Completing everything on that list was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Not because I lost you, but because I had to learn how to love myself. [commissioned entry for the To The Bone short story contest]

What if negative thoughts controlled your entire life? A sample entry for To The Bone's 'Mind Over Matter' contest.

"i was thinkin' about yesterday, when you asked me why i stayed, with this, and i didn't answer you. i didn't answer you, because i don't know why i stay. nova?" "yea?" "would you like to run away with me?" {cover: @guyswithguitars } highest ranking: #21 in Poetry || completed || "shoot for the moon. even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"

I was the 6th-grade "slut." And I kept a diary. So I decided to create The UnSlut Project in the hopes that my own diary entries could provide some perspective to girls who currently feel trapped and ashamed. I am publishing these entries one at a time, without changing a single word except for the names of the people involved. My limited commentary, which is confined to brackets in each entry, is meant to provide the relief of my current perspective, fifteen years later. The UnSlut Project: Working to undo the dangerous slut shaming in our schools, communities, media, and culture by sharing knowledge and experiences.

Charlie doesn't speak, so he paints.

At 00:00, Cinderella ran away from her prince, leaving a glass slipper on the marbled steps of the grand staircase. At 00:00, I ran away from him. Unlike Cinderella, I didn't leave a single thing behind. © sonderingly

I am broken. The name on my wrist is a constant reminder of that. If I've never even had a crush in my life, how the hell am I supposed to have a soulmate?

PINOCCHIO tells the tale of forgiveness, friendship, and the desperate longing for acceptance. This is a coming-of-age story many look over. | This book is dedicated to all of the transgender children who wanted the acceptance of a family member but never received it. | |original story line|

As a Muslim girl, marriage is one of Safia's biggest dreams. All her life she kept herself pure for her faith and her future husband. Although having never had experienced love, and occasionally doubting whether she will, Safia feels herself growing impatient being single. She then sends her family to search for 'the one.' Trusting her family, she decides to say yes to the first person her family finds for her. She believes she will get married and face all her problems with her husband by her side. Is it really as simple as that? Yusuf feels a void in his heart. He tries to deny it, but he knows his mother's not proud of him. He knows she wishes he could be a little more modern like his brother. He wanted his family to find him a wife while he could focus on his deen (faith), but his idea of a wife clashes with his mother's. Seeing that his family were struggling to find him someone he likes, he decides to take matters into his own hands. But is he rushing into decisions without thinking?

Alec remembers him.