Mackenzie Hebner

“Something New ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #125

Something New  Mackenzie M. Hebner  It’s easy not to realize how fortunate you were until what seemed like a burden slips away, and suddenly there’s a hole you never realized had needed to be filled. It grows a little more as you sit there watching everything you had with a new light. This time there is a tick inside your mind, counting down the moments you have left with this fresh perspective, and you don’t want to waste the moments hurting, but it’s hard to feel any other way than a plain fool.  You see, it’d been a roug...

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“I Am Me: Everything and Nothing ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #114

I Am Me: Everything and Nothing  By: Mackenzie M. Hebner You don’t know me. And you never will. My name is of no consequence: only my words. The world won’t ever know my name, or see my face, or hear my story, or give me a second look. It will only ever, God willing, hear my words. I may never amount to anything. I may be alone forever, but I hope and pray my words live on past my inconsequential existence. Not so inconsequential, now that I’ve finally taken the leap to write things down.  Now, I said the world would never hear...

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“We Were Happenstance” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #110

We Were Happenstance By: Mackenzie M. Hebner Based on true events “Wanna grab lunch?” Goosebumps decorated my arms as I saw his name seep into the pixelated color combinations of my phone screen and proceeded to open his text. We’d been anonymous friends for ages, and everyone I knew thought we were what the kids call “endgame” material. By anonymous, I don’t mean the people who met online and don’t know a thing about each other but deal out personal information just for the heck of it, just that we became friends long...

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“Crimson Hills” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #110

Crimson HillsBy: Mackenzie M. HebnerFreshly stained asphalt seeped into the mountain side encompassing me and my ragged apparel. The hills were before me. Everything around me was greater than me. Mountains towered over me, hills rose and fell in more consistency and promise than I’d ever known, the rocks grabbed my attention and told me of their role as protector of the earth, the animals lived along side me as if my existence has never crossed their mind as threatening, and now that I stood before them, such had not changed nor had any rea...

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“Don't Forget Me” by Mackenzie Hebner

Don’t Forget Me By: Mackenzie M. Hebner They told me to write something unforgettable; so I did. I wonder if they ask that of all The Greats or just me. Though, I suppose I’m not a great, just a sixteen-year-old boy in a tux, standing before a panel of pensive yet emotionless judges stuffed into stuffy tuxes of their own that seemed too small from how uncomfortable they looked. Or perhaps it was just that they had nothing better to do than sit and listen to a long line of sixteen-year-old boys in tuxedos a little too big for them recite s...

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“Don't Forget Me” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #101

Don’t Forget Me By: Mackenzie M. Hebner They told me to write something unforgettable; so I did. I wonder if they ask that of all The Greats or just me. Though, I suppose I’m not a great, just a sixteen-year-old boy in a tux, standing before a panel of pensive yet emotionless judges stuffed into stuffy tuxes of their own that seemed too small from how uncomfortable they looked. Or perhaps it was just that they had nothing better to do than sit and listen to a long line of sixteen-year-old boys in tuxedos a little too big for them recite s...

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“Moved By Mercy ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #70

Moved By MercyBy: Mackenzie M. Hebner   They said he broke my heart. I’ll never forget what they said when I surrendered the news to them, bringing my hidden world out of the shadows. “He’s an idiot,” they cried out in astonishment. “If I could somehow have you, I would never let you go,” they claimed from the bottom of their hearts. “How could someone break your heart?” they exclaimed in nothing but utter disbelief. But in truth, it wasn’t him that broke my heart, it was them. For they didn’t know what he knew. They still saw...

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“An Apology ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #70

An ApologyBy: Mackenzie M. Hebner    Looking back now, I see where things went wrong. Truthfully, I saw it on that very day. The day my heart, for the first time, understood the definition of brokenness. No, to be honest with you, it was long before that when I first noticed the corruption, but, being thus far so corrupted, I did nothing. I didn’t allow myself to admit it, to accept it, to recognize it, and in turn, all that lack of attention led it to no other choice than to make itself known, loud and clear. I denied so...

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“Where the Dust Falls ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #70

Where the Dust Falls By: Mackenzie M. HebnerHe told me to meet him where the dust falls. Those were the last words he said to me. “Meet me where the dust falls.” I knew what it meant. Deep down I knew. And he knew it too, that I knew. So I suppose that makes this partially my fault. When I didn’t come, he made his decision, but it was as if I chose for him. I chose to let him go when I chose not to consider his meaning. I knew where the dust fell, where he’d once made use of such ambiguous description. I knew where the dust fell, where ...

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“Twenty-Four Years ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #68

Twenty-Four Years By: Mackenzie Hebner It’d been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. I suppose that is how death works after all. Six feet under always stays at six feet, neatly chiseled stone stands tall with its tell-all engravings, grass grows and is cut in routine motion, and flowers fade but the colorless stems still rest as visual aids for what once was.  It was another life back then. They were young, passionate, and invincible. Traipsing through the days fueled only by the whim...

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“Found In November ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #68

Found In NovemberBy: Mackenzie M. Hebner   Their names with Noah and Kayla. Nayla as some people referred to them. They were the perfect couple in the sense that even in their imperfections they meshed. It was their three year anniversary and their one year of living together. Ever since she had moved in three-hundred and sixty-five days ago they had accumulated several heartwarming traditions. Just a few to note: every morning, including this one, they would trek up the little hill in the communal neighborhood backyard to wat...

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“The Reflection ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #67

The Reflection By Mackenzie M. Hebner  Trigger Warning     Her eyes stared back at me, cold and lifeless, wide-open, blistered, horrified, begging for relief. It startled me, to see her lifeless but not at peace. I thought if she was gone things would be better. I thought that if she was gone she could no longer feel pain, but pain was all that remained in her expression. I didn’t mean for her to die. I wanted to save her. But there she was, lifeless, tortured.      I’ll never forget how her stare ha...

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“Nancy” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #64

Nancy  By: Mackenzie Hebner Silence. It wasn’t your typical household atmosphere. There wasn’t music in one corner and riveting drama in another. There wasn’t even an exchanging of kind words or a consuming stream of rebukes. Instead, there was only silence. And it hung, torturesome, in the ventilating air ultimately connecting each room, each member. Even anonymous guests could sense its unbearable presence as the inhabitants scurried to construct a smiling facade of welcoming intention, desperate not to let their secrets slip, for...

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“Flames Arising ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #60

Flames Arising  By: Mackenzie Hebner  Flames had been arising. The colors of the sun tainted into scorched humanity. We should have seen it coming, but curled up in our beds, books to our noses, glasses to our eyes, cocoa in our hands, and covers on our frail bodies, we didn’t see the world outside our window. We didn’t see the comforts we knew were slipping away. But just because we didn’t see, doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be, for it was, and it did.  Flames had been arising for years. Each cycle of days bringing about...

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“Closed Curtains ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #58

Closed Curtains By: Mackenzie M. Hebner It’s a little too much light that slips through her heavily drooping curtains at midday. She’s spent several minutes attempting to adjust them, hoping with the perfect alignment a sense of darkness will be created in her room. A sense of safety. You see, it’s in the dark that she can sleep. And if not sleep, it’s in the dark she can write, scribble down her imagination, express herself on paper to control her outbursts in person. She cannot have outbursts, lest she be reminded she does not have cont...

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