“...i just wish...”

I’m Sorry - Zoey B

Time. Time is like a pencil. No matter how much or how little you use it. No matter if you sharpen it to create the most perfect point or let it go dull. You will run out of lead eventually.

Last summer, I witnessed this firsthand when a treasured friend of mine’s pencil would be too short to fit into the sharpener without getting stuck.

Tears slivered down my cheeks from my puffy, pink eyes. Plenty splatted onto the floor, and while the choked sniffles and gasps of air were enough sound to fill the room, they were not enough to silence my family’s grief. The words, the six words my dad had said at that moment, were enough to empty any other thoughts my brain had occupied.

“Maxx has to get put down.” My eyes shifted their gaze as they landed on my dog.

“I’m sorry Maxx...I’m sorry...” was all I could whisper through my dry throat.

After the rest of my family had dispersed throughout the house, I took the opportunity to share a few words with my beloved dog. As I lay down next to him with my vision still blurry, I set my hands on his soft ear and began to stroke his fur slowly. I didn’t want to think of this as a goodbye, but more of a thankyou. Yet the more I thought of what to say, the more thoughts filled my head. All I could think of was ‘sorry’.

“I’m sorry for not wanting to play with you...I’m sorry I didn’t want to go outside and throw your toy...I’m sorry I didn’t give you the attention you needed...I’m sorry I got mad at you for making me wipe your feet after you had gotten muddy outside...

I’m sorry...

I’m sorry...

I’m sorry...”

Those were the only sentences my mouth could make, and then it was silent. I wish I could’ve stayed in that moment forever but I knew I couldn’t.

About an hour later I sat on the cold seat of my car while the houses, animals, and other greenery flew past. I glanced at my now whimpering dog lying in the back of the car. I know animals can’t talk, but through Maxx’s eyes, I could see what he thought. The words ‘I love you’ were the words that his eyes had shown at that moment.

As my dad picked Maxx up from the back and began carrying him to the vet, I let another wave of tears spill out, soaking a part of my shorts. After he was let go, I had the opportunity to come into the vet and say goodbye one last time, even though he was gone. I was torn, but eventually, I chose to stay in the car.

The drive back was the most silent ride I have ever been on, not one word was exchanged. Walking through the back door of my house was like pushing a brick wall, with my legs chained with 100-pound weights.

I think about Maxx often, along with the many more apologies I could have given him.

Time. Time is like an hourglass. No matter how long or short, the sand falls. No matter if you flip it, or if you leave it still. The last grain of sand will fall eventually.

Waves - Riley C

I love waves

I love the way they move back and forth

Up and down

I love the way they spray a mist of salty water into the air whenever they move

The power and intensity they hold

The pure, serene beauty they exude

But perhaps I just relate to waves

The way they move up and down

The way that I feel my life going up and down constantly

Never smooth

Never easy

Always a raging tempest

Always up and down

Back and forth

Like waves

Infinite InspirationJennifer D

Of Cages and Keys - Ms. Katherine Braun

Each day I yearned for the day that the cage confining me would o p e n so that I could fly away.

I wistfully waited while I watched others take flight, admiring their pose, their confidence, their height.

I circled my cage desperately, trying to imitate what I could see despite knowing in my soul that’s not how it feels to be free.

For, even as I raised self-imposed expectations, even as I pounded my wings more vigorously with each gyration, I couldn’t help but recognize that I was being left behind; I was being passed by.

And then came the day when in my frantic, feigned flight around my now familiar pathway, I happened to falter and fall against the cage’s door only to realize... it wasn’t locked anymore...

Yet, when it swung o p e n inviting me to fly away, I found myself securing it back in place.

It was in that moment when I tried to hide that I fully realized I am the sole keeper of my own keys.

Outside my cage lies anxiety, uncertainty, and oh so many fears, but there also lies love, creativity, and genuine originality.

So, armed with hope and faith, I nudged o p e n the door to the cage, perched on the entryway, and fully spread my wings for the first time prepared to truly take flight for the rest of my life.