Andi Leigh Writes

I was spinning in darkness and slowly became aware of my upset stomach. I felt it gurgle, calling out to me in a way that did not beg for food, but in a way that begged for me to sit up in order to rush the stomach acid back in place. I was laying on my back. I could not open my eyes. They felt crusted over and I took my time to pull apart my sticky eyelashes, allowing a dim light to peek through. The light fluttered through my squinting eyelids and then I inhaled deeply, noticing the clean breath I had just taken in, and then with a slow exhale I tightened my eyelids and blinked open as hard as I could to separate the top lids from the bottoms. I hated when my eyes would feel sticky this way. I thought about my allergies and how tree pollen would do this to me every year. When I blinked I saw a gray sky and the tops of trees. The trees were tall, their branches swayed across the weathered sky. This confused me because I had no idea how I ended up waking up surrounded by trees. I wasn’...

My mother always loved it when I would look up at the sky. As a child, I would watch the sunset and be filled with glee when the stars would begin to peek out from their hiding place. The sky would grow dark and the stars would slowly grow brighter, speckling the canvas that spread above our secluded farmhouse. She would watch me, wondering what I would be thinking as I stared for a little too long at the stars (When I was eight I thought they were other planets with other people living on them and I thought that maybe someday we could visit one of these other worlds). She never stopped me from stargazing the evenings away. I would sit in the unkempt grass, listening to the crickets chirp while feeling the breeze tickle my skin. The stars would look down at me but they never made me feel small. They made me feel grand; like someday I would be able to be bigger than I was. I was only a little kid at the time. My mother would call me in for supper and I would have to peel myself from the...

"What do you have there?" A soothing voice spoke to Micah who was busy making crayon drawings. He covered his papers with his hands and looked up at his teacher, Ms. Greene. Micah didn't speak so he simply stared at her, hoping that she would go away and bother another student. Ms. Greene smiled. "It's okay, Micah. You keep working. Can I see them later?" Micah thought for a moment. His fingers relaxed and he touched the grainy crayon lines on his construction paper. He nodded. "Great," Ms. Greene replied. "I'll check on you in ten minutes, okay?" She walked away, leaving Micah to his coloring. The first grader coughed as he rummaged through the crayon bin that sat on his table. He sat there alone. The other kids in class preferred to avoid Micah and all sat at the other tables in the classroom. Ms. Greene tried her best to get the other students to interact with Micah but it was of no use. Once she had Kiri sit with Micah during sile...

"I can't believe I lost it." Kiran gawked with melancholy eyes at the algae-covered pond that sat hidden behind his late uncle's house. The sun swam down, causing beads of sweat to roll down Kiran's forehead. The sweat swept into his eyes as he frantically tried to wipe them away. The murky pond mocked him with a gentle ripple and the sunlight speckled over the green surface, making the sickly water appear almost magical. "Are you gonna try to find it?" his little sister Madeline asked. "In this disgusting pond?" Kiran scoffed as he motioned his hand to the water. "I'll never find it in there. It's probably buried under old mud and sludge by now." "Maybe a fish ate it," Madeline said. "I don't think anything is alive in there, Maddie." "Dad is gonna be mad," she snickered. Kiran dropped his head in his hands and groaned, "Please shut up, Maddie!" Madeline skipped in front of her olde...

On the morning of the Festival, Mallory zipped down the stairs from her bedroom and skipped straight into the kitchen. Her parents sat at the table; both sipping on cups of hot coffee. "Good morning!" Mallory's smile made her mother light up. "Oh, look at you!" Tilly rose from the table to pinch her daughter's cheeks. "Oh... All grown up! Are you excited for your first Festival?" Mallory nodded. Her eyes sparkled. "Don't forget to stick with your friends, okay?" Her father opened the morning newspaper. "Luckily, we're having the perfect weather this year. Unlike the last. Not a cloud in the sky! And tonight is going to be beautiful." "I won't leave Christy's side. Brandon is going to be there too." Now you be careful around Brandon," her father sighed. "He doesn't strike me as the type to stick his neck out for his friends. Always puts himself first." Mallory rolled her eyes and gave ...