Dark Forest

As I step into the forest, everything becomes dark. I see black souls rushing in one direction. One of the souls spot me and stop. They start looking at me with curiosity. Wondering where I came from and if I’m still human or not. As it comes closer towards me two more follow, slowly three more. The number gradually increases as the souls glance at me. Then they are in a circle, surrounding me. They push and shove each other to get their hands on me. It was hard for them to decide who would eat me, so I was safe, for the time being. As I look around me, I see a soul that signifies the identity of a faceless man, with no eyes, ears or nose. But with a significantly large mouth

 

As soon as the souls realize I was still there, they rush towards me once again, with hunger and desperation. But this time, it wasn’t about deciding who will consume me, it was everybody trying to attempt consumption. I lose hope, and welcome the death that was upon me. A few seconds later, I assume I was dead, but I wasn’t! I checked my pulse and my body parts, they were still there. I was still alive, as I look around I see a white bear, staring at me with elegant eyes, with a color as blue as the ocean. The bear approaches me slowly, he comes so close, that tears begin to come out of my eyes. I was stunned by this bear, because it was indeed the work of mother nature’s beauty, which seemed dormant in the forest up until now.

All of a sudden, he disappears right in front of my eyes, leaving me alone in the darkness. I look around the filthy place and smell the scent of the rotting souls. The air of death is around me. I relax myself and become careless of my surroundings, thinking about the white bear. It felt as if it was telling me to go somewhere, so I followed it.

This lead me to the black river, with the stench of the bad souls, and viscosity as that of blood, it was a danger to be here. At the same time, I was here for a reason, it was the bear that brought me up to this point.  

On the other side of this river, surprisingly, I spotted a bear cub! It hid behind a tree as soon as it noticed me looking in it’s direction. I crossed the bloody river to see why he was hiding behind that tree. It was not alone, it was accompanied by an evil soul, which was feeding on its spirit. I attempted to take the cub out of that place, but it seemed impossible. The soul wouldn’t let go. So I calmed myself down and enlightened my spirit, and amazingly, the soul just disappeared. It came to my attention that evil souls fear people that are enlightened and calm.

I immediately took the cub out of there afterwards and had a vision of a lush green land, filled with more hope and enlightenment, just like me. A vision that started to lead me in a direction that I didn’t know of before. The cub, apparently, was following me, it was inexplicable. How would an animal want to follow a human, I thought of it as a sign of loyalty because I saved it. After days of walking in the designated direction, I noticed that the forest started to lighten up. Everything was becoming beautiful and the forest started to show it’s true colors. My vision had come true, after days of walking on that steep, muddy and long path. The cub wouldn’t stop following me, and it eventually got annoying. But I thought to myself, why not keep such an animal to accompany me, so I don’t have to feel the sense of loneliness every again. We still had much to explore in this new lush green land, which I think holds many wonders and secrets to it.

This story was inspired by the piece that I wrote called Hatred in the souls. This is the continued story of the person that got stuck in the dark forest.

Hatred in the souls

As I step into the forest everything becomes dark.

I see souls rushing to get out of the forest as if they were running away.

Suddenly I catch the attention of a soul.

It looks at me curiously.

Wondering where I came from.

 

Wondering how I still remained human in the cruel forest they ran away from.

It starts coming closer to me.

As it comes closer, two more follow, slowly three more.

The number increases as the souls glance at me.

Once they surround me, they fight over me like prey.

I glance over into the the soul and see a faceless man.

With nothing but a large mouth.

That instantly opens as other souls open their mouth.

I close my eyes ready to face death that was brought upon me.

I check my pulse and feel my face

“I am still alive.”

I open my eyes to see a white bear shining at me with angelic eyes slowly coming towards me.

 

The bear comes closer and smiles.

It felt dreamy to have been saved by an animal.

Having possessive eyes as blue as the ocean,generating emotion.

It was beautiful and amazing, I couldn’t believe it.

But it left in a hurry.

And I felt loneliness.

Nothing but that,eventually, it guided me down a path.

A path to a river as viscous as blood,with no sign of water.

It felt dangerous with no protection.

An inexplicable dream which was a reality I felt with perception.

On the other side stood a cub which hid as it saw me.

So I went to see why it hid so suddenly.

This poem was inspired by the feature article I wrote about hate crimes. This is the perspective of a victim of a hate crime. The victim captures the attention of the souls which are the people who do the hate crimes. The victim then waits for their death by going through the hate crimes mentally, this is also seen when the souls open their mouths. The black bear represents the part of society that stands up for the victim and makes the people who commit hate crime go away.

Image: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tumblr_lv13kyrMIO1qgt0vro1_250.gif

 

A-Z writing

M is for Mosque

 

As I enter through the doors of the mosque, my heart feels at rest, knowing that I am closer to god.
Knowing that this was my safe place.
A safe place from the cruel world that I went to every time I heard the news.
About the Muslim ummah, news full of lies.
Lies that falsely accused the ummah of being terrorists.
Lies that spread like a wildfire across the world.
The world that I thought was accepting but turned out to be deceiving.

This was what led me to come to the mosque.
This was what I prayed for when I sat down on the prayer mat.
I prayed that the world would see the truth.
The truth that we are not terrorists but in fact an ummah that is peaceful, friendly and accepting.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I touched the holy book in front of me.
The holy book that comforted me as I caressed the fine pages.
The pages that had every single madd,paish carefully written inside.
So delicate yet so beautiful that the pages  sunk into my brain.
As I read them with sorrow, raising my hands in prayer.
With tears in my eyes, to the only one who could help Muslims in this time of need
Allah.

Islam Pray GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

What to do: Find a quiet spot. Places are not always tranquil. You could go in between prayer times when the church or mosque or temple is emptier and calmer; you’ll also draw less attention to yourself. Right about memories of prayer, your own or a characters. Invent a reason for them being in the house of prayer at this point in life. What do they need to resolve? Write about the texture,light,sounds and smell.

E is for Emergency room

As the lazy nurse slept

The patient was struggling to take a breath.
Struggling to keep her eyes open as she turn her head to face me.
Reaching her arm towards me to help her out of this distress.
When suddenly, her eyes closed.
And her hand fell back onto her bed “Beep…beep……..beep……………..”.
Someone’s life ended, as I peeked through doors reading Emergency room in big bold letters.
“Someone come see this” I cried, doctors rushing to respond to my voice.
Ever so fast that it was unbelievable, towards me with a comforting hand
Asking “What happened”
As I pointed to the room next to me
They smiled
She was gone for anyways they laughed
Among them laughter was spreading
Although this was a moment of sadness they seem to be laughing
What was this gesture I thought
Nevertheless they didn’t seem to care
Until an employee pointed me out
With a confused look I stared at them
What was laughter a while ago turn into sadness
“We are sorry to hear this child”
They said with a frown on their face
And fake sadness that they showed me

Before they entered the room to check her

E IS FOR EMERGENCY ROOM (ER)
What to do there: Watch and write. Write about different times you’ve been to the ER. Focus on the staff. The doctors, nurses, cleaners, x-ray technicians, volunteers. Eavesdrop or talk to people, both staff and patients. Later, or while you’re there, connect the people into a story. As you write, discover who the main character is, the one who holds the story together. For one example, read Denis Johnson’s story ‘Emergency’.
Why it’s good for you: Gets you to explore work environments and complex relationships between people who don’t live together. Observation constitutes knowledge.
E is also for: Estuary, Elevators and Escalators, Employment Office.

W is for waiting room

This is how they met.
Passing by one another,looking at the screens on their phones.
Trying to get out of this stuffy place, not knowing when fate would make them meet one another.
Of course one had to leave and the other would have to catch up to them

Exactly as narrated
One got a phone call and the other trying to find the phone that they had dropped.
One walking fast towards the exit eventually stepping on the phone of the other.
Without realizing the damage they had done.
After watching the beloved phone of of theirs crack in front of her eyes
They pulled the shoulders of that person and yelled at them.
As that person confronted the person that had pulled them.
The other was mesmerized.
This was how they met,before the doctor called me over.

 

W IS FOR WAITING ROOM
What to do there: As in a lot of these writing strategies, the purpose is to observe people in various non-domestic settings. You could find a waiting room to sit in for this exercise, or do it next time you’re waiting to see a doctor, a dentist, or the headmaster. Waiting rooms can be mind-numbing places – waiting in general is a suspended state – so invent stories to liven up your wait. Tell the story of a romance initiated in a waiting room. Start with the words: “This is how they met . . .” Be as schmaltzy or as catastrophic as you can.
Why it’s good for you: Practice using tedium as a starting point for creativity. “I’m bored!” is the hunger for an engrossing narrative.
W is also for: Woods, Waterway, Wall.