VOLUME 2 2019
Hamlet By: Maggie Epling, 11
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Introduction
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Welcome to the second edition of Inklings, a literary magazine created by students at Lexington Christian Academy to showcase literary and other artistic talents. The magazine is a platform for students to publish their work, and is intended to encourage and support creativity throughout the student body. You will find short stories and poems (many from our annual poetry slam) in the journal, as well as paintings, drawings, and photographs. We hope you enjoy this glimpse at the wide variety of talent in our school. The work in this magazine represents the unique, God-given gifts that diversify our student population.
together, the administrators who approved the project, and especially Mrs. Iler for making this book possible and for wanting to showcase an aspect of our students that often goes unrecognized and underappreciated. Most of all, we thank the students who, in the midst of homework and sports and clubs and life, found the time to create something as well as the courage to let us publish it. Students, encourage one another to continue expressing yourselves and using the abilities that God has given you every day, and may the time you spend reviewing these pages be a blessing to you.
We would like to thank the many people who supported the development and creation of this magazine. They include the English and Art teachers who encouraged students to submit their work, the Advanced Digital Media students who pieced the book
May 2019
Table of Contents
Written Works
Images
Great Lord 4
Hamlet 1
A Girl’s Life 5
White House 4
Beast 6
Sydney 5
The Streetlight
Black Horse 6
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Iguana 10
Landscape 9
Untitled (McGarey)
Fish 9
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Untitled (Sparks & Jones) 11
Iguana 10
When You Become the Lines 12
Parrot 11
boxes 13
Seascape 11
Drowning Roses
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Keep On Keepin On
Riley’s Lament
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When You Become the Lines 12
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La Terre 16
Dare to Hope 13
To Love a Boy
Honey 13
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Flowers 14 Olivia 15 Jessica 16
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Great Lord The stars proclaim your wonders The warm sun declares it summer Your hand is in the sky and ground You find the lost and make them found Nothing can hide from your gaze You guide us through life’s maze So, what do I have to fear? When we see your majesty here By: Maggie Matthews, 9
By: Jerry Liu, 10 4
A Girl’s Life
At the beginning of a girl’s life you’ll find her in a crib Pink or yellow walls line the room While stuffed animals lay on the shelves Her mother constantly trying to make her say mama And always wearing T-shirts that say daddy’s girl But eventually she has to grow up But eventually she has to grow up Into a toddler is the next stage Now she has more colors in her room And more stuffed animals and plastic kitchen playsets Taking naps and throwing tantrums too Taking pictures and getting sick of taking pictures
But at least she tries to make time for family and friends Then it’s off to college and she’s an adult The it’s off to college and she’s an adult A girl’s life is never boring It’s filled with stress and drama It has dating and breakups But a woman’s life is never boring either And perhaps it’s even worse By: Megan Spotts. 11
Taking pictures and getting sick of taking pictures Is something no one gets over quite frankly But now she’s a child in elementary school But she still keeps her favorite stuffed animals But she replaces the other things for a game boy But what she really wants is a phone But what she really wants is a phone And eventually she gets a phone when she becomes a tween Now she is more aware of boys and goes a bit crazy School is getting harder and she realizes she actually has to try Her stuffed animals are hidden in her closet She’s finding her purpose in life She’s finding her purpose in life She’s a teenager now and is going through high school Her life is really getting started now and guess what she can drive Finding a boyfriend and going to dances Only to realize she has no idea how to dance and neither does he And then it’s senior year and it’s time to think about colleges And then it’s senior year and it’s time to think about colleges The final year of high school is something out of a dream they say But if you ask an actual senior they say it’s absolute hell A senior’s life is stressed to the max
By: Maggie Epling, 11
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Beast
I know the scar was my fault, but the rest wasn’t. Melodie was ugly to begin with. Four feet tall at age five, terrible underbite, big purple birthmarks all over her body. She didn’t seem to care, though, not until second grade and the horse park field trip incident. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a sunny August day; my friend James and I were chilling in line, waiting to ride a pony. Melodie used to like ponies a lot. Like, too much. She was sort of a fanatic. So obviously she went first. I’d had a lot of sugar that day. I started screaming about something, and it freaked the pony out. It threw her really far. After that it was sort of a blur, but the next time we saw her she had this intense six-inch scar on her right arm. I never got in trouble. I didn’t mean to do it. The other kids made fun of her already, but now they were afraid to. They felt bad, I guess. James especially felt bad for her; he kept telling me she didn’t deserve to be treated the way we did. But if you can’t learn to laugh at yourself, what kind of person are you? That’s what I told him. One day some kid came up to Melodie on the playground and asked her to play ponies with her. I guess she wasn’t thinking. Melodie punched her in the jaw. She had to go to the nurse. That was Melodie’s first punch, but not her last. As we grew up, we started calling her “the beast”. We never called her that to her face, but I feel like she knew anyway. The years came and went, and before we knew it, we were all in high school. Puberty was weird. James got super tall. Nothing happened to me. All the girls got super hot, except Melodie of course. She just got uglier. She stopped wearing bows and stuff like that a long time ago. Her hair was still long, but it was a mess. It looked like she didn’t even try to brush it anymore. And, I mean, even if she did, she still looked like a caveman. She was even taller than James. And she must have started working out, because she was stronger than any boy in our grade. Things were fine for a while. I only got beat up by Melodie twice that I can remember. One time it was because I called her fat. The other time was after we 6
By: Hannah Mitchell, 12 had to do that group project. James and Melodie were in my group, and we had to do something science-y. James said we should test how high a basketball could bounce, but I told him that was super boring. “We should build a rocket,” I said. “Okay then, Louis, where are we going to get a rocket?” James said back. He does that sometimes. I’ll give him an idea, and he just shoots it down. I can always get him to go along with it, though. “We’ll buy one, dude. It’s not that hard.” “My dad builds models,” said Melodie, scaring us both half to death. We’d never heard her say anything before, or, at least, not since the horse park. “Maybe he has a rocket.” I noticed she was looking at James. It made me feel gross. “Cool, can you try to bring it tomorrow?” James replied. He was looking back at her. It made me feel grosser. She agreed to bring a rocket. The next day in science
class, guess what she didn’t have? “My dad says he doesn’t want us to bring it off our property,” Melodie said. She was still looking at James. “You can come over and we can build it.” I was about to say no, but James opened his big fat mouth and said, “Okay. That sounds great. What about tomorrow?” So that’s how I ended up at the beast’s house on my Friday afternoon. ~ It was a really, really normal house. It was in the middle of the suburbs, surrounded by houses that looked exactly like it, and there were flowers painted on the mailbox. I didn’t want to knock on the door, but I did. Melodie answered it. “Oh. Louis.” She sounded like she didn’t want to see me, which was fine, because I didn’t want to see her either. Who would? She had the face of a bulldog that had been dropped a couple times. James was already there. That was good, since I didn’t want to spend another minute alone with the Incredible Hulk. We worked on the rocket for a little while. James and I talked some, but Melodie stayed quiet. She just kept… looking at him. I wanted to throw up. When she got up to go to the bathroom, I whispered to James, “Dude. I think she likes you.” “What? No, she doesn’t.” He was blushing. “You like her back!” “I do not.” “You so do. You saw how she was staring at you. You wanted to go to her house. I can’t believe this. This is nasty. Melodie has the hots for you, and you like her back.” James pushed up his glasses. I could tell he was really mad at me, but I didn’t know why. I was just being honest. “What are you going to do, ask her to the Fall Ball?” I said. I was kidding, of course, but James took me seriously.
“You know what? I will. I don’t even care.” James stood up as Melodie walked back into the room. “Want to go to the Fall Ball with me?” She raised an eyebrow. “What?” “The Fall Ball. You know… the dance next week? I was wondering if you would go with me.” “You’re making fun of me.” Her hands tightened into fists. “Louis put you up to this, didn’t he?” “No! Of course not! I just wanted to… y’know, do something nice.” “I get it.” Melodie’s voice was dark. “You felt sorry for me, so you asked me.” James opened his mouth. “No, don’t apologize. It’s fine. You’d be better off going by yourself. That way no one would make fun of you.” “Are you sure?” James offered. He sounded confused and upset, but honestly I was relieved. How awful would it be to have a friend who went out with Sasquatch? “Dodged that bullet, huh?” I muttered as he sat back down and went to work on the parachute. He shook his head at me. ~ Our project got a low A, which was good. James was mad at me for being mean to Melodie, but I knew he would come crawling back. After all, I was the only friend he had. He was the one who changed, not me. A few days before the Fall Ball, Melodie went missing and no one knew where she was. I guess that was good. I kept expecting her to show up and strangle me for the things I’d said about her that day at her house, but she never did. Jocelyn Anderson started flirting with me, so I asked her to the Ball. We went by ourselves to the steakhouse on Broadway Street before the dance, and she didn’t shut up once. I zoned out a little, but when I started paying attention again, she was talking about Melodie. “You were one of the last ones to see her, you know, before she stopped coming to school.” “Really?” I pretended to be interested. Honestly, Melodie was just a big problem. I was glad she wasn’t there. The teachers seemed worried, but the rest of the school was relieved.
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“Do you think she ran away or something?” Jocelyn continued.
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you think?”
I thought about it. I really did. I thought about how I’d treated her since we were kids, and how she acted “Nah, her parents would be looking for her.” now that we were teenagers, and I wondered if maybe more of it was my fault than just that stupid scar. Then “Then maybe… do you think she died?” I remembered what she’d done, how unreasonable she’d been. She’d beaten up a little girl for asking her to play “No way, that’s impossible.” ponies. Who does that? And she beat me up because she couldn’t take a joke. As I thought about it, I got Jocelyn looked embarrassed, then somehow steered the angrier and angrier until I couldn’t feel anything but conversation back around to her shoes. anger. I took a few deep breaths and said, “You know, the first thing I thought when I saw you was ugly. Glad As soon as we got to the school gym for the Fall Ball, to see some things never change.” Jocelyn scurried off to go talk to her friends. Girls are like that. They don’t ever respect good guys like me. I could tell people were gathering around us. The I saw them whispering about something. I thought it teachers hadn’t noticed anything was going on yet, was me at first, but then I turned around and I saw it. but the other kids sure had. James burst forward and grabbed Melodie’s shoulder. “Please don’t do anything,” There, at the snack table, pouring herself some punch, he said. “I know you don’t care, but he doesn’t know was the beast herself, not dead at all. The only way I what he’s saying. He’s just stupid, okay? Just stupid.” recognized her was by her height. She was still a giant. But there was something...different about her face. “I know what I said,” I replied. I was done being afraid I noticed right away that her birthmarks were gone, of Melodie. I was done letting her scare me. covered in thick makeup. But that wasn’t the thing that bothered me. Her underbite had completely disapShe rolled up her sleeves, revealing her scar. I was peared. Somehow, her jaw had been forced into place glad I had put it there. I was glad. Then I was on the like it was supposed to be. Her cheeks were swollen ground. Fists flew. My head was spinning. My heart and had a purple tinge, hinting that she’d had some was pounding. I was faintly aware that I was bleeding, work done. I realized she hadn’t been MIA. She’d been and then several teachers were dragging Melodie off of in the hospital. me. She was crying. Her tears were leaving purple trails where her birthmarks showed through her makeup. Someone had styled her hair, too, and put her in a dress. It looked for the first time like she actually cared I don’t have any friends now. James hasn’t spoken to about the way she looked. She’d even chosen one with me in months. Jocelyn ditched me. Melodie got suslong sleeves to cover her scar. I saw James walk up to pended that night. Nothing happened to me, except a her and say something. She turned and looked directbloody nose. When she came back to school, she wasn’t ly at me. I felt my stomach drop as she started in my wearing makeup anymore. Her hair was loose and direction. “Hey,” she said, crossing her arms. tangled, and she was back in her disgusting, sweaty clothes. The only thing that had changed for good was “What do you want?” I replied, trying to stand to my her jaw, and even that still looked crooked to me. That full height. It didn’t help that she was about twice my afternoon, Melodie punched a kid who looked at her size. funny. Girls are like that. They’re just so petty. It’s like they notice everyone else’s flaws and can’t see a single “Nothing. Just to thank you, I guess.” Melodie was thing wrong with themselves. looking down at me like she was going to step on me... or eat me. “You’ve inspired me to change. I want to be By: Shelby Stuart, 11 better, less like a monster and more like… like a girl.” She tilted her head to one side and smiled, swinging her arms back and forth nervously. “Well? What do
The Streetlight
To walk along the dimly lit street of fate, Is to tread, to stumble through the dark. Hoping that the next streetlight might sedate This ever present watermark
And so I waited by the lamp, And still wait with her today. I have vowed myself to be her champ And here forever stay.
And as the journey continues on My heart begins to pound. The illuminating lights withdrawn There is not one sound.
So here a lesson has been taught, A lesson that should not be soon forgot. When fates dark distraught Has tied you in a knot God will bless you with what is sought.
Stumbling blindly forward here And stumbling blindly there, I am not aware of what is near Of a light golden and fair.
By: Chase Ackerman, 11
Around a corner I turn blindly, And stop in disbelief. There a lamp shines brightly Without having a motif I run to this light which shines And find myself protected, In her warm and loving confines. I have been selected.
By: Jerry Liu, 10
By: Sydney Colón, 11 9
Iguana
Untitled
Coat your tongue in acid and spit on me You murderer Blood drips from your teeth and snot comes pouring out of your nose “Come closer” “I don’t bite” She said She said as her teeth turned to fangs and she consumes every sense of artistry you ever possessed She leaves you hollow and empty Chasing her down at every stop And just the thought of her fills your lungs with smoke and your veins with fire and the desperation you feel for her makes all the parts of you she killed feel so alive Euphoria is a cruel mistress my friends She grips your mind and won’t let go She eats and devours every part of your soul You and all of her minions kneel to her will By: Ben Whitman, 12 And you will sit in circles together signing yourselves away Not knowing she bought their lives from them years ago “Meet her once it won’t hurt” “She opened my eyes” Those lies tasted so good coming down but as you vomit on the floor screaming her name your stomach cries and the ashes next to you are the only things you have left Until she calls again And again Again Again she screams your name and you can never turn away because if you do she’ll come for your friends Everyone you care about will be hers She is the purest form of the devil And the purer she gets the more dangerous she becomes She’ll take your money, your knowledge, and your friends Because she is all you need You need her And then they tell you it’s okay to need her Because they did too And it’s easier to give in So eventually you do By: Maggie Epling, 11 By: Morgan McGarey, 12
Habanero Peppers, vinegar, onion, lime juice, carrot, salt, onion powder, sugar, garlic powder I strive to live like my favorite sauce: Iguana Spicy, Hot, and full of Flavor Bold and even bodied The habaneros burn passion inside me For the mountains and the Lakes and the Fish of the sea The vinegar helps me to meet new people keeping all else fresh within the sauce The onions show when I feel of sorrow The good times and the bad The cycles of life The Lime juice depicts my love for the Party I’m always down for a good time So while the spices are minute in Quantity It is all of the small things in Life that make it so amazing
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Untitled
My rose is black and grey
Because you wouldn’t stay Instead you turned away And you left me astray My life is no longer clear You left me in the low gear I have a new fear Looking at myself in the mirror You were all that’s in my mind Thought about you all the time But now I guess it’s fine I gotta get on my grind
By: Jerry Liu, 10
You were more than I could imagine You were my little dragon My heart is still saggin I am a lonely pioneer in a wagon We could have been everything great From schoolmate to heartache So you made my heart break Then told me checkmate You had left me in the dark Now it’s just a mark I am a great white shark Left off of Noah’s Ark. By: J.T. Sparks, 12, and Jacob Jones, 12
By: Jerry Liu, 10
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When You Become the Lines
Daddy, I don’t know what to write about And it’s my last poem for the poetry slam Mommy, do you think it should be a special thank you Or a description of who I am? Daddy, there’s two days left My brain’s like an ocean without a shore Mommy, I’ve gone blank Like a blackboard and I’m searching for more Perhaps it’ll happen if I pray To God or plead For stanzas to uphold me And help me succeed What if my rhythm Could reverse time Or if I could breathe life into a Dead memory with rhyme By: Sydney Colón, 12
Or if all my notebooks And crumpled up pages Could somehow transform themselves Into forgotten faces Daddy, I’m scared about college So maybe I should write about fear And how this stage will be a campus And how this audience will be the bosses And the professors of my career Daddy, I still don’t know what to write about Mommy, it’s the final day So I’ve decided to let you all Write it, take it away Write your stories and I’ll Engrave my name on your heart So that we can be each others’ poem Before we’re forced to part. By: Kara Hucaby, 12
By: Kara Hucaby, 12 12
boxes
Boxes: four sides connected at the corners, entirely neutral until given definition Cardboard made holy with the words “handle with care” Walls and doors made homes with furniture and family Screens become connection, borders become patriotism, stereotypes become identity Information is chopped up, processed, quantified and tucked away according to its kind Chaos contained by order Anything can be a box, and a box can hold anything Claustrophobia may ensure, or, like me, you find yourself in the “awestruck” box as lines of ink connect to form more boxes, easily transformed into time, space, and motion, lined up and filled to the brim with stores, comicsBut I digress Boxes: from society to tissues, our world is essentially a complicated grid. Anything can be a box, and a box can hold anything, so put more thought into the definitions you give By: Josie Psimer, 12
By: Sydney Colón, 11
By: Sydney Colón, 11
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Drowning Roses
A rose can never be accepted by the sea A flower pretty, But with many thorns Will never be accepted by the ocean, The harmony of living creatures, The beauty of the world unseen Can’t be disrupted by the thorns of That which no one will embrace, The cast out of the world above The one which only eyes can touch. Behind the beauty The rose is drowning in her mind, Her wishes, And her dreams. No one to save her, No one near enough to hear her screams. And so she floats amidst the sea, waiting patiently until the waves Will pick her up and throw her far on shore, On dry land. In the sun And heat. And now she lays there drying up of thirst for the one thing she can never have For the one who will never accept her Much less love her. The faces of her past are passersby on this dry land, Emotionless, Cold Indifferent to her suffering. And so she lays there still, her beauty fading. She gave it all away, Receiving nothing in return but the harshness of silence, The sharpest sword to ever touch a heart And break it. By: Daniella Okhotnikova By: Sydney Colón, 11
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Riley’s Lament
The days grow longer When I clean But the dust of my heart will never be removed The noise grows louder As they file into my room The Cumberlands encumber me Cardboard walls
Feel stronger than steel Empty bottles flying like grenades A boisterous personality is all I hear My disciplines fall short My life stands still
A danger It awaits A terror It strikes By: Maggie Epling, 11
I see it before it happens I am all but too late
My voice is heard It rings like bells “Don’t break my picture!”
“Don’t break my picture!”
A crash A heartbreak A silence Despair By: Camden Alcorn, 12
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La Terre
La Terre
Unquenchable thirst, For clear, crisp water. A tongue of fire Fused with lungs of ember. Palms that are supple, yet rough. Words that are tame, yet primitive. Eyelids chiseled out of pure rock, Mind made of light, creamy clouds. Thoughts personified into Baby blue birds that warble In early morning. Storms of tears and rage.
By: Maggie Epling, 11
Cliffs of jagged vertebrae
Her honey-coated, feather-soft voice
Shrouded by tawny skin.
Is saturated with pure tranquility,
Pupils gleaming with brimstone. Foamy waves of water Cascading down stone-set shoulders. A crown of twisted vines With buds of lavender and daisies. Lips carved of marble Tinted with rose, Parting to exhale gusts of wind.
Heard through the soft humming of the crickets. Freckles of stars Shining againsts her dark complexion. The quiet rustle of leaves is her song. All of her is synced in perfect harmony. All she asks of you, Is to find your song. -la terre est indescriptible By: Kaylen Jasper, 12
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To Love a Boy
To love a boy, You need to appreciate his ever-extending gratitude. Tell him he looks admirable when he wears his glasses And that you know him like the back of your hand
To love a boy, Give him his space, If he doesn’t want to talk, Then don’t force it
To love a boy, You must respect his wishes to stay friends Even if it batters, bruises, and breaks your heart in the process. Let him know that you will always be there for him And that when he plays the drums it plays to the beat of your heart
Instead Be glad he decided to give you a second chance By: Mackenzie Wilmoth, 10
To love a boy, Maybe write him a song From an anonymous point of view. Encourage him that he can follow his dreams and his heart’s desires Cause he encouraged you, so you should return the favor To love a boy, Be cordial in your conversations And ask him about his day. Maybe he’s hiding something that no one can see And that there’s pain hiding behind his warm smile and ocean blue eyes So that in the end, You’ll be his shoulder to cry on
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