First Place!

She could do it. She knew she could. All she had to do was pack her suitcase, hop on her broom, and fly away.


Kora shivered as she tugged her thin jacket closer to her trembling body. She was freezing and sticky. Her wet, soda soaked hair clung to her face no matter how many times she tried to swipe it away. As Kora sat on the front steps of her brownstone waiting on her landlord to come unlock the door, she cursed herself for deciding to attend a college intended for Norms instead of taking her friends’ and family’s advice and attending a school back home intended for Specials. If she had just stuck with her own kind instead of running off into a world she had no business living in, this never would have happened. She wouldn't be stranded outside of her locked apartment doused in diet coke with wads of gum stuck in her blonde hair and dried spit balls littering every square inch of her outfit, with trails of mascara running down her puffy red face. She wouldn't have gotten her satchel stolen which contained her crystals, book of spells, and house key in it. And she certainly would have never met the bane of her existence, Whitney and her slew of minions.
 
Oh how Kora wished she had her spell book to whip up a hex that would put Whitney in her place, but sadly, all ill spirited spells got you was a one-way ticket to see the Council and that’s the last thing she needed. She’s in enough trouble as it is since her magic materials are now in the hands of Norms. If only her biggest worries were her finals coming up next week and getting this gum out of her hair.

Second Place

I left.

I’m done.
I’m free.

I ran for miles. I ran without stopping even though my lungs burned something fierce and my shaky legs threatened to give out at any moment. I ran until I reached the edge of the cliff, and I collapsed gracelessly onto my knees as I greedily sucked in gasps full of the salty air.

No more shackles.
No more Godless, sleazy men.
No more torment.

I allow the relief to wash over me and the anxiety to dissolve as I look out over the clear blue waters and rolling waves. I’m finally safe. They can’t hurt me anymore. After countless months of being trapped in the dark, damp cell, after being stripped of every ounce of my dignity, and after being forced to endure the endless torture of my captor and his companions, I’m finally free, and I'm never looking back.

I fought.
I’m alive.
I’m safe.

As the sea breeze dances through my unkempt hair, I allow myself to smile for the first time in months. I can finally breathe.

Pen to Paper

As some of you may know, I graduated college with an English major and Art History minor. My biggest dream in life is to be a writer, preferably a novelist. I know, I know. That's so cliche and far-fetched, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. It's my dream. In college, I obviously wrote pretty much all day every day (hello, English major status), but since graduating I've kind of gotten out of the habit, and it's become harder and harder for me to get back into the groove of writing everyday. Needless to say, I haven't entered any writing competitions since graduation. I'm sure my Creative Writing teachers would have a cow if they knew.

Here's the paragraph that actually let's you know what this post is about, but hey, if you read that useless back story, then good for you. Props. Tessa Hall, is the writer of one of my new favorite blogs and the author of the novel Purple Moon, which I have yet to read but is definitely on my list. She does a Monday Minute Challenge each week, which is a writing challenge that helps writers work on their creativity. It's a fun challenge that's not serious at all but is actually really helpful. Last week, I entered for the first time and won Honorable Mention! If you enjoy writing or if you're in need of weekly writing prompts, then I suggest you give Tessa's writing challenge a try!