"Goliath" by Breanna Tucker

It's always weird when someone has the exact same schedule as you at school. It's like you've been selected at random to be best friends. I didn't really like this guy Johnny, but since we had all the same classes, we would see each other everywhere, and one day during third period I noticed him kept peeking over from behind his textbook.

"What?" I hissed.

"This is boring."

"Duh."

"Well," he said, "let's do something."

"Do what?" I questioned.

He had a look on his face like he was wondering if he should say what he was going to say. He glanced at Mrs. Richardson. "Let's ditch."

I considered it. Here we were, ambitious teenagers sitting in a pointless class, knowing that absolutely nothing significant was going to happen for the rest of the day. Probably the rest of the week.

"Okay." I smiled and I saw the excitement overtake him.

"Follow me." He got up out of his seat and walked out the door. I obediently followed, wondering why no one noticed.

* * *

Apparently his plan was to go to Magic Mountain, which he had two tickets to. It being a weekday, we got onto every ride in less than 10 minutes. We spun in teacups until we were nauseated; we ate disgusting, over-priced chicken strips; and we got soaking wet on a ride called "Tidal Wave." We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves -- and he even won a pink teddy bear for me. Actually he bribed the worker, but I'll say he won for his sake.

The sun had gone down, so we decided to go on just one more ride before completing our perfect, well-spent day.

"Which one?" he asked.

"Hmm..." I thought about it. "How about Goliath?"

Goliath had the steepest incline of any coaster in the United States.

No one was in line, so we picked the two front seats. As the coaster cranked up into the night sky, we saw the city light up below us.

"Today was fun," he said and smiled.

"Yeah," I replied pleasantly. When we reached the peak of the coaster, we heard a loud thump below us and our cart shifted to the right. Curious, I peeked over the side. The two front wheels were not aligned with the track.

Gravity started to bring us downward.

From the Feb. 2012 workshop on "The Cliffhanger" in Glendale, CA.

"Thumbs Down, Bro"

by Christina McCarthy



The line went on for hours. Hundreds of children lined up side by side as their skin boiled from the summer sun.

Anthony was getting anxious as they approached the top of the mount. Super Speed. The most outrageous water slide in the state of Arizona. It took you down faster than any loopy slide in the park, with the sharpest turns and steepest drops.

"Hey, Chubbs, relax," Greg said to Anthony.

"I can't help it; we've been waiting all week for this, and it's so hot I want to be in the pool already," Anthony said.

"I am actually a bit nervous about it."

"Why? You're retarded. It's going to be sick."

"Well, hate to be the one to share this with you, but I am quite a bit more aerodynamic than you," said Greg. Anthony rolled his eyes and moved ahead in line.

Greg continued, "Maybe I will just wait until you go and when you land in the water you can give me a thumbs up or down so I can decide if I want to go through with it."

"Yeah, okay, whatever you want."

Before long, Anthony was next up. Greg gave him a quick reminder to give him a signal before Anthony jumped into the tube slide head-first. Greg took a few moments to look around. He hadn't realized how high up he was. The view unnerved him.

"Holy shit!" he heard a girl scream from below. He leaned over the rail to see the pool filling with blood and he went into panic mode. He ran down the metal spiral staircase past the crowded line feeling nauseous from the speed and fear. His heart was beating in his throat and he thought he was going to puke. Ever since he was little he was known to be a nervous vomiter.

When he finally go to the pool, Anthony had been taken out but there was a crowd around him filled with panic. He must have hit his head on the bottom. The paramedics tended to him and Greg couldn't see his body. The entire water park seemed to freeze around the scene. Once you drowned out the shaky voices crying for help, the park was silent.

The seconds seemed like hours. A voice yelled out, "He's breathing!" Then there was a loud splash in the bloody pool. Greg looked over to see... Anthony, naked, bringing his head out from under the red pool water.

"What the fuck!" Anthony yelled. "First my trunks get stuck on base bolt in a turn, now the water is like toxic?"

Anthony climbed out of the pool, reaching for a towel, as Greg's stomach turned in shock at the red and relief at his friend. Anthony wrapped the towel around himself.

"Thumbs down bro, all the way."

"The Great Four Guardians"

by Christopher K.

[Circa 2009. End punctuation by Christopher K. -- ed. ]

Everyone thinks gods are a myth but...

They would be wrong.

When God created the World via the Big Bang Effect and the first Act of Evil took place, with Adam and Eve eating the Forbidden Fruit placed by a Fallen Angel named Lucifer who wanted all the power to himself: God created men known as Guardians.

Crafted to assist him in the defeat of Lucifer, they each carried one of the elements that made God who He was: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Chaos, Twilight, Balance, Nature, Existence, Cosmos, and Ultima.

Each person had a mate to reproduce with so with every new child the element would pass to the kid as well. What was the point? To keep Lucifer and his minions in check and the world safe. Back to the main issue...

These four kids were children of Guardians and soon figured out they were needed to carry on their father's work: Zane Eison Hatake of Fire, Blaze Eison Hatake of Fire, Alister Rizon of Light, and Getsu Fuhuma of Existence.

These four would one day be known as The Great Four. In 1583 they discovered that they each had a symbolic relationship with one another. The great war in Japan in the early Edo period took place in the year 1611 and ended in 1614.

The Great Four fought in that war to prevent an evil Warlord named Kazwki Ino-moto and his 10,000 troops from taking over Kyoto. The Great Four only had 500 in total to help the cause. Even though outnumbered severely.... They still had their powers which they mastered but unfortunatly the Warlord also had a gift. Power of Darkness he had.

The result? Total destruction... of the Warlord's men!!! As for the Great Four against Kaz.. A dead draw.

But legend says Guardians permanently never die.. will they return? If so, is this still a myth?! or True? you choose! end?

[300 film is released in 2007; Last Airbender film is released in 2010. -- ed.]

"Ultimus"

by Jomo Farrier

A crimson pool of life. The first thing that comes to mind from the moment I wake, to the second I rest. It even haunts my dreams, turning them into nightmares that tease me with my desires and reward me with sorrow. I loved her, ya know. And now, anytime I think of her, those peaceful thoughts are tainted. Corrupted by that crimson pool of life, slowly leaking out of her chest.

We're supposed to be immortal. But if we really were, how did I watch the love of my life die?

All I could do was watch. Sacred chains restricted me to the body I possessed. And the mythical blade... the one that wasn't even supposed to exist... it proved it existed, and then some.

I knew three things:

1. The blade's name was Ultimus. The knight in shining armor yelled it as he impaled the one who I was destined to be with.
2. The hero's name? Pride. He shouted that too. Announced his arrival, as if he was important to anyone but himself.
3. I wanted revenge. And no force in heaven or hell could stop me.

*

I never liked heroes. I mean, neutral characters are ok. Indecisive, but ok. Heroes, though? The scum of the earth. They aren't comfrotable with living their own lives and dealing with their own problems. They always need more; they want to solve everyone else's problems. But how can people learn from the mistakes they make if another person fixes it?

Exactly. They don't.

*

Pride killed Destiny. He restrained me first, with those enchanted chains that made my body useless, and then he delivered one swift stab to the heart. But you see... Destiny had my heart. And when Pride stabbed hers, he killed all of my remorse.

All sympathy, all chance of forgiveness.

For I am Consequence. You can hold off Consequence, but you will never be able to stop it. Me.

Man, thinking like Pride has me speaking in 3rd person. Ugh. You have to think like your enemy to know his weaknesses, though. And so it begins.

*

John Taylor. The name of the man I possessed. A fair-skinned male, light blue eyes. Muscular. The rest is unimportant. Because he's dead now.

I stared in the mirror for hours after Destiny died, locked in the chains. I realize that I didn't describe these chains before. They aren't your normal linked pieces of scrap metal. They are more like bracelets, beguiling to the eyes. Covered with cryptic symbols. It's impossible to describe their feel, though. Because every time I touched the chains, I felt empty, alone. Those human emotions that don't usually cut as deep. Maybe the loss of Destiny made that happen. But...

Every time I tried to break out of John Taylor's body, the chains glowed crimson and made me stay. So, since the bracelets wouldn't come off, I had to take a leap of faith, from the 20th floor of my hotel room, and get out of the body permanently.

*

The one mistake that heroes always make is to not get both sides of the story.

They think everything is black and white. A damsel in distress--and a villain. A village of civilians--and a monster. What they fail to realize is that everyone makes decisions that put them in the predicaments they need to be saved from.

That damsel in distress probably did something to piss the villain off. That monster? Probably lived where those civilians built that village. If someone kicked you our of your home, wouldn't you be pissed?

*

Now I was free, drifting for a purpose. A body to possess, to reach Pride. But as I drifted, something stopped me. Another spirit. Her name was Knowledge.

So of course, she knew everything. She looked into my blank eyes and told me the rest of the story.

Love was Pride's wife. She died. Why? Because Destiny killed her. Love was the foolish little sister of Knowledge. So of course, she knew nothing. But anyway.

Love and Destiny, the two women, had come up with a plan. A test for Pride. First, Destiny killed Love with the blade: Ultimus. Pride walked in and Destiny fled, leaving the weapon in Love's chest. I wish Pride had made that mistake with me. But anyway. Pride took the blade, chased after Destiny, and caught and killed her in front of me.

And then Knowledge gave me the most crucial piece of knowledge: where Pride was. He was now possessing the President of the United States of America.

*

That coward! I knew what I had to do. I flew to the White House entrance and possessed one of the agents of the Secret Service: Nathan Whitaker. I went on break and walked into the Oval Office. There was the President, staring as if he was waiting for me.

He thrust his hands forward and force erupted out of his palms, attempting to lock me within that body. I was smart, though. I left the body at once. The force threw Nathan into a wall, cracking his neck with great momentum. That must've hurt. I dove for Pride as he got out of his chair, running. I reached him and breached his mind.

There I stood, in this white, blank room. Pride held Ultimus in his hands.

"Are you stupid?" he asked. "This blade is unstoppable."

"Don't you understand?" I asked. "They tricked us both. Your wife and Destiny just used you, to see if you would crack. And you did. Pride had to be a hero and kill Destiny. And now you're left with me: Consequence."

"Then I'll kill you."

"You can't," I said. "Pride only has the power to kill its own destiny. It doesn't have the power to do anything else."

I walked up to him and grabbed the blade of Ultimus. It melted in my hands as he watched in horror. The big bad wolf lost his balls.