I understand that people can get really sad, and that they can be really happy. Depression is different from just being sad, and sometime there is no words to explain it. It just is a shadow that hangs there, waiting to see if you'll win this war.

"I've always had this feeling that I wouldn't live to see past 30. Life has always been hard for me and I know that one day, it'll kill me." I put down my pen and slash my wrists, painting the paper a beautiful red. I look at the note and tuck it in a book for safe keeping. I look down at my thighs and see the words "die" and "you won't be missed" etched in to my skin, glowing in the lamp light. I reach for the Advil on my desktop and open the bottle, throwing my head back and gulping down as many as my throat would allow. I sigh and stumble to my bed, a wicked smile on my face and an excited feeling in my stomach. Awaiting death makes me feel alive.

All Hope's life, she has always lived in the shadow of her abusive older brother. Her parents divorced when she was reasonably young and she now lives with her father and his new monster of a partner and her two snotty children. Her whole life, she's been bullied, abused, taken advantage of, and broken, and now she's turned to self-harm as a way to cope. But, little did she know, the world may be ugly, but it has its hidden beauties.

Blank. Empty. That's how I feel. No thoughts come to my head. Faint memories disappear, I know nothing anymore. Piano notes fade away forever, not strong enough to bring me back. No one is here, except fading footsteps. I don't move anywhere. I'm stuck out in space, with nothing. I can't perceive anything beyond this dried up stream of my mind. Color fades to gray, giving no inspiration of going on. I slip into this familiar plague of nothing, all past pain is forgotten. No one attempts to help me. All things and senses drift away like early morning mist. I don't see anything beyond a curtain of gray. I am nothing.

More than 60 million people are currently fleeing conflict or persecution around the world. Due to their race, religion or nationality, these people's homes are no longer safe places to live and their governments no longer provide them with protection. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works around the world to provide refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) with everything they need from psychological care to lifesaving nutrition. We set up hospitals in refugee camps, we help women give birth safely, we vaccinate children to prevent epidemics and we provide access to safe drinking water. Here, some of our teams share their stories.

"I have two Identities. This is normal." Set in a universe where every human has two identities, Sia lives a normal life with her family and shares a body and brain with her 'other' identity Sahara. Together, they can face a challenge and come out unharmed. One identities weakness will always be the other's strength. All this, however, is different for Mack. He has a secret he can never tell anyone for it could have unknown consequences for him. Pretending to be like everyone else, he faces a constant struggle of keeping this secret away from others. When he meets Sia, he finds himself trusting her more than anyone else before... As they grow closer, secrets are revealed - causing further revelations and consequences neither of them could have ever expected.

BOOK 1 // Human Error (COMPLETE) BOOK 2 // Human Instinct (IN PROGRESS) *NOW OPTIONED FOR A TV SHOW* "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness engineered right into their DNA." - William Shakespeare, 1602 (adapted for BioPlus) Astrid Oxford is not normal. Two hundred years into the future, society is recovering from global collapse, and genetic modification has saved the remaining population from a hunger crisis. The alteration of human DNA has been illegal since the technology was developed, but in the heart of New London, a sinister trend has emerged among society's elite. Designer children have been the city's best-kept secret for years, but strange side effects are now appearing as they hit adolescence. When a freak suicide forces modification into the public eye, eighteen-year-old Astrid is about to learn how difficult it is to stay under the radar when you really were born to stand out.

Everything you need to know about #MuslimLivesMatter.

Stop These Lies

When Lisa Dumont travels down to New Orleans to stay with her mother for the summer, she finds herself entangled in a web of century-long territorial disputes between undead and supernatural forces. Lisa soon realizes that she has become torn between the blood-loyalty to her mother, Voodoo Priestess Madam Dumont, and the intrigue she has grown towards Elder Vampire, Hezekiah Mercier - the enemy. And consequently, the heavy discord between the two factions leaves Lisa with life-changing decisions to make that could possibly alter the fate of both groups and everyone else in between. ** **DISCLAIMER** This story is UNEDITED and UNREVISED. I haven't made any adjustments to this story since I first wrote it, which was when I was about 18 years old. I'm 23 now, for reference. I adore this story with all I have, but most of the chapters I haven't even revisited since I first uploaded them. Any mistakes, I'm usually notified of them by readers who point them out in comments. Please tread lightly, for there are undoubtedly historical inconsistencies, incorrect language translations, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and information that hasn't been properly fact checked. This is a work of FICTION. Have fun with it, please! But also beware that this is an amateur piece (that I had a great time writing). Follow me on instagram! @ceaselessmindwrites