Invisible to everyone

He was up at 2:19 am, staring blankly at an LCD screen hoping for companionship. But his yahoo messenger was completely baron. He needed to bear his soul to someone but it seemed all his friends were too busy being offline. He didn't have many friends mind you, but those he had, meant a lot to him. He helped them through all sorts of struggles, yet now in his time of need, they were nowhere to be found. But it didn't matter to him, he typed up a some choice words and sent an instant message to all his unavailable friends. He didn't use any fancy words or beat around the bush, he was precise, frank and to the point. Normally he wasn't like that at all. He was the type of person who would go to great lengths never to hurts anyone's feelings. He would be careful when vocalizing his thoughts and would apologize for saying anything even remotely hurtful.

A scathing reply
But his instant message was scathing. It didn't have the sickly sweetness of his usual conversations. It was the raw, unprocessed emotions of someone pushed to the brink. It was a confession to a lifetime of wasted opportunities, unfulfilled dreams and unexpressed contempt. Weighing in at about 75 words, it was fairly short for a good bye letter, but it did get his point across. That's all he wanted. He didn't want a parade or a huge ceremony to celebrate his grandeur, all he wanted was closure. All he wanted was to have his say and to set the record straight. So he kept typing and typing, stopping only occasionally to check his friends list. When he was satisfied that no one was coming, he continued typing. He finished the message fairly quickly, and decided to give it a reading.

The words seemed so unfamiliar, so unlike him, so alien. He was fairly disgusted with himself for typing what he did and yet he clicked on the send button with zero hesitation. This little message would do the talking when he won't be able to. It would signal his final thoughts and his final fall from grace. It would clear out any misconceptions of him being perfect and prove to everyone that he was still fallible and human. But everyone around him had refused to acknowledge this fact. They treated him as though he were superior and put him up on a pedestal. To them, he was a shining example of hard work, perseverance and intellect. He was their benchmark, their standard, their pride and joy. So at the height of his abilities he became arrogant.

He stopped loving his unique gift and started using it as tool to further himself with little or no work. He felt he had already done so much work before, so why not ride the benefits of his success. Why toil in further hardship when he can bath in everyone's adulation? He felt like he was on top of the world, but soon that feeling subsided. His latest endeavor proved to be far from fruitful. It disappointed all his friends and family and left a hollow feeling deep inside his core.

Just can't do without
A man (or in this case, an adolescent) can live without a lot of things. Fancy cars, girls, gizmoes and gadgets aren't necessities. They're just things we'd like to have, luxuries basically. Heck some can even go without food or clothes or shelter. But there's one thing we just can't go without. Animals may have innate behavior and instincts to guide them, but we humans, have to find our own purpose in life . We have to find what we are good at and stick with it. We have to learn what we like doing, what gives us joy and what makes us unique. We have to learn to use our special gifts to help others and make our mark on the world. We have to find our niche, realize our potential and embrace our purpose. Only then can we claim to be truly human. But what happens when you no longer have that drive, when you don't accept your destiny and you don't fulfill your purpose? Are you still the same person then? Do you still deserve to be you? Does your soul remain intact?

He contemplated all of this as he sat in the chair and rubbed his red, swollen eyes. He had been sitting in front of the monitor for a solid 4 hours and his eyes were twitching erratically. His eyes were used to the blinding assault of the lcd monitor, but this time they behaved differently. Torrents of water gushed out of them as they could no longer contain his grief. In fact he was leaking from every facial orifice, including his nose.

The glowing monster
Despite his eyes' disapproval, he wouldn't turn off the monitor. He was afraid to look into the reflection of the blank, dark screen. He already knew how pathetic he looked and he didn't need visual confirmation. He wanted to see something pleasant, something that would remind him of his former self and his past glories. He wanted to experience all the moments of joy that he previously took for granted. He dug through every jpeg in his computer, including the dirty ones. But mostly he looked at photos of his friends, family, school, teachers etc. Every picture of himself seemed to mock what he had become. His past self deemed him unworthy of his mantle. And the boy agreed whole heartedly. He felt like a dishonored samurai, left with only one choice; to depart from the earthly plane using his own hands as the vessel. These thoughts had crossed his mind before, but they would never do so again after this night.

He picked himself off the chair and shook the numbness out of his legs. He gingerly walked out of the room and towards the verandah. He opened the lock and began sliding the heavy iron gates apart. They seemed heavier than before as if trying to impede his progress, but his will was greater than theirs' and he heaved the gates open. They rattled open announcing their disapproval but were soon left speechless, as the boy embraced the night sky, and took flight. The boy's computer suddenly saw a visitor, a little announcement that someone was now online.

The blast
This someone feverishly sent IM after IM asking “Dude what the hell got u so pissed off? Are you high or something? Where do you get off talking like that about everyone? What do you mean, I owe you? We're friends. Friends do stuff for each other without expecting things in return. You called me a leach, feeding off your intellect. If you're so high and mighty why do you hangout with me then? If I'm so stupid why don't u get some smarter friends?

You helped me in exams out of the kindness of you're heart. I didn't ask for your help, and I didn't think you'd expect me to be your humble, loyal servant. Is that what you meant in your IM when you said I had no gratitude? Well what do you want me to do, stroke your ego? Fine you're the smartest boy in class, I'd love to be as intelligent and well loved as you are. There happy? Feeling better about yourself now, huh? I realize you're upset about today, well none of us are doing cartwheels either. Blame yourself man, because you didn't work hard enough.

Face it; you thought you were so brilliant, that you didn't need to toil like the rest of us. Well just get over yourself, okay? All this stupidity over getting a C in A'level Biology, you're so damned immature. I'm sick of hearing about this, news flash I got a D and I'm still happy. Most of your friends straight up failed and you're crying about a C. Thank your luck stars and stop being a drama queen already! And if you're gonna keep talking about commiting suicide, I suggest you jump out of the balcony already and save me the trouble of strangling you.

Are you online or what, ya jerk? Did you sign out after you're crazy speech and go to bed? Hello??? BUZZ!! Or are you just ignoring me? Answer me dammit! Okay I guess you want some privacy right now. Just don't do anything stupid and I'll see you tomorrow. I bet you're still logged into your yahoo as 'invisible to everyone'.”

By Nabil Ahmed

# She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
Rich Murphy, Fairfax Station

# The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
Russell Beland, Springfield

# McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup.
Paul Sabourin, Silver Spring

# From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Roy Ashley, Washington

# Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake
Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hills

# Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man."
Russell Beland, Springfield

# Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
Jennifer Hart, Arlington

# The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
Wayne Goode, Madison, Ala.

# They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth
Paul Kocak, Syracuse, N.Y.

# The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria

# His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free
Chuck Smith, Woodbridge

# The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
Unknown

If our readers have any similar tales to share, feel free to send us your thoughts at our e-mail address

Like the winter's sun,
the migrating birds
the autumn leaves and
the dews of spring,
your adore walks into
my garden's mud laid
laden pathway
to ease my dreariness.

Dreams wary,
wings flutter my flicking eyes
yearning for your presence
for your touch
bestowed to my desire
and onto the petals
that so forth you form
orchids in my heart.
By Adnan M. S. Fakir

Enlightenment

Moisture and chill
has enveloped the air,
and i stare out
to catch the very first drop,
The wind it flows,
it caresses my skin,
and i feel life
pouring into my veins,
and inspiration flowing
through my heart;
The world now i see anew
love at every corner
life in every atom
beauty in all aspects
has opened up to my eyes
and i see clear my destiny
that befalls me for eternity...
By Hedayetullah A Solenkhi (kaiser)

In a changed world

Gone are the days of fun and laughter
Gone are the days for a child,
Gone are the days flying kites in wonder
Or chasing after butterflies;
The toys that children play nowadays
Are weapons of doom in disguise,
People are too bored to sit and ponder
To remedy their own demise;
Gone are the days when love could conquer all
Even the throbbing of an empty stomach,
Now all we want is more, more and more;
Even though they mount to nothing much.
Gone are the days when the sweet fairy of slumber
Used to embrace every child with her lullaby
We are now playing the parts of soldiers
Disgusted with our lives.
No more do we see children in the park
Heedless of the world in their merry pranks,
Children have long forgotten their innocence
and submerged in the dark with their own hands;
We are now so cautious to live
That we miss the simple delights of our daily days,
Gone are the days when ours hearts were of gold with flesh of ordinary clay;
Gone are the days of harmony
Now that nothing is the same
The world is still the same as it was
But it is us who have changed.
By Naome Syed