Juxtapositions

Juxtapositions – surprising combinations of words you wouldn’t normally put together – can be inspiring.

Dashing Spiral (romance novel’s last page)

From here

He stares in my eyes in fondness, eyes filled with love and wonder almost overflowing with tears. He leans in and lifts my chin so my lips were moments away from touching his, warmth spreads across my body as his soft, moist lips came into contact with mine. Fireworks exploded above my head, this was what true love felt like. Seconds passed by and I had to pull out, I gasp at the lack of air, Jack looking flushed himself but quickly composes himself.

“Have I told you that I love you?”

No, he hasn’t, Not before this day. But I know that this is the start of many wonderful happenings.

By Sakura

Puzzling Hour (blurb)

What happens when the numbers on two six sided dies add up to thirteen..?

Once again, the clock rang out through the house. Lanna’s eyes darted to the sight of her grandfather clock, its numbers now blurred and faded, as she took her final turn to roll the dice. Her hands shook and a small bead of sweat trickled down her pale face.

The dice seemed to echo like thunder as she moved her piece across the board thirteen times…

By IDon'tPlayHarvestMoonJustBecauseIt'sADatingGame

From here

A bad opening for an awful romance story

From here

My love for him began suddenly, my heart racing like the legs of an ant trapped within the unyielding, sticky hold of amber, my pupils dilating as I became a bear in desperate search of a beehive but with less flailing; my need for his love and his honey-sweet smile much like the saliva dribbling from the gaping maw of the aforementioned bear before it closes its teeth around the mostly-spherical orb of wax that the also aforementioned beehive consisted of, but the bitter worry of rejection stung like a horde of furious, now-homeless bees.

By Beth Roberts

Show, don't tell

I came into the room. I saw Alan. I greeted him and sat down.

****

With an aggravated huff, I kicked the door open without mercy, a dark aura practically rolling off me in waves. Shooting sharp glares at anyone who decided it was a good idea to talk to me, I stormed into the room, eyes locking onto one person. Alan. Eyes narrowing, I stalked past him, slamming my foot into the side of his chair and nearly tipping it over, before moving back to the corner of the room. I slammed my hands down on the desk, adamantly refusing to sit down, as I continued to send murderous glares at the clueless fool on the other side of the room.

****

A soft, shaky sigh escaped my throat as I approached the door, which seemed to be growing bigger and more oppressing each time I glanced at it. Slowly, I reached out and grasped the door handle, pulling it down and pushing open the door. Nervous glances around the room scanned the people there, identifying them one by one, until I finally spotted him. A surprised yelp sounded; I was vaguely aware that I was the one it came from. He was sitting there, nonchalant as ever, chattering with his friends. Alan. It was him. Sheepishly, I edged around the room to sit down in the far corner, tense beyond belief. Looking over at him, I found him staring at me with an odd smile on his face, causing me to divert my eyes and a shiver to run up my spine. 

By Haze

From here

-- Nova

Prologue

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

A constant beat played out, the noise breaking the silence that screamed throughout the landscape. As usual, the forest was calm. Path untouched. Trees shrouded in mist.

Alone, one single silhouette danced across the ground, the silhouette of what was unmistakably a monster.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Another noise broke through the silence. Voices echoed around the area. Detecting the disturbance, the shadowy creature stopped. Its head raised, ears flicking.

More noise came. Footsteps. A group of people trekked through the forest-like area, although a better name for the location as a whole would be a death trap.

Yet another sound became known. A feral growl ripped through the air, halting the other noise. Hidden from sight, the creature approached them. As it became closer, the people began to look less human. Forest folk…?

Considering its options, the creature paused.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Catching their attention, the dripping noise continued. One scanned the ground, eyes missing the gargantuan creature before them. A puddle had formed, seemingly out of nowhere. Liquid continued to drop into it from a source invisible to them.

Drip.

Drip.

…

Approaching carefully, the forest folk moved to the liquid. One reached down, gently dipping what looked close to a hand into the substance, which they discovered to be a sticky red. Blood red.

That beautiful, dangerous shade was the last thing they saw.

Silence—

…

‘Scream’.

By Haze

From here

From here

With You

Take me with you.

Dance me away.

Go to the heavens were the tallest mountains lay.

Tell me more.

Tell me less.

 Tell me the secrets you once wanted to dress.

 Lead me down.

Lead me to.

 The wonders of your mind where silence is in the queue.

Bring me there.

Bring me to see.

Life of the lost, where romance fights in three.

 Run me away.

Run me to smell.

The fragrance of the roses that once where to sell.

Be with me today and on the wall pin.

Life is journey, not a waste that you can bin.

By Aksa Anzy

Bang

‘Bang’.

It was almost like someone had flat-out spoken the word, but the gunshot was definitely real. There was no way it was a joke- Not with Kyoya lying face-down on the floor, blood streaming down his half-limp body and the obvious pained gasps being emitted by him. Clearly, this was a horrifying sight. Especially so to his sister, who sat on the ground a little ways away from her best friend... Who was currently a mere puppet to the greater powers involved in the situation.

Standing tall and staring blankly at her victim, Kai still hadn’t lowered the gun held firmly and carefully in her hand. She was a dangerous individual anyways, but this definitely proved the point.

Repercussions were inevitable. More people were going to be hurt and everyone witnessing the scene knew this, but nobody moved. Too in shock over Kyoya, who had gone limp after a few minutes of struggling against the pain. It was then that Alvin moved in the background, his friend’s fall had been the trigger for releasing the pent-up fury he held.

With incredible swiftness, his hand shot to the holster on his belt and he removed the gun stored there. It didn’t matter what happened to him- he was avenging his friend’s death and nothing was going to stop him. Checking the ammunition as he had become accustomed to doing before a battle, his face twisted into a frown. Four bullets, that was all. He had left the reserves in his room, thinking that he would never have to use his weapons at the Academy...

He was wrong.

Levelling his gun with its target, Kai’s neck, he let out a slight growl as he fired all of his shots- three at her back, around where her chest would be, and the last shot at the accursed mark of the Ouroboras on the side of her neck.

Of course, if the mark had stayed then she would have been fine. Due to the power of the Ouroboras, she would have been fine even if the bullets hit... Naturally, things had to go wrong. Mere milliseconds before the first shot was fired from the scarf-wearing man’s weapon, the mark had flickered and disappeared, taking the possessed teen’s protection against the bullets with it.

They hit her fast and hard, which was to be expected. Luckily, the most deadly bullet only grazed the side of her neck but the other three hit their marks with horrifying precision.

By Rachie

From here

Funny Story

One day Lisa went to the shops.  She fell over a leprechaun into a magical portal. She landed on a fluffy cloud.  A lady asked her what she was doing there.  Before she could answer Lisa’s eyes fell on a snail on her shoulder. 

The snail had a top hat on and a moustache. 

It said ‘Howdy, there!’ and lightly curtseyed, using swift movements of his hands.

Suddenly the snail jumped off her shoulder and turned into a purple and green giraffe.  It said, ‘Let me take you on your way.’

She followed the giraffe to a lake.  Then a dinosaur came swimming up.

The dinosaur then whispered to Lisa, ‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.’  But the dinosaur realised his arms were too short.  And then he got angry, the anger turned into a tantrum which caused him to plonk himself onto the ground, waving his arms and legs everywhere in all directions, crying oreos.

In the midst of his tantrum, he ate Lisa. She tumbled through his throat, and fell through the magical portal in his stomach and landed back on the pavement where she started.  

From here

By Belvedere Creative Writers