Page 20 - HEF Pen & Ink 2023

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Achlys
By Aliester E. Salome
Noun: The mist or fog one sees before death, Proper noun: Achlys An ancient Greek goddess of death-mist, misery and sadness
Jagged lines running towards each end of the paper; hash- marks on clothing and skin.
It had been too long, the need to feel the same euphoria was enough to fuel me into the early hours of the morning. Eyes looking into eyes; teeth smiling at teeth. A hand that feels everything touching one that will never feel.
Fiction and life; words and thoughts; meanings and dif- ferences. A heart that has never felt and a chest left torn open and bare to the wind.
Months of waiting, is it pleasure or validation? Can it
be classified as a sin to be so focused on one sheet of paper?
Is it wrong to pour one’s heart out to a false being? Can fiction feel and know when the artist cannot convey their own feelings and knowledge?
Can paper retain memory the same way it can graphite and ink, or will it slide off the surface into an endless void. Is it the paper’s fault or is it the artist’s fault for tearing. But which one tears first?
Amy
By Tom Davidson
People saw me as the perfect boy in high school. Good grades, captain of the debate team, and a full ride to any college of my choice. I worked hard to keep that image when the opposite was true. I struggled with school, had no friends, and I got diagnosed with mental illness at a young age. It sounds like the beginning of a cheesy book. However, I took all of this and poured my soul into academics. My parents were proud of me for this, and it soon became my medication. The approval and praise I received was the reason I kept going.
I took classes that pushed me. All honors and advanced classes. I pushed myself over and over to numb the pain. It worked for a little while but soon, I started becoming numb. The monotony of my everyday life had become too much. Wake up, go to school, go to work, do homework until I go to bed at midnight. I felt like I needed more stim- ulation or something to help me get out of the hole I was in. Then I met Amy.
Amy was a year ahead of me in school, however we were in some of the same classes. A few months into my junior year of high school there was a house party. Of course,
By Hailey Jones
I went to keep my image. I hated parties as they are extremely overwhelming, and I couldn’t stay for long. It was loud and with lights flashing over and over, dizziness overtook me, and I decided to go into a room to get a little bit of quiet. I walked into a bedroom when I saw someone already in there.
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I went to walk back out of the room but paused with recognition, “Oh hey Amy.”
“Don’t worry, I would enjoy your company,” she said with a smile.
I smiled back and sat down next to her on the bed. We sat with muffled dance music blaring in the background. “Why are you in here? I assumed you would be out there having fun,” I asked.
“Oh, I’m not really the party type. I came here with one of my friends, but she left with some guy. What about you?” “I get overwhelmed easily. I guess I don’t show it very often.”
She suppressed a laugh. “Would it be bad to say I’m not surprised?”