Just Stone

He stood at the end of the hallway in the hotel just looking at it. His mind told him that there was no way a sculpture could just appear. As a science teacher, though, his curiosity was up. There had to be a logical explanation. He must have simply not noticed it before. He inched towards it, holding his breath. Even though he was a logical person, he was still human. Still run by human emotions. But why was he so terrified? It was just a statue right? However, he could not shake what he was feeling. He was now standing a foot in front of the face of a young boy on a pony. Reaching out, he knocked twice on the cold, stone surface. Definitely marble. It resonated with a hollowness that oddly unnerved him more than it calmed him. "See," he told himself, "just stone." He repeated this, trying to ignore the hot bursts of air he suddenly felt on his left hand. The hand directly in front of the pony's nose.

The Rogue Servant

A strike and suddenly life, force, energy where there wasn't any before. This nameless force shivers and shakes. It appears so fearful, and rightly it should be. I feel a draft and watch this servant obediently bow. It gracefully submits or possibly cowers to the invisible king. It's as if it knows that with enough force, the king could extinguish its very existence. But when the king leaves, he stands up tall and straight seizing the opportunity to now cast fear into others. He causes tears from those around him to pool at his feet. The shadows dance for him. The darkness runs away. The captives pour out fragrance in his honor. He smells of victory, and for a moment, he is king. His power comes from the immense heat he radiates. No one can touch him. They all shy away. He doesn't realize that those tears will eventually overtake him. The shadow dance will stop. The darkness will return. The fragrance will run out. He never suspects a thing when the invisible king returns in all his might. He overthrows the rogue servant, taking his life, his force, his energy. And just as quickly as he came, he's now gone. The last glow of his soul fading from his throne. His ghost rising until it becomes just a memory. The scent of death lingers, replacing the once pleasant fragrance. And he waits, for another strike, another chance to reign in his glass prison.

Different

**I wrote this as a final project for my online writing class but I felt it needed to be shared with the world so I present to you...

Different

I awoke this morning, and I opened my closet.
It was gone. My skeleton, the ghost of my secrets was gone.
Having come to life, it now stood on the corner for all the world to see.
Every dark desire, each tormenting terror out in the open.
Lightning shoots up my spine. We can’t accept different.
It waits unaware of the judge, the executioner that walks by
But I know. I feel. And I am afraid.

But wait.
Those ‘normies’ have skeletons too.
Maybe I’m not so different.
I see the people I try to be like,
Standing in shame.
Their perfect mask ripped away.

But I don’t judge them
Because no one judges me.
They’re too busy trying to catch them as they flee.
Racing around in a blur.
It’s like attempting to trap the dust
Of books long forgotten
When they’re suddenly thrown off the shelf.

They fail in their attempts.
Some even dying in the process-
A few accidental, most intentional-
The lengths to which we go to lock ourselves away.
But that’s what we do isn’t it?
Because we can’t stand for others to see.
We can’t be different.

Then, something amazing happened. Truly amazing.
A fellow neighbor, wrought with grief,
Found a better way to deal.
He brings his fleshless friend to my door.
“Take this,” he said.
“I can’t live with him anymore.”
I do, but I can’t have two
So I give him mine.

Then one by one, others caught on
And suddenly we all were swapping sins.
We embraced it, welcomed it.
Expose our lives to it.
To feel what it was like
To have that secret. To live with it day by day.
We now understand and
We are no longer afraid.

Once we realized one skeleton
Was the same as the next,
It took all power to judge.
The society lost its control and
The mold was finally broken.
Different was accepted, embraced.

“Don’t be like everyone else.”
Became the new normal.
We didn’t have to hide our true selves
To be accepted by others.
We began to empathize
Because we could, we knew how it felt.
We found a new power, real equality.

It is freeing to have that sort of power
Without abusing it.
We were courteous, with more love than ever.
Free and no longer alone
The world was our confidant, our mentor.
For once we were different, but united.

As such, the world became safer.
A better place to live, to raise families.
Violence diminished, suicide rates dropped.
Enemies became friends. We grew closer as a race.
One race. One color. One world.
We became livelier, more loving, more forgiving.

But then I heard a ringing, somewhere off in the distance.
Slowly I saw this scene fade and then
I was looking at my ceiling.
I shut off the alarm and crawled out of bed.
I locked my skeleton up, safe and sound.
Put on my mask then headed off to work.
Afraid to be different!

*Please feel free to comment on your thoughts! This is such a powerful, controversial piece that I'd love to hear them. :)