travel

via

travel:(v.) make a journey, typically of some length or abroad.

take a globe

close your eyes

reach out

and pick a place

“let’s go

you ready?”

hope

via

[story]

i stared out the window, a smile on my face, excitement in my mind, and hope in my heart. my mom leaned over the edge of the car’s seat, her face slightly perplexed.

“you know, we might not be able to get it today.”

i smiled. “that’s okay.”

“alright, but i just don’t want you to get your hopes too high.”

“i know we might not get it today,” i told her, “i know it might not be there, or something might happen, or we might not have room in the car. but i can always hope.”

she smiled at me. “yes - you can always hope.”

hope.

“stop that plane”

via

“stop that plane!” i rushed towards the gate. “stop that plane!”

“excuse me,” glared the stewardess, who was about to go on, “what on earth are you talking about?”

i gripped her hands. “you must stop that plane. don’t let it take off!”

“whatever’s the matter?” her brow was furrowed.

“just stop it!” i urged, taking off at a run in the opposite direction. “just stop it,” i whispered.

maya’s words came floating back to me - you have the power to do anything. i shook my head, running faster. she was wrong - i didn’t have any powers, not like her or any of the others. all that i was? a normal human girl. i couldn’t do anything to stop this. i couldn’t, as much as i wanted to. i ached with all my heart to be able to do something. but i just couldn’t.

yes, you can.

i ran faster, trying to outrun the voice, but i couldn’t.

you might not have any so-called “powers”, but you have your own power that no one else has. a power that could save the world. use it.

i had no idea what they were talking about, but i knew the voice well. i shook my head, trying to get her out, but i couldn’t. instead, i found myself speaking back to the mind-reader. you don’t understand, you just can’t! i’m nothing special like you guys! i’m just a normal human! i felt like crying even as i thought the words.

no. you are so much more.

“i am nothing more,” i whispered, thinking it at the same time.

you are tane leyman. as long as there is evil in the world, the good will combat it. tane, you are that good. you might think you can’t do anything, but there is always something that good can do.

my running steps halted. suddenly, i wished that the mind-reader, layla, would say more. layla? layla, are you there? there wasn’t a reply. but her words echoed in my mind, and i realized she was right - i could do something. i couldn’t just stand here and let evil triumph. i didn’t know what i could do, but i would try to do whatever it took to make sure that plane didn’t take off the ground.

i took off back towards the gate. the stewardess woman was heading towards the door. i pushed past her - “hey! get back here!” - and through the door. i ran across the tarmac towards the stairs that looked like they were just about to be taken away from the door of the plane. i raced towards them, yelling and waving my hands - “stop! stop!”

the men taking it away stopped, giving me a strange look.

“are you on this flight?”

“i need to be,” i told them truthfully.

they nodded and let me go up. i sprinted to the top, glancing around the seats holding the passengers. that’s when i spotted them, towards the back of the plane. quickly, before they could see me, i ducked up front into the front where the pilots were.

“young lady, you can’t - ” somebody started to say.

“just a moment!” i cried, jumping away from the co-pilot’s reaching hands. “you can’t let this plane leave the ground! there’s a major threat on board!”

“and why should we believe you, a girl?” the pilot raised a suspicious eyebrow at me.

“look, if anybody else was saying this, would you believe me?” i pleaded.

“what kind of a threat?” the pilot finally asked.

“it’s... um... a dangerous person,” i managed. “basically worse then a terrorist. i’d suggest that you evacuate the plane immediately and get them into the custody of the law.”

“young lady, if you’re...” the pilot started to say.

at just that moment, there was the sound of somebody getting punched behind us. one of the stewardesses came through the door, face pale.

“sir, somebody just went and attacked one of the passengers, and...!”

“quickly, get everybody off the plane!” he cried. “hurry!”

before they could say anymore to me, i hurried out of the cabin and saw the scene unfolding. maya, cameron, and a few of the others were there, finally putting Y-band handcuffs on zeen, his apprentice, zyn, and his Partner, sasha, and starting to escort them out of the plane.

“what is the meaning of this - ?!” the pilot came out of the cabin, staring at all of us.

“it’s nothing,” maya told him. “you may continue on with your flight.”

“yeah,” cameron agreed. he held up what looked like a government badge, having come from the pocket of his suit coat. “we’re part of the government.” as though it would help, he also pulled a pair of aviators out and put them on.

everybody was staring at us, and i could only imagine what they had to be thinking. i only smiled and maya. she leaned forward and whispered, “thanks for stalling the plane. we couldn’t have done it without you.”

“thank you,” i told her. “your words were part of the reason that i kept going.”

maya just smiled. before anybody else could say anything, we escorted zeen & co off the plane and behind the airport. jack then teleported us back to the base.

i realized, as everyone celebrated everything that had gone right, that i really didn’t have to have any powers or be anything amazing to do something amazing. i just had to have courage. and sometimes that meant a lot more then any kind of power. i smiled.

* * *

as kind of a little note, this is kind of partly a story idea i had that would go along with the unusuals, as kind of like a second series. thoughts?

you can't runaway

you can't
runaway
from your problems
you have to turn
and face them
but don't
worry
you won't be
alone
because there is
always
One
who holds your hand
and leads
the way

away from the city

via

"i need to get away," she whispered, staring out the window. "i just need to get away."

the noise was too much. the people were too much. the buildings, scraping the sky, were too much. it was claustrophic. it was scary. it was too much. she just needed to get away. away from the noise, away from the people, away from the buildings that crowded out the sky - away from the city.

|| sometimes we just need to get away ||

light up their hearts

via

i stand on the roof

and stared out

the lights twinkling

i close my eyes

cities full of empty people

"not anymore," i whisper

i was going

to light up their hearts

you can make a difference.

lift your hands to the sky,

anna

try again

i stared down at my hands, letting out a shaky breath. the words wouldn't leave me alone, repeating themselves over and over in my head.

"i'm sorry, you haven't been accepted. you're not good enough."

tears came to my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. what was i going to do now? this was all i'd ever known. this was all i was good at. there was no other future for me. my family was gone. i didn't have any friends. i had no place to go. this had been everything that my life had been. and now it was gone. there was no purpose. i was done.

forever.

my dream.... why did it have to be shattered? why did it have to all come tumbling down? i leaned heavily against the building, wishing that today had never happened. wishing that i could go back to that morning, when i had been so hopeful and happy. i wished i could just stay there, and not have to come back to the present--ever. this pain was too much to bear.

"you're hopeless. you'll never make a living out of this. face it--you stink."

i cringed at the thought of the words. why did this have to happen? why?

i turned and walked down the street, my hands in my pockets. i didn't stop until i reached the park on the edge of the bay. i gripped the railings so hard my knuckles turned white. the wind brushed my hair away from my face and dried my tears.

my life was over. there was nothing more here for me.

"no," i whispered. "NO!"

i stared up at the sky. clouds threatened to pour rain. i didn't care. i didn't care if anyone was watching me. i stared up at the sky.'

"God," i started, "you say in your word that you have a plan for me, not to harm me, but to give me a hope and a future. i thought this WAS my hope and my future. so what now? what do i do next? God, i need You. i need help."

that's when i felt it. the despair left me. and a new thought came.

that one person might have said i was worthless. they might have said that i wouldn't amount to anything. but that didn't mean i had to give up. i would practice harder. i would do better. i would come back, and i would do it--i would become a writer, just like i'd always been. and nobody was going to throw that dream away from me. it would be hard, yes, and it would hurt. it would be hard to have to start all over and write better, more beautifully. but i would try and try and try, and try again. i would try until there was another vision that i was given by God.

"i'm not giving up," i whispered. i glanced up at the sky and smiled. "thanks."

eight word story

fearful,

she

had

courage

and

became

a

legend

be a voice not an echo

everything is so loud and crazy out there.

i keep on getting lost. it's scary out there. it's like a forest where there's no sunlight.

i find myself walking behind everyone else. i find myself following everyone else. i find myself copying everyone else.

i have ideas. but i'm too scared. i'm afraid that people won't like them. i'm afraid of what people will say.

they're buried. deep down. they're forgotten. i push them away. i don't want to see them.

"be like us," they say.

"i want to," i say.

i follow.

i don't let my ideas come out.

i am not a voice.

i am an echo.

i walk among the trees.

they are quiet, silent; they rise up to the skies, but their roots are in the ground, deep down here with me.

and that's where it comes.

"i have an idea."

i push it away. i don't want to see them.

but there's another voice, and it breaks through the subdued silence that i have become. it is my true voice, one that i have pushed away, again and again, with every other idea that was ever hidden with my fear.

it speaks.

it whispers.

it says,

"speak out.

share your ideas.

be your own voice.

don't be an echo."

i am not a voice.

i am an echo.

i'm scared.

i run through the forest. i don't look back. my eyes are blinded. with what?

tears.

i run harder.

the voice is still here. and suddenly, i've stopped. i'm not scared. i'm tired; tired of running away, tired of hiding, tired of burying every hope and dream i ever had deep down inside of myself, never to see the light of day.

and so i stand.

tall.

proud.

smiling.

and suddenly it's all gone. all the fear is washed away. everything about me that whispered "echo" on the night wind has been blown away by itself.

and so i stand.

and i say,

"i am a voice.

i am not an echo."

i went off.

i took a book.

i took a pen.

 i wrote words.

i gave the words.

i made a smile.

+be a voice, not an echo+

take courage, dear heart,

anna

|| i was an echo. but not anymore.

normal

i stared at the sunlight coming in from the window and i couldn't help but think:

what's it like to feel normal?

i'd forgotten; it didn't seem like that long ago. but i suppose it was. i suppose it was awhile ago when there wasn't a knot in my stomach. i suppose it was awhile ago when i felt fine about everything. i suppose it was awhile ago when i felt happy. i suppose it was awhile ago when i felt like everything was just perfect, ordinary...

normal.

i thought about lying down on the floor. i thought about staring up and out of the window, the sunlight laying on me and basking me in its glory. i thought about how that might make me feel. i thought. and i thought that maybe, just maybe, in that one moment, in that moment of ecstasy as the sun bathed me in a golden glow, the knot might slip away and everything would suddenly feel beautifully normal.

that's when i turned.

and walked away.

+i'm normal now+

+are you going to lie, or walk away?+

+make a choice+

lovely days are coming soon,

anna

|| be still, beating heart.