One Last Word About Christmas

Yes, Christmas is over, but late stories are better than no stories at all!

I had a pretty decent Christmas. Good food, good music, and a family less shattered than usual all helped to make it special. I hope everyone had a similar experience. After all, Christmas is supposed to be a happy day, right?

Anyways, here's one last post about Christmas to hold you over for another 364 days. 

I hope you enjoy it and keep coming back each day for more poetry and stories from the eyes of Alex Arlington.

Photo by Kristen Nicholl

“Regalos para mi”

“Merry Christmas!” she shouts.  My step mother stares at me with hopeful  eyes while my father plays with a new gadget on the couch. She slides a large box across the floor to me.

Bright-red wrapping paper with green stripes and a sparkling blue bow; all I can manage to do is stare at it. If there’s a hidden secret to this mysterious box, I haven’t caught it yet.

“Open it!” she insists while holding her smartphone in picture-taking position. For a few moments more, I contemplate the gift before I move my hands to tear off the colorful wrapping.

Maybe… Hope fills the back of my mind as I tear the last bit of paper off of the box. Stark-white without a single mark to indicate its contents. Just maybe… I open the box slowly and pull out its contents. A new game system, fresh from Sony, is now clasped between my hands. I guess not…

“I wasn’t sure what to get you,” my step mother states, “but the man at Best Buy said that this was a popular item this year, and I knew you liked video games.” Three games sit in the bottom of the box with some candy that’d been thrown in to fill space.

I don’t let out the sigh which comes up my throat. I don’t let my frown show. How could she have known? I can’t blame her. Instead, a smile is put upon my face. It’s sincere, even if not my first emotion.

“Thank you!” I say brightly, bringing satisfaction to her worried face. “I’ve been wanting this for a while.” I hold the console up a bit and force my smile larger. A few shutter sounds indicate the pictures she takes.

“I’m glad you like it, sweetie,” her relief and smile never fade, even for a second. “Who wants brownies?” She stands up as my dad grumbles something from the couch. She leaves the room, taking my excited look as my consent.

Still, as she turns away, I look down and lose my smile. My eyes take in the new game console. I guess I shouldn’t complain. I had wanted this too, right? But my thoughts are little comfort against my wish for Audrey to suddenly appear…For the contents of the box to suddenly be some sort of sign that she’s come back…

“Brownie time!” my step mother exclaims cheerfully as she enters the living room once more. A silver tray covered in brownies brownies rests upon her upturned hands. Instantly, my smile returns, and I silently promise not to let it fade for the rest of the day.

Christmas Eve

Photo by Kristen Nicholl

It's the day before Christmas here in Ohio, and I can practically feel the excitement in the air.

People have rushed into stores, grabbing as much merchandise as possible. So much greed has been shown these past few months...but, somehow, tomorrow everyone will turn into "saints." Caring will replace hatred, and, for one day, I'll have faith in most of the human race.

Oh, what a great day it'll be!

Today's piece shares that feeling from the eyes of Alex Arlington. This week will be full of similar posts, stop by each and every day to read them all and join us on tumblr for the delayed post of each piece and special views of each of our Christmases.

Happy holidays everyone!

“Cuando era niῆo…”

I awoke to sunny  thoughts of the frigid air outside. Every year, when I was younger, I’d awake to snow-covered seas of frozen fields. Now, the scene has been replaced by the sight of cars as they pass by on the highway below my bedroom window.

“One,” I whisper the command to split into another form of myself. For seconds I sit on both sides of a border between the past and present before I come back to my regular self. Slowly, my face starts to mimic the happiness of the child I’d seen a decade ago.

A mask over my cynicism it may be, but the thrill is real. Only a day is left before Christmas. Soon the presents will come, and love will sweep the world. I can’t help but feel the overwhelming pleasure of peace soon to be realized.

Slipping out of bed, the feeling fails to fall from me. No. The feeling shall never fall from me.

Fate drives me,

hate divides me,

but love keeps me grounded.

~Christopher Shorten

Tumblfy

Hey everyone, I've got some big news to share!

Life In Fiction is expanding to Tumblr! 

Whether for good or bad, the new Tumblr page (reallifeinfiction.tumblr.com) will allow us to post extras posts, pieces, or tidbits that may never make it to our main site. I guarantee, if you check it out, you'll definitely enjoy it (especially as our number of posts grows in size).

This week, I bring you the first original piece to be posted by me on Tumblr. Enjoy!

"Pessimism For the Night"

I take these breaths only to live one more day.
But, life isn’t worth living.
The unforgiving world that surrounds me
Just doesn’t understand…
No, how could they possibly understand?
That I live not for life,
But for the sake of holding her one more time,
Placing my lips upon hers,
Feeling her skin beneath my broken fingers…
It’s been far too long…
Yet, I’ll still breath, not for the sake of living,
But to simply see her
One more time.

By the way, don't forget to follow me, in all of my nerdiness, as well. Look for Living Fiction (alex-arlington.tumblr.com) and don't forget to always put life into words.

~Chris

Horrific mindsets

Buenas noches todo el mundo

Picture of The Pulse's first print edition.

This week is a pretty fantastic week for the the second publication I write for, The Pulse--an independent news source here at OSU. Today, we launched our first print edition, with one of my pieces highlighted on the second page. I've been writing for The Pulse for over a year now and have several other pieces posted on their website, but to actually see my work in real print always puts a smile on my face. Definitely check it out if you have the chance! 

(Note: Although many articles' topics focus on OSU events, many others are still applicable to the population at large.)

In the fiction department, a new writer, Audrey, shall be appearing at the end of the week. So, please, give her your warmest welcome.

As for me, I have a new piece to share with you all. As a writer and deep-thinker, I've come across a lot of hatred from different groups of people (by which, I've been called everything from racial slurs to a homicidal maniac). I never truly understood how some people can think some of the things that they think about me, and I feel as if it's about time that I really attempt to put my confusion into writing. 

This poem shall be the first of many which underline my uncertainty. I hope the message reaches you in a meaningful way.

Thank you, my friends, and remember to always put life into words.

"While Still Far Away"

My mind is hazy..

All thoughts are unclear…

My soul’s troubled..

But I still lack fear.

What are these "words"…

That float in my head…

They give me pain…

I want peace instead.

I’m traumatized…

Just to say the least…

They’re horrified…

They think I’m a beast.

They want to know…

The horrors of my dreams…

Oh, Ignorance…

You’ve claimed them, it seems.

Fate drives me.

     Love guides me.

         Hate keeps me down.

Think happy thoughts.

~Chris