Something beautiful

The pattern of a wedding dress's lace

The smile of a newborn baby’s face

The glittering glow of the mother’s grace

The soft padding of a toddler’s pace

Things that are beautiful.

The first breath from a baby’s lungs

The first word from the baby’s tongue

The first tune a child has sung

The first smile from a face so young

Things that are beautiful.

The last smile of a person of old

The last words of wisdom, of pure gold

The last embrace, the last chance to hold

The last eulogy that shall be told

Things that will always be beautiful.

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

I was rather pressed for rhymes so it might be a bit awkward...

It's Hell Living Without a Hero

The people of Gotham city

Lived lives that were gritty

And as dangerous as could be.

In New York, they heard

Every last jailbird

Was not ever truly free

For the great spider-man

Ran a great city plan

To keep the city as safe as could be.

Said the people of Gotham out loud

We need someone to make us proud

Whether old or young whether far or near – oh!

It’s hell living without a hero.

Thus the people of Gotham were quite glad

When Batman appeared to fight the bad

He kicked and he punched and he clawed

The people thought him a god.

Apotheosis was here

Yet the downfall was near.

And the people had forgotten their fear.

The Joker appeared on the block

And vowed a drop in his stock

As quickly as the fall of a rock.

Batman’s identity came into question

Everyone wished to make a suggestion

That batman should be part of the Force

His abilities harnessed like that of a horse

Said the people of Gotham: "What is there to hide?"

Why is he so dark when he fights the dark side?

If his virtues are so deep and so wide

He should fight the social tide!

Thus the Joker’s threats

Were very soon met

The people turned against batman;

The one who does the best he can.

Said the people of Gotham in prayer

We need a new darkness slayer

Whether old or young whether far or near – oh!

It’s hell living without a hero.

The Banisher banished,

The hero then vanished

And to this day it’s a mystery

Where he lives today

Has he gone his own way

Will he still go up in history.

But the people of Gotham together

Accurse their misfortunous weather

And lament their need of a guide

Someone always on their side

“Whether old or young whether far or near – oh!

It’s hell living without a hero.”

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

I know it was supposed to be a short story, but I just wanted to try something new.....

Defenestration

I was quite surprised when the glass gave way

I was beyond words; I cannot hope to say

What was the problem, what was the matter

When I hit the hard earth with a sickening splatter

I did not foresee that things would turn this bad

It was only when I fell I knew I’d been had

I was falling at 9.8 meters per second per second

I was imagining this; I was but dreaming, I reckoned.

But alas, fate was against me that day

For all my longing, it was useless to pray

The wind blew past my face, whipping my ears

My life flashed before me, recalling my years.

One last word of advice before my time runs out

When you’re thrown at a window, put up a last shout

For there is nothing the world can do for you

If your window is fastened with nothing but glue.

The Turtle Boy Finds His Place

Two years had passed since he had been christened Turtle Boy. He had hoped that he would be able to go unnoticed. What had he really done to deserve so much attention? Truth be told, he couldn’t even remember the incident that had twisted his life so badly, leaving him tied up in a knot even Alexander the Great couldn’t get through. He was afraid to go outside. If he had had his way, he would have opted for homeschooling, but his parents were firm.

“It’s something you’ll just have to get used to!” His mother would tell him. Sometimes when Turtle Boy was recognized in the middle of a street, he felt his parents were simply being unreasonable by demanding that he still had to go to school. He just wanted to stay away from it all, away from his fame. The kids in his class generally got used to the fact that he was the famous Turtle Boy after a few months, but whenever there was a school trip or a new kid in school, he would have to hear the dreaded question: “Hey, aren’t you Turtle Boy?”

Thus it was no surprise to his parents when Turtle Boy asked for his parents to sign a letter telling his teacher that he would not be able to attend the school trip to the aquarium. Their answer, of course, was NO.

“You can’t just avoid people for the rest of your life, you know.” They would say, to the dismay of Turtle Boy. Like he did before every school trip, he cried himself to sleep, dreading the next day when all would point and laugh.

All the other kids were excited, bouncing around and laughing on the bus. Turtle Boy sat alone. He had never been good at making friends at school. He just didn’t like anyone that recognized him and called him Turtle Boy, not even once. He had yet to meet anyone who didn’t know about his past. When the bus finally arrived at the aquarium, he left the bus alone.

It wasn’t until they reached the turtle section that he finally realized what the aquarium would mean. Turtles. The single subject that had changed his life forever. After that fateful interview, he had grown to avoid having anything to do with them, for he knew that anyone who recognized him would point out the fact. Thus it was the first time in 2 years that he actually saw a real live turtle.

The turtle was certainly a magnificent creature. Its shell was the largest anyone had ever seen. It was twice as big as Turtle Boy’s desk. Its skin was scaly and green, and seen through the tank it gave the eerie sensation of actually being underwater with the turtle. Its legs were huge, and to Turtle Boy they seemed as thick as tree trunks. But the most impressive part of the turtle was its eyes. Those eyes were what sparked in Turtle Boy his old love of turtles. They were eyes that seemed to have seen so much, to have lived through so many years that the children that were crowding around him seemed to be mere passing flecks of time. He distantly heard their guide telling the kids that this turtle was almost a hundred years old and their proudest specimen. He was so captivated by the turtle that he did not even notice the video cameras until they were upon him.

All of a sudden, there was a microphone in his face. He recoiled slightly. “Am I suffering from déjà vu?” He heard a voice asking him what he thought of the aquarium and how he enjoyed it. He replied with the sentence that had changed his life, the sentence that he now uttered with confidence and vigor.

“I like turtles.”

Turtle Boy had found his place in the world.