On a strange impulse,

I wave a knife near my dog's face.

He doesn't flinch or even

acknowledge the knife. He only looks at me

with horrible, trusting eyes.

His tail wags and I am disgusted.

I am ashamed of myself

for being capable of great violence.

More so, I am ashamed

of this human capability

to even consider harming him.

christmas lights reflect

an autumn brown, gone too soon

ceiling lights defect

on a winter afternoon

sheets of ice glazing

against the classroom windows

with small arms raising

paper snowflakes, on tiptoes:

childhood-snowstorm crescendoes

@TheDreamer , hey, this isn’t really a story, but I figured it was worth sharing anyways.

So I don’t know if anyone on here is into Tik Tok, but a while back I saw a video (it’s viral now) that was titled with ‘the giants hide in the rain’. I didn’t even have to watch the video to already be hooked; that one sentence is an absolutely beautiful story-starter...I just started thinking through all the stories that could follow that title.

Anyways, I watched the video (you can just google it). The guy filming was showing how a really windy rainstorm was happening outside, and the wind was pushing the rain sideways, making it look like giant forms walking around. He paired it with a siren sound and the phrase, “At first I thought the sirens were for the storm...until I noticed them moving through the rain.” Although it was very obviously rain being pushed sideways, the video’s effect was still super cool. A lot of people in the comments were talking about how that sounded like the cliffhangery start of a story, and that someone needed to make a story out of it (I’m sure some people have made a couple stories out of it on Wattpad by now, XD).

This challenge immediately made me think of that video! I’m stuck with midterms right now, so I don’t have the hours I would spend making a story with this idea. Maybe someone reading this will! And hopefully, when I have time, I will too.

the room is dark the

world is black in

shadows and in sin

the walls were small, confining

the world gave no room to

let grace in

But God.

rich in mercy.

gave light.

He gave love

so beautiful to the dark

so undeserving to the toneless walls

I stand a proof of

His illuminating grace, His

incandescent love

You are a light to

the world,

He said

Though mine may be

small

I stand firm in this love light

for one candle can

glow against every shadow of

a lightless room

one match can ignite the

inky walls from

a flicker to a blaze

and if i am a candle

i wish to burn my best

all at once

if i am a small candle

i hope my light touches

the curtains and

if i am a weak candle

i desire to go out in

a memorable explosion

if i am a candle short of

wick i hope to burn

it in proud shades of faith and

if i am an old candle melted to

my last light i hope to give my

little fire to Jesus

how many candles make a wildfire?