Poignant Stories

Like water, soil, and sun, can you nurture me? Nasrin "Rin" Rivers grows things for a living. She's a broke twenty-four-year-old gardener raising her sick younger brother in a cramped apartment overflowing with plants, the only thing in her life she can control. Not her addict mother, not her father's absence, and definitely not the stack of bills growing faster than her plants. So when she wakes up half naked and hungover in a mansion she could never afford to walk past, she knows she's hit a new low. What she doesn't expect is the owner: Emiliano Valderrama, a stunning and infuriating Colombian heir with a reputation for being untouchable...and a clear memory of the night she can't remember. She thinks their chaotic encounter is over-until the next morning, when she learns the mansion belongs to the same man behind the high-paying gardening job she just applied for. Their accidental collision spirals into a sharp, intoxicating push-and-pull as Rin discovers the world behind his gates is full of secrets, obsessions, and dangers that bloom like nightshade. Caught between survival, family loyalty, and a man who terrifies her almost as much as he draws her in, Rin must decide whether Emiliano is just another beautiful poison, or something worth risking everything for. Rin knows how to handle dangerous growth. She can prune it, shape it, survive it. But Emiliano Valderrama? He's something she's never learned to control. And in his world, nothing is planted by chance.

A widow returns to her family's ranch where she reconnects with a last love.

Dear Readers, The poem you are about to read, A Duty To Speak, is incredibly close to my heart because it is born entirely from a true experience. One evening, after finishing my shift at Barter Books-the lovely café nestled inside the old converted Victorian railway station-I stepped out to catch my usual bus home. What should have been a routine journey turned into an evening I will never forget. While waiting at the station, I witnessed a vulnerable young schoolboy being subjected to deeply uncomfortable and inappropriate behavior by a heavily intoxicated woman. What shocked and distressed me just as much as her actions was the reaction of those around us-the bystanders who chose to look away, and even those who laughed. I knew I couldn't just stand by. Thanks to a brilliant, furious bus driver who understood the gravity of the situation, we managed to intervene and get the boy to safety. I wrote this poem to process that night, but more importantly, to give a voice to that quiet schoolboy and to highlight a vital truth: we all have a responsibility to look out for one another. I hope it resonates with you and serves as a gentle reminder of why we must never choose silence when someone is in need of help. Thank you, as always, for reading. Warmest wishes, Gemma

"Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself to become a new person." ― Gerard Way "Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn." ― Mahatma Gandhi "The phoenix must burn to emerge." ― Janet Fitch, White Oleander "My sun sets to rise again." ― Robert Browning ~the final piece in the BURN poetry series~

Gloria trapped in a loveless marriage after her husband's infidelity, endures a nightly ritual of tearful breakdowns at the stroke of midnight. The stark contrast between her past happiness and the present emptiness fuels her despair. The story delves into the depths of her emotional turmoil, exploring themes of heartbreak, betrayal, and the resilience of the human spirit.

--- A bunch of bleeding words that best describes life.. you might relate so give it a try. ---

Lincoln, obsessively in love with Ronnie Anne, stalks her daily. When he comes up with a plan to make her fall in love with him, everything changes dramatically. [Mature Themes, Fear, Extreme Distress, and Violence.] (Suggested Ages 16+) #1 in Poignant #2 in Ronnie Anne #2 in Unsettling #3 in Disturbing #5 in Morbid #6 in Stalked

The complete novel is available on https://www.amazon.com/Mister-Kreaseys-Demon-Storm-Clouds-ebook/dp/B0052F7KF6/ Having once served as a classroom teacher in a peaceful village school and then experiencing the contrast with a post as a college teacher in an Inner London college where a much thicker skin was needed to adjust to the needs of a much tougher breed of students, I drew on this experience to inform the fiction, Mister Kreasey's Demon; the demon partly the product of a classroom-broken paranoid mind and partly a real, sharp, metal threat to Kreasey's 'well-being', courtesy of his disenchanted students, who didn't want to chew on, still less digest, the metaphysical poets. I can say that my research was done truly, if not painfully, on the job; survival teaching me a lesson but giving me an empathy with those from deprived backgrounds whose anger against society, though difficult to cope with, was still deserving of my spending 2 years exploring the motivations of London's street-toughened students. Tormented by his students there is one exception, Amy, who tries to be Matt's 'passport' to her teacher-bashing classmates . The book cover was designed to suggest that the trust which Kreasey places in Amy and her growing tenderness of feeling for him ( in the foreground on the steps) is threatened by the gathering of those amongst his students ( distorted faces at top of book cover ), Kreasey's 'demon', who want to finish the job of breaking him. Reviews • "As a former London teacher, Raymond Nickford has nailed the teacher's fear of the 'Lord of the Flies' pack mentality perfectly. And what a cliffhanger!" - Marsha Moore - author of The Hating Game. • "Raymond Nickford does anxiety and paranoia so chillingly well." - Jane Alexander - author of "Walker" • "Beautifully observed characters, atmospheric and intriguing." - Barbara Erskine - Sunday Times bestselling author of "The Darkest Hour"

In 45 Minutes, school will end. In 45 Minutes, my Mom is traveling to New York. In 45 Minutes I will ask Chase to go out with me. In 45 Minutes I could go home crying or I could have a boyfriend. All in 45 minutes, my life may change forever. ¤ Told with equal parts of real emotional truth and humor, Starlight87's novel shows readers how in such a short amount of time, your life can change forever.

"There were men who believed they were endowed with the aptitude and finesse to save an impaired yet beautiful soul from the erosion of reality by pulling him into the very presence of reality. They failed miserably." This is a tragic tale of a college student with a strange mental illness suffering from stigmatization and apathy of his peers.

A poignant tale of a woman's journey through the emptiness of material success, and her ultimate realization of what truly matters.

Poems of love and loss

Months after quitting his job, Allen finds himself dealing with loneliness while studying in a foreign country. His life seems on track until a tragic event occurs - one that leaves him searching for answers in the darkness, guided only by a quiet companion. A continuation of A Quiet Night. Inspired by true events.

When David Pullen finds out his girlfriend has been cheating on him his whole world comes crashing down and he soon finds himself jobless, homeless and desperate to get his life back on track, but of course nothing's ever that simple.

A free verse confessional poem with lyrical elements exploring existential themes. The lack of rigid structure allows for a powerful and immediate expression of my emotional experience.

Two die-hard hippies take an enormously harrowing, crazy, nine hundred mile hilarious journey. One grabbing onto and into seeking for his long lost youth, the other just itching to make the trip to see if she hasn't lost her sense of outrageous spontaneity .Sometimes dangerous, maybe a little illegal,and always butt kicking and heart stopping fun!!!! True Story.

A school project. Heavily inspired by Sisyphus 55. -Alx