Amy Souza
photography
Inspiration piece

Overcast
By Kamika Cooper
Response

“What are you doing here?”

Gretchen sat cross-legged, making swirls in the sand with her fingers. She had been sitting peacefully at the ocean’s edge for the past hour, the currents and birds providing a soundtrack for her brooding.

Jack looked down at her, trying to quell his excitement. “I came to be with you, maybe take you to lunch.”

“This is where I need to be right now.”

“I get it.” He sat next to her, wanting to put his arms around her. Instead, they sat in silence, the ocean mist kissing their faces. For him, the news was cause for celebration; This is what he wanted from the moment he laid eyes on her.

Gretchen looked up with tears in her eyes. “I cannot believe I allowed this to happen. I can barely take care of myself! What am I going to do with a baby?”

Jack wanted to respond and reassure her, but he remained silent. She had been distraught since taking the home pregnancy test. She came out of the bathroom, handed him the positive test stick and walked out the front door.

“I am no one’s ‘Mommy’. The very thought of it is absurd. I did everything right. I didn’t miss any days of birth control, we used extra protection… I just don’t understand. I can’t explain it, but I know that I am not meant to have kids.”

As far as Jack was concerned, Gretchen had simply under estimated herself and he was going to help her to see things differently. After poking holes in condoms for the past five months, his dream was coming true. He was going to be a father, have a family. He was thrilled and knew that Gretchen would come around.

“I know this is not what you wanted and the timing is bad, especially with your new job. But I love you and I am going to take care of you and our baby. We can get married, be a family.”

“Married?!” She laughed through her tears. “Listen, I love you, Jack. I enjoy what we have had over the past year. But as I told you when we met, I am not the marrying type and never will be. It is not my intention to hurt you, but I am no one’s wife or mother.

“So what, are you planning to abort our baby?”

She went back to making swirls in the sand. “I don’t know.”

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Chandra Achberger
Inspiration piece

“Will You Come?”
By Kamika Cooper
Response

The journey to Restoration Valley had taken two and a half days. The weather had been perfect: clear skies, pollen-free breathing, and the temperatures reaching a high of 65 degrees during the day. Amina and Fir had packed just enough food and water to sustain them along the way. But sustenance and weather were never the paramount concern. Every time they thought they found a new, safe place to live, they soon found themselves among the hunted, requiring them to go on the run once more. They wanted the safety, and freedom Restoration Valley was rumored to provide. Though they had no idea what that meant – there were only rumors – anything had to be better than their current reality.

Amina, Fir, and some 40,000 other people who looked like them were in grave danger. They had been for some time but were blinded to the truth when the hunting began. They were among those who, for a few generations, were lulled into a false sense of safety by their wealth, privilege, and education. Believing themselves to be equals with the very people they were running from now, they allowed themselves to become too comfortable, letting their guard down too soon.

They cleared the cover that the trees had provided for the last day of their journey and exited the woods to find the lush, steep green hill said to be the valley’s entryway. It was so tall and wide; It looked as if they would need to reach the sky before descending. A reassuring voice entered their minds: You only need to make it to the top. Once there, you will be safe.

They heard yells behind them; Hunters were near. Tired – so very tired – and nearly out of steam, they began to run up the hill. They were halfway up when the first shot rang out. Fir looked as if he might give up. Amina pulled at his elbow, nudging him upward, knowing that she could not descend into Restoration Valley without him. Fire spread across the back of Amina’s thigh. Though she had never felt a gunshot before, she knew this is what had occurred. Fir’s arm abruptly wrested from her loving hand, and all hope was lost. They were in pain, bleeding, vision blurred, and gasping for air when they reached the valley’s top.

All the gunfire stopped.

Light surrounded them, lifted them, and carried them down into the valley. Their wounds began to heal, and as they regained their vision, they saw the most beautiful, smooth structure before them. It looked to be constructed from hematite. The benevolent, soothing voice entered their minds again.

We have healed your injuries, but we understand that some scars do not heal as swiftly. You are free to return the peak if you wish, but know that you are welcome on our ship and our planet. If you are willing, we have come to take you to your new home. There may be many new challenges, but we can promise that they will not be the ones you are facing now, and you will never be among the hunted again. Will you come?

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Note: All of the art, writing, and music on this site belongs to the person who created it. Copying or republishing anything you see here without express and written permission from the author or artist is strictly prohibited.

Envie’s Ivy
by Kamika Cooper
Response

Envie didn’t drive a sleek, black luxury car or live in a swanky community with manicured lawns. She didn’t have a savings account and could not remember a time when she wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck. Aside from sick days – hers or her children’s – vacations from work were not an option. She was constantly tired, always on the verge of the next illness, and felt as if she could not catch a break.

On the contrary her younger sister, Ivy, enjoyed a luxurious existence. She breezed into rooms like the wind, with a smile on her beautiful face. She looked, smelled, and walked like money. Ivy was single with no children, to Envie’s three, and had no obligations to anyone but herself. She took lovers when she wanted and found ways to lose them when the spark had run its course. She jet-setted between bustling cities and quiet remote islands on a whim.

Ivy sought to help her sister, but this always resulted in some sort of sharp-tongued kerfuffle which left the two not speaking to one another for several months. It was during one of these periods of silence that Ivy came to be ill. Her quality of life saw a rapid decline and there was nothing more the doctors could do but make her comfortable. Envie came to her baby sister’s side and held her in her arms, full of regret for all the horrible things she had last said to her. All of the years of jealousy and resentment now came down to this: Ivy had wealth and popularity, but was suffering and withering away from life. Envie had life and had wasted her adult years sneering at her sister for her success and wealth instead of finding her own – now she was going to lose her.

She spent the next month making Ivy’s days and nights as peaceful and loving as possible. She told her that she was proud of her, and apologized for the times of tumult they had experienced over the years. They talked and laughed as much as Ivy’s energy level would allow. Envie’s children decorated their aunt’s room with painted pictures of rainbows, sunshine, butterflies, and plush hills in various shades of green which faded into tiny circles as Ivy closed her eyes and took her final breaths.

It came to pass that Ivy left Envie everything she owned – a great mass of riches and possessions which changed the trajectory of Envie’s life. Her children and husband were happy, she was healthy, and she finally got the vacations that she had wanted. Yet at the end of the day, driving down the street in her sister’s sleek black luxury car, bank account fat and possessions abound, she felt poorer than she had been just a few months prior. Envie came to realize that she had been rich all along, having lost her most valuable possession the day Ivy closed her eyes.