Nonfiction

One day before the test, and my nerves start to fizzle.

I need to study all I can to make up for the days that I was never in class and never learned anything; Make up for my stupidity and procrastination.

I gripped his shoulders as the motorbike sputtered to life, coughing smoke into the humid air. He drove along a dirt path, passing flooded paddy fields and slender palm trees.

There is a man on the corner of 87th and Amsterdam. I do not know him, and he does not know me. He wears a red T-shirt with red sweatpants. He wears a red coat with red shoes. He wears a red ski mask on his face.

Book banning is a growing problem in our modern world. Many argue that banning books is a good thing because it prevents children from viewing books that are considered “harmful”.

As I sped down the mountain, the wind sliced across my face like a dagger. It hooted at me as if to warn me of the danger ahead. If I had known what was to happen that day; I would have listened to the wind.

I’ll say it: I hate our president

All my life, people have written me off as

“different”

“possessed” and

“antisocial”

And while yes

I am different

I am not possessed

I am disabled

Turning away from an old life

Tricky and sometimes with strife

It’s full of things you think you want

Sometimes it will dare to taunt

Why must the things we want be of danger

Where does your hope lie?

Is it in the gentle pelt of rain?

Where does your hope lie?

In something solid that remains?

Where does your hope lie?

Is it in the food you eat

Or the cloud-free sky

He doesn’t look at me
Like I look at him
I know exactly what he does at recess
Where he eats lunch
His middle name
I know what books he likes
What video games
I’ve slept in the same room with him

This country is still here

In some aspects we’ve changed

The rain fell in steady sheets onto the sidewalk, and I shivered. Next to me, my friend Chloe glanced at her watch.

“Four minutes until they let us in.” she rubbed her arms. “It's really cold.”

Imagine a friend who’ll never let go

A friend who’ll never give up

Imagine a friend who is life itself

A friend with the smile brighter than the sun

Closer than a brother

I imagine a friend