Cannelle L

“Meena’s Wishlist: December, 2018” by Cannelle L

Meena’s Wishlist: December 2018 (Please update good news in 5 years)1) Go to law school and make lots of friends (ones I actually want to hang out with)Congrats on getting in, kid. Too bad the whole of freshman year was online and you had to spend 3 hours every day sitting in front of a relatively dark screen with everybody’s initials blaring now and then. Every professor conducted a seance of their own, but only the brightest spirits turned their cameras on. Finding a classmate on Twitter was like discovering a celebrity. Trying to start a ...

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“Graces Under Pressure” by Cannelle L

Settling down with my backpack still clinging to my shoulders, I press the tiny bud firmly in my right ear and hit play on the well-used MP3 player. GRACE UNDER PRESSURE runs across the screen, the white light painfully bright against the thick morning air. I breathe, shoulders almost relaxing until realization dawns on me:  The grass is damp.  The wetness of last night’s dew seeping through my indigo skirt and up my underwear pushes me to stand. However, too drowsy to get up, I stay with my thumb circling the buttons of the ti...

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“Strings” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #105

Aranya is lying on the grass, alone and tired from running. She looks different, bleached hair spreading like a shield.  I almost can't recognize her with her eyes closed, forest green orbs hidden behind soft lashes.  Then you find her.  She tells you to go away, but you don't. Putting your guitar down first, you lie beside her and tell her that she is crying like it is the simplest thing to do. She lifts a hand to her cheek, greeting the dampness on her skin.  Two girls stay for long moments, staring at the sky. It...

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“Brave Wild Berries” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #104

I filled the plastic buckets up with Kit Kats, Snickers, and M&M'S, inwardly scolding myself for my unoriginal choices. I should've gotten some jelly beans to brighten up my pile. Some Jolly Ranchers maybe? Shaking my head, I tossed the last packet I'd picked from the store (A gleaming silver bag of HERSHEY'S Kisses with the words "MILK CHOCOLATE" written underneath in capital letters) along with the other candies, reminding myself that not every child was going to want chocolate.  But I guess I could just give the leftovers to he...

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“Stars” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #103

The silver Toyota Yaris shook a little more violently with each passing street light. Jayla's heart sped up as she tried to assume the best, hoping against hope that she was simply imagining things. But she knew the shake, and she wasn't ready for it. The bright city lights swallowed the stars, leaving only a few golden orbs blinking at the quaking car on the road. If stars showed signs of luck, then Jayla didn't know what to make of the only two fireballs blurring in the night sky. Were they warning her of an upcoming accident? Were they te...

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“That's My Brother” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #101

It was eleven on a Tuesday night. The outside air was warm and still, a complete contrast to the tempest raging inside Remi's head. The lamps in his bedroom glowed a solemn shade of yellow, trying to console the boy who was sleepless for an entirely different reason than most nights. Sheet music scattered all over the floor, hopeless and abandoned. Had it been any other night, the old guitar wouldn't merely stand against the gray wall, letting the unbearable silence take over like this. But tonight was not like any other night. The only soun...

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“Naya” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #101

Trigger warning: mentions death***FRIDAY, 10 Feb 2021“Shame is a wasted emotion.” Kurt Hummel, The Quarterback (Season 5, Episode 3)I feel like I need to start off with that. I rewatched The Quarterback today. I didn’t cry this time, and I think I finally found closure. Sure, I still miss Cory and Naya. But watching the episode now (almost 8 years after Cory’s death, and almost a year after Naya’s) is simply comforting. Naya's always been so special to me. Ever since I saw her on Glee, one of my biggest dreams is to meet her, ...

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“Extra Leeks For Good Luck” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #100

I flip through the cookbook, a palette of colors flashing uncoordinatedly before my eyes. It reminds me of our clumsy relationship. With you, things are far from simple, good one moment and downhill the next, especially when it comes to food. I put the hardcover on the counter. (When did everything get so heavy?) The pages mock me as I flip past them. Tortilla muffins and sardine pasta smirk. Pancakes laugh at the loser who can’t cook to save her life. It was not always this way. I used to be a fine cook. But then you came along an...

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“Sweet William ” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #99

My heart raced as the cool breeze swept through my hair. The season was changing—summer heat subsiding, slipping into autumn chills. It was the best time for sweet Williams to thrive. Just the thought of their stems reaching and stretching to the sky made me giddy as I ran to your house. I was glad to have the sweet Williams to look forward to. At least, they were much more promising than our initial summer project. We had spent most of June in the field, surrounded by wildflowers, trying to search for fairies. Literally hunting for fai...

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“Black-Eyed Susan” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #99

There was a black-eyed Susan.Always a black-eyed Susan. I never liked black-eyed Susans, their yellow petals too flashy and flamboyant, their dirt-brown center too dark and dreary to be any Susan’s eye color, yet lately, they seemed to be the only flowers I long for.Out of all the flowers that bloom in summer, she's my favorite. I shot up before the sun even dared rise. One foot stumbling after the other, I staggered out of bed. It was out of habit for me to be sprinting about at such an early hour, but I couldn't help it. It was s...

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“Forgotten Song” by Cannelle L

Submitted to Contest #98

They say 1 in 7 kids between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away at some point. I wondered if someone would appear out of the corner of the gloomy streets, yanking me backward, scolding me for daring to climb on the bus. I felt a sharp pang as I realized that, with Bangkok's fast pace, no one would ever slow down, let alone look for me—not even when I needed them to. I thought of a place to go, knowing I wouldn’t last a night in the loudness of the city. The lights were always too bright, the people were always too intoxicated, and I was a...

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