Thank you, Foster! I hope it goes well, and I hope you enjoy :)!

The beginning starts off sad and hurt-filled, but I liked how you showed triumph near the end. Whoever this individual is that has acted unkindly towards you, they sound like someone to keep far away from

I like the rhyme scheme you used in this poem. A passionate piece here. I'll make sure to read more from you :).

Barken is charged with imprisonment for the illegal use of his powers under the oppression of a ruthless ruler by the name of Deko. As a result, his lover Diego aids in his escape and the two become fugitives of the law. While underground, the two are exposed to a fantastic and dangerous world outside their humble town, and soon begin to hear whispers of resistance against Deko.

What a nicely done poem, Valkyrie. The images you evoked were beautiful, as difficult as the subject matter your writing about is, but it was written well. Thank you for sharing.

I love it, Emi!! What a nice poem to share . Very sweet and romantic :).

Thank you so much for following my story from beginning to end, Parker !!! Your feedback in each chapter was helpful in making sure I created a story that others enjoyed reading and that I enjoyed writing! Your affirmations were encouraging as well, giving me the push to keep going. I'm glad this was a memorable story for you and I'm exciting to create more for you to enjoy :). Thank you again

Thank you so much for following my story, Chandra . I really enjoyed and got a lot out of creating it and I'm a bit sad to see it end as well. I'm starting on another novel at the moment that I'll post in the future if you'd like to read some more of my stuff :). I even played with the idea of a sequel to this story, but I don't want to get ahead of myself! You know, I did consider Gladys and Charles being the ones that would take care of Jade while I was writing the story. And it would've worked out like you said since they would have someone to look after. I chose Devan when I first started writing this story because I liked the idea of Devan taking care of her to heal the past wounds of his own abandonment and making sure that Jade doesn't have that same fate. I also liked the combo of gay uncle and gay niece :P. Gladys and Charles were a close second choice for sure! Without revealing too much about the epilogue, Gladys and Charles will reappear again so stay tuned !

I hope you are pleased with what it's in store for Jade in the next chapter :P. And yes, it's good to see Devan come to terms with his relationship to his brother. I'll be bringing up their relationship again in the next chapter as well :). Thank you for reading all this way !!!

Thank you, Nancer! I'm glad to hear my story has given you some release. It's disturbing that events like this happen in our lives and that we can attest to being used or treated like this by another human being. I don't know your story, but if it's anything like this one, my heart goes out to you, man. Thanks for letting me know you can relate . - Bryant

If you felt both or either, I wouldn't be surprised. The antagonist of this story was very uncool to our narrator. I hope I wrote well the narrator's response to being used in such a way...

Without rhyme or reason, Devan traveled to his high school. His old school still stood looking no different than it did when he attended, with concrete buildings making way for a gated entrance into the school. Devan found it peculiar that the gate would be opened, though no one seemed to be around. He walked through the gate and tried to identify some spots he remembered, like where he went to lab or where he attended the school pep rallies. He kept moving forward and found himself passing

Thank you, jp !!! Isn't it fun? I could get use to this flirty poetry . And Sir sounds like he's got a few tricks up his sleeve !

What a difficult chapter to read through. You have described a very troubling scene. How you describe the narrator's fear was done very well. The father's assault was brutal and hard to stomach. It's unsettling to know that s*** like this happens in this world, to children, teens, even adults. You wrote about someone in this world's lived experience, and if you've experienced anything like what this character goes through, I'm very sorry. - Bryant

I'm really enjoying your poetry! I'm constantly imagining where your mind is at as I read your poems. It takes me back to my late teens and early twenties, oddly enough !