Brynn Helena

“When It Hits You ” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #203

He punched me in the face, my teeth rattling around in my mouth, my brain clanging against the side of my skull like the sharp crash of cymbals, and there I lay.It was raining, and the bell for first period was well in the past, a distant, hazy memory as I tried to recover from Niki's dizzying blow."You're such an asshole," Niki spat at me, running his injured hand back through his short brown hair, clinging to his temples from the downpour. My vision cleared just enough to reveal to me that he had tears streaming down his face, turning away...

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“How to Pop The Question” by Brynn Helena

[A Continuation of 'How to Slushy a Fuckboy' & 'How to Buy a Red Panda'] "What're you still doing up there?" Oliver asked, sitting in a steel folding chair within the row just in front of the stage. All of the screaming college students had cleared out, leaving behind a trail of discarded food wrappers and empty plastic cups strewn everywhere. Confetti speckled the stage as well as the floor, and the stage lights had been brought down, but he could still see her there. She sat in the middle of the floor up there, legs crossed like a ki...

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“Atta Boy” by Brynn Helena

It was often he found himself lost in thought. That afternoon he sat on the warm sidewalk chewing on a wooden popsicle stick, his lips stained red from the cherry ice pop he'd finished long ago. Early summer, the air was cool but the sun was hot, and the breeze perfectly punctuated each fleeting moment. When birds passed overhead, they seemed to glide on the wind, basking their iridescent wings in the plentiful sunlight. A bush next to Carter blossoming with bunches of purple flowers buzzed with honey bees, pollinating the buds of the fresh ...

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“Cut and Run” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #199

"Reckon I'll fold," Adelaide sighed, puffing one last breath out of her cigar before she stamped it out on the card table, leaving her hand behind, and stood to head toward the ladies washrooms. She could feel the eyes of all of the men at the card table watch her walk as she left, their gazes crawling along the curvatures of her body in her jeans. Luckily, the walk was short, and she escaped them as she swung the wooden washroom door open with one hand.The entire saloon was quiet, nothing but the sound of the workers playing their late nigh...

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“Dr. Green (Trial #1348)” by Brynn Helena

The rain, sprinkling onto my face, was what eventually woke me up. As soon as I started to come to, I knew something was off. My body had never felt so light, and I could feel I was running hot. Upon opening my eyes, I was greeted by a huge shining sun, and cool rain misting everything around me. The sky was blue, speckled with off white clouds, bordered by a vibrant array of palm tree tops, swaying in the gentle wind. My eyes burned against the newfound light, and I felt a wave of dizziness, propping myself up on my elbows in the glittering...

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“How to Buy a Red Panda” by Brynn Helena

[A Continuation of 'How to Slushy a Fuckboy']"I realize he's shy... but it's been almost three months," Summer whispered under her breath, twirling a piece of her golden brown hair between her fingers. Karina nodded along with what she was saying, crossing her legs the other way where she sat on the rubber bus seat riddled with holes and pencil graffiti. She wore a pair of khaki shorts with a pink crop top that had a sweet rhinestoned heart on the chest. She never went anywhere without platforms, so she paired the outfit with a strappy pair ...

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“How to Slushy a Fuckboy” by Brynn Helena

It was barely noon when things started to crumble around Oliver Hanson, a sixteen year old sophomore who did everything in his power to stay in his own lane. When Miss Andrews told him he was needed in the office, with a disapproving look on her over-blushed face, he felt his palms begin to sweat. As he walked down the hallway, tugging his ill-fitting zip-up sweatshirt over his shoulders he ran through every possible thing he could be in trouble for. He thought about being two minutes late to ceramics last week, or sneaking out of class to g...

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“FEVER” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #196

Maybe in another life. I shot up in bed, my back slick with sweat, and gulped for air, feeling as if I had been drowning. I clutched at my throat, my fingertips running along my adam's apple as I clawed for a breath. My heart rate slowly calmed and I relaxed... though not completely. I could feel him in the room with me, despite the space being empty. As I sat up in bed, rust colored light poured in through my window, crosshatching my beige carpeting with illumination from a streetlamp. Across the room on my desk sat all of my school paper...

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“The Hanged Man” by Brynn Helena

They hated when people called them "friends." Any time they overheard someone referring to them as something so unbecoming of their relationship, they corrected them immediately. They'd snapped at me time and time again for it, until I learned to call them what they were: sisters. Nothing more, nothing less--their words, not mine. It was speculated around the school that there was something deeper going on, something sexual or romantic in nature, but they never commented on any of that. For the most part, the five girls kept themselves a mys...

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“A Doll's Funeral” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #195

Whenever he found one that looked serene... he tried to savor it. Though, admittedly, it was hard to really stay in such a state once he started moving the body. Particularly, carrying the bodies was always the worst part. He'd noticed over the years that it never got any easier, not mentally or physically. Often he'd heard people speculate: the lighter the body the easier the work. But lighter, usually just meant younger...He didn't agree with their sentiment but he usually just nodded along. This particular girl, maybe three days old—...

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“You Mean Déjà Vu?” by Brynn Helena

She was wearing a pink bra, even in the dim lighting I caught a glimpse of it-just the strap peaking out from beneath the slouching shoulder of her blouse. But, I'd thought, no way. Yet, it really was her. She saw me before I could make a move myself. "Matty?" Her voice barely broke through the pulsating music, but because I was already aware she was walking over, it was hard to miss and she called again, "Matt!"I turned, eyes heavy and posture swaying from the alcohol. She was drunkish too, I could tell from how red her cheeks were.&nb...

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“Did You Know Them?” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #159

“What do you want? Candy?” Derek asked, smacking a piece of spearmint gum between his teeth, some pop punk band blaring over his car stereo. Felix, sitting completely still in the middle of the road on his bicycle, stared at him with a bored expression. They’d been engaged in said stare-off for about five minutes at that point, Derek intermittenedly laying on his horn to try and usher the boy out of the road. This also wasn’t the first time they had crossed paths, in fact, these run-ins between the two were becoming more and more common. “...

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“Yes, Daddy” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #158

“Are you sure about this, June?” Mila asked softly, cupping her hand around the flame of the lighter to help June light her cigarette. It was her third in twenty minutes, and June wasn’t a smoker; she’d taken the pack out of Mila’s purse earlier that day before she'd gone to work at the hospital. Mila stared at the blonde with concerned eyes, one of her hands rubbing circles into June’s back as they sat perched on a chipping, yellow curb stop in the hospital parking lot. The sun was beginning to set on a late-August day. Summer was quic...

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“Good Times” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #157

[Prequel to my story 'Safe Space']She stood across the room surrounded by meatheads and bimbos, dressed in a red mini dress that left very little to the imagination. Every curve of her petite body was on display. Her warm ginger hair fell in ringlets around her shoulders, bringing out the natural red blush in her cheeks. When she laughed all the men leaned in as she did the same, their eyes dipping down to her prominent cleavage. She didn't seem to notice though, or care for that matter, sipping on what looked to be her third or fourth glass...

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“False Awakening” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #156

Before I even opened my eyes, I knew I was somewhere I had never been. The smell of chlorine was so strong it was almost nauseating, and the air so humid the stench clung to my skin. When I finally did open my eyes I gasped, breathing in a gulp of water as I floundered to find my footing and stood up, bursting out of the water. I choked, my lungs fighting some of the liquid out of my throat, the chemically taste making me gag. Doubled over, I stared at my feet surrounded by crystal blue water and endless white tiles. They floated before my e...

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