Thunder echoed throughout a valley of rural homes. The sky was dark and filled with even darker clouds. Lightening promised its appearance by spitting across the sky. Rain is coming soon. 

An old teenager stood by the window, watching. It was almost time. Taking utmost care not to wake her parents or younger sister, she dashed to the cabinet, scooped two handfuls of yellow candles and set off into her living room. Placing them all in a circle, she lights them one by one. Fumes rise to the ceil...

Sunlight poured through the windows the next morning. Nina’s family- her mother, father and eleven year old sister- were up and about, and as cheerful as can be. Nina on the other hand, was groggily coming down the stairs. She found herself unable to sleep well. How could she? She summoned a demon. A demon. Her uncertainty kept her awake, just as it would if your day has gone from normal to starfame in a heartbeat.

After last night’s events, she just wasn’t sure what to think. She...

Nina arrived in her class right as the bell bellowed a second time. She was close to being tardy for the second time. That has been happening quite a bit lately. The problem was that Nina did not want to be in class; she just doesn’t want to go to this particular class: debate.

Nina has always been shy and afraid of presenting her material in front of anyone. She despised being picked first to present anything she wrote, anything she created; to her, it was like stripping one article of cloth...

Nina was almost home- she was just passing an alley way. The neighborhood from where she was crossing was fairly nice: well-dressed business like adults coming out of work. Her classmates, in utmost contrast, leaving the school like beggars with their saggy jeans, saggy sweatshirts and jackets that do not reach their stomachs. Nina grimaced every time she saw them pass her.  On the one hand, she resented her classmates’ ability to express themselves without caring what others thought of them; ...