Annalisa D.

“Sometimes You Never Get an Answer” by Annalisa D.

      “You’re gonna be a janitor?” Allie asked with disgust curling on her upper lip. “Why?”           Delaying my answer, I shoved a handful of spicy, curly fries in my mouth and made a point to chew them down to total mush. The real answer would be something like I need things to be easy for a while, so I could get myself together. I needed something mindless. Something without any social interaction, because faking a smile felt close to impossible. What I...

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“UFO Crashes Into House” by Annalisa D.

      Jeremy had the worst kind of luck. Any small thing escalated into a catastrophe with him. So, when I looked up to see that plotting and scheming look on his face, as he dunked his Oreo into a jar of peanut butter, my stomach tangled into small knots. Wanting to avoid anything he might say, my gaze quickly dropped back to the pages of my book on how to be human and have normal conversations. Something I’d need to learn if I ever hoped to have more than Jeremy in my life.       ...

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“Out of This World Peppers” by Annalisa D.

      I get how suspicious it looked. Three people in my life disappeared in the same week, and I was the last person to see all of them. I had an idea of what was behind it, though I couldn’t really explain it, and no one would ever believe it. It all sounded absurd.           One thing you need to understand about me is that my friends and I enter our county’s chili festival each year. Our goal is always to make the hottest chili imaginable. We want to sco...

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“Welcome Home” by Annalisa D.

      Kieran would be there. That’s all I needed to hear to follow Skye down the sinuous path through the dark forest. Leafless dark oak trees with twisted trunks and tangled branches loomed above us. Vibrant orange mushrooms popped against the otherwise dreary backdrop. Loud caws from screechy crows pierced through the still, humid air.           “Are you sure this is the way?” I asked while flipping on my flashlight. The beautiful bright blue of twilight d...

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“Wellness Plants” by Annalisa D.

      The fact that management scheduled a mandatory meeting on improving employee mental health for 4pm on a Friday shows how out of touch they are with our mental health needs. I’d guess that most of us are already checked out come 12pm on Friday. The afternoon is reserved for daydreaming about weekend plans.            For the training, I sat between Kevin and Moonbeam. Not because I wanted to, but because I came in last due to a slight bathroom disaster...

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“Perfect Timing” by Annalisa D.

      While locking my backdoor, I groaned. Time for another monotonous workday. Despite my dread, a flicker of hope that today something fantastic would happen persisted. I'd come into some extra book money or get a nice compliment or maybe something really exciting like aliens visiting earth would happen. As I began my descent of the stairs, my foot caught on something and almost sent me flying down them. I grabbed the handrails desperately, and took quick, panicked breaths as I stabilized myself. My eyes...

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“The Prince and the Dragon” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #105

           I never wanted to be a thief, but I had no other choice. At the age of ten, I lost both my parents and ended up on my own. My parents barely had any money, but at least they had something. Without them, I had nothing. Therefore, I did what I needed to for money. It’s not a unique story, but this story isn’t about me anyway.           In desperate need of something to eat, I snatched the purse of a wealthy woman who careles...

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“The Perks of Reality” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #104

      On a balmy August day, I sat on a park bench under a maple tree with a book in my hands and fell madly in like with Joaquin. I won’t go as far as to say love, I didn’t know him and I’m not that crazy. Or so I hope. Anyway, the book was about aliens, I think. Usually, they were. After reading only one sentence, I looked up from the pages to the sound of his wheels rolling across the concrete in front of me. The way his gray t-shirt billowed around him from the speed at which he rode cause a butterfly flutte...

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“The Night I met Bigfoot” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #104

Are you coming tonight?            I stared at the message for a few moments. Then typed “no,” but my finger hovered over the send button. The buzzing noise I heard when things got too silent grew louder.           Why was Jaqueline asking me to hang out? I hadn’t talked to her much in like two years. Sure, we were kind of friends before that, but never super close friends. The kind of friends you’d play with at recess or grab ice cr...

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“A Flash of Red” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #103

      Keep your eyes to the starry sky           for one night you’ll see, a large blood red comet           hurling towards your planet at great speed.           You’ll want all the warning you can get.            This blazing fire will be the great destroyer      &...

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“Loving Arms of a Robot” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #103

The woodsy smell of sandalwood soap greeted my nose, as I watched the steam delicately roll out from the cracks in the bathroom door. The sound of water beating like rain against the shower curtain and fiberglass floor of the bathtub, soothed me. I opened Julian’s leather messenger bag with the intent of leaving a handwritten note. Inside his bag, a photograph caught my eye.  The photo was of him wearing a white lab coat, a man and a woman in military uniforms, and a woman in a lab coat similar to his. With a glance at the sleek, b...

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“Grape Soda” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #102

      Annette looked like an angel sitting in a windowsill on the third floor of her sprawling gothic mansion. Her pale sickly skin, long golden hair, and glacier eyes gave her a porcelain doll appearance. I could and did watch her for hours from my hiding spot behind the pink rose bushes that fenced in her lush green yard. Often, she stared out the window in a dreamy way. Sometimes her eyes would fall in my direction and my breath would catch in my throat forming a hard lump that I could barely manage to swallo...

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“I Can't Keep Doing This” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #101

TW: suicide      Music is all we really had in common, so creating a tribute song makes sense. Well, music, suicidal thinking, and trouble with women, if I’m being fully honest. A funeral isn’t the place for bitterness though. Now isn’t the time to dwell on all the unanswered questions. I’ll have the rest of my life to lose sleep ponder them.           I hold my cigarette between my lips while my fingers strum the guitar. My foot taps in a steady rhythm like...

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“Imaginary Kitchen” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #100

      Sophia rubbed her sweaty palms against her floral sundress and took a deep breath before she pulled open the restaurant door. While she waited for the hostess, she twirled a piece of her long, black hair.           “Will you be needing a date for this evening?” The hostess asked.           Sophia nodded. Her eyes darted around the lobby. The dining room was around the corner, so the bathroom doors ...

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“Dorsey Mansion” by Annalisa D.

Submitted to Contest #99

           Why did I ever let them talk me into this? The gray house looms over me. Vines stretch up the walls and twist around gutters like the earth is getting ready to swallow the house whole. Gargoyles perch on columns guarding the main door like the creators wanted it to be a haunted mansion one day.             As the legends go, this dreadful place was first crafted to be the home of Blair and Edgar Dorsey. They were a yo...

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